I really cannot recognize a lot of the Christianity I see on the internet and say "They practice the same faith I do". I really can't anymore.
I honestly feel more kinship with merely spiritual people or the average not particularly religious person, than I do with the average "born-again Christian". Let's be honest, they wouldn't accept me as a Christian anyways.
It's almost like religion is making people worse, how could Jesus be happy with any of this?
Sometimes I wonder if I did the right thing, by joining a church. I wake up nervous and I feel fake sometimes, like a bad dream I'll wake up from.
I sometimes pine away for just being like what the Dalai Lama says, "My religion is compassion". That would be so much more beautiful than the ugly tribalism I see. And I'm losing my sense of inner peace.
Maybe I need to get beyond the theoretical stage, and start living out what I say I believe. Perhaps I am too nice, and I just need to avoid interacting with certain people for my own sanity.
I'm fairly confident I have a handle on what Christianity is meant to be about. But in the darker moments, I worry it's the hateful, spiteful, tribalist Christians who are right, and I want no part of their religion.
About 8 years ago, iirc, I became convinced that they're right. Not in sense of having the good way but in the sense of having the historically correct interpretation of Christianity. My own Christian identity blew up in pieces with that realization and has not recovered since.
Welcome homeAbout 8 years ago, iirc, I became convinced that they're right. Not in sense of having the good way but in the sense of having the historically correct interpretation of Christianity. My own Christian identity blew up in pieces with that realization and has not recovered since.
So many Christians were very relieved when Trump won, even those who did not vote at all (never do),I know how you feel.
I took a break from this site in part because of some of the ugliness I've seen & the despair I've felt since the election, though my spirits have lifted somewhat. I was skipping every so many services because I just really couldn't understand.
I'm getting better. I have made some caring friends in my church, & I've stopped caring at all about what other Christians may think of me.
I hope you find peace.
Would you like to recover without prejudice ?About 8 years ago, iirc, I became convinced that they're right. Not in sense of having the good way but in the sense of having the historically correct interpretation of Christianity. My own Christian identity blew up in pieces with that realization and has not recovered since.
Welcome home
Ehh, I don't see how they possibly could. You'd need to go all the way back to the original Jewish context to have a claim to the most historically accurate interpretation, and then about 75% of their theology would collapse. Not that the Jewish context is necessarily roses and kittens, but even Paul stressed the importance of compassion when not busy ranting about the people who, incidentally, kept on arresting and beating him. So I can forgive him some of his frustration and bitterness.
This is true of everyone in the whole wide world who is not a Christian, btw.As much as I hate it, I can't honestly call it unbiblical or unchristian in historical sense. In my case that led to a realization that if I can't reconcile with it, it's a symptom of me being something else than a Christian.
Hey, I already said this ain't not my home! I'm just crashing the party
I didn't mean the Fred Phelps - types, but rather the David Wilkerson - types. The arrogant, harsh biblebashers resemble pharisees more than Jesus, but then again some of the hellfire-preaching fundies with their narrow worldviews do have pretty sound biblical/historical reasoning with their theology. As much as I hate it, I can't honestly call it unbiblical or unchristian in historical sense. In my case that led to a realization that if I can't reconcile with it, it's a symptom of me being something else than a Christian. This was years ago, I've moved quite few steps on that direction by now.
I'm having a bit of a dilemma here, I really don't want to promote something I don't think is right, by going in too much detail in my reasoning back then. Not to mention that would be against the board rules too. I was just recounting my experience as others were talking about something similar.
I don't know the name. Was he a Calvinist or something along those lines?
I decided to take a second look at Christianity a few months ago after thinking it was toxic and horrifying for years, and running across Calvinism was... definitely a stumbling block. Because it is pretty well supported by Scripture.
For me, it's not an issue because I've come to feel like it probably always was the inevitable conclusion of Scholasticism, and I reject the whole school of thought beginning with Anselm. Which... has some interesting ramifactions for me, since there's a church for that and it's a little bit extreme for me and my barely existent faith right now, haha.
What direction did you ultimately end up going in? (I'd seen you mention in it older threads before.)
As far as I know more people were healed, delivered, set free from demonic possession (literal and visible to everyone present, for years in some cases in some persons lives - not subtle, not quiet, but very real) ,I don't know the name.
I disagree.Because it [Calvinism] is pretty well supported by Scripture.
I'm from a traditionally Calvinist denomination.
I don't understand why people would read Paul while ignoring the psychological impact of what he was living through and the nature of his vocation, not to mention the Pharisee background, but there's always an answer to everything.
See how hard it is to see the truth without divine revelation.I find it rather interesting that Paul, being a recovering ex-pharisee himself, is actually the one biblical letter - author who is the most opposed to Judaism.
I think ignoring those things is related to the concept of biblical inspiration. If one believes that whatever Paul writes, is in fact inspired by God and therefore it's really God's opinion, rather than Paul's, then the personal history of Paul becomes rather irrelevant. He's just the guy who wrote it down, but not really his words.
The one thing about Paul I can't help wondering, is that if Paul had known while writing his letters what a fuss people would make of them later on in history, calling them "word of God" and making laws based on them etc. - would he have chosen his words more carefully?