• Starting today August 7th, 2024, in order to post in the Married Couples, Courting Couples, or Singles forums, you will not be allowed to post if you have your Marital status designated as private. Announcements will be made in the respective forums as well but please note that if yours is currently listed as Private, you will need to submit a ticket in the Support Area to have yours changed.

I need help with my faith, please come with an explanation

Status
Not open for further replies.
Mar 7, 2022
12
2
27
Tucson AZ
✟25,202.00
Country
United States
Faith
Traditional. Cath.
Marital Status
Single
 
Upvote 0

didactics

Church History
May 1, 2022
802
141
34
New Bern
✟62,412.00
Country
United States
Gender
Male
Faith
Protestant
Marital Status
Single
@ChristianFriend2023
Can a Christian Be Demon-Possessed?
This is a small read but I recommend it. “Though demons can enter and possess any unbeliever, they cannot enter into the body of those who belong to the Lord. There are a number of reasons why this is so.”

About apparent Bible contradictions, one thing to keep in mind. Instead of asking “Does this fit with reality?” Ask instead, “How does this fit with what I know?” Don’t allow any unresolved question to throw you for a loop. Rest assuredly that God’s Word is inerrant (2 Timothy 3:16-17), and then take your time to resolve those questions through prayer, discernment, reading and studying. Also, try to find a good local church as well.
 
Reactions: EllenCS
Upvote 0
Sep 19, 2022
11
7
48
NC, USA
✟1,188.00
Country
United States
Gender
Male
Faith
Non-Denom
Marital Status
Married
Research "the New Covenant" research how this made the old covenant obsolete.

  1. research the story of Abraham, and its relation to Christ's death at Calvary. Keep your faith in Christ, and the fires will not touch you.
 
Upvote 0
Oct 8, 2022
19
10
85
Seabeck
✟19,003.00
Country
United States
Faith
Baptist
Marital Status
Married
Hi all. I am christian and believer in Christ and been fighting demons some time with paranormal stuff happening to me and still is ( i can hear them and i also recorded them and all my friends and family now believes me when they heard them)

The site you refer to is, from what I can see ..an atheist site. Atheists can off NO answer to what you have been experiencing. First of all, if your problem is real [and I would assume you are convinced it is], you MAY have in fact somehow invited it into your life by some process. Possibly by involving yourself in a dialog with those of the occult which opened the door to invite the demon into your life! Seeking knowledge from spiritualists without Christian guidance is a common error. To reverse the process, when you already believe such a Demon has gained access is beyond the ability of most. You cannot do it alone! I would NOT seek guidance of any sort from an atheist source. First of all they CANNOT believe such an entity exists because they ...by definition believe in NOTHING. Avoid atheists and their resources. Seek refuge in God and Jesus Christ spiritually. To cover all the bases, you MUST make certain you have no medical conditions that might aggravate your situation. IF your primary physician is a Christian [and that IS imperative ...that they be a Christian of faith] ...PLEASE consult your primary physician and discus what you are experiencing and ask them [him or her] what THEY recommend as a course of inquiry. Have faith that "God has your back"! He will NEVER abandon you! You are first a child of God and He loves you and knows your anguish. Prayer will help, but you need Christian support! Seek it out with hope and faith and knowledge that you are seeking help from a LIVING God; the Trinity with an agent: the Holy Spirit ...which and who can aid you in rejecting evil efforts to impact your life. If you have no medical condition that is contributing to what you are experiencing, then seek out a Christian counselor and support group! As I said, AVOID first atheist sources; AVOID cult promoters; AVOID scams that demand money or other remuneration. You have our prayers and support and may God help and support you! John of Seabeck
 
Upvote 0

Valletta

Well-Known Member
Oct 10, 2020
12,296
5,853
Minnesota
✟328,706.00
Country
United States
Gender
Male
Faith
Catholic
Marital Status
Married
It would be best to contact a Catholic priest authorized by the Church in exorcism. They know the questions to ask. In the VAST majority of cases there are no demons.
 
