finding truth in Christianity

Jesusthekingofking said:

I was baptised in a protestant church, so my exposure is merely protestant. The problem with protestant is that we the bible only mindset, we are proud of our reformation in the 16th century, and that can makes us bias and willing to open up to the true christianity. The sad part about protestantism it is a mess, each denomination interpret their bible in their own way and no true unity btw them, each claim they are right and know how to read the bible best, this open up to false teaching and invite wolves into the churches.

Click to expand...

It is a mistake to assume that it is only protestantism that is divided. There are more than one Catholic sects and the Anglican Church is and was just a reformatting of the Catholic Church with a different leader. You also have the various versions of the Eastern Orthodox church.

Churches are only open to false teaching if no-one is prepared to question the teaching received and that can come about because false teachers will often lay the groundwork to remove anyone from fellowship who disagrees with them. Wisdom, sadly, is a casualty of modern church life, regardless of denomination.

Jesusthekingofking said:

I was baptised in a protestant church, so my exposure is merely protestant. The problem with protestant is that we the bible only mindset, we are proud of our reformation in the 16th century, and that can makes us bias and willing to open up to the true christianity. The sad part about protestantism it is a mess, each denomination interpret their bible in their own way and no true unity btw them, each claim they are right and know how to read the bible best, this open up to false teaching and invite wolves into the churches.

so how does one find truth in Christianity. i don't deny the authority of the bible but i'm interested in the correct interpretation of the bible. that being said I've to read the early christian writings, read tons of theologian from different branch of christianity including roman catholic and eastern orthodox, study hard about church history.. right? I was an ostrich I mainly listen to whosoever pastor me in a church, I think it's time for me to do my due diligence. What are some of the advice I can get for those who have went through it?

Click to expand...

You do not sound protestant at all in your OP to be honest because your only using Catholic arguments against Protestants. The protestant reformation only started because the mother Church departed the Word of God in order to follow man made teachings and traditions that were not biblical. We can only know Gods truth by seeking it through his Word and prayerfully asking Jesus to be our guide and teacher and turning away from the teachings and traditions of men and believe God will guide us and teach us as he has promised. All the many versions of Christianity are only fulfillment of prophecy and the very words of Jesus in Matthew 24:24.

Silly Uncle Wayne said:

Churches are only open to false teaching if no-one is prepared to question the teaching received

Click to expand...

That is why the Gospel of the Kingdom was put on the back burner for another, as it would convict those who abandoned the Kingdom of God to rejoin the world of man and build a religion and their own kingdoms accordingly.

Jesusthekingofking said:

so how does one find truth in Christianity. i don't deny the authority of the bible but i'm interested in the correct interpretation of the bible. that being said I've to read the early christian writings, read tons of theologian from different branch of christianity including roman catholic and eastern orthodox, study hard about church history.. right? I was an ostrich I mainly listen to whosoever pastor me in a church, I think it's time for me to do my due diligence. What are some of the advice I can get for those who have went through it?

Click to expand...

The best advice I can give is from James - don't be a wave washed upon the shores of multiple preachers.

30 years of study and I still have loads to learn, but I find myself with a solid core of beliefs and theologies and when I hear something different I take it on board, mull it over and see what it would replace and how it might fit. Sometimes what I hear would fit without losing anything else, sometimes it dislodges something but doesn't affect anything. Most times however if it is new (especially after so long) it would either drastically change everything if I tried to fit it in - like trying to fit a book into the middle of a pile of books without loads of them falling off the pile. It might be possible, but probably not.

In that case it needs to be weighed up - how important are the books that would topple? If you are delving into areas of fundamentals then proceed cautiously and be prepared either to have an avalanche of deeply held beliefs... or reject this new theology for not fitting reasonably into what you have.

So don't reject new teachings out of hand, but don't assimilate them either. Give them time. Gamaliel's advice in Acts 5 is sound too.

I was lucky enough to spend 10 months unemployed over 20 years ago and I used part of the time to study issues that caused me problems - using primarily the Bible (and a few commentaries). That caused the biggest eruptions in my theological framework that I'd ever had (including listening to a lot of false teaching). I came up with some thinking that was unorthodox but felt solved a lot of the problems I had with the theology I had at the time. Two years later I found that I wasn't alone in my thinking and numerous other theologians (including some prominent ones) were thinking along the same lines and had got further than I had.

The other thing to recognise is your own failings and biases. Just because someone disagrees with you does not mean that they are wrong. Listen to them, listen to their spirit and their logic (probably in that order) and be guided by the Holy Spirit into all truth.

God bless your journey.

Jesusthekingofking said:

I was baptised in a protestant church, so my exposure is merely protestant. The problem with protestant is that we the bible only mindset, we are proud of our reformation in the 16th century, and that can makes us bias and willing to open up to the true christianity. The sad part about protestantism it is a mess, each denomination interpret their bible in their own way and no true unity btw them, each claim they are right and know how to read the bible best, this open up to false teaching and invite wolves into the churches.

so how does one find truth in Christianity. i don't deny the authority of the bible but i'm interested in the correct interpretation of the bible. that being said I've to read the early christian writings, read tons of theologian from different branch of christianity including roman catholic and eastern orthodox, study hard about church history.. right? I was an ostrich I mainly listen to whosoever pastor me in a church, I think it's time for me to do my due diligence. What are some of the advice I can get for those who have went through it?

