Does Christianity Confuse the world is it broken?

[Ronit]

Christianity is best approach to by simply reading the Bible with a prayerful attitude and asking God Himself to help you and keep you safe from delusions and heresies.

The fundamentals of the faith do not change and are designed so that even kids can understand it, and if you prayerfully approach the matter, you will always end up in the right place.

Just read the Bible like a six year old, and don't get involved with complicated things.

 

[Ronit]

I agree

 

[Timahani]

The church should not aim to have any particular mix of races and ethnic groups simply in order to cater to "diversity." If all are equal in Christ, the rule should be whoever comes is as welcome as anyone else.

Often, immigrants feel more comfortable worshipping in a congregation that is mainly made up of their own countrymen and, if so, that's fine.

Hi Albion,
So I am not saying that the churches "aim should be to cater to diversity". I am not ignorant to the innate desires of man to be around those in which he shares some form of commonality (that's human nature). However, when you are speaking about God, and HIS CHURCH (THE BODY OF CHRIST). We are to reflect HIS MISSION STATEMENT. and HE said "If I be lifted up I will draw ALL MEN unto me". Galatians 3:28 says that " There is neither Jew nor Greek, male or female, slave or free for you are all ONE in Christ Jesus. So if Christ is saying this , he must have noticed division both racial, class, or cultural divisions. So he must have felt the need to address it!

More importantly,
I am not saying that people cant worship or enjoy their cultural experience. However, those who are involved in the work of Christ, should die to their fleshly desires, and proclaim his gospel. And strive to fullfil the mission of Christ which is not a racially exculusive ministry, but it is a ministry that draws all men unto salvation. We may not succeed but we should strive towards being just like Him.

 

[buzuxi02]

There are sects in every religion. Buddhism is divided up into many "schools" that have nothing to do with each other.
Islam has Sunni, Shiite, Alawhites, Alevism even Druze. The oldest recognized Islamic group in America is the Nation of Islam.
Same with Judaism, Conservative, Reformed, Hasidic, Ethiopian, and a myriad of other Orthodox subgroups. The Orthodox Jews of Israel do not recognize the conservative or reformed or Ethiopians as true jews, etc

 

[Albion]

More importantly,
I am not saying that people cant worship or enjoy their cultural experience. However, those who are involved in the work of Christ, should die to their fleshly desires, and proclaim his gospel. And strive to fullfil the mission of Christ which is not a racially exculusive ministry, but it is a ministry that draws all men unto salvation. We may not succeed but we should strive towards being just like Him.

Hello, Timahani.
We really all seem to be in agreement here. People will worship where they choose and the church welcomes irrespective or race or etc. There's really very little evidence, in any of the major denominations at least, that the church wants to limit converts to any particular ethnic profile or steer them towards one congregation rather than another.

 

[Kit Sigmon]

Hello Christian people,
I have been working with a lot of different people from various cultures. One thing that I really like to watch like on youtube is Christian-muslim debates etc. The one common theme that I hear coming up AGAINST Christianity is that there are too many different philosophies, denominations, Bibles etc. I am Christian 100% and I understand the differences, but do you think other faiths have a point.

Like don't you think that the church should be more unified Like:

Why are there still white, black, Asian, Hispanic, and yes there are multicultural churches.

Why are there so many denominations: Baptist, southern Baptist, independent Baptist, apostolic, united Pentecostal, Pentecostal, Cogic etc.

Why are there so many different versions of the Bible?

Like do you kind of agree with individuals that this can be very confusing to someone who does NOT understand Christianity?

*It doesn't only apply to christianity... I find the english language confusing...
one word can have different meanings...like humble:
the definition of humble

Just a quick note: I do understand that some churches have a larger number of a particular racial group because of music preference, traditions, styles, culture etc. Some Bibles are made to reach individuals who may have a lower or higher reading ability (like Bibles for children) and denominations can be based upon traditional preferences. I think I get it. But could any of you expand on these ideas?

I found this on christianbook.com about Bible translation reading levels:

• KJV — 12
  
  
• RSV — 12
  
  
• NRSV — 11
  
  
• NASB — 11
  
  
• ESV — 10
  
  
• HCSB — 7-8
  
  
• NIV — 7-8
  
  
• CEB — 7
  
  
• CSB — 7
  
  
• NKJV — 7
  
  
• NLT — 6
  
  
• GW — 5
  
  
• Message — 4-5
  
  
• NCV — 3
  
  
• NIrV — 3
  

And here's another article I found about literacy in the US:
Literacy Project Foundation - Home

Different types of muslims: Sunni, Shi'ite, Sufis, Baha'is, Ahmadiyyas, Druze, Alevis, 'Alawis...and they too have different doctrines, philosophies, practices etc.
It's like that in other denominations...I've attended various denominations when I was growing up in the "bible belt" and they believed different things and
or had different bibles.

 

[Monk Brendan]

Prehaps we shouldnt continue, it seems you are looking for a fight and to make me feel bad.

