Lots of Doubts, please help me!

Over time, I have been growing more and more drawn to Christianity. However, my big hurdle with allowing myself to really believe is that I don't like religion. I can see that religion has caused to so much pain and suffering in the world and that makes me sad. I would love to learn more about Jesus but I don't fully trust the bible because it was not written by him. It is just a collection of other people's interpretations and beliefs and recollections and I'm not sure what is the truth. People manipulate the truth to their own ends and that is what religion is used for - look at the state of our world today!

I'm sorry, I know I'm rambling but I don't believe that any one religion is right and the others are wrong. I don't believe only one group get to go to heaven and the others that have the 'wrong' religion are going to hell.

I want to believe in God and I want to try to be a good person and learn about Jesus but can I ever be a Christian when I don't believe in everything in the bible?

Have a banana if you managed to read this all the way through!

I'd love some feedback!

Mant thanks.

Sounds like you really want to know God and religion can't answer that cry. Christianity isn't about religion, it's about a personal relationship with God and this relationship can be formed only trough Jesus Christ. Christianity is about Jesus Christ who atoned our sins before God and opened us a way to God.

Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6 This might sound intolerant concerning about other religions but it is the truth.

Well what is a sin? It is a transgression against God and His law and the Bible says the wage of sin is death. Romans 6:23 What Jesus did was that he died for our sins, never sinning himself. God put our sins on His innocent Son so that we might approach holy God. Jesus didn't just die for our sins but rose from the dead to prove everything he said was true.

Well how do you get to know God and Jesus? You have to confess and admid to God that you have sinned (including the unbelief) and ask God to forgive your sins in Jesus name.

You can pray "Dear God, I confess that I have sinned against you , I need your mercy and love. I want you to come into my life and I want to know you more. Take my sins away and give me faith to trust your word. In Jesus' name, amen."

If you pray this from your heart you will become God's child and a Chistian. You can start praying more and study His Word. You can tell God all your worries, hurts and fears. You can pray Him to give your more faith because the faith is a gift of the Holy Spirit, God's third person.

Be blessed!

Hi Pigeon,

Over time, I have been growing more and more drawn to Christianity. However, my big hurdle with allowing myself to really believe is that I don't like religion.
Well, I've been a believer for a long time, and I don't like religion either.

Now, I can see that you what to change your life, and you want to know God, our Lord Jesus Christ, and that's commendable that you have that aching in your heart knowing that God is real.

I can see that religion has caused to so much pain and suffering in the world and that makes me sad.
Yes, that is what happens when man steps in believing that they can do a better job than our Lord Jesus Christ.

Yes, the world has suffered from religion.

But, those who know our Lord Jesus Christ, look over these failings of man, and look toward HIM as our Almight True God, our Lord Jesus Christ.

I would love to learn more about Jesus but I don't fully trust the bible because it was not written by him.
His Word is HIM, and His Word was written by His Inspired Writers and as much as man may have intervened in distorting some of His Words, 90% of the words in His Word are still infallible and true.

It is just a collection of other people's interpretations and beliefs and recollections and I'm not sure what is the truth.
Sadly, those thoughts of yours is a lie-based thoughts that has come from indoctrination by those who are anti-Christian.

In John 8:32 it says that the truth you will know is the truth that will set you free.

There are no interpretations or beliefs, but His Inspired Word given to His inspired writers.

People manipulate the truth to their own ends and that is what religion is used for - look at the state of our world today!
Yes, may be so, but man cannot manipulate TRUTH, when it comes to His Word, because there is far too many other documents around that confirm what is written.

The first Bible translanted was the Geneva Bible in 1595, which was the first Bible taken into America, and this Bible confirms much of the translations in the King James Version of 1611.

Any misrepresentation made by made can only change a few words to distort the actual meaning of His Word, and that has become a common practice with all the versions that have appeared over the past three decades.

I'm sorry, I know I'm rambling but I don't believe that any one religion is right and the others are wrong.
Well in my belief, there is only one way to His Kingdom and that is through our Lord Jesus Christ as we walk the path of "The Way".

Religion is man's domain of worldly philosophy and doctrine, and not His Kingdom.

His Word is what counts, and not what they who run religion things, because they are full of empty deceit and philosophy of the world.

I don't believe only one group get to go to heaven and the others that have the 'wrong' religion are going to hell.
Has nothing to do what His Kingdom is about. Relgion is not the way to heaven. But, being a follower of our Lord Jesus Christ is the only way to heaven.

