Aiki-
1. That is an educated nicely put explanation that although I do not know if I am ready to accept of believe as of now, it does make sense from the Christian perspective.
It sounds to me like you're saying my points about why Christianity is superior to all other religions are only legitimate
within the Christian worldview. What I shared with you, however, are facts that are true whether or not one is a Christian. It is a fact that Christ fulfilled centuries-old prophecy; it is a fact that Christ died on a cross, was buried, and then rose from the dead some time later; it is a fact that the God revealed to us in the Bible is precisely the kind of God necessary to be the First Cause of all things. One doesn't have to be of the Christian faith to acknowledge the legitimacy of these facts.
2. I apologize for giving the perception that I meant my self, as I am surely am not as good as other people in this world. Am I to understand that you are still coming to the conclusion, that no matter how well of a life a person may leave, if they deny Jesus dying for our sins they will still face judgment?
Yes, that is what the Bible teaches. God's standard for what is morally acceptable is Himself. His perfect, holy righteousness is the standard by which He judges the quality of every person's life. To lower this standard would mean a compromise with sin, which a perfectly holy God cannot do.
3. Perhaps not as much in modern times, but throughout history, yes Christianity has most certainly been forced upon people coercively and violently. There should be no excuse for it back then as there is none for it today.
Well, the Crusades were more political than religious. History reveals pretty plainly that, in the Crusades, religion was merely a cloak for the usual political agenda: Power, wealth, and land. Mind you, the Crusades didn't just occur on a whim, but in large part in response to the violent spread of Islam into the Middle East, the Mediterranean, and Southern Europe. Only a successful military campaign lead by Charlemagne prevented the tide of Islamic aggression from overtaking all of Europe.
Although Christianity has been connected to such things as the Crusades and the Inquisition, one has only to compare what was done in these instances in the name of Christianity with the commands of Christ himself to see that what was done was utterly in contradiction to his commands and so not truly Christian. "By their fruit you shall know them," Christ said and one can see that the "fruit" of such things as the Crusades or the Inquisition was not of the sort Christ demonstrated in his own life and taught his followers to produce.
Matthew 5:38-46
38 "You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.'
39 But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.
40 If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also.
41 And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two.
42 Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.
43 "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'
44 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you,
45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven...
2 Timothy 2:24-26
24 And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient,
25 in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth,
26 and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.
You can see in the above quotations from Scripture that the violent, coercive spread of Christianity goes
directly against the explicit commands of the Bible. Christianity disseminated in such a way is not truly Christian.
4. May I ask what “claiming divine inspiration” means? And is not a copy of the Old Testament the original version, not the newer modern “new testament” I may be wrong on that. Please clarify.
The writers of the Bible claim that God "breathed into" or inspired them in the writing of Scripture. In a sense, they were taking divine dictation, though they did impress their writings with the stamp of their own personality and perspective.
The New Testament isn't a copy of the Old Testament. The OT is the collection of sacred writings of the Jewish people comprised of the Torah, the Nevi'im and the Ketuvim. The New Testament is unique to Christianity and includes details of the life, death and resurrection of Christ in the four Gospels, letters written by various apostles to communities of early Christian believers, and an account of the growth of the early Christian church in Acts.
Thanks. I'm glad it was clear.
6. There is no more evidence for “life elsewhere” than there is for a god however “life elsewhere can be looked at in a mathematical equation whereas “god” can not. I meant “Christianity’s” perspective
Oh, I don't know about that...I'd be curious to see the mathematical equation that
proves life exists elsewhere in the universe. Mathematics can prove that an infinite exists
in theory, but an
actual infinite is completely impossible. I wonder if this isn't true of an equation that boasts of proving life truly exists elsewhere in the universe.
Really, it makes no difference to the Christian worldview if there is life elsewhere in the universe. God has never limited Himself in this respect.
As far as the Christian explanation for the existence of everything is concerned, it all boils down to "God did it." However, there are excellent arguments in support of this claim. Here is a summary of some of them:
1.) The Leibniz Argument from Contingency.
2). The Kalam Cosmological Argument.
3). The Moral Argument.
4.) The Teleological Argument or Argument from Design.
7. Another good explanation, however I disagree with the fact that “everybody” in someway has a way of learning about Jesus.
Not of learning of Jesus, but of knowing that God exists.
I heard of a missionary who was impressed by God to journey to Africa. As the boat he was on passed by a certain section of the coast of the African continent, the missionary told the captain to take him and all his belongings ashore. The captain initially refused saying that he would be leaving the missionary all alone in the middle of nowhere. The missionary insisted, however, so finally the captain relented and granted his request. The ship sailed off leaving the young man seated on his trunk on the sandy shore. Some time passed before an African native happened by. Neither spoke the other's language but when the missionary in an effort to explain why he was there showed the native his Bible, the native became very excited. In short order he hussled the missionary off to his village where he was shown a portion of the New Testament that the natives had been trying to puzzle out. They had enough knowledge of English to decipher the basic gist of the few pages they had, but couldn't figure out what it all meant. They knew the verses spoke of a God and His Son who was killed, but they could understand little else. To his great surprise, the natives revealed to the missionary that they had been praying to the God described in the few pages of Scripture that they had to send them someone who could explain it all to them. It had taken many months, but God had heard their prayer to know Him and had sent a man from halfway round the world to make introductions.
James 4:8
8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.
Jeremiah 29:13
13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.
Thank you for your time and the obvious thought you put into your answers, I am in a bit of a hurry so please excuse any brief grammatical blemishes that may arise.
So long as I can understand you, I don't really care about grammar.
I hope my answers help you to gain some clarity about the Christian faith. Thanks very much for the respectful way in which you have made your inquiries. It is a very pleasant change from the usual open animosity that characterizes those who post questions in this forum.
Selah.