Can I be a Christian with these beliefs? (moved from New Member Intros)

[nnmartin]

I am fairly new to Christianity and would be called 'born again' in modern jargon I'm sure.

Basically I believe in the power and teachings of Jesus but not the Old Testament.

As for Paul, I see him as a man striving for perfection but not necessarily as the fountain of pure truth.

Is it possible to have these beliefs and still be a Christian?

Which is the best section of the forum to discuss this in more detail?

thanks

 

[billypayton]

Hello †Friend, and Welcome to CF, may your stay here be Blessed !

 

[Ration]

I am fairly new to Christianity and would be called 'born again' in modern jargon I'm sure.

Basically I believe in the power and teachings of Jesus but not the Old Testament.

As for Paul, I see him as a man striving for perfection but not necessarily as the fountain of pure truth.

Is it possible to have these beliefs and still be a Christian?

Which is the best section of the forum to discuss this in more detail?

thanks

I don't see why not. When asked, most christians I know define being christian as following the teachings of Jesus Christ. Your particular view of the bible itself is yours, though it may be shared. Some christians are literalists, and some leave it as guidelines, but I don't see your particular view as not christian.

 

[visionary]

Welcome... Your walk with the Lord is yours. May He be the only one to guide you into all truth. He has six days that He told His story, but it echos like six thousand years in our ears. There is only one gospel and may you receive it all.

 

[theWaris1]

Jesus was part of the old testament. It was much to do with his coming and the salvation he would bring. He was embodied in the writings in shadows and types. The old testament was called the teacher.

Paul was instrumental in bringing the new covenant to the world.

People think Paul had a different teaching of scripture than that of Christ but what many don't comprehend is Jesus was teaching before the New covenant came into existence. In other words he had not died for our sins and nailed the old covenant to the tree.

The old covenant was a heavy yoke and nobody could fulfill the laws but Christ who died for our sakes and fulfilled the laws for us.
Hallelujah!

To answer your question, yes.

If you've just been born again, then you are considered a Babe. Like a new born you must grow and learn much over the years. Just surround yourselves with others in the faith. Your thinking will change if you continue to learn. Yahweh will open your eyes to many things...

shlama

 

[nnmartin]

How far can one realistically move away from the key concepts of the Bible and still be considered a Christian?

For instance I believe that through Jesus one can attain a sense of oneness with the cosmic life force but in no way can you actually commune with this force. As such Jesus himself is the highest power that man can strive to associate with without there being a Father of Christ as well. This cosmic life force could be interpreted as the biblical God in a sense though my view of this tends to reject many of the ideas of prayer to God, the burning bush, etc.. unless we think of Jesus and God as the same thing.

I guess this isn't really too far away from the biblical concept of God and Jesus?

anyone have any thoughts on this?

thanks

 

[Catherineanne]

How far can one realistically move away from the key concepts of the Bible and still be considered a Christian?

For instance I believe that through Jesus one can attain a sense of oneness with the cosmic life force but in no way can you actually commune with this force. As such Jesus himself is the highest power that man can strive to associate with without there being a Father of Christ as well. This cosmic life force could be interpreted as the biblical God in a sense though my view of this tends to reject many of the ideas of prayer to God, the burning bush, etc.. unless we think of Jesus and God as the same thing.

I guess this isn't really too far away from the biblical concept of God and Jesus?

anyone have any thoughts on this?

thanks

Well, you were doing fine, but now your language is straying into new age nonsense. It isn't even pagan religion; more like Buddhism than anything else as far as I can see.

If you want to remain Christian then I am afraid you would need to reign it back; the 'cosmic life force' is God, or if you want to be specific, God the Holy Spirit, the Creator of Life. In Christian belief we can indeed 'commune' with God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit; He can talk to us, we can talk to him. There is precious little point having a God so involved in humanity that he became one of us, and died for us, if after that he closed the door between us to prevent any communication.

The idea that the 'life force' is inanimate, and incapable of responding to us, is not a Christian one, so it is at this point that your path diverges from orthodox belief. This is not a huge problem; you just need a minister to straighten out your thinking a shade. It really depends what you want; if you want to find out what our faith teaches and follow it, then you can do that. If you prefer to wander down a nice little path of your own away from our faith, you can also do that, but I would not recommend it. Outside Christianity is not safe, imo; too many wolves and no shepherd.

