Its a lot of things.
Why does God reveal himself to very few people?
Actually, Christianity is, at its core, a revealed religion. The Bible is God's revelation of Himself to the world. Besides the Bible, though, God reveals Himself in a lot of different ways to people. I think if we were to seek Him more, we would discover that.
How can we trust in God and Jesus's character if the Bible has been edited so much?
The Bible has been edited but not in ways that change the message of the book. When you talk about the original languages that the Bible was written in, there are thousands of manuscript copies (the Dead Sea Scrolls being the most noteable) that affirm that the books that make up the Bible as we know it today do not have content that has been altered.
The second thing to note is that any time you're translating something from one language to another, you do lose some of the original meaning behind the text. Figures of speech and expressions that were used in those days wouldn't show up in the same way when you translate Greek, Hebrew, or Aramaic into Latin or English. That's why there is a lot of value in looking into the original languages because you'll find out things that are being said in the text that you never would have known about otherwise.
Also, I would just mention that ancient Hebrew was very tricky to translate. That language is the equivalent of writing out something in English that has no punctuation and no capital letters, so there was a great degree of care that went into translating a language that could communicate totally different things if you don't separate out the characters in the right way. (Ex. 'God is nowhere' vs. 'God is now here')
For all of these reasons, there are many churches out there that will take one of two stances...either 1) The Bible is true and infallible in the sense that it perfectly points the reader towards Jesus Christ, or 2) The Bible was true and infallible in its original writings. The errors that are seen today are a result of faulty translation.
What about all the other religions that are similar to Judaism/Christianity or that have similar origins/beliefs? Zoroastrianism (the BIGGEST issue for me regarding Christianity with its origins.) and Sumerian (particularly the bit about the great flood) are some examples.
Whenever you start comparing Christianity to other religions, your starting point should be Jesus Christ. When you look at Christianity with Jesus Christ at the forefront, you see that, while the stories/teachings/moral repercussions might be similar to that of other religions, Christianity's basic claims are unique in comparison to every other religion.
Why do we have so many different interpretations of who "is saved and who isn't?"
Within the scope of orthodox Christianity, all Christians believe the same basic thing--that salvation only comes through trusting in Jesus Christ.
Is it by grace or by works?
Ephesians 2:8-9 answers this pretty flat out..."For it is by
grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--
not by works so that no one can boast." Now, in James it says that when a person has a relationship with God and is experiencing His love, works are going to be an outflow of that. When you have been the recipient of grace, knowing that you don't deserve what you got, the natural reaction is to want that for others and to honor the person that extended that grace to you, which in this case would be God. But just know that we, as Christians, obey God not just because we are supposed to, but because He loves us. That's what people mean when they say that Christianity is a relationship, not a religion. 'Religion' in this sense means that I obey God, therefore I'm loved and accepted by Him. 'Relationship,' though, means that I'm loved and accepted by God, therefore I obey Him.
Do i have to be baptised or do i not?
This is something that not all denominations agree on. I would say that nearly all denominations would agree that you
should be baptised, because it is a public means of declaring to the church body around you that you have received the grace that God has offered you and the fact that you are now in relationship with Him and are free from sin. The majority of churches look at baptism as simply that--an outward demonstration of an inward act of God's grace. You will find churches here and there, though, that say that you must be baptized in order to be saved. I, and the majority of people, would say that that isn't true. But one thing that everyone agrees on is that you, at least, should be baptized if you're a believer
Do I have to say a certain prayer or will my faith alone compensate?
In the end, God ultimately looks at your heart towards Him. Generally, though, you demonstrate your heart decision to accept Jesus Christ into your life through praying to God and repenting of your sin to Him. Prayer is our way of talking with God and so the best way to communicate your heart decision to Him is through prayer
Do i have to dance on my right foot or my left foot?
Haha, this just reminded me of something funny. I grew up Nazarene (just another denomination) and one thing devout Nazarenes do not do is dance (although this has been changing quite a bit over the past 20ish years). I had a pastor once, though, that grew up break dancing and so he would always poke fun at that and say that you just had to keep on foot on the floor at a time.
I've caught myself thinking I'd rather just go to hell if i had to jump through so many obscure and seemingly trite hoops, because I'm bound to guess wrong anyways. Does anyone know??? Does it matter what I do or how I do it???
I think this verse is pretty clear about the basics..."If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:9
Not to mention there are some historical discrepancies in the Bible. Take Joshua and the wall of Jericho for an example. According to Joshua, the Israelites marched around the wall and it came tumbling down. Archeologists are saying that the walls of Jericho were rebuilt and taken down several times before Joshua came.......about 300-1000 years before he did.
I haven't heard much about this but I guess it doesn't affect me too much. Where did you hear about that?
What I'm asking though is this: If the book that is supposed to talk about God and his interactions with people is made up or edited to the point where certain events are painted as "God did it" moments, how can you have faith in the Judeo/Christian god if we're putting words in his mouth? To me, that seems pretty freakin important.
I do know what you guys are saying though, a book is a book, albeit the Bible is one that is God inspired. I have seen miracles happen and have even had one happen to me. I believe there is a god, its just a matter of "why this god?" that I'm dealing with.
I know I had mentioned this up above, but I think the biggest issue to consider when looking at Christianity vs. other religions is the person of Jesus Christ.
Hey, if you have other questions or whatever, I would love to answer them if you need. I've always been up for looking into answers to the hard questions.
