Greetings to everyone.

[Rodolfo de la Torre]

So I'm a born again Christian, emphasis on born again because I was an atheist for about 8 years (Before I was also Protestant for about 9), but something has come up which has me wondering: should someone who has parents that are both Christians, but one of them is Protestant, the other Catholic -- should they basically believe their own version of Christianity, or is one preferable over another one? The parent I live with believes in Protestantism, and so I've been Protestant my whole life, but the parent that believes in Catholicism is more in my line of thinking, except that I don't live with him. What do I do? Do I have freedom to choose, or is there some sort of protocol that I follow? Thanks

 

[RC1970]

Welcome to CF. You should believe whatever you understand the Bible to be teaching. You can only really believe what you understand to be true. Keep studying your Bible. Keep asking questions. The Holy Spirit will do the rest.

 

[Azureknight 773]

Hey! Welcome aboard man! May our Lord and God bless thee. I would suggest you to be calm and pray about it. Let the Holy Ghost fall into your heart and may He, the Lord the Giver of life guide you to the path which The Father has given to you. This would require a lot of time but may it be that you will be guided accordingly. At times like these, this calls for a lot of meditation and prayer.

 

[God's Child]

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This thread has been moved from the Introduce Yourself forum to the Christian Advice forum.
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[Albion]

Hi...and welcome. You can believe in your heart whatever you think is right, but I'd advise staying with the faith of the parent you live with until you are out on your own. Be respectful of the other one's church, whenever the issue comes up, however.

 

[Rodolfo de la Torre]

I should probably add more info, since I really have no one else to talk about this, and talking about it with my Protestant parent is like biting the hand that feeds me. Anyway, I was non-denominational Protestant Christian for 9 years. I was an old earth creationist, and then I dropped my beliefs altogether when I thought that God didn't answer my prayers. An atheist for 8 years, again, I saw that that was not the way to go.

However, now as a Protestant Christian (perhaps), with modern and adapted beliefs (Not to offend any literalists or creationists, since my mother is one and I love her dearly), I think I am defined by the internet as a theistic evolutionist. To be more precise, a Christian Panentheist. Reading up on my history, I see that that falls under a branch of philosophy under Catholicism (Except it was originally labeled as heresy so I am not sure if it is just a branch under Christianity in general).

What my philosophy consists of is the following: I feel extremely comfortable knowing that God is literally everywhere, and that He has so much power, that we can't ignore any of His works, like nature and science and stuff, and I find so much beauty in everything that I feel like He's beyond all human labels and human languages, etc. However, I do believe that God should be talked to on the daily, and that Jesus is and was the Son of God, and that we as Christians need to congregate and praise Him. What I don't really have is access to people that believe like me, and I don't want to trouble my parent or parents with me believing extravagant things and having my own opinion, without permission from them, so to speak. What should I do in my situation ? I feel like either way I am worshiping God for who He is, but it is just a matter of getting people around me who understand what I believe and what I feel like doing to celebrate God in my life. My mom doesn't entirely mind that I like talking about evolution, for example, but she will hold steadfast to her beliefs for life, I think. So i think I would be happier either talking to my dad about religion, or a religious authority figure that believes like I do.

 

[Rodolfo de la Torre]

I am very respectful of my current creationist conservative church, but the pastor doesn't like that I believe differently. I have tried being honest about my beliefs, and not offensive at all, but still I think I am causing a disturbance. I have suggested an alternative church for me to attend that might be more in line with what I believe to be true, but it is far away from me, and I currently do not own a car. Any suggestions? Thanks and God bless.

 

[Rodolfo de la Torre]

Also thank you all for your answers.

 

[Rodolfo de la Torre]

I was suggested on a Facebook group that Lutherans are theistic evolutionists, and they fall under Protestantism, and I do know a Lutheran church sort of close to me, but I am not sure if this is the route to go since I have been non-denominational Protestant my whole life, with some traces of Pentecostal. Anyone know how to choose a branch?

 

[Rodolfo de la Torre]

I pray on the daily, and read a lot of the bible, and request prayer online, so I do think I might be close to an answer, but I would also appreciate some spiritual counseling. Thanks. This seems like it's easy, but it's kind of hard to talk through with people, as I've come to know.

 

[NothingIsImpossible]

Well its hard to answer on here because obviously we all are from varied denominations. My feeling is don't go but what any specific denomination says. Instead read your bible and see what makes sense. Like maybe you will find something that either parent believes is not listed in the bible or they twisted it a bit. Then you can go from there. Myself, I am non-denominational because (at least around here) it means you chose to not really have a denomination your part of. You go by the bible (Gods word). Hence I more to the point say I'm just a christian. Non-denom only if people want a more specific answer.

 

[Albion]

I was suggested on a Facebook group that Lutherans are theistic evolutionists, and they fall under Protestantism, and I do know a Lutheran church sort of close to me, but I am not sure if this is the route to go since I have been non-denominational Protestant my whole life, with some traces of Pentecostal. Anyone know how to choose a branch?

Look, the view of evolution that you described is very common among Christians, regardless of denomination. Yes, there are churches that would reject it, but it's still about as common as any other. So why agitate your parents, either one, over fine-tuning this lone article of faith? There are a slew of other spiritual matters to dedicate yourself to, religious activities to engage in, and so forth, during the few years remaining in which you are going to be living under one or another parent's roof.

(P.S. If you do decide to explore the Lutheran churches, it's the "Evangelical Lutheran Church in America" that you need to look into.)

 

[BFine]

As a Christian... Christ follower...

Our Lord said to follow Him, so uphold
that...Christ's life of walking with His Heavenly
Father(God) is found in the Bible... we are
to submit ourselves to the Lord and
uphold His Word in our life each day.