Reactions: EllenCS
Upvote 0

Christine19

Member
Aug 24, 2021
9
12
45
Connecticut
✟24,843.00
Country
United States
Gender
Female
Faith
Non-Denom
Marital Status
Single
Do you have anything in your home that could cause demons to be there?
If you have anything related to the occult or New Age, then you should get rid of those things.
Do you go to a Bible-believing church? Not every church that claims to be Christian preaches the truth.
 
Upvote 0
Jan 29, 2021
19
11
44
Adelaide
✟23,428.00
Country
Australia
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Married
First of all, why did you "have to" go to this site?

Second, we all sometimes don't understand things in scripture. We ask the Holy Spirit to help us, and trust Him to do that. I have had loads of questions answered, but they were usually not answered within a context of a crisis of faith, but because I was talking to my friend and He helped me. He opened up the scripture to me, but yeah, when you ask in an attitude of doubt and/or fear, it is very hard to receive anything from God and you should ask Him to help your unbelief. There is a lot to our relationship with our Creator that we must approach Him from an attitude of childlike humility and trust.

Now, regarding these demonic entities, Jesus handled them on the cross and has given us authority over them, but you must have faith. It can sometimes take time to build that with Him but you may need to ask Him to forgive you if you have sinned - including in your heart and thoughts...and then consider that matter resolved. If you have any unforgiveness, that will be a problem. If you are holding onto fear, that is a doorway as well. The late Russ Dizdar had a site about spiritual warfare, shatterthedarkness.net, and it helped me a lot when I was struggling with my own issues.


In terms of spiritual warfare, you are likely more prone to confusion, despair, doubt because that is exactly what you are dealing with with these manifestations. No offense, but I think that this is fueling a lot of the confusion surrounding these verses. A demonic attack can make itself *feel* so much more powerful and strong, and even just ordinary things can be amped up to the extreme level.

I am not going to answer your question on circumcision or click on those links because, while I understand that this feels very or even extremely important to you, I don't think that this is the root of your issue at all. Answering those questions will not resolve the spiritual attack. I know from experience three things:

When we are spiritually minded, a lot of the issues that atheists, etc bring up tend to be easily answered, and not because somehow we have become smarter, but because a lot of things are hidden from those of a rebellious mindset. God knows the hearts and not everything is as it seems or how our carnal minds like to imagine they "should" be.

Second, because these questions aren't really at the root of the issue, you may get a temporary emotional release when someone answers these questions but more will just come at you a couple days later. The battle is fierce. Any chink in the armor and the enemy will take advantage.

Third, you will likely never have all the answers. No one really does. We are all human and often make mistakes.

That is why your relationship is very important. Ask the Lord to bury your roots deep, and spend time with Him every day. Not from an attitude of doubt. He loves you. Ask Him to help you. Ask Him to give you revelation knowledge on how to fight your spiritual battles. *Love* Him with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and believe Him, because you cannot please God without faith.

I have been in this for almost 30 years. When I was born again, Jesus answered all my questions on scripture within a week. Whether in prayer or something would happen that the answer would come, it would, and then it stopped happening and I didn't know why. Sometimes, things need to change. If I have a sincere question (not from doubt), I sometimes do or don't receive an answer. One time, I had forgotten a question and was praying over something else entirely and He gave me the answer "out of the blue" seemingly.

I have been through a lot but not once has He abandoned me. I am not interested in knowing everything or having everything put together to my intellectual satisfaction or from a place of intellectual pride. I used to be that way. I still enjoy the endeavour of learning and investigating things, but it is still so much *garbage* compared to what is really important. I am more interested in knowing *Him*. God is true and perfect. We are not and get things wrong sometimes, and most definitely I would not take internet links such as you posted to heart. God is good true and perfect. You believe that or you don't. Believe that!



 
Upvote 0

didactics

Church History
May 1, 2022
802
141
34
New Bern
✟62,412.00
Country
United States
Gender
Male
Faith
Protestant
Marital Status
Single
I do think it’s important to reiterate though. Faith and reason work together, they are not at odds with one another. But, I get what you are saying, that not to get too caught up in apologetics only to have no faith. But, it is good to be intellectually minded, only we should balance that with faith and the Christian faith is a reasonable faith. Being intellectually minded therefore is not at odds with being faithful.
 
