Problems with Christianity (looking for answers)

[A_Thinker]

I was referring to both.

But I am not trying to bash any religion as such. All religions basically teach good and I agree with you there are good and bad interpretations of everything.

What people made of religion is what bothers me and I find it doing more harm than good.

Aren’t you ever bothered by many things that are in Christianity that are not in the Bible? Like original sin, immaculate conception. The virgin birth is only in two of the Gospels.

Are you worried that these things came not from the founders, the people that wrote this book, but from men who came after. All of It is basically fiction, also people who wrote about Jesus never met him.

I mean you Christians could be right. I don't think it's very likely, but, yes, you could be right, because my big thing is I don't know.

The only appropriate attitude for man to have about the big questions is not the arrogant certitude that is the hallmark of religion, but doubt. Doubt is humble, and that's what man needs to be, considering that human history is just a litany of getting s*** dead wrong.

I have, and continue to, consider all of the questions you have raised.

Despite the questions, I still find the way TAUGHT by JESUS to be the most promising path to PEACE and LOVE among mankind.

 

[bekkilyn]

What people made of religion is what bothers me and I find it doing more harm than good.

You're very right. Much of religion as an institution, including Christianity as an institution, has a done a lot of harm and continues to do a lot of harm.

It's not God doing the harm though; it's a result of sinful people living in a fallen world. Because God gives us free will, we also have the free will to do harm as well as good, and unfortunately, much of that harm has been done in God's name due to our imperfect natures and imperfect institutions and social-political structures we have set up in our cultures. These harmful things were never God's intent.

 

[TaigaGirl]

I was referring to both.

But I am not trying to bash any religion as such. All religions basically teach good and I agree with you there are good and bad interpretations of everything.

What people made of religion is what bothers me and I find it doing more harm than good.

Aren’t you ever bothered by many things that are in Christianity that are not in the Bible? Like original sin, immaculate conception. The virgin birth is only in two of the Gospels.
Are you worried that these things came not from the founders, the people that wrote this book, but from men who came after. All of It is basically fiction, also people who wrote about Jesus never met him.

I mean you Christians could be right. I don't think it's very likely, but, yes, you could be right, because my big thing is I don't know.

The only appropriate attitude for man to have about the big questions
is not the arrogant certitude that is the hallmark of religion, but doubt. Doubt is humble, and that's what man needs to be, considering that human history is just a litany of getting s*** dead wrong.

Asking questions and having doubts is very important. There is many things in the bible that I don't understand and don't know for sure what's going on. What I like to remember is that it's okay if the bible has mistakes and it's not perfect......I don't need it too be. Because I have relationship with Papa, Michiko and Jesus and that is what matters most to me.

 

[Hidden In Him]

“I promise you that any of the sinful things you say or do can be forgiven, no matter how terrible those things are. But if you speak against the Holy Spirit, you can never be forgiven. That sin will be held against you forever.” — Mark 3:28-29

So correct me if i am wrong but if you molest a child, confess and pray for redemption God will forgive you and you will go to heaven.
But if you deny the authority and power of God, but have never committed a major sin, Peter is just going to send you straight to hell?

Hi, TajDIN,

Thanks for your questions. I will give you the answers, only I request that if you truly wish to know then please listen. For a true believer it can become an exercise in futility to go around and around with someone. It would suggest that you were never really seeking answers to begin with.

But I'm going to trust for the moment that your intentions for asking were sincere, and invest a little of my time and my life to answer you.

You see, here is what happens in true Christianity: Every one will die in some form for their sins. For those who are repentant, they will die to their sins and their former ways, and become a new person both in their heart and in their behavior. If they have not done this yet, then they still have a death coming. They will eventually come to a choice: Either fully die to their sins, or risk being rejected by God. He demands obedience, and will accept nothing less. His grace exists for a reason, to open the door to intimate relationship with Him. But that intimacy will ever-increasingly demand obedience, and if that obedience is refused His grace can and will be removed over a person's life because they refused to make Him Lord rather than simply "Savior."

So if you ever committed a terrible sin in His eyes, such as accusing Him, based on the criteria of His own scriptures, of being "most definitely not all-good, but in fact just freaking selfish," forgiveness is fully open to you. But such sins (and I'm applying this teaching to you now so you see that it is not always about the other guy. It's about you too) will demand your repentance at some point. If you will not die to such sins but refuse to repent, your death will come in another form. I do not want to go there with descriptions, but suffice to say that Hell is very real, and it is eternal.