Dear soul, he is not looking for a fight, and neither am I. But to say things like that are first of all, against the CF rules. Secondly, they are inflammatory. If there are Catholics that WORSHIP Mary, they are doing so in spite of the teaching of the Church. You can read the Bible, the Catechism of the Catholic Church and all of the other OFFICIAL teachings of the Church and not find ANYTHING in there about worshiping Mary.

 

[Monk Brendan]

The church should not aim to have any particular mix of races and ethnic groups simply in order to cater to "diversity." If all are equal in Christ, the rule should be whoever comes is as welcome as anyone else.

I know I am going to catch some flack for this, but there are non-white churches where whites are NOT welcome, like that church that Pres. Obama went to in Chicago. I will admit, that is an extreme example.

However, if a black person went into a "white" church, and was not made welcome, the ACLU and everybody in the world would come down on that church like pit bulls.

 

[Light of the East]

Again sorry to have upset you.

Prehaps we shouldnt continue, it seems you are looking for a fight and to make me feel bad.

God bless you my friend

As Monk Brendan said, I am not looking for a fight, and if my post seemed that way, I apologize.

Some things are stated in the Bible quite clearly, in what we call "literal interpretation," such as "Thou shalt not steal." No need to try to figure that one out. But there are other issues which are not quite as clear. Perhaps we could have a nice quiet discussion of the Marian issue away from this thread. I promise I am not a flame-thrower, and as a former Fundamentalist (who absolutely HATED the Catholic faith and its practices) I think I can bring in a certain perspective which you may not have considered yet.

I will start a private conversation. I hope you will join me.

God bless you.

 

[Devin P]

As Monk Brendan said, I am not looking for a fight, and if my post seemed that way, I apologize.

Some things are stated in the Bible quite clearly, in what we call "literal interpretation," such as "Thou shalt not steal." No need to try to figure that one out. But there are other issues which are not quite as clear. Perhaps we could have a nice quiet discussion of the Marian issue away from this thread. I promise I am not a flame-thrower, and as a former Fundamentalist (who absolutely HATED the Catholic faith and its practices) I think I can bring in a certain perspective which you may not have considered yet.

I will start a private conversation. I hope you will join me.

God bless you.

I'm going entirely based off of the quotes, as I couldn't find your conversation in the thread and gave up. So, correct me if I'm wrong, but from what I'm understanding - you feel you have to pray to Mary correct? I might have completely misunderstood that, and if so I apologize. Like I said, I couldn't find the full conversation, and didn't feel like searching for it in it's entirety xD

 

[Devin P]

I know I am going to catch some flack for this, but there are non-white churches where whites are NOT welcome, like that church that Pres. Obama went to in Chicago. I will admit, that is an extreme example.

However, if a black person went into a "white" church, and was not made welcome, the ACLU and everybody in the world would come down on that church like pit bulls.

Absolutely there are. It goes both ways. I wish we could overlook race, but America and it's overbearing media, and it's thought provoking - stealing might even be a better fit - news, and culture as a whole, make us too fixed on it. I honestly think that homeschooling, and removing ourselves from this culture would be the best thing we could do. I wish that we could do what our forefathers did, and renounce America entirely sometimes, or at least the pull that the bankers have on us, so we could reclaim ourselves and restructure the country based on sound morals and judgement as opposed to what it's degenerated into today.

 

[Light of the East]

Light of theEast,

My thread isnt about Catholism vs Protestant. If you would like to spark a debate on that matter you should start up a seperate thread where you can fully address those issues

I have done so.

 

[Light of the East]

I'm going entirely based off of the quotes, as I couldn't find your conversation in the thread and gave up. So, correct me if I'm wrong, but from what I'm understanding - you feel you have to pray to Mary correct? I might have completely misunderstood that, and if so I apologize. Like I said, I couldn't find the full conversation, and didn't feel like searching for it in it's entirety xD

I am going to invite you into the conversation I started with iconoclast. You can find it here:

https://www.christianforums.com/conversations/honor-to-the-virgin-mary.7201024/

Hope you will join me and we can discuss the role of the Theotokos in the Church and why we treat Her as we do. As a former Fundamentalist and convert to the Catholic faith, I feel I can bring in some unique perspective to the conversation.

 

[Monk Brendan]

I wish that we could do what our forefathers did, and renounce America entirely sometimes, or at least the pull that the bankers have on us, so we could reclaim ourselves and restructure the country based on sound morals and judgement as opposed to what it's degenerated into today.

A wonderful idea. But how are you going to be able to defend your land from the first invader who desires that they have it? And in order to defend it, you need guns, etc. Where do you get the money to buy guns and ammo, much less tanks, bombs, even barbed wire?

 

[Devin P]

A wonderful idea. But how are you going to be able to defend your land from the first invader who desires that they have it? And in order to defend it, you need guns, etc. Where do you get the money to buy guns and ammo, much less tanks, bombs, even barbed wire?

"I wish" being the key phrase there.

 

[Devin P]

I am going to invite you into the conversation I started with iconoclast. You can find it here:

https://www.christianforums.com/conversations/honor-to-the-virgin-mary.7201024/

Hope you will join me and we can discuss the role of the Theotokos in the Church and why we treat Her as we do. As a former Fundamentalist and convert to the Catholic faith, I feel I can bring in some unique perspective to the conversation.

