Help me understand Christianity please

[A Guidance Without Doubt]

Hi all
I was thinking that I need to know Christianity better in the eyes of christians
so I have questions that i cant find answers too ,so help me out please

here I go:

1- Why the Cross is so important ? didn't Jesus get crucified on it ? did that hurt him ? and if yes shouldn't we hate the Cross ?

2- If God like to have a sons, why only one ? and why kill him later ?

3- If God like to have a son, why cant priest get marry and have sons ?

4- why did God punished Jesus ( or himself ) for the inquity of adam, but said in bible: The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son !!

5- couldn't God just forgive us without sacrificing Jesus ?

6- Jesus lived by the rules of the old testament , why Christians live by it rules?

7- the base of Christianity is to love Jesus , Jesus has beard , why Christians shave their beard?

8- Why is there so many bibles? which one is the right one?

9- if the priest / pope forgive our sins , who forgive their sins ?

10- Did Jesus wanted to be crucified ? if NO is this mean that God is injustice (ista'3fer allah) , if YES why did people say jews killed him ? did they do what he wanted?
and why did jesus shout: "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me"

11- if Jesus is God why didn't he save himself from the crucifixion ?

12- If Jesus is God , why do he need the Ghost (holy spirit) to talk to Jesus? this one is just confusing to read :S

i have more but I'll ask later
thanks all

 

[HumbleSiPilot77]

You posted it in the wrong place, post your questions HERE;

Exploring Christianity - Christian Forums

 

[A Guidance Without Doubt]

thanks bushmaster

 

[ebia]

Hi all
I was thinking that I need to know Christianity better in the eyes of christians
so I have questions that i cant find answers too ,so help me out please

here I go:

1- Why the Cross is so important ? didn't Jesus get crucified on it ? did that hurt him ? and if yes shouldn't we hate the Cross ?

Yes and no.
All suffering is dreadful, but by taking all the world's suffering on himself Jesus did something about it once and for all.

2- If God like to have a sons, why only one ? and why kill him later ?

God didn't kill Jesus.

3- If God like to have a son, why cant priest get marry and have sons ?

They can. Even the RCC recogises that is just a particular discipline of part of the church.

4- why did God punished Jesus ( or himself ) for the inquity of adam, but said in bible: The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son !!

That's the wrong way around of looking at it. Jesus allowed evil to do it's worst to him and thereby defeated it.

5- couldn't God just forgive us without sacrificing Jesus ?

Without dealing with evil forgiveness isn't worth much.

6- Jesus lived by the rules of the old testament , why Christians live by it rules?

Because we live in the New Creation begun on Easter morning.

7- the base of Christianity is to love Jesus , Jesus has beard ,

Did he?

8- Why is there so many bibles?

One each.

which one is the right one?

Translation is an imprecise science. No translation will be a perfect rendition of the original. And there is some discernment to make where the early manuscripts that we have differ slightly.

9- if the priest / pope forgive our sins , who forgive their sins ?

The priest declares God's forgiveness. But even the pope will confess his sins to someone, and as a priest is simply the first among equals.

10- Did Jesus wanted to be crucified ? if NO is this mean that God is injustice (ista'3fer allah) , if YES why did people say jews killed him ? did they do what he wanted?
and why did jesus shout: "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me"

Depends what you mean by the question. He understood that it was necessary, that it was his vocation to go through with it. But at a personal level he would rather not have had to.

11- if Jesus is God why didn't he save himself from the crucifixion ?

Because he understood that it was a necessary part of God's plan to deal with evil.

12- If Jesus is God , why do he need the Ghost (holy spirit) to talk to Jesus? this one is just confusing to read :S

Because sometimes we can't put into words what needs to be said.

 

[Gardenia]

7- the base of Christianity is to love Jesus , Jesus has beard , why Christians shave their beard?

I must admit, this is a really strange question.. Did he have a beard, and if he did.. well... SO? This especially makes no sense considering your wording of the question. Just because we love someone, we must look exactly as they do? Why? Now, had you said he had a beard and Christians are suppose to be like Jesus.. alright, but even then while Christians are called to be Christ-like, I highly doubt God had such a shallow idea of just what that means..
(Edit: The fact that some Christians do have beards, aside..)