Talking about selfish: Religious preachers(and i am not saying that for all of them).
They are financed by us while Christian church ramains to be one of the wealthiest institiutions. I do not get that. They preach about the almighty, all-good God and Christian morals while wearing 2000$ suit and gladly taking money from you. Which in my eyes is not something Jesus would stand by.
So what are your views on that?

You are absolutely right about this. And anyone who defends these behaviors does the True and Living God a great disservice. All such "servants of God" will come under tremendous judgment from God, and most will suffer the worst torments of all in eternity for misrepresenting Him; torments too horrifying to write down.

So please be encouraged. He is a God of Justice, and all who will not die to themselves and their own sins through self-judgment will succumb to eternal death instead.

God bless and thanks for your questions.

P.S. Please remember. I will know what your motivations were and are by your attitude. If you were truly seeking answers it will be evident in your responses.

 

[TajDIN]

Asking questions and having doubts is very important. There is many things in the bible that I don't understand and don't know for sure what's going on. What I like to remember is that it's okay if the bible has mistakes and it's not perfect......I don't need it too be. Because I have relationship with Papa, Michiko and Jesus and that is what matters most to me.

I appreciate your kind responses but i have a question. How exactly do you have a relationship with Jesus? I mean i am guessing you can not see him, so is it just a "feeling of someones presence" thing? Did miracles happen to you? What makes you believe that he is in fact real and connected with you?
Or do you mean relationship in more of an abstract way.

 

[Adstar]

Here comes my question about about sins and forgiveness.

“I promise you that any of the sinful things you say or do can be forgiven, no matter how terrible those things are. But if you speak against the Holy Spirit, you can never be forgiven. That sin will be held against you forever.” — Mark 3:28-29

So correct me if i am wrong but if you molest a child, confess and pray for redemption God will forgive you and you will go to heaven.
But if you deny the authority and power of God, but have never committed a major sin, Peter is just going to send you straight to hell?

Hello TajDin..
first thing i would like to do is quote that scripture but with the KJV translation because i am familiar with it and esteem it highly..

Mark 3: KJV
28 "Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme: {29} But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation: {30} Because they said, He hath an unclean spirit."

I this incident some scribes from Jerusalem had witnessed some of the miracles Jesus performed and so they accused Him of doing those miracles by the power of the king of demons.. Jesus was doing those miracles by the power of Gods Holy Spirit then the scribes where accusing the Holy Spirit of being a demon.. And this was the sin that will never have forgiveness..

Ok with that out of the way lets continue with your question..

God is perfect TajDIN so any sin no matter how minor will cause one to be cast into the eternal lake of fire because the pass mark to enter into a perfect eternal existence is Perfection / 100% .. So it matters not if a person scores 2% in goodness in life or they score 98% in goodness in life Both marks are a auto failure where God is concerned.. Therefore all ones sins must be forgiven in a just way by God.. And the Way of salvation God has made is by believing Jesus and trusting in the atonement ( payment ) just made by suffering the death sentence that is upon all sinners like all of us.. So it matters not if one molests a child or steals a cookie from their moms cookie jar.. Both sins need to be forgiven justly by God for us to be redeemed by God and saved from the eternal lake of fire..

As for Peter He has no say in who will be saved and who will not be saved.. This will be determined by God upon the day of judgement.. Talk about Peter being the judge is founded on traditions of men not on the Bible..

Ok now for the second part of your post...

Talking about selfish: Religious preachers(and i am not saying that for all of them).
They are financed by us while Christian church ramains to be one of the wealthiest institiutions. I do not get that. They preach about the almighty, all-good God and Christian morals while wearing 2000$ suit and gladly taking money from you. Which in my eyes is not something Jesus would stand by.
So what are your views on that?

Do not mix the actions of religious men and institutions on earth with the Bible / word of God.. Men are faulty and religious men and human organizations can be as corrupt as any other.. What is important is the Words and actions of God revealed in the Bible.. The words and actions of men with titles in religious organizations can vary from good to appalling.. People are people but God is God.. Two different topics..

You guys aren't dumb. You probably are smart people.

Thanks for conceding that

How can smart people believe in the talking snake, people living to 900 years old and the virgin birth?

Because we believe God exists... Now if God exists ( and He does ) making a snake talk or causing people to live 900 years or making so a virgin gives birth is child's play for Him.. See once you believe a God exists these things become easy to believe... Oh and you missed the Talking Donkey They usually include the talking Donkey Balaam rode in their examples of ""impossible things that cannot happen.. lol But yeah if a person believes God does not exist then even the most basic miracle in the Bible becomes impossible to such a person..

And lastly the question that all non-believers like to ask.
If God is all-good and he can do anything, why doesn't he just obliterate the devil and therefore get rid of evil in the world?