Once you begin to study His Word of the New Testament and all the writings of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and Paul, then you will see that man hasn't misrepresented His Word, and to be a follower of Him isn't as easy as it may seem.

I want to believe in God and I want to try to be a good person and learn about Jesus but can I ever be a Christian when I don't believe in everything in the bible?
You will believe what is in the Bible is truth, when you begin to believe that our Lord Jesus Christ is our Almighty God, and that HE is our Saviour, Master, Lord, and King of our life.

Be blessed in Jesus' Name.

You've gotten some good responses. I've been a believer for a long time and don't like religion either. Plus for a long time I refused to believe what was written in the Bible. Granted we don't understand it all because we try to measure it based on our thinking. But the more you read it, the more you will begin to realize how much it can strengthen you, guide you, and help you to understand Yahweh better. Many people recommend John while others suggest reading the Psalms first. But no matter which book you decide on ...

The Holy Spirit is drawing you.

PigeonProtectress said:

I would love to learn more about Jesus but I don't fully trust the bible because it was not written by him. It is just a collection of other people's interpretations and beliefs and recollections and I'm not sure what is the truth. People manipulate the truth to their own ends and that is what religion is used for - look at the state of our world today!

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I would like to introduce you to how God took care of His Word (the Bible).
God went to great lengths to make sure that the Old Testament didn't have any errors. The scribes had to wear special clothes. They used certain snail ink for writing. Every letter that was written had to be spaced correctly. The manuscripts were constantly checked for accuracy. If one letter was wrong they would throw out the manuscript. Then they would recheck it again and again. The scribes couldn't even get up when the King came in because the Word of God was more important.
The Bible we have today is the same as what they had back then. This is proved by the book of Isaiah. And that counts for the New Testament also.

Also, there were prophecies. Jesus fulfilled over 300 prophecies.

There are over sixteen secular writings about Jesus. If we didn't have the Bible that still means that He walked this earth and did miracles.

The Bible says that those who wrote it were moved by the Holy Spirit.

It is a very unique book and one-of-a-kind among other books.

You can trust the Bible because God reveals Himself through it. I trust that God would not deceive us.

Thanks,
TT

PigeonProtectress said:

Over time, I have been growing more and more drawn to Christianity. However, my big hurdle with allowing myself to really believe is that I don't like religion. I can see that religion has caused to so much pain and suffering in the world and that makes me sad. I would love to learn more about Jesus but I don't fully trust the bible because it was not written by him. It is just a collection of other people's interpretations and beliefs and recollections and I'm not sure what is the truth. People manipulate the truth to their own ends and that is what religion is used for - look at the state of our world today!

I'm sorry, I know I'm rambling but I don't believe that any one religion is right and the others are wrong. I don't believe only one group get to go to heaven and the others that have the 'wrong' religion are going to hell.

I want to believe in God and I want to try to be a good person and learn about Jesus but can I ever be a Christian when I don't believe in everything in the bible?

Have a banana if you managed to read this all the way through!

I'd love some feedback!

Mant thanks.

Click to expand...

Hey,

I believe your integrity and moral courage to stay true to what you truely feel is right is commendable, thats awesome, regardless of what you believe.

Do not sacrifice what you truely believe in your heart for anything, keep reading and learning and studying so you can learn and grow and know Jesus more and more, but Jesus is not a God who squashes what you really believe and kicks you to get in line at the expense of your beliefes and feelings. I encourage you to keep reading and studying and seeking, but the answer should not be one that requires you give up what is right in order to be spared punishment, such things never lead to a good end and can't be trusted becuase they were not created out of love for you. Not every christian believes everything they read in the bible. I'm not going to try to make up your mind for you, you have decide these sort of things for yourself becuase its your life and your beliefs and that is too valuable to leave in someone elses hands.
In the end, what you truely believe is what you truely believe and you can't just fall in line with something you just don't agree with, thats how it should be and thats not how Jesus works becuase thats not right. Thats more like slavery than anything else.

PigeonProtectress said:

Over time, I have been growing more and more drawn to Christianity. However, my big hurdle with allowing myself to really believe is that I don't like religion. I can see that religion has caused to so much pain and suffering in the world and that makes me sad. I would love to learn more about Jesus but I don't fully trust the bible because it was not written by him. It is just a collection of other people's interpretations and beliefs and recollections and I'm not sure what is the truth. People manipulate the truth to their own ends and that is what religion is used for - look at the state of our world today!