Your choice.

 

[jehoiakim]

possibly, it depends more on your understanding of who Christ is and who he claimed to be that would identify you in my book as a Christian...

But, i don't understand how you cannot believe in the old testament because Jesus taught directly from the old testament and also used the rabbinical teachings of the sages like Hillel. Christ said he came to fulfill the law not to abolish it. John calls him the word become flesh... 1st century jews would have most likely understood that as "The Torah become flesh" Modern Christianity has done a shoddy job at explaining how the Torah and the apostolic writtings fit together and the writings of Paul are key in it's understanding. Sadly the Christian church has been operating for about 1800 years without a very high understanding of Jewish context. That means we have misunderstood quite a bit. I think you are right however in seeing that modern western Christianity doesn't really fit well well with the "Old testament teaching" but I think a lot of it is misunderstood.

 

[Catherineanne]

I am fairly new to Christianity and would be called 'born again' in modern jargon I'm sure.

Basically I believe in the power and teachings of Jesus but not the Old Testament.

If you believe in the teachings of the Lord, then why not accept what he taught us of God? He taught us to regard God as Our Father, and to pray to him as such.

That is not an impersonal God.

As for the Old Testament, it depends what you mean by believe in. Clearly the Bible contains both the Old and the New Testament, and both are important to our faith. If you wanted to reject the OT completely, and have nothing to do with it, you probably would not count as Christian. If you wanted to interpret the OT through Christ and his teaching, then you would.

As for Paul, I see him as a man striving for perfection but not necessarily as the fountain of pure truth.

There is no denomination that teaches that Paul is the fountain of pure truth, as you put it, so that comment is meaningless.

Is it possible to have these beliefs and still be a Christian?

Being a Christian is about having a right relationship with Christ, not about how we regard Paul or the OT. If you have said right relationship with Christ, nothing else matters.

 

[nnmartin]

. In Christian belief we can indeed 'commune' with God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit; He can talk to us, we can talk to him.

Can we not say then that Jesus and God are one and the same thing?

With the indirect spiritual association we can have with Jesus he can bring us closer to God / The Life force.

Jesus is the conduit of mans' spirituality.

I can see that this could be perceived as a blending of two religions (Hinduism and Christianity).

 

[Catherineanne]

Can we not say then that Jesus and God are one and the same thing?

With the indirect spiritual association we can have with Jesus he can bring us closer to God / The Life force.

Jesus is the conduit of mans' spirituality.

I can see that this could be perceived as a blending of two religions (Hinduism and Christianity).

The Lord and God are one but not the same. However, that is for another time; there are rather more basic issues here.

I am afraid if you try to blend Hinduism and Christanity then you could call yourself a Hindu, but you could not call yourself a Christian. Christianity does not blend, I am afraid.

The language you use is alien to our faith. We are not in Star Trek and God is not a life force. Neither is the Lord any kind of conduit.

You simply have to choose; accept Christanity for what it is, or not. It is not for you to reinterpret the whole faith and reframe it in this way.

I am sorry, but this is simply not how it works.

 

[IndieVisible]

I am fairly new to Christianity and would be called 'born again' in modern jargon I'm sure.

Basically I believe in the power and teachings of Jesus but not the Old Testament.

As for Paul, I see him as a man striving for perfection but not necessarily as the fountain of pure truth.

Is it possible to have these beliefs and still be a Christian?

Which is the best section of the forum to discuss this in more detail?

thanks

Absolutely!

 

[Habakk]

I am fairly new to Christianity and would be called 'born again' in modern jargon I'm sure.

Basically I believe in the power and teachings of Jesus but not the Old Testament.

As for Paul, I see him as a man striving for perfection but not necessarily as the fountain of pure truth.

Is it possible to have these beliefs and still be a Christian?

Which is the best section of the forum to discuss this in more detail?

thanks

Hi welcome to CF

It is probably best for you to continue your discussion in the appropiate forums on CF.

There is the Theology section (for Christians only)

Theology (Christian Only) - Christian Forums

Or as you are asking a specific question regarding becomming a Christian you could maybe go to the Outreach area.

Outreach - Christian Forums

 

[Chilaha]

Hi welcome to CF.

 

[Nanopants]

I am fairly new to Christianity and would be called 'born again' in modern jargon I'm sure.

Basically I believe in the power and teachings of Jesus but not the Old Testament.

