I'm not good at debating things. My speaking skills are not that great, I can't ever find the right words to say out loud, even though I can find the right words for paper.
I don't have many Christian friends, but this is a friend who I've been trying really hard to reach. She's perhaps my best friend, and it's easier to talk with her about religion than a bunch of my other friends.
She hasgone to my church with her family for about a year. We've had three long discussions about religion, the most recent being last night. She comes to church pretty much every Sunday, but she hadn't been to church that much before her family attened my church. And she has so many questions about Christianity and the Bible, and seems very intrigued by Islam. I guess she's a very, very liberal Christian. When I asked her last night if she thought of herself as a Christian, she said yes. At the same time though, she doesn't believe that there is a Hell, and so Jesus dying on the cross didn't save us from our sins. She believes Jesus was a great guy, but didn't save the human race, she thinks Muhammed was just as good.
Last night, our main focus in the discussion/debate was is there was one right and one wrong religion. I believe in Christianity, and she just believes in a God, not picky about whose God. She told me that the error in my thinking was that Christians believe that they shouldn't judge, but yet we believe that our religion is the "right" one. And then she went on to talk about all the terrible things Christians have done to nonChristians over the years. And I didn't have an answer for her arguement. I beat around the bush, and explained why I believed we must be right, my personal experience with God, but I didn't know how to answer her question. All the time I was praying to God that he'd reveal himself to her, and that he'd reveal his son, because it's not going to be me that shows her Christ, I'm just trying to steer her in the right direction.
And what makes it even harder is that I can't use my only weapon against her, the Bible. She says that even if the bible was once the word of God, it's been totally garbled up, and now might have a couple parts that are God's word, but is mostly humans making it up. She was telling me about how in 200 ad some kings changed the bible, and now they think they have it how it was before that, but they can't be sure. I had never heard of this, and I asked my mom and dad, who had never heard of it either (and I consider them good sources for history of that stuff). Does anybody know what she was talking about? She has a tendency to make things up or stretch the truth about things, and she also enjoys books about Christians from a nonChristian point of view, so I have trouble believing a lot of the arguements she gives, including the one about the kings. At the same time, I have no idea where she got this info from, so I can't argue against it, no matter how strange it sounds.
I want so bad for her to believe in Christ's mercy. I said so much last night that I haven't said to anybody before because I feel so self concious talking about it. I told her I do this because I can't stand the thought I seeing people in Hell, but she didn't care, because she doesn't believe there is one. I told her about the time I felt God, last summer on a mission trip. She was there, sitting right next to me on the night that I had my questions answered, the night I felt God. But she's skeptical, because when I felt him, she didn't.
In retrospect, I see things I could have said, missed opportunities. But I don't know if the same situation will present itself again to use these ideas, and if the opporunity does arise, I probably don't remember them. Like I said, I'm not a very good talker.
What can I do? I'm going to double my efforts praying for her, and I'd love it if you would pray for her too. What can I say to her though? When another one of these conversations comes up, as it does every few months, what should I tell her? I don't know what more I can do.
Also, does anybody have any books/websites to read that they think would help me? Theology type stuff, arguements for why Jesus saves us?
I don't have many Christian friends, but this is a friend who I've been trying really hard to reach. She's perhaps my best friend, and it's easier to talk with her about religion than a bunch of my other friends.
She hasgone to my church with her family for about a year. We've had three long discussions about religion, the most recent being last night. She comes to church pretty much every Sunday, but she hadn't been to church that much before her family attened my church. And she has so many questions about Christianity and the Bible, and seems very intrigued by Islam. I guess she's a very, very liberal Christian. When I asked her last night if she thought of herself as a Christian, she said yes. At the same time though, she doesn't believe that there is a Hell, and so Jesus dying on the cross didn't save us from our sins. She believes Jesus was a great guy, but didn't save the human race, she thinks Muhammed was just as good.
Last night, our main focus in the discussion/debate was is there was one right and one wrong religion. I believe in Christianity, and she just believes in a God, not picky about whose God. She told me that the error in my thinking was that Christians believe that they shouldn't judge, but yet we believe that our religion is the "right" one. And then she went on to talk about all the terrible things Christians have done to nonChristians over the years. And I didn't have an answer for her arguement. I beat around the bush, and explained why I believed we must be right, my personal experience with God, but I didn't know how to answer her question. All the time I was praying to God that he'd reveal himself to her, and that he'd reveal his son, because it's not going to be me that shows her Christ, I'm just trying to steer her in the right direction.
And what makes it even harder is that I can't use my only weapon against her, the Bible. She says that even if the bible was once the word of God, it's been totally garbled up, and now might have a couple parts that are God's word, but is mostly humans making it up. She was telling me about how in 200 ad some kings changed the bible, and now they think they have it how it was before that, but they can't be sure. I had never heard of this, and I asked my mom and dad, who had never heard of it either (and I consider them good sources for history of that stuff). Does anybody know what she was talking about? She has a tendency to make things up or stretch the truth about things, and she also enjoys books about Christians from a nonChristian point of view, so I have trouble believing a lot of the arguements she gives, including the one about the kings. At the same time, I have no idea where she got this info from, so I can't argue against it, no matter how strange it sounds.
I want so bad for her to believe in Christ's mercy. I said so much last night that I haven't said to anybody before because I feel so self concious talking about it. I told her I do this because I can't stand the thought I seeing people in Hell, but she didn't care, because she doesn't believe there is one. I told her about the time I felt God, last summer on a mission trip. She was there, sitting right next to me on the night that I had my questions answered, the night I felt God. But she's skeptical, because when I felt him, she didn't.
In retrospect, I see things I could have said, missed opportunities. But I don't know if the same situation will present itself again to use these ideas, and if the opporunity does arise, I probably don't remember them. Like I said, I'm not a very good talker.
What can I do? I'm going to double my efforts praying for her, and I'd love it if you would pray for her too. What can I say to her though? When another one of these conversations comes up, as it does every few months, what should I tell her? I don't know what more I can do.
Also, does anybody have any books/websites to read that they think would help me? Theology type stuff, arguements for why Jesus saves us?
Our earliest fragments of the gospels are all dated before 100 AD.