Reactions: EllenCS
Upvote 0

Roymond

Active Member
Feb 1, 2022
332
122
69
Oregon
✟7,236.00
Country
United States
Gender
Male
Faith
Generic Orthodox Christian
Marital Status
Single

The circumcision "contradiction" isn't even close to one: the audiences and the contexts are different. It's just as if one winter when it's snowing a mother told her kids, "Never go outside without your insulated boots!", and then in the summer she gets them sandals to wear--there's no contradiction, just common use of language and context.

As for those allegedly "damning" contradictions... well, I wrote a bit of an essay--
- = -
Top 20 Most Damning Bible Contradictions
Note: these are the sorts of things that people come up with when (1) they don't grasp that the Bible wasn't written in English like it was a letter to them and (2) don't understand how to read literature. Anyway:

1. Christians sin, just like everyone else (or do they?)
There's a difference between "righteous" and "blameless": "Righteous" indicates never having sinned in either commission or omission; blameless only means that the person's actions were not sinful; it doesn't exclude sin due to failure to do something, only that whatever things the person did were not sin -- or it means that in the sight of the people around them they'd never done anything wrong. Deciding which depends on the context.
As for the 1 John 5 passage, the Greek is ἁμαρτάνει, which any first year Greek student can tell means "keeps on sinning", which indicates that whatever sins a person may have been doing habitually before being born of God they just keep on doing. It also has to be read in context; 1 John 2 already dealt with this:
"My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous", and if that's not clear enough, there's the first chapter:
"If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us."

2. The women spread the word of the empty tomb (or did they?)

An apparent inconsistency is not a contradiction. The different Gospels were written with different people as sources plus different perspectives, so apparent inconsistencies are to be expected -- what would be surprising (and suspicious) would be if there weren't any.

3. All Christians are united in what they believe about Jesus (right?)
This one has to be read in context. Jesus elsewhere said flat out that there would be divisions among those called by His name, with false teachers and false prophets. Again, a failure to understand how to read literature.

4. No one can see God (or can they?)
The Genesis 18 reference actually answers the question if someone is actually reading the text: we find out that God appeared to Abraham as a man, and only later did Abraham realize it was God. That explains the later Exodus reference as well.

5. God’s rules keep changing
This one starts with a lie: nowhere does it say God "tore that one up" -- in fact Paul tells us that it is still in force. Nor does it say that the covenant with Moses was torn up, either -- this is either a flat-out lie or total inability to actually read the source.
"Fulfill" means to complete the requirements for; "abolish" means to do away with the requirements. If you do away with the requirements, you can't fulfill them because they're gone. Jesus is saying that the Law itself stands, but that since He fulfilled it we no longer have to.
And yes, of course fulfilling anything, covenant with God or otherwise, means there's going to be a drastic change. Consider it in terms of a home loan: when you make the final payment, you've fulfilled the contract and you don't have to pay any longer. The contract isn't ripped up, it remains as the evidence that you now own the house. But now that you don't have to make that big monthly payment, things change dramatically, including that you may now be free to make changes you were forbidden to do before!

6. Faith saves (or do works save?)

My older brother the mathematician used to laugh at this claimed contradiction -- he says that in advanced mathematics, there are all sorts of examples where if you try to describe something in plain ordinary language you end up with apparent contradictions. That extends to physics, where the only correct statements about phenomena are the mathematical ones for that very reason: ordinary language fails to be clear because the concepts just don't exist in that language.
The rest, about repentance and baptism first fail to understand ancient thought, though electricity provides a rudimentary illustration: electricity comes through a main line into a building, and electricity comes through the different circuits, and electricity comes when you flip a switch -- these are not contradictory, they're complementary.