I'm sorry, I know I'm rambling but I don't believe that any one religion is right and the others are wrong. I don't believe only one group get to go to heaven and the others that have the 'wrong' religion are going to hell.

I want to believe in God and I want to try to be a good person and learn about Jesus but can I ever be a Christian when I don't believe in everything in the bible?

Have a banana if you managed to read this all the way through!

I'd love some feedback!

Mant thanks.

Click to expand...

Hey,

I believe your integrity and moral courage to stay true to what you truely feel is right is commendable, thats awesome, regardless of what you believe.

Do not sacrifice what you truely believe in your heart for anything, keep reading and learning and studying so you can learn and grow and know Jesus more and more, but Jesus is not a God who squashes what you really believe and kicks you to get in line at the expense of your beliefes and feelings. I encourage you to keep reading and studying and seeking, but the answer should not be one that requires you give up what is right in order to be spared punishment, such things never lead to a good end and can't be trusted becuase they were not created out of love for you. Not every christian believes everything they read in the bible. I'm not going to try to make up your mind for you, you have decide these sort of things for yourself becuase its your life and your beliefs and that is too valuable to leave in someone elses hands.
In the end, what you truely believe is what you truely believe and you can't just fall in line with something you just don't agree with, thats not how it should be and thats not how Jesus works becuase thats not right. Thats more like slavery than anything else.

PigeonProtectress said:

Over time, I have been growing more and more drawn to Christianity. However, my big hurdle with allowing myself to really believe is that I don't like religion. I can see that religion has caused to so much pain and suffering in the world and that makes me sad.

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Anti-religion has caused much more pain and suffering in the world. People without God tend to hurt other people far more than if they have a view of God as desiring moral conduct from them.

PigeonProtectress said:

I would love to learn more about Jesus but I don't fully trust the bible because it was not written by him. It is just a collection of other people's interpretations and beliefs and recollections and I'm not sure what is the truth. People manipulate the truth to their own ends and that is what religion is used for - look at the state of our world today!

Click to expand...

Religion can be exploited for evil reasons, sure.

But why think that the people Jesus intentionally surrounded Himself with, had evil intentions?

PigeonProtectress said:

I'm sorry, I know I'm rambling but I don't believe that any one religion is right and the others are wrong. I don't believe only one group get to go to heaven and the others that have the 'wrong' religion are going to hell.

Click to expand...

As I said at the start -- those who don't think God has moral standards are more likely to hurt and kill people. Advocacy of one religious label or another, I agree, there's nothing about the label that helps you with God.

But there's something about God that's critically different from most religions of the world.

PigeonProtectress said:

I want to believe in God and I want to try to be a good person and learn about Jesus but can I ever be a Christian when I don't believe in everything in the bible?

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I think the basic problem you're going to run up against is this.

When you're trying to figure out "did Jesus really say that? Did Jesus really mean that?" and evaluating the Bible based on your own idea of right & wrong -- then you'll miss the point of right & wrong as saying something about you (and believe me, I apply this to myself all the time).

We won't change unless we start listening to people tell us differently. In the end, it's coming to grips with the Bible that brings people to a much bigger awareness.

For my understanding: how would you go about being "a good person and learn about Jesus"?

It is not religion itself that has caused pain and suffering, but the way some people have misused it...people who called themselves Christians, but did not really obey God's command to "love one another"...and indeed, that is very sad and unfortunate. Just remember our faith is about Christ. Seek to know Him, sis. Everything else would fall into place. I went through this too. Its not a matter of some people going to heaven cause they have the right religion, and some people going to hell because they do not..God looks at the heart. He doesn't just want us to accept a particular religion or even an idea, but His Son, Jesus..and that is because by dying for us out of love, and rising to life, He defeated death..if we put our trust in Him and follow Him, we would experience that eternal life, freedom, joy and love too. I also believe that God will be merciful to those who have never heard about Christ or had only the wrong information about Him, and won't put them in hell because of ignorance (btw some people on this forum would disagree with this, but that is what my church teaches and I agree). God is really much more merciful than people, hehe. He does want us to know His Son though, because we come to the Father through the Son.

About the Bible...I don't think the people who wrote it corrupted the message, because most of them ended up willingly dying for the message. They were martyrs who loved the Lord more than their own lives. They devoted all their time to sharing Him and His love with others. And since they were so close to Him, they were changed by Him into better people, people like Him, not those who would lie and distort the truth. Also, Christians believe that the Holy Spirit lead them as they wrote the Bible, because it is an account of the gospel and the life of Christ, so God knew it is so important for the message to be written the right way and truthfully - since it would affect so many.

