Help me become a christian

[Calminian]

How do they conflict with any of the core ideas of your religion? The Catholic Church has accepted evolution as a workable scientific answer to scientific questions for years, probably even decades. No conflict here.

I was thinking the same thing. Of all the denominations that attempt to fit Genesis in with modern scientific theory, Catholicism is at the forefront. What catholic school did you go to that taught early dinosaurs, a six day creation and condemned the Big Bang and Evolution? Is there a movement I'm not aware of?

 

[rusmeister]

Don't know if you're still reading this thread, but the questions about creation, etc, aren't nearly as important as to whether Christianity is true, and in fact, focusing on those questions will never bring you to any point of conviction (if you are indeed looking for truth).

Reason is one good path to faith (although personal experience is good, too). We can't help you much with personal experience, but with reason we can. I can't think of better than to recommend C. S. Lewis. He demonstrates that Christianity is a rational possibility, exposing most arguments for atheism as straw men, worthy of second-graders. For simpler stuff, try "The Screwtape Letters" (for an entertaining approach) or "Mere Christianity" (for a more serious approach). If you really want to play hardball and can handle his complexity, try "Miracles" or his short essays (a collection can be found called "The Seeing Eye").

I read some of his stuff and realized I had to stop playing around with agnosticism, and became Orthodox Christian!

If it's true, you need to act on it. If it's not, don't waste your time on it. But seek out the best defenders of the faith you wish to question. Most atheists/agnostics have straw-man arguments in their heads, which they easily defeat with "superior reason" and don't really trouble themselves to find out what Christianity REALLY teaches.

 

[GreenLeader]

Hello Sesjus_22:

You see, the teachings that they give me in school seem, to me, to conflict with everything i learn in church, from my parents, etc. Dinosaurs? The universe's expansion? Big bang? Evolution? They all seem to conflict with the core ideas of my religion, and thus i have come here to request that someone explain to me how such ideas can be incorporated into my religion.

Have you ever thought that those ideas may be false or are compatible with your faith? For example, I believe that dinosaurs are mentioned in the Bible in several places! There is much evidence to suggest that humans have actually lived and walked with dinosaurs, for more information, please the chapter from the Updated & Expanded Answers Book that talks about dinosaurs <answersingenesis.org/home/Area/AnswersBook/dinosaurs19.asp> or Answers In Genesis' Dinosaurs Q&A section.

As for the redshift of starlight, please see the article Doppler toppler? by Michael Oord <answersingenesis.org/tj/v14/i3/doppler.asp> for a different interpretation of the evidence by Halton Arp (who is not a creationist by the way) or the section from Astronomy and the Bible <answersingenesis.org/Docs/399.asp#66> that gives four possible interpretations of the redshift of starlight evidence before closing with the comment:

"Any of these four explanations, alone or in combination, may be responsible for red-shift. We do not know enough about space to be certain of the source of stellar red-shift."

One 'new' theory about how we can see stars that are millions of lightyears away in a young universe by Dr Russell Humphreys in his book Starlight and Time appears to explain both the redshift of starlight and the microwave background radiation, please see <answersingenesis.org/docs/267.asp>.

The big bang also is not as strong as you may think, it has many problems that must still be sorted out, take for example its light-travel time problem <answersingenesis.org/creation/v25/i4/lighttravel.asp> among many others available at <answersingenesis.org/home/area/faq/astronomy.asp>.

Since what you learn at school will be covering a wide range of areas ranging from fossils through to mutations and so on, I suggest that you look at Answers In Genesis' Questions and Answers section of their website <answersingenesis.org/home/area/qa.asp> and then select the category that something may fit in and see what they say about it. If they do not mention anything about a certain evidence, then write to them and question them about it. They'll usually get back to you within two weeks or so.

The really exciting thing about Christianity is that it is defendable and reasonable! There are answers out there! You'll notice that I've given you a lot of links (just copy and paste them into your browser's address bar) to Answers In Genesis, that is because they are the primary Christian apologetics site that I know of and provide great material. Another one is the Institute for Creation Research <icr.org>.