7. The different genealogies of Jesus
Here we have a failure on multiple levels. First is how genealogies were treated back then: they could skip generations if one person wasn't worth mentioning, for example if a dynasty of kings accomplished the construction of a canal network and a couple of kings in that dynasty didn't contribute to the canal network an ancient writer could just leave them out, skipping those generations entirely because they weren't "part of the program". A second is that there were two types of genealogies, a blood genealogy and a legal genealogy. Further, while a legal genealogy tended to be traced through the father or adoptive father, a blood genealogy could follow either line. For that matter, things can happen like in my family tree that at some point two branches which had split become joined again by marriage or adoption, leaving two different ways to trace the intervening generations (which might even be different in number; on one branch of my family tree one line covered four generations while another covered six, and a guy from the first married a gal from the second [they were like fourth cousins twice removed, so no bog deal {the fun part was that they didn't realize they were distant cousins till after they were married}]).
As for "the incompatible clash of two ideas", that's based on a common error, the fallacy of replacing them meaning of what you're discussing with your own meaning -- all you get is gibberish.

8. Does God prevent harm to good Christians?
This one involves the failure of ordinary language to communicate critical truths, but it also involves a method of teaching that was common in the ancient world clear back in the time of Moses and continued even to the time of Alexander the Great, especially among the Jews among whom it became a bit of a rabbinic tradition, a method called "teaching by contradiction", where two (or more) assertions about a given topic are made which on their face are contradictory, and the point is that the student is supposed to figure out why it isn't really a contradiction [a classic example is the so-called second commandment saying "Don't make graven images", but then when God gives the instructions for building the Tabernacle and later when Solomon builds the Temple, both of these places of worship are described as having carved and cast and engraved images! The lesson is actually pretty obvious: don't make images for the purpose of worshipping them].
So there's a lesson in this apparent contradiction, one that can be figured out if you stop to think that Jesus on the Cross was God nailed to wood.

9. When is the End?
Of first importance here, the End Times began with the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple.
Secondly, not being surprised doesn't mean knowing when something is going to happen. A great example is the eruption of Mount Saint Helens: when it erupted, it wasn't a surprise at all to the geologists who'd been watching it because they knew it was coming -- but they didn't know when; at the time that the one professor was in the area doing some research and ended up giving the first warning that it was happening (just before the pyroclastic flow killed him) the forecast was that it could happen anywhere between the next moment to several months.

10. Jesus finds a new home for Mary. But why?

We don't know enough on this. First, the word for "brothers" here can include cousins; second, some have suggested that Joseph had children from a previous marriage, and others have suggested the two of them adopted children. All we know is that whatever situation applied, Jesus wanted John to take care of her [one interesting proposal is that this "disciple He loved" was a different John than the Apostle -- there are indications in the Gospel that this John was a younger man who lived in Jerusalem, and if that is true the point may have been that Mary would be remaining in Jerusalem].

That's half of this list of twenty supposedly devastating contradictions; of the rest the only even interesting ones are what day Jesus was crucified on and what's been called "the problem of prayer". Some of these others involve 'conclusions' from scholars who deliberately set out to try to find problems and end up ignoring the fact that they're dealing with ancient literature written under ancient worldviews (like the claim that in Mark's Gospel "[Jesus] becomes divine with his baptism" -- an assertion demolished by the early church Fathers many centuries ago.

So there's nothing of value in these except the two I mentioned just above, and even those are not "damning Bible contradictions", they're interesting puzzles.
- = -

In short there's nothing here but shallow-reading foolishness, nothing to get disturbed about.

I'll put the bit about demons in a separate answer.
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0

Roymond

Active Member
Feb 1, 2022
332
122
69
Oregon
✟7,236.00
Country
United States
Gender
Male
Faith
Generic Orthodox Christian
Marital Status
Single
Hi all. I am christian and believer in Christ and been fighting demons some time with paranormal stuff happening to me and still is ( i can hear them and i also recorded them and all my friends and family now believes me when they heard them)

I'm going to assume you were baptized in the Triune Name, since otherwise you need to get that taken care of!

Baptism is something God does to us -- Paul tells us some of the things God does in baptism in Romans 6. Since it's a gift from God, it isn't just some ceremony, it's both a binding contract and a means of grace. Both of those qualities make your Baptism into a weapon against the Evil One and his minions, because in the view from eternity you are still surrounded by those waters -- and those waters have the Name of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit in them, attached to them, and they also, according to Paul, put us "in" Christ Jesus (don't sweat the geometry there, it goes by Heaven's rules). So in relation to the Evil One, you are surrounded by waters that make you "in" Christ and that surround you with the Name of God!