 

[Snowcaps3]

Hello! I saw your post, and I hope that some of my answers will help you understand Christianity a little better.
I think it’s important to first explain the difference between protestant Christianity and Catholicism, because they each have very different theologies about God and Christ.
Here are the basic beliefs of Protestant Christianity:
We are all fallen people, no one can deny that. There is hurt, pain, and sin in the world, and God in His love sought a way to save us.
In the Old Testament, people used to sacrifice the blood of animals to atone for sin. However, God sought a better way to save us from our sins in Jesus.
To fully show His love to us, God went down to earth in the form of Jesus, a human like us, to suffer and die on the cross. He was buried in a tomb and rose from the dead three days later. By doing this Jesus showed that He has power over death and the authority to give people eternal life in heaven after we die here on earth.
Jesus willingly died for us. At any moment He could have had the authority to stop everything, but He in His powerful love wanted to go through physical torture to save us, because He loves us. Jesus wanted to save us. "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." —Romans 5:8 (NIV)
The cross is symbolic in our faith- it reminds us not only of Jesus’ death, but life! He rose from the dead and saved us from our sins! When we look at the cross, we are reminded of His love and great sacrifice for us.
It is impossible for us to save ourselves- but God in His grace willingly allows us to come to Him in prayer. We don’t have to work towards God’s love at all- He provides it for free! "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast." —Ephesians 2:8-9 (NIV)
To accept Jesus’ saving gift, we pray and ask Him to save us. We tell God that we believe in Him and that we believe He sent His son Jesus to die for us, and we accept that into our lives. Since I made the decision to follow Jesus, I have not once regretted it. It has filled my life with so much peace, and to know that God loves me is the most amazing feeling.
For more information about the life of Jesus, I would highly recommend reading the book of John in the New Testament, which explains the life of Jesus in detail.
So, I hope this answers at least most of your questions. If you have any more, please let me know!
-Sam
(By the way, Protestant Christians do not have priests, popes, or nuns- instead, we have pastors, who are allowed to marry. Priests, as part of the catholic faith, are supposed to intercede between God and man. However, protestant Christians believe that we don’t need priests or popes because Jesus was already the great interceder.)
These may also help:
Understanding Christianity .org
Act now. com . au /issues /understanding Christianity .aspx

 

[MorkandMindy]

Hi all
I was thinking that I need to know Christianity better in the eyes of Christians
so I have questions that I can’t find answers to, so help me out please

here I go:

1- Why the Cross is so important? didn't Jesus get crucified on it? did that hurt him? and if yes shouldn't we hate the Cross?

The answer I was given is that Christianity is victory over death, so it is more of a victory symbol, and also it is a sign of love to be willing to go through such a painful ordeal to save man from our sins.

2- If God like to have a sons, why only one? and why kill him later?

The doctrine of the Trinity is that God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit, so it is not an issue of choice nor is having several sons a possibility.

3- If God like to have a son, why cant priest get marry and have sons ?

This is a practical issue; the Roman Catholic Church has decided to stay with male priests only and they are not allowed to marry. The reasons are that according to the Old Testament only men can be priests, and St. Paul said he would not permit a woman to teach. Other Christian denominations have different practices.

4- why did God punished Jesus ( or himself ) for the iniquity of Adam, but said in bible: The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son !!

Sorry, I don’t understand that one either.

5- couldn't God just forgive us without sacrificing Jesus?

I was told that disobedience must have a price, and sin likewise, and there is a price to pay for sin that we couldn't afford so God paid it himself.

6- Jesus lived by the rules of the Old Testament, why don’t Christians live by it rules?

Acts 15, I think the general idea is the rituals followed by the ancient Jews were a foretaste of things to come but now that the real sacrifice had been completed no further Temple sacrifices where of any value, and circumcision of the heart had superceeded circumcision of the body. Basically there was no need for the rituals now that the real thing was here.