Click to expand...

From my reading of the Roman Catholic Church's history (including Catholic perspectives), and the 95 Theses, the Reformation didn't solve as many of the problems in the church as it aimed to. But many problems that are attributed to the Protestants happened with the Catholics as well, so if Protestant problems distress you, the Catholics won't necessarily relieve you of those problems. That being said, I believe that there are Catholics and Protestants with saving faith.

My father actually had grown up Catholic and studied to be a priest, but he decided that since the Roman Catholic traditions had strayed from the Bible, he'd better go with the Bible instead, and so he never completed that journey. He's firmly Protestant now, but not anti-Catholic like some Protestants are. He knows what Roman Catholicism is, and what it is not. He carried a bit of his Catholic sensibilities with him (i.e. he didn't freak out over the concept of social dancing). I take with me what he taught me growing up. Every doctrine that is held to needs to be justified with Scripture, and no practice must go against Scripture, and there is often more that one way to do what Scripture tells you to do.

Sketcher said:

there is often more that one way to do what Scripture tells you to do.

Click to expand...

Is that applicable to putting the will of God before the will of man? It seems Christianity has found a way to have it both ways.

Jesusthekingofking said:

so how does one find truth in Christianity. i don't deny the authority of the bible but i'm interested in the correct interpretation of the bible.

Click to expand...

I've been there, and many others too concerning being taught by only men. I grew up in a Baptist church and I also faced much there. For many years I wasn't taught who Jesus Christ was, I only knew Him as a man and nothing more. But one day I got very serious about God and Who He is, and I asked Him Who He is and my life changed forever that day.
Follow only what God says and where He leads you. Only He knows what His Word means and can properly translate for us by His Spirit. God has lead me to appropriate pastors online, I've learned the importance of waiting on Him in leading me where I should go.

Albion said:

Haven't you merely decided to accept the claim of the Catholic Church that whatever is said of the church in scripture applies to that particular denomination rather than to some other one?

Click to expand...

It's clear that the answer is "no".

Albion said:

A number of other denominations can and do point to essentially the same information and say, "it's us!"

Click to expand...

I've never heard any of them provide any coherent reasoning for it.

timothyu said:

Is that applicable to putting the will of God before the will of man? It seems Christianity has found a way to have it both ways.

Click to expand...

Well, in general, you trust God and you obey him, always. What that looks like practically speaking can vary. For instance, Jesus said "Do this in remembrance of me." But even Roman Catholic practices of holy communion have varied over the centuries, and may still vary.

ParadiseMkX said:

You should give Eastern Orthodoxy a whirl, their spiel is they're the oldest and bestest too.

Click to expand...

Lots of denominations want to go back to the earliest form of Christianity, but I think it is pretty straightforward that the earliest form of Christianity was between the time of Christ and the inclusion of Gentiles in Acts 10, which was composed entirely of Jews. In Acts 21:20, they were praising God that there were tens of thousands of Jews who were coming to faith who were all zealous for the Mosaic Law, so the earliest form of Christianity was clearly also Torah observant.

As is, the most extroverted of Jews followed Jesus Christ and changed their name to Christian, while the more introverted and cloistered Jews who didn't accept Jesus kept to themselves. Seems to have created an imbalance in that the Christians wound up focusing solely on Jesus with some confusion as to whether he should be worshipped or God, where the Jews created a closed identity primarily around being a totally different chosen people and way more Jewish than the Christians.

Click to expand...

Christ practiced Judaism by living in sinless obedience to the Torah, so Jews who became followers of Christ were not converting to a different religion. Paul never stopped identifying either as a Jew (Act 21:39, 22:3) or as a Pharisee (Acts 23:6). Following Jesus and being set apart have nothing in particular to do with being introverted or extroverted. In Luke 24:52, it records that they worshipped Jesus, so he was worshiped as God hat was pretty clear that he is God from the beginning.

ParadiseMkX said:

Oh, your name isn't Korean, you just don't like Christians very much and are trying to stir the pot. I must be just awful at Christianing since I don't esp care much about any of that at all.

Click to expand...

I haven't made any claims about whether my screen name is Korean, I haven't said anything about not liking Christians, and I am trying to stir the pot, and I said nothing about you being just awful at Christianing. This thread is about the truth of Christianity and the Torah is truth (Psalms 119:142). Jesus set a sinless example for us to follow of how to walk in obedience to the Torah and he did not hypocritically preach something other than what he practice, so we are all free to look at what he taught by word and by example and to seek by faith to follow him.

chilehed said:

It's clear that the answer is "no".

Click to expand...

Obviously, I would have to say, it didn't appear that the answer was indeed "no."

I've never heard any of them provide any coherent reasoning for it.

Click to expand...