It is not required for you to like religion to be a Christian I suggest that you just focus on Jesus and pray to Him....just spend time with and get to know Him. Try to stay open to God and He will help you get over whatever troubles you might have with faith, etc. Remember He loves you so much and He wants you to know that love. And He completely understands how you feel, and is compassionate. Try praying, and you might not hear an answer at first (or you might, I don't know ) but He will hear you no matter what. Tell God that you want to know Him, or whatever is on your mind..ask Him to come into your heart, if you want to. Jesus said in the Bible, that He does not refuse anyone who comes to Him. And then, just take it from there, that's just the beginning of a wonderful journey =)

Please feel free to ask any questions...

God bless you

monica

What you need is good information. If you go to a good, well stocked Christian bookstore and hunt around you will find books that directly address the many issues you are facing. Don't despair. Your questions are honest ones. They need good answers, nit just 'have faith and just believe' ones. You will need to do some homework though.

John
NZ

PigeonProtectress said:

Over time, I have been growing more and more drawn to Christianity. However, my big hurdle with allowing myself to really believe is that I don't like religion. I can see that religion has caused to so much pain and suffering in the world and that makes me sad. I would love to learn more about Jesus but I don't fully trust the bible because it was not written by him. It is just a collection of other people's interpretations and beliefs and recollections and I'm not sure what is the truth. People manipulate the truth to their own ends and that is what religion is used for - look at the state of our world today!

I'm sorry, I know I'm rambling but I don't believe that any one religion is right and the others are wrong. I don't believe only one group get to go to heaven and the others that have the 'wrong' religion are going to hell.

I want to believe in God and I want to try to be a good person and learn about Jesus but can I ever be a Christian when I don't believe in everything in the bible?

Have a banana if you managed to read this all the way through!

I'd love some feedback!

Mant thanks.

Click to expand...

If you're unwilling to let go of the fact that either all religions are false or one is true, then you have no business becoming a Christian. Jesus states, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but by me."

If people dont go to church then whos to say that there names are not writen in the book of lambs?
You dont get to heaven because you collect brownie points,by attending chruch,and running around trying to do everything.
Every one has thier opinion, If you believe that jesus died on the cross for your sins and that you believe he was the son of God you are saved.
The lord hated religion too,because it was rulse`s made by man.
The lord is gentle and he wouldnt force anyone to do what they dont want to do.
But yes their are christains out there that have been hurt by religion.
I had given my heart to christ 7yrs ago,I didnt even no why jesus died on the cross.
I didnt no the bible either-but jesus showed me scriptures,and they started to come alive,and i started to understand what he was saying.
He was my teacher,and he gave me wisdom to understand what he was saying-(of course it was his wisdom)
I believe that not one church-religion has it right,but it dosen`t matter who is right or wrong.
What matters is that we learn to be giving-loveing-understanding-helping the needy,incouranging to others.
Its hard enough trying to get it right with your- self, & people /family around you.
(The bible is gods word,his voice and spirit) the holy spirit,that he sent down to teach us all things.
It was his spirit that spoke to the profits and many others,this is how Gods word came.
I dont have to stick up for the lord,and try to make you believe what i am saying is true,he will work in your heart,and be your teacher.
You will no when you are ready to go to church,when it feels right,the lord will give you the desire.
I was just like you a searcher,and I did my christain walk with my old time best friend.
We have seen and been tought so much,I was singing in a christain band,and in the church council,helping yourth,and help lead in girls brigade with my friend.
I dont go to church at the moment-because i believe that the lord wanted me to just be a mum,(so I am doing just that.)
I have so much to say to you, but you are ok where you are now,(searching.)
He will teach you-(this is how me and my friend started off.)
May christ bless you-in all you do,and protect your heart,and teach you as you walk with him.
In Jesus name
Amen
l

I feel what your saying about how its hard to believe everything the bible says because i have some aquaintances that say they believe in God but they dont believe everything that was written in the bible. In my experience i have come to find out for my self that the word of GOD is infallible and it has no errors or conradictions in it. Also in 2 Tim 3:16 it says that all scripture is given by the inspiration of GOD and it is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. i know many people get the scriptures twisted because they dont know how to interpret the scriptures or they just want to twist Gods word to fit what they believe. but if you just continue to dig into the word I'm sure all of your doubts disappear. Be blessed

One response is to become a real Christian, and show Christlikeness in our daily behaviour.

