Whats your most "heretical" (controversial) theological belief?

mark kennedy

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Agreed. The Pentecostal teaching of the oneness heresy has been creeping more and more into Baptist churches, which is mind blowing.
You deny the Trinity you are denying the Christian faith, that's been the number one issue down through the ages. It's the quickest way to heresy for a long time, and I don't see it going away. If you deny the Trinity your not a Christian, I have no problem with you but your not.
 
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Stormy

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It is confusing. The talk of hell in the Bible is eternal torment. And yet the only way to have eternal life is by believing in Christ. So how are the unbelievers in hell alive for eternal torment?

Not debating, just something I wondered about? Not that concerned actually. I have my sites on Heaven.
 
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akmom

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That's not really a heresy, it's just not consistent with the text. The Bible, Old and New Testament, are clear that Adam and Eve were our first parents. Strangely, inbreeding was permissible in the time of Adam and Eve and well into the time of Abraham. It has something to do with the gene pool, it didn't create the genetic mutations it does in this day and age. It's not heresy to believe Adam and Eve were a part of a larger community. It's just not Biblical.

The inbreeding explanation is a possibility, but scripture doesn't mention it. It's just one popular explanation. Inbreeding can result in healthy offspring even today, as the chance of inheriting a recessive allele - even from closely related parents - is only 25% and it may or may not even be associated with major problems. It's also possible that some of Adam's and Eve's descendants experienced genetic disorders, if they did in fact inbreed. But Genesis fails to mention any such thing in the first several generations of Adam's descendants, despite being quite thorough in describing the lineages. That's an awfully big coincidence.

We all came from Adam, and he was considered the first "man," but whether there were other hominid creatures on the earth contributing to mankind's genetic pool is not specified. The scripture does imply it though, as I cited. I'm not aware of any scripture implying inbreeding prior to Abraham. Are you? I mean, that could be what happened, or it could not. But it's not from scripture.

There are more verses I didn't initially cite, such as Genesis 4:17 which talks about Cain building a city. A whole city for himself, his wife, and one son?? More likely there were other people.
 
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It is confusing. The talk of hell in the Bible is eternal torment. And yet the only way to have eternal life is by believing in Christ. So how are the unbelievers in hell alive for eternal torment?

Not debating, just something I wondered about? Not that concerned actually. I have my sites on Heaven.
Hell is the state of spiritual death. Some are resurrected to life (believers), and some are resurrected unto damnation (unbelievers). Daniel 12:2.
 
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SolomonVII

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The most heretical belief is not the most controversial. If only it was more controversial, it would be less damaging as heresy.
The most damaging heresy is anti-christ which is the deception of teachers that come in the name of Christ and teach a gospel that is antithetical to who Jesus is.
Post-modernist Christians fit this bill.
 
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The7thColporteur

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Micah888

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Yea, the Seventh-day Adventist movement right?, right???
Why blame the SDA church only? There are a few others who hold to this mistaken belief. Please note that I have no association with the SDA church.
 
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Micah888

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We all came from Adam, and he was considered the first "man," but whether there were other hominid creatures on the earth contributing to mankind's genetic pool is not specified.
The Bible is very clear that the entire human race has descended from Adam.

In the earliest generations, inbreeding was a non-issue, and by the time of Moses, it was forbidden.
 
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AFrazier

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Whether Catholic, Orthodox or Protestant, the surest road to heresy is denying the Trinity. It's been a definitive element of Christian apologetics from the beginning and will continue to endure.
Do note that I didn't and don't deny the Trinity. I believe in the Father, Son, and Holy spirit, consubstantial to each other; one God represented in these three persons or manifestations. Where I differ in my own considerations is that I believe the biblical evidence implies seven persons or manifestations rather than three.

If you get into the Hebraic Sephirothic Tree and Kabbalistic traditions, it is sometimes considered that there were as many as ten aspects of God, though the three primary, Kether, Chokmah, and Binah, would technically represent the Trinity of Christianity, and it is from this first triangle that everything else in the tree is derived. But that's all Hebrew mysticism. I've read into it a bit, but it's not really my cup of tea.

The point is, I don't deny the Trinity. I just think there's more to it than we realize.
 
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DennisTate

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  • I think annihilationism is the best way of understanding the Bible passages about hell.
  • I don't hold to biblical innerancy and think defending it is a waste of time
Also, this is not a debate thread.

I think that my beliefs regarding the pre-existence of the human spirit or soul....... (or at least part of our soul)........ would offend many other Christians.

Basically... I no longer think that this was a stupid question:

John 9:2

And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
 
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Babe Ruth

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I struggle to believe the Nativity account(s).
Mainly because of its absence from Mark. Mark strikes me as the most bare-bones factual accounting of Jesus' life. Hard to understand Mark's omission (or ignorance) of a dramatic Nativity.

I wish I wasn't a Nativity skeptic, always hope I can/will embrace it at some point.. (help)
 
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Marvin Knox

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I think annihilationism is the best way of understanding the Bible passages about hell.
A completely natural interpretation of the scriptures.
Rightttttt. :scratch:

“And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” Matthew 25:46

"where THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE, AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED" Mark 9:48
I don't hold to biblical innerancy and think defending it is a waste of time
"......."How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken!" Luke 24:25
 
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Inkfingers

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  • I think annihilationism is the best way of understanding the Bible passages about hell.
  • I don't hold to biblical innerancy and think defending it is a waste of time
Also, this is not a debate thread.