7- the base of Christianity is to love Jesus , Jesus has beard , why Christians shave their beard?

Again Jesus was within the old order, but his death was the death of the old order, and from then on the Christians were not bound by the Old Testament rules on growing beards.

8- Why is there so many bibles? which one is the right one?

According to AV1611VET it is the King James. There is a feeling that God would protect His word and not let so many people go astray as a result of copying errors in the early manuscripts, that if we have early manuscripts that say strange things, then there are faults in those rather than the words we have now.

9- if the priest / pope forgive our sins, who forgive their sins?

I think he is stating that as a result of the penitance he has seen, the people’s sins have been forgiven, it is a declaration rather than an action. About half of Christians are not Roman Catholic and have different beliefs on the forgiveness of sins.

10- Did Jesus wanted to be crucified ? if NO is this mean that God is injustice (ista'3fer allah) , if YES why did people say jews killed him ? did they do what he wanted?

The Roman Catholic Church changed it’s anti Jewish stance in the 1960s and removed the charge they had proclaimed against the Jews as the killers of Christ. Protestants had long accepted that if it was God’s plan then the people used as instruments had little choice in the matter. Although there is the ‘woe by him whom these things happen’ that is considered to apply to Judas alone and not the whole Jewish people.

and why did jesus shout: "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me"

Again I think the usual answer would be that at that moment he took the sin of the World and since God can not look upon sin he was therefore for a time cut off from God the Father.

11- if Jesus is God why didn't he save himself from the crucifixion ?

Choice. There are times when to help another a person will do something they really don’t want to do, such as donate a kidney.

12- If Jesus is God, why do he need the Ghost (Holy Spirit) to talk to Jesus? This one is just confusing to read: S

All who live in God live in Spirit and Truth, the Holy Spirit is the part of God that empowers and gives wisdom. It isn’t meaningful to talk about the Holy Spirit as separate from the Father because they are not entirely different or totally separable, any more than water and wetness are.


I have more but I'll ask later thanks all

I hope that helped.

Overall I would like Muslims, Christians and Jews to understand each other more, just as you are doing, because there are enough problems in the World and we do need to help each other.

cheers, Mork of MorkandMindy

 

[MorkandMindy]

I've done my best to give the best possible or most convincing answers to each of the questions.

For Q4 I was unable to provide one, and recall that C. S. Lewis in his Narnia allegory to the gospels was also unable to explain the exact meaning of the crucifixion as a substitutionary atonement.

I guess the best that could be said for Q4 would be that it is something man can not understand and only God understands

 

[MorkandMindy]

I’ve done my best but ultimately there is the problem that Christianity is a religion.

To get around Q4 I had to say ‘only God understands this’; in other words I can’t get it to make any sense. There is a violation of logic and we have to allow religions to do that.

And it is also, as AV1611VET has found, absolutely necessary to also allow religions to violate science.

And geology and history

 

[Tinker Grey]

Just for the exercise of it, I will reply. I was a Christian for the vast majority of my life.

1- Why the Cross is so important ? didn't Jesus get crucified on it ? did that hurt him ? and if yes shouldn't we hate the Cross ?

In some sense, you are correct. Lenny Bruce (a comedian who died some 30 years ago) said that if Jesus had been executed in the 1950s, little catholic school children would be walking around with little electric chairs around their necks.

1st, it is something of human nature to turn that which is opprobrium into something of honor. Another example is the term Yankee. During America's revolutionary war (late 18th century), the British referred to the colonists as Yankees as a term of derision. It was turned into a badge of honor, and today we have a baseball team called the Yankees.

2nd, the cross, for all its evil, was the instrument of our salvation. So as much as it might be hated, it is nevertheless the symbol of salvation.

2- If God like to have a sons, why only one ? and why kill him later ?

The Christian position isn't that God liked to have sons, but rather that Jesus is co-eternal with the father. Christians call him eternally begotten of the father, meaning more that his existence stems from the father and has forever.

The physical Jesus was the incarnation of God. It was the installing of the second person of the trinity into a human.