John
NZ

PigeonProtectress said:

Over time, I have been growing more and more drawn to Christianity. However, my big hurdle with allowing myself to really believe is that I don't like religion. I can see that religion has caused to so much pain and suffering in the world and that makes me sad. I would love to learn more about Jesus but I don't fully trust the bible because it was not written by him. It is just a collection of other people's interpretations and beliefs and recollections and I'm not sure what is the truth. People manipulate the truth to their own ends and that is what religion is used for - look at the state of our world today!

I'm sorry, I know I'm rambling but I don't believe that any one religion is right and the others are wrong. I don't believe only one group get to go to heaven and the others that have the 'wrong' religion are going to hell.

I want to believe in God and I want to try to be a good person and learn about Jesus but can I ever be a Christian when I don't believe in everything in the bible?

Have a banana if you managed to read this all the way through!

I'd love some feedback!

Mant thanks.

Click to expand...

You've got some great feedback here, and your questions are those that most of us will have faced at some point; and as you can see, there's great sympathy here - and a Christian desire to help.

You 'don't like religion', you say. Well, like everything mankind gets involved in, even the good stuff can be put to bad uses; don't let that put you off; you can make a difference if you are involved - you can't if you're not.

You don't know whether to believe the Bible because Jesus didn't write it; if He had literally done so, there would still be those who would deny it; what would you do then? St. Thomas need to see Christ's wounds in order to believe, after all, and he still made it to sainthood; so you're not alone. Christians believe that God's Holy Spirit inspired the writers of the Scriptures. Christ's words in the New Testament are, literally, awesome. Is there anything in them that would make you not believe?

Christians believe that only Christ saves us. That isn't the same as saying everyone else ends up in a pit of brimstone and fire; God is the only Just Judge. He judges us as Our Father. Anyone who says they know who is going to Hell takes on himself something that is God's.

Of course there are many different Churches, many of which say they have the the only full revelation. Often, if Christians in such Churches talk to each other and listen to what the other says, they get a surprise: much of what they thought was unique to them is common to all Christians.

You go ahead and pray to God for guidance. Read the Scriptures. See what it is Christ tells you - and then see how it feels.

May you be guided and supported in your search,

Peace,

Anglian

Contrary to popular belief, Christianity has nothing to do with religion. It has to do with your family line. If you are in Christ (a Christian) then you're in God's family line. If you're not in Christ then you're still in Adam's family line.

Also, if you read the Gospels (Matthew. Mark, Luke, and John) I think you'll find that Jesus didn't care a lot about 'religion' either.

Alan

PigeonProtectress said:

I'm sorry, I know I'm rambling but I don't believe that any one religion is right and the others are wrong. I don't believe only one group get to go to heaven and the others that have the 'wrong' religion are going to hell.

I want to believe in God and I want to try to be a good person and learn about Jesus but can I ever be a Christian when I don't believe in everything in the bible?

Click to expand...

Well, you're doubting some core things about our faith, then. Think about this. If no one religion is wrong, then Jesus suffered and died needlessly. The whole point of Christianity is that nobody can get it right, so Jesus had to come down and take all our sins away by His death and resurrection; this shift is good for all who believe in Him and follow Him.

What is it you like about the Bible? If you are attracted to Christianity, surely there must be something.

Religion is a set of beliefs, often involving ritual observance. A personal relationship with Jesus is completely different. God does not want religion. The bible has tons of passages where God is voicing displeasure in the sacrifices and offerings of Israel for their heart was not in the right place. This goes all the way back to Cain and Abel. Abel offered his best, and Cain was 'going through the motions' per se. A lot isn't directly written in the Genesis account of this, but I surmise from what the rest of the bible has to say about sacrifice and offerings that Cain's heart was not in the right place. The motion and ritual is meaningless in and of itself. God wants your heart, your love, your whole being.

Jesus had a lot to say to the Pharisees about 'religion.'

Peace be with you,
Amy

Since Our Lord founded a Church, it would seem that He had a use for it and for the religion it teaches.

In peace,

Anglian

Anglian said:

Since Our Lord founded a Church, it would seem that He had a use for it and for the religion it teaches.

In peace,

Anglian

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Jesus is not a religion, He is the truth. Pharisees and the Jews had added their own traditions to their faith in Jahve and the law of Moses and so they came up with the Judaism. This angered Jesus. Read Mark 7 for example.
Jesus is so much more than observing some rituals and traditions.
It's true that Jesus did establish the church, but it is not supposed to be a religious entity but a community of the saints.