How is this a weapon? In the same way that ancient castles were weapons: they were fortresses that allowed them to keep all enemies outside. Your Baptism does the same, but just as a castle had to close its gates to keep the enemy out, so you have to remember that your Baptism is a mighty fortress. In practice this comes down to telling yourself -- and Satan at the same time -- that you are in Christ, a new creation, surrounded by eternal holy waters that the Evil One cannot cross! and calmly say, "The Lord rebuke you!" to the minions of evil.

And that word "cross" is quite appropriate because when you claim that mighty fortress what Satan immediately has to face is the Cross, the thing that he was absolutely certain would be his victory but turned out to be the "championship" win by Jesus. That Cross is the one thing he truly fears, not just because there he (and his friends Death and Corruption) was defeated but because he is incapable of understanding how the death of the Son of God was a victory over him. We speak of the dear of the unknown; here is a terror of the not understood, because he was beaten when everything he knew and still knows said he won.

So keep your Baptism and the Cross in mind, and the Evil One will be balked.

- = -

I'm hoping you're part of an apostolic church, by which I mean one that adheres to the Nicene Creed and upholds the sacraments. I already talked of Baptism, the sacrament which sets the contract God swore to honor, and how Satan rightly fears it (and hates it when you remember it!), but the one called the Sacrament of the Altar, the "Great Sacrament", and the Sacrament of the Incarnation, commonly referred to as the Lord's Supper, often as the Eucharist, is also a major weapon, because in it Jesus gives us His True Body and His True Blood, the very things broken and shed on the Cross for us, and those are a terror to the Evil One because in them, in the breaking of the bread and drinking of the wine, Jesus is just as present with us as He was with the Apostles when He came to them after the Resurrection (not in the same way, but just as real). Ever since Jesus shed His Blood as His Body was broken on the Cross, the Evil One cannot abide the presence of our Savior, and he knows that when the words of Jesus are spoken again, "This is My Body which is broken for you", and "This is My blood of the New Convenant, shed for you", he has to retreat as though he was a human standing naked in front of a blast furnace (he knows, as the scripture writer said, that our God is a consuming fire, and he has no wish to get burnt before the final Judgment!).

So believe that Jesus meant what He said, and participate in the Eucharist often, clinging to Jesus Who will rebuke the Evil One for you. And just as when God said "Let there be light!" and there was light, so when the Savior said, "This is My Body", "This is My Blood" the bread and wine become the Body and Blood for us, when Jesus rebukes the Devil the Devil is thrown back.
 
Upvote 0

Roymond

Active Member
Feb 1, 2022
332
122
69
Oregon
✟7,236.00
Country
United States
Gender
Male
Faith
Generic Orthodox Christian
Marital Status
Single

I have yet to see a claimed "contradiction" that wasn't dealt with thoroughly by the church Fathers, except some that depend on knowledge we have that they didn't -- and even those can be fielded using the same principles they applied.
 
Upvote 0

Roymond

Active Member
Feb 1, 2022
332
122
69
Oregon
✟7,236.00
Country
United States
Gender
Male
Faith
Generic Orthodox Christian
Marital Status
Single

Actually the Apostles said Baptism was the sign; as Paul explains, faith was required in circumcision just as in Baptism.
 
Upvote 0

Roymond

Active Member
Feb 1, 2022
332
122
69
Oregon
✟7,236.00
Country
United States
Gender
Male
Faith
Generic Orthodox Christian
Marital Status
Single
Please explain why it is impossible for both theives to revile Jesus, but for one of them to change his mind?

That's a great point. One of the efforts in the early church to blend all four Gospels together helps with that in the way it puts the repentance of one thief among the words Jesus spoke from the Cross; I don't remember the exact order, but we know that Jesus said, "Father, forgive them", before the thief spoke to Him, and that all by itself would be enough to send a thief's mind spinning: here a man who was at least a prophet is asking God to forgive His murderers! And claiming God as His Father! So certainly there had to
be room to forgive a mere thief!