As for evidence that Jesus is alive, consider the following that I posted in another thread:

I would advise you to read Lee Strobel's book The Case For Christ, Josh McDowell's Evidence That Demands a Verdict, some information from Answers In Genesis <answersingenesis.org> and their books, such as their Updated & Expanded Answers Book that is available on their website <answersingenesis.org/Home/Area/AnswersBook/index.asp> free of charge, among a wealth of other Christian books out there.

Other books in which Christians recount their amazing lives and testamonies are awe-inspiring and very strong proof that God is alive and still working in their lives, take for example Brother Yun's book The Heavenly Man, or Michelle Hamilton-Gregory's story outlined in A Mighty Temptest. Even less-'amazing' testamonies like how drunkards and prostitutes have turned their lives around is evidence that God's Word is working in their lives. Pitcairn's Islands with the HMS Bounty is another example of just how much the Bible's message can transform depravity into good, as is the transformation of the former blood-thirsty barbarians of the British Isles to decency further illustrates.

Even just consider the whole issue logically. How is it that if Jesus were not crucified (as the Qur'an claims) that the Gospel made such an impact on the world? Pilate or any of the other religious people - heck, even the ordinary bloke out on the street - could simply respond to the disciples saying that no such thing ever happened and ignore their message as they already know it to be false. The Gospel of Luke gives the impression that this event of Jesus' death was well known to practically everyone in Jerusalem (Luke 24:18). It is logical susicide to suggest that they could have pulled off such a lie as effecetively as they did.

Further more, since Jesus was crucified on the cross, then where is His body? The religious leaders and the Romans had every reason to produce the body if they had it and if it really were in the tomb as they would have destroyed the new faith before it even started!

Then you also have to consider the disciples and apostles themselves. In John 20:19 we read of a bunch of cowards, who were to afraid and embarrassed to even go outside for fear of the Jewish authorities let alone preach to thousands. Something must have happened to them such that Peter on the day of Pentecost got up and spoke authoritively to thousands of people without fear. They were so sure of their faith that they were willing to give up their life for what they believed. Just how exactly could such strong faith come from disciples who were scared and embarrassed about Jesus' death if nothing else happened? Peter was crucified up-side-down for his faith, while many of the others were brutally martyered for their faith.

Further consider the life of Paul - a young zealous Jewish man who actually thought that he was doing God's will by persecuting the Church! He was content in what he was doing, yet suddenly he changed his views and went from being the hunter to the hunted. Why would Paul who was perfectly happy and content in what he thought was serving God and doing His will suddenly become the very thing that he hated more than anything else if Paul hadn't really seen Jesus? He was so sure of his faith that it led him to his death in 65 AD.

I hope that these resources help you out and regain your trust in God's Word from the very first verse!

 

[Calminian]

Hello Sesjus_22:



Have you ever thought that those ideas may be false or are compatible with your faith? For example, I believe that dinosaurs are mentioned in the Bible in several places! There is much evidence to suggest that humans have actually lived and walked with dinosaurs, for more information, please the chapter from the Updated & Expanded Answers Book that talks about dinosaurs <answersingenesis.org/home/Area/AnswersBook/dinosaurs19.asp> or Answers In Genesis' Dinosaurs Q&A section.

As for the redshift of starlight, please see the article Doppler toppler? by Michael Oord <answersingenesis.org/tj/v14/i3/doppler.asp> for a different interpretation of the evidence by Halton Arp (who is not a creationist by the way) or the section from Astronomy and the Bible <answersingenesis.org/Docs/399.asp#66> that gives four possible interpretations of the redshift of starlight evidence before closing with the comment:

"Any of these four explanations, alone or in combination, may be responsible for red-shift. We do not know enough about space to be certain of the source of stellar red-shift."

One 'new' theory about how we can see stars that are millions of lightyears away in a young universe by Dr Russell Humphreys in his book Starlight and Time appears to explain both the redshift of starlight and the microwave background radiation, please see <answersingenesis.org/docs/267.asp>.

The big bang also is not as strong as you may think, it has many problems that must still be sorted out, take for example its light-travel time problem <answersingenesis.org/creation/v25/i4/lighttravel.asp> among many others available at <answersingenesis.org/home/area/faq/astronomy.asp>.