Maybe not, but it's so.

zoidar said:

I have found a good basic understanding of the Bible. Do you really need to find the perfect theology? The important thing is to know Christ. I don't think any church out there got it all right. I think you should deepen your relationship with Christ, and see your journey in theology like something interesting, not something you need perfect understanding of. At least this is how I see it. Some basic understanding is of course necessary, but you allready know that.

Click to expand...

I whole heartedly agree with Zoidar. Read your bible. Get on your knees and ask for greater understanding and look at the cross references for other associated scripture. The bible explains itself through the Holy Spirit. With regards to denominations, they are all works of man. Stick to the scriptures in prayer, and what you need will be revealed. God bless.

Jesusthekingofking said:

I was baptised in a protestant church, so my exposure is merely protestant. The problem with protestant is that we the bible only mindset, we are proud of our reformation in the 16th century, and that can makes us bias and willing to open up to the true christianity. The sad part about protestantism it is a mess, each denomination interpret their bible in their own way and no true unity btw them, each claim they are right and know how to read the bible best, this open up to false teaching and invite wolves into the churches.

so how does one find truth in Christianity. i don't deny the authority of the bible but i'm interested in the correct interpretation of the bible. that being said I've to read the early christian writings, read tons of theologian from different branch of christianity including roman catholic and eastern orthodox, study hard about church history.. right? I was an ostrich I mainly listen to whosoever pastor me in a church, I think it's time for me to do my due diligence. What are some of the advice I can get for those who have went through it?

Click to expand...

The answer is finding truth in oneself. It is a shocking realisation everything we experience is filtered by our brains and presented to us in a biased way. How can we be biased against ourselves? Because it is how we stay sane each day, and do what must be done while slowly changing and growing.

And to find out our biggest enemy is ourselves.

Jesus put is like this, "the pure in heart will see God"

It is not so much we cannot achieve this, or see or know it, as will we allow ourselves to go through the place of death to find life, to remove the rose tinted glasses of security and face our pains and struggles, our hiding of the realities to face the truth of what we are and where we are. Like in the matrix, when Neo takes the pill and wakes up, which world was better?

We discover what we value is not quite what we thought, and how to build is not quite the how we expected and who we connect with are not the people we at first recognised.

So asking about truth in Jesus, is actually beginning to ask about the truth within us, and being committed to walk wherever this path leads.

God bless you

Jesusthekingofking said:

I was baptised in a protestant church, so my exposure is merely protestant. The problem with protestant is that we the bible only mindset, we are proud of our reformation in the 16th century, and that can makes us bias and willing to open up to the true christianity. The sad part about protestantism it is a mess, each denomination interpret their bible in their own way and no true unity btw them, each claim they are right and know how to read the bible best, this open up to false teaching and invite wolves into the churches.

so how does one find truth in Christianity. i don't deny the authority of the bible but i'm interested in the correct interpretation of the bible. that being said I've to read the early christian writings, read tons of theologian from different branch of christianity including roman catholic and eastern orthodox, study hard about church history.. right? I was an ostrich I mainly listen to whosoever pastor me in a church, I think it's time for me to do my due diligence. What are some of the advice I can get for those who have went through it?

Click to expand...

What does Paul refer to as "The pillar and foundation of truth"?

concretecamper said:

What does Paul refer to as "The pillar and foundation of truth"?

Click to expand...

Hint: it's not the news media

“It shall greatly help ye to understand the Scriptures if thou mark not
only what is spoken or written, but of whom and to whom, with what
words, at what time, where, to what intent, with what circumstances,
considering what goeth before and what followeth after. ”
― Miles Coverdale (1488-1569)

Also: Take the scriptures for what they say and not try to spiritualize them. Remember that a fisher man with what might be very little formal education was the elected leader after Jesus left. It's not hard and should make sense taken as a whole.

Albion said:

Obviously, I would have to say, it didn't appear that the answer was indeed "no."

Click to expand...

Perhaps not to you. Given that the linked post exhibits an obviously extensive amount of study, the obvious conclusion is that I did much more than merely accept what the Church says. After all, I did it while I was a Protestant attempting to prove that the Church's claims to authority were false.

Albion said:

Maybe not, but it's so.

Click to expand...

It's certainly so that they claim it.

Jesusthekingofking said:

I was baptised in a protestant church, so my exposure is merely protestant. The problem with protestant is that we the bible only mindset, we are proud of our reformation in the 16th century, and that can makes us bias and willing to open up to the true christianity. The sad part about protestantism it is a mess, each denomination interpret their bible in their own way and no true unity btw them, each claim they are right and know how to read the bible best, this open up to false teaching and invite wolves into the churches.

so how does one find truth in Christianity. i don't deny the authority of the bible but i'm interested in the correct interpretation of the bible. that being said I've to read the early christian writings, read tons of theologian from different branch of christianity including roman catholic and eastern orthodox, study hard about church history.. right? I was an ostrich I mainly listen to whosoever pastor me in a church, I think it's time for me to do my due diligence. What are some of the advice I can get for those who have went through it?

Click to expand...

Read it for yourself, and try your best to obey what you learn, praying always that God will put you in contact with other believers who want to do His will.