As for Paul, I see him as a man striving for perfection but not necessarily as the fountain of pure truth.

Is it possible to have these beliefs and still be a Christian?

Which is the best section of the forum to discuss this in more detail?

thanks

That's fine as long as it doesn't interfere with your beliefs in Christ and the Gospel, etc.

The apostles teach that Christ is the corner stone of our faith. I take that to mean that the Gospel is axiomatic with regard to correct doctrine. Some people will fall backward to the OT or even forward to Paul, using that doctrine to interpret the Gospel, but really it should be the other way around.

 

[Nanopants]

Can we not say then that Jesus and God are one and the same thing?

The Gospels teach that the Father can be seen in Christ (John 14:9) and Paul described Him as the image of God (2 Cr 4:4).

With the indirect spiritual association we can have with Jesus he can bring us closer to God / The Life force.

Jesus is the conduit of mans' spirituality.

Jacob's ladder comes to mind here (John 1:51).

You're fine to interpret the truth of the Gospel using any words you like so long as you don't contradict it.

I can see that this could be perceived as a blending of two religions (Hinduism and Christianity).

This is a problem. The Gospel teaches that there is only one path to the Father, and that is Christ (John 14:6). If your beliefs lead away from Christ and to some other teaching, they contradict the words of Christ.

 

[Johnny Todd]

I am fairly new to Christianity and would be called 'born again' in modern jargon I'm sure.

Basically I believe in the power and teachings of Jesus but not the Old Testament.

As for Paul, I see him as a man striving for perfection but not necessarily as the fountain of pure truth.

Is it possible to have these beliefs and still be a Christian?

Which is the best section of the forum to discuss this in more detail?

thanks

Obviously your very new here.......you can call yourself a christian and worship satan if you like, the word "christian" today is thrown around in such a loose way, why satan himself could take on the name christian, I mean we are told he can reveal himself as an angel of light...(a christian) so what you believe has absolutely no bearing on what ever name you want to put behind or before your own. For even Jesus says on the day He returns many "christians" will come before Him saying "Lord Lord" etc.....etc....and He will say "away from Me you who practice lawlessness! (see Mathew 7:21-23) I wonder what laws He might have been refering too

 

[Nanopants]

Obviously your very new here.......you can call yourself a christian and worship satan if you like, the word "christian" today is thrown around in such a loose way, why satan himself could take on the name christian, I mean we are told he can reveal himself as an angel of light...(a christian) so what you believe has absolutely no bearing on what ever name you want to put behind or before your own. For even Jesus says on the day He returns many "christians" will come before Him saying "Lord Lord" etc.....etc....and He will say "away from Me you who practice lawlessness! (see Mathew 7:21-23) I wonder what laws He might have been refering too

The law of Christ (Gal 6:2), as there was a necessity for a change of the law (Heb 7:12).

Don't be fooled by those who would have you enslaved under the old yoke and burden.

 

[Leka43]

A great, big welcome to you

As long as you believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and He died for your sins and has arisen for your justification, and you receive Him personally in that capacity - as your Savior and Lord - then you're good to go

Jesus is actually the fulfillment of the Old Testament Law and prophetic teachings - He Himself said that not one jot or tittle of the (old) Law would pass away. The thing is that the Old Testament Covenant was based on judgment in order to received the blessings outlined in Deuteronomy 28. The New Testament Covenant is based solely on God's grace and mercy - your believing (faith) that Jesus has already fulfilled all the requirements of the Old Law for you, and has taken its curse out of the way - so you can just receive Jesus' substitutionary sacrifice for yourself personally. This puts you in position under God's grace to receive all His Blessing. (Of course, then you have to walk in obedience to His Word and His voice - walk in love toward all.)

Just pray, my brother, and be open to God's leading and teaching, and He'll be happy to reveal Himself and all His Truth to you - don't worry about it...be 'careful' for nothing

Welcome again!!!

 

[brinny]

I am fairly new to Christianity and would be called 'born again' in modern jargon I'm sure.

Basically I believe in the power and teachings of Jesus but not the Old Testament.

As for Paul, I see him as a man striving for perfection but not necessarily as the fountain of pure truth.

Is it possible to have these beliefs and still be a Christian?

Which is the best section of the forum to discuss this in more detail?

thanks

Your faith icon says Pagan.