Why kill him? God, including the eternal Jesus, knew that salvation was dependent on God's own action. Also, being all-knowing, they knew that this (death) wasn't a permanent condition.

Why this should be necessary is perpetually debated. A simple answer is that there is something about who God is that constrains him logically about how he could implement salvation.

3- If God like to have a son, why cant priest get marry and have sons ?

There is a very small percentage of priests that are married. Some of them are converts from the orthodox church. The general rule, if my recollection of church history serves, stems from abuses of the priesthood caused (IIRC) Pope Gregory I (Gregory the Great) to mandate celibacy.

4- why did God punished Jesus ( or himself ) for the inquity of adam, but said in bible: The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son !!

Jesus is a direct child of God and is not descended (in his paternal line) from Adam. Thus the view is that God intervened in human affairs to mitigate his own necessary laws--not that a son was being punished for the sins of the father.

Besides, the law referred to is mandated to humans. Elsewhere, God said he would do exactly that--visit the sins of the father on the children even to the third and fourth generations.

5-

couldn't God just forgive us without sacrificing Jesus ?

Good question.

6- Jesus lived by the rules of the old testament , why Christians live by it rules?

Jesus fulfilled the law, therefore we are no longer under the law. Jesus brought salvation, therefore those aspects of the law that were symbolic of the coming salvation are irrelevant.

7- the base of Christianity is to love Jesus , Jesus has beard , why Christians shave their beard?

Some do, some don't. There is no general rule. The Jews of the first century wore robes; we don't.

8- Why is there so many bibles? which one is the right one?

The autographs (the original writings) are the right one. Unfortunately, we have none of them.

There are so many, because so many people feel that they've got a clearer way of communicating what God intended.

9- if the priest / pope forgive our sins , who forgive their sins ?

Priests don't forgive sins, per se. They communicate God's forgiveness to man. Each priest including the pope confesses to another priest.

10- Did Jesus wanted to be crucified ? if NO is this mean that God is injustice (ista'3fer allah) , if YES why did people say jews killed him ? did they do what he wanted?
and why did jesus shout: "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me"

Jesus was willing to die--to obey the father's will. This might be likened to a soldier charging a hill--willing and perhaps knowing that he/she will not survive.

WRT Jesus' utterance, one theory is that part of bearing the burden of sin of the world was to have his father, who cannot bear unholiness, turn away from him.

11- if Jesus is God why didn't he save himself from the crucifixion ?

To turn away would be to deny mankind salvation--the very purpose of his coming.

12- If Jesus is God , why do he need the Ghost (holy spirit) to talk to Jesus? this one is just confusing to read :S

We do not need the Holy Spirit to talk to God anymore that God's followers prior to Jesus' incarnation needed the Holy Spirit to talk to God.

The function of the Holy Spirit is as a guidance counselor.

HTH

 

[Glorthac]

"why did God punished Jesus ( or himself ) for the iniquity of Adam, but said in bible: The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son !!"

You quoted Ezekiel 18:20, and if you read Ezekiel 18 completely, you would realize that Ezekiel 18 is telling the Jews not to put a son to death for his father's sins. However, it doesn't say whether or not God will do so.

There are places where God says He does punish sons for their fathers sins, like in Exodus 20:5:
"You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me,

The reason why God punishes children for the sins of their parents is because it hurts the parents. However, God has the right to punish the children anyway, because He is God, He can do whatever He wants with His creation.

Now, God chose to punish Jesus in the place of others because He wanted to save us. You can't tell God not to sacrifice Jesus, can you?

 

[MorkandMindy]

I’ve done my best but ultimately there is the problem that Christianity is a religion.

To get around Q4 I had to say ‘only God understands this’; in other words I can’t get it to make any sense. There is a violation of logic and we have to allow religions to do that.

And it is also, as AV1611VET has found, absolutely necessary to also allow religions to violate science.

And geology and history

...

The reason why God punishes children for the sins of their parents is because it hurts the parents. However, God has the right to punish the children anyway, because He is God, He can do whatever He wants with His creation. ...

and ethics and morality