It said error and didn't let me through.

 

[Friend-of-Jesus]

Christianity developed in a fractured world - of numerous and often antagonistic kingdoms, cultures, nations, languages, borders etc. Intolerance of other kinds of peoples and worldview. On the contrary, the Muslim world was historically a land of strong and unified empires. The caliphate, the Ottoman Empire etc. Large, but united and uniform territories, highly centralized. Historically, equality as basic value and tolerance to people of other faith.

The Christian and Muslim faiths in themselves are different. Christianity in essence (not the teaching of Christ per se), by nature is a religion of certain limitation. As each particular version of salvation is very complicated matter, dependent on so many factors. In Islam, it's as universal and simple as it can be. Say one phrase and that's it. Then just follow the commandments as best you can. No matter who you are or what you are.

The Christian scripture is a patchwork of wide array of ideas, recorder over thousands of years by many authors from a variety of backgrounds, in several languages and in different contexts. Even the gospels present more or less different versions of what Jesus did and said. The teaching of Jesus in most cases is highly metaphorical. Therefore, the Bible creates infinite possibility for interpretations, sometimes most wildest. As for Islam, the Quran is a product of one man's preaching. It contains a clear and simple message reiterated many times, in one language, in a single style and one context. The essential theology is explained directly and leaves very few doubts as to the biggest questions of man.

Starting from the Roman emperor Constantine, Christianity was shamelessly accepted by rulers and governments as a mere tool to "divide, conquer and subject". Islam was a declaration of supreme authority, to which even the prophets and kings must humbly submit. The Muslim states were built on the backbone of Islamic ideology from the start. In other words, historically, Christianity became a slave to governments, as for Islam, it has been the undisputed holy sacred master of governments.

Despite any ideological differences inside Islam, it has a few foundational and unifying factors. One book, the pilgrimage to the same holy sites, same way of salvation, one basic theology, one method of worship etc. Therefore, the differences in most cases can be disregarded and do not constitute the basis for complete antagonism, as the case in Christianity. There is nothing that unifies Christians at all, not even the figure of Jesus Christ so much. They are different on all planes imaginable. They argue and disagree on just about anything. Oftentimes, denominations on deep analysis prove to be completely separate religions with very few things in common.

The modern-day Christianity (not the teaching of the true Christ) has become a collection of a large number of social, economic, political clubs. It went far astray from its founder's purpose and vision. Islam is still very much a faith as it was intended to be. Faith of a Muslim is clear, strong and sincere. Christians, as a rule, are confused and superficial, if not hypocritical.

In the Christian world today, the prevailing humanistic and materialistic (if not atheistic) ideology has become the de-facto ruling ideology. "Science". and "human rights" are its new god. Christianity exists mostly as an anachronism, being pushed into a limited area of people's thoughts, emotions and deeds. In the Muslim world, Islam is still everything. It encompasses all aspects of life, permeates deep into the soul and the external manifestations of life. Christians prefer the god of humanism where it contradicts Christianity. Muslims prefer the tenets of Islam, where it contradicts the Western humanistic ideas.

 

[Light of the East]

It said error and didn't let me through.

I started another conversation. Try it now.

https://www.christianforums.com/conversations/honoring-the-virgin-mary.7201043/

 

[JESUS=G.O.A.T]

Hello Christian people,
I have been working with a lot of different people from various cultures. One thing that I really like to watch like on youtube is Christian-muslim debates etc. The one common theme that I hear coming up AGAINST Christianity is that there are too many different philosophies, denominations, Bibles etc. I am Christian 100% and I understand the differences, but do you think other faiths have a point. Like don't you think that the church should be more unified Like:

Why are there still white, black, Asian, Hispanic, and yes there are multicultural churches.

Why are there so many denominations: Baptist, southern Baptist, independent Baptist, apostolic, united Pentecostal, Pentecostal, Cogic etc.

Why are there so many different versions of the Bible?

Like do you kind of agree with individuals that this can be very confusing to someone who does NOT understand Christianity?

Just a quick note: I do understand that some churches have a larger number of a particular racial group because of music preference, traditions, styles, culture etc. Some Bibles are made to reach individuals who may have a lower or higher reading ability (like Bibles for children) and denominations can be based upon traditional preferences. I think I get it. But could any of you expand on these ideas?

The difffernt versions are just different translations when it comes to the Bible. Now why there are so many denominations has a lot to do with the persecution of the church in the early on. Truth was sort of lost in a way and revelations about hidden truth caused different denominations to just spout up over time. For example baptist discovered the importance of baptism and Methodist I believe healings or something like that. And yes this can be confusing for a person seeking God even for a Christian it can be

 

[Timahani]

FRIEND OF JESUS,
Your writings seem to convey that the church ( not christ) is a systemic mess in comparison to Islam.Is that what u are trying to state? You refferred to the church as being "materialistic" and the christian people as being "superficial" and "confused". How does this impact your faith and your relationship with God? Do u think other faiths see the "Christian faith" like this as well?