You don't have the bandwidth for my full list :D

But I'll definitely agree on the whole "I don't hold to biblical innerancy" line as I think the Greek NT is written in such vague language that it can produce HOW many different Bibles? o_O

That'll do :)
 
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A_Thinker

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I struggle to believe the Nativity account(s).

Mainly because of its absence from Mark. Mark strikes me as the most bare-bones factual accounting of Jesus' life. Hard to understand Mark's omission (or ignorance) of a dramatic Nativity.

I wish I wasn't a Nativity skeptic, always hope I can/will embrace it at some point.. (help)

Mark wrote a relatively short gospel. He started with Christ's earthly ministry. It seems that Christ's nativity was not that important to his point of view. Or, perhaps, he knew that Matthew planned to expand on his writing. That Mark choose not to write on Christ's nativity ... doesn't mean that there wasn't a nativity ... as we all have one.

There were (3) ways that the gospel writers introduced their narratives on Christ's life/ministry. Matthew and Luke included the earthly nativity, John started back at the beginning (of the creation), and Mark started with the beginning of Jesus' earthly ministry. Matthew began his gospel with an accounting of Jesus' genealogy, ... while Luke started his gospel with an explanation of why he wrote it, ... followed by an accounting of John the Baptist's nativity.

The gospel writers had different reasons (and audiences) for their writings. Luke, who wrote the longest gospel, ... emphasized in his introduction that he wanted to try and present every bit of vital information for an, at least, partially non-Jewish audience.

Luke 1

1 Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, 2 just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. 3 With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, 4 so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.

(Note that Luke also included the nativity of John the Baptist, ... when none of the other writers do.)

Also, recall that the gospel writers had, more or less, differing connections to the ministry of Jesus. Matthew and John were actual Apostles, while Mark was a disciple of Peter, ... and Luke was the Greek companion/physician of Paul. So they all come to the story in different ways ...
 
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A_Thinker

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“And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” Matthew 25:46

Is not "eternal death" an "eternal punishment" ?

Ezekiel 18:20 The soul that sinneth, it shall die.

Matthew 3:11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but after me is coming He who is mightier than I, of whom I am not worthy to carry the sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire, 12 whose winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will clear His threshing floor and will gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

Matthew 10:28 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Instead, fear the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
 
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Babe Ruth

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Mark wrote a relatively short gospel. He started with Christ's earthly ministry. It seems that Christ's nativity was not that important to his point of view. Or, perhaps, he knew that Matthew planned to expand on his writing. That Mark choose not to write on Christ's nativity ... doesn't mean that there wasn't a nativity ... as we all have one.

There were (3) ways that the gospel writers introduced their narratives on Christ's life/ministry. Matthew and Luke included the earthly nativity, John started back at the beginning (of the creation), and Mark started with the beginning of Jesus' earthly ministry. Matthew began his gospel with an accounting of Jesus' genealogy, ... while Luke started his gospel with an explanation of why he wrote it, ... followed by an accounting of John the Baptist's nativity.

The gospel writers had different reasons (and audiences) for their writings. Luke, who wrote the longest gospel, ... emphasized in his introduction that he wanted to try and present every bit of vital information for an, at least, partially non-Jewish audience.

Luke 1

1 Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, 2 just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. 3 With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, 4 so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.

(Note that Luke also included the nativity of John the Baptist, ... when none of the other writers do.)

Also, recall that the gospel writers had, more or less, differing connections to the ministry of Jesus. Matthew and John were actual Apostles, while Mark was a disciple of Peter, ... and Luke was the Greek companion/physician of Paul. So they all come to the story in different ways ...

Thinker, thanks for your thoughts..
Because Mark is a relatively brief, matter of fact Gospel (as opposed to the longer, ideological accounting of John, etc). It just seems odd to omit the facts of Christ' unique birth if they were known to Mark.
You mention, Mark's intended audience.. I have to assume his intended audience would crave every piece of evidence to confirm Jesus divinity and/or authority (?) I don't see any reason that leaving out a known royal birth reception would help Mark's intent..
Basically, I'm getting at.. Mark wasn't aware of the Nativity.. because it may have been unnecessarily manufactured (to bolster Jesus' credibility) away from or after Mark's study of Jesus ? I hate thinking this, but.. (peace)
 
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Marvin Knox

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Is not "eternal death" an "eternal punishment" ?
"The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born." Matthew 26:24

"If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; they have no rest day and night, those who worship...." Revelation 14:10

"In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and *saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried out and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.’ But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony." Luke 16:23-25

Come now.

Does annihilation fit with the fate of Judas?

Does it fit with the fate of those who worship the beast and his image and receive the mark of the beast?

Does it fit with the fate of the rich man in Hades?

You guys may not like the idea of conscious eternal punishment. Neither do I.

But you don't get to make up a doctrine that will sooth your feelings simply because you don't like what the scriptures teach.

Your position goes against what the scriptures clearly teach.

What is more -I believe you all know it.

I won't argue this with you guys longer than I have. After all - it's not me with whom you have to do now is it?
 
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akmom

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I believe we are all sons of Adam. And probably Noah, for that matter. But I don't think the Bible says that Adam and Eve and their children were the only people on earth at the time of Genesis.

A common theme on this thread seems to be "heretics" articulating themselves rather well, and not necessarily denying the assertions of their critics, but critics unable or unwilling to discuss the issues in more depth.
 
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