Because God must establish first that satan's claim to Godhood is wrong to all the heavenly host.. You know Angels of Heaven.... If God simply vaporized satan then the Angels would end up believing that the satanic rebellion was defeated not because satan was wrong in his claim to Godhood but because God simply had ultimate power to destroy whomsoever He likes.. God then you become an unjust brutal dictator in the eyes of the heavenly Host and they would bow to him out of fear not out of Awe and admiration.. How would you like to live in an eternal dictatorship in an atmosphere of fear??? I bet you would not like that.. So God had to go through the entire process of allowing His creation to be sabotaged by satan so as to put into effect his ultimate demonstration as to why He ( God) is justified in being the One and only God of all existence and why satans claim to Godhood is unjust and sin...

That way all creation will willingly worship God with pure admiration because they know that He is perfect and pure in love also.. They will not live in fear.. But be in an eternal state of bliss..

 

[TaigaGirl]

I appreciate your kind responses but i have a question. How exactly do you have a relationship with Jesus? I mean i am guessing you can not see him, so is it just a "feeling of someones presence" thing? Did miracles happen to you? What makes you believe that he is in fact real and connected with you?
Or do you mean relationship in more of an abstract way.

It's feelings, and images inside my mind and heart, I have a very active imagination, so I see these movies/stories inside my mind. Well, in a way I see them with the eyes of my mind and heart.
If you have more questions, feel free to ask!

 

[bekkilyn]

I appreciate your kind responses but i have a question. How exactly do you have a relationship with Jesus? I mean i am guessing you can not see him, so is it just a "feeling of someones presence" thing? Did miracles happen to you? What makes you believe that he is in fact real and connected with you?
Or do you mean relationship in more of an abstract way.

Maybe some advice from Brother Lawrence can help. Brother Lawrence was a lay brother in a Carmelite monastery in Paris in the 17th century. Some conversations with him and some of his letters are published in a short book called The Practice of the Presence of God.

In one of the conversations, it's written:

In the beginning, Brother Lawrence declared that a little effort was needed to form the habit of continuously conversing with God, telling Him everything that was happening. But after a little careful practice God's love refreshed him, and it all became quite easy.

Whenever he considered doing some good deed, he always consulted God about it, saying, "Lord, I will never be able to do that if You don't help me." Immediately he would be given more than enough strength.

When he sinned, he confessed it to God with these words: "I can do nothing better without You. Please keep me from falling and correct the mistakes I make." After that he did not feel guilty about the sin.

Brother Lawrence pointed out that he spoke very simply and frankly to God. He asked for help with things as he needed it, and his experience had been that God never failed to respond.​

From another conversation:

The most effective way Brother Lawrence had for communicating with God was to simply do his ordinary work. He did this obediently, out of a pure love of God, purifying it as much as was humanly possible. He believed it was a serious mistake to think of our prayer time as being different from any other. Our actions should unite us with God when we are involved in our daily activities, just as our prayer unites us with Him in our quiet time.​

From one of the letters:

It isn't necessary that we stay in church in order to remain in God's presence. We can make our heart a chapel where we can go anytime to talk to God privately. These conversations can be so loving and gentle, and anyone can have them.​

And one more:

You will tell me that I always say the same thing. What can I say? It is true. I don't know any easier method, nor do I practice any other, so I advise this one to everybody. We have to know someone before we can truly love them. In order to know God, we must think about Him often. And once we get to know Him, we will think about Him even more often, because where our treasure is, there also is our heart!​

 

[Earatha]

So it's cool that you are asking, but I hope you're not being hostile. Even though I'm an atheist I tend to think hostility towards religious people is not the way to go.

As to your questions, there are different answers depending on what kind of Christian you ask. Some wil say that "true Christians" don't act terrible, that the spirit of the lord inhabits them and turns them from evil. Others say that humans are fallen and sin is part of their nature. They say that Christians get into heaven because acknowledging this and accepting the sacrifice of Jesus, and as such non believers can't get in because they don't accept their own evil. Others believe in universalism, which is a doctrine that says everyone will eventually be saved.

As to preachers, this also varies. Many take a vow of poverty. Others don't. Some preach that wealth in this world is a sign of god's favor.

And not all Christians are literalists or creationists. Some are, others aren't. This isn't a Christianity thing, it's a creationist thing. And for those who are creationists their reasons differ from person to person.

As to the "relationship with Jesus" thing many people will tell you their story. I can tell you that I felt as if I had spoken with Jesus. I felt as if he was guiding my life and protecting me. Sometimes I believed he spoke to me. I do t know what is is for others, but that was my experience.