Since what you learn at school will be covering a wide range of areas ranging from fossils through to mutations and so on, I suggest that you look at Answers In Genesis' Questions and Answers section of their website <answersingenesis.org/home/area/qa.asp> and then select the category that something may fit in and see what they say about it. If they do not mention anything about a certain evidence, then write to them and question them about it. They'll usually get back to you within two weeks or so.

The really exciting thing about Christianity is that it is defendable and reasonable! There are answers out there! You'll notice that I've given you a lot of links (just copy and paste them into your browser's address bar) to Answers In Genesis, that is because they are the primary Christian apologetics site that I know of and provide great material. Another one is the Institute for Creation Research <icr.org>.

As for evidence that Jesus is alive, consider the following that I posted in another thread:

I would second all these recommendations. Answers in Genesis probably has the best website on the net for articles on defending a straightforward exegetical interpretation of Genesis. Any origins subject imaginable has been dealt with in their publications that are all available online. They're staffed not only with qualified scientists, but good theologians as well. This is very important for several reasons.

The origins story in Genesis is basically a story of a creative miracle (several in fact). Miracles and science don't mix well at all. Most scientists will admit that miracles cannot be verified nor falsified by the scientific method as science must always be conducted under the premise of methodological naturalism. Using a naturalistic method alone to investigate supernatural events will obviously not work. AiG understands this issue of presuppositions quite well. There are a few articles I would recommend that are essential to understanding this debate.

Creation: &#8216;where&#8217;s the proof?&#8217;

Methods of the Creator

Feedback
Correcting a severe misconception about the creation model

When you think about it, even miracles like the Resurrection of Christ contradict science. Medical science has pretty well established that these things just don't happen naturally. But that's the point. God is not limited to natural means. He's a miracle working God! Until one really comes to grips with this, the creation debate will be very confusing. Any creation epistemology the excludes miracles cannot be in harmony with the Bible. This is why science alone could never lead to the truth about origins. How could it? Its naturalistic assumptions won't allow for it.

Here's a few more articles related to that issue.

&#8216;It&#8217;s not science&#8217;

Who&#8217;s really pushing &#8216;bad science&#8217;?

Evolution & creation, science & religion, facts & bias

Hope these are helpful.

 

[revmalone]

Hello. I am unsure as to whether this is the appropriate place to post this. Let me introduce you to my problem: while i have been baptised, and raised as a christian, i am finding difficulties coming to terms with my religion. Simply put, i am having problems justifying the feasability of roman catholicism in my head. Now this worries me a lot, and i am in dire need of substaintiating evidence that can help me convince myself that i believe in god. You see, the teachings that they give me in school seem, to me, to conflict with everything i learn in church, from my parents, etc. Dinosaurs? The universe's expansion? Big bang? Evolution? They all seem to conflict with the core ideas of my religion, and thus i have come here to request that someone explain to me how such ideas can be incorporated into my religion.

Please help me restore faith in god.

Greetings

I hate that this is happening for you, but all the science stuff has already been proven wrong by other scientist.

Darwins stuff in the musems on man are fakes and have been discredited thru science and dna studies, but teachers won't tell you these things.

If you teacher is not a Christian then I bet they have a bias against God or any religion.

The real Big bang is God spoke it and bang it happened.

Go to a web site called the way of the master dot com, they have really great stuff that can go into the deep details your in need of.

Don't delay looking this site up.

I'm praying for you.
Peace to all in Christ Jesus
Rev Malone

 

[major_minor]

well and please hear me out BEFORE you buzz me on this next statement.

Quit trying to be Roman Catholic!

Focus on being a follower of God, and the 10 commandments. Love others as yourself, repent of your sins. Be baptised as a profession of your faith in Jesus' name, and seek God first in all you do. Read and pray daily.

THEN, find a church, RCC or otherwise that teaches as the Bible does in your area, and keep walking. Maybe post what state you live and a few cities in that state. See if you can get a list of churches. Pray over that list. Then go!

(Again, a side note: I have NOTHING against the RCC...but it is not to be a focus.) Religion was never meant to detrat much less replace Jesus.