We can understand it simply from our own experience: we all get angry sometimes and lash out, then start thinking about why we are angry, and things start to make sense and the anger just fades away. SO claiming this is a contradiction actually just contradicts common human experience.
 
Upvote 0

Roymond

Active Member
Feb 1, 2022
332
122
69
Oregon
✟7,236.00
Country
United States
Gender
Male
Faith
Generic Orthodox Christian
Marital Status
Single
You realize that site is purposefully made by atheists in attempts to make the Bible look as stupid as possible?

And doing that by acting as stupid as possible.

Seriously, kids in confirmation classes have seen through most of these!
 
Upvote 0

Roymond

Active Member
Feb 1, 2022
332
122
69
Oregon
✟7,236.00
Country
United States
Gender
Male
Faith
Generic Orthodox Christian
Marital Status
Single

I like the way a Lutheran pastor once put it: the believer is surrounded by the moat of Baptism; the evil cannot swim it, but he can stand on the opposite side and throw things!
 
Upvote 0

Roymond

Active Member
Feb 1, 2022
332
122
69
Oregon
✟7,236.00
Country
United States
Gender
Male
Faith
Generic Orthodox Christian
Marital Status
Single

According to a Greek Orthodox priest I knew, there's a difference between demon possession, which can't happen to the baptized believer, and demon oppression, which can. To the one suffering it may not seem a useful difference, but as a Russian Orthodox priest who has assisted at exorcisms said, to the exorcist it makes a significant difference: with possession, an exorcism is necessary; with oppression, along with other Christians a believer can fight free.
 
Reactions: EllenCS
Upvote 0

LesSme

Active Member
Aug 19, 2022
109
70
SF Bay Area
✟44,614.00
Country
United States
Gender
Female
Faith
Lutheran
Marital Status
Single
Hello friend,

I’m glad to see you’ve received so many doctrinally sound responses to your questions about circumcision.

However, I haven’t seen any with respect to your occult experimentation. I urge you to cease with your recordings if you are still making them and to destroy any still in your possession. These activities are strictly forbidden by Scripture and will burden and cause us to suffer.
 
Upvote 0
Sep 19, 2022
11
7
48
NC, USA
✟1,188.00
Country
United States
Gender
Male
Faith
Non-Denom
Marital Status
Married

Right, so you and you alone know the words of God, how it is heard, and what it means...... I get it. What a false, unusable, jerk off. Stay away from this idiot
 
Upvote 0

ChocolateSquare

New Member
Jul 30, 2022
2
0
36
California
✟23,102.00
Country
United States
Gender
Female
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Married
It sounds like you have a lot of questions about the Bible, and I think it would help to listen to a really respected apologist. Check out Sean McDowell's YouTube channel. He has a lot of great videos answering all of the tough questions. He's also on Twitter and Instagram. Here's a quick video of his about contradictions in the Bible:

Sean McDowell on Instagram: "How do I respond to contradictions in the Bible? Check out https://seanmcdowell.org/books for my new book that talks about this topic and other hot button issues in todays culture! Follow me @seanmcdowell where I post Biblical discussion and questions. #Bibletalk #Bibletruths #biblestories #christianbook #christianleadership #christianyouth #christiancreatives #biblelife #scripturesunday #dailybibleverses #memorizescripture #bibleversechallenge #christiancontent #christianlifestyle #everythingchristian #biblicalliving #biblegram #Bibletruth #bibletime #biblescriptures #Bibleversesoftheday #bibleversesdaily #Bibletruth #biblereading #Bibleversedaily #scripturestudy #christianapologetics #scriptureoftheday #Biblescripture #Biblereading"

For the demons you're facing, I'd encourage you to have a fellow believer or pastor lay hands on you and pray for you. You might even want to talk to a Christian counselor because it might have something to do with your past and a demonic activity you participated in that you need healing for and a safe place to process those memories.

Check out www.faithfulcounseling.com/christianforums
 
Upvote 0
Status
Not open for further replies.