Why Christianity?

[phylis]

Guys, okay....in the last week and a half my life has gone crazy. My Christian friends have really worried about me in the last week as we almost lost about 3 people important in our circle. They - as I - know life is not promised. Man, I have seen a girl cry at the alter over my salvation (and this girl literally never cries) and after confronting our best friend I found out that she had told God that this my being saved was what she wanted more than anything else in life. This weekend, I - a pretty big skeptic - have seen these things that are just coming together. A husband and wife told me the exact same story on two different occasion, the second was randomly inserted into her sunday school lesson (She even said she felt a need to tell this story). I do not believe in coincidences and this really sort of sobered me up.

I am struggling with my logic though. I can not see proof of a God. I can't believe some dude died so that I might live when I don't even know the man who picks up my trash on Mondays, yet I can feel a shift in my mood and feeling every single time I engage in conversation about God and when I am not.

How am I able to know that this IS the word. How - outside of the Bible - can I find this....everyone I ask refers to the Bible. I don't believe the Bible right now....it holds no weight in my heart. I want logic and no one has given it too me....this is the last plea I can give....I'm tired of asking, exausted....literal beaten down from this. I can't get enough sleep and I haven't been eating. It consumes me...so if anyone can help, send a private message....I could probably explain something in this message better.

 

[PETE_]

Christ speaks of having the faith of a child. They believe in such a pure way. This a a link for a little book that may help. It emphasizes the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives more than structured study and prayer. It has helped me grow in my relationship with God.
http://www.practicegodspresence.com/brotherlawrence/presenceofgod.html

He told me that God had done him a singular favor in his conversion at the age of eighteen. During that winter, upon seeing a tree stripped of its leaves and considering that, within a little time, the leaves would be renewed and, after that, the flowers and fruit appear; Brother Lawrence received a high view of the providence and power of God which has never since been effaced from his soul.

 

[daveleau]

First, I would not solely seek help on the internet. I would speak to your pastor or youth pastor. Pray and ask God to help you. There is plenty of evidence for God and Christ. Nothing is absolute, because we are to believe on faith. But, there is evidence for Christianity. Try picking up a book like Case for Christ, or Case for Faith, which are both sCripturally sound discussions of a former-atheist on his quest to disprove Christianity, only to find the Truth of Christ.

Look at the world around you. The complexity of the world and the species within it are the greatest testament to God of any other evidence...and I am a trained scientist, not someone ignorant of evolution's claims. No theory of science can explain the complexities that are found in nature. Sure, people have postulated reasons for small aspects and propose these as complete answers, but this is merely someone trying to push their theory.

Treat your faith as a duty. God is often most glorified by our adherance to Him even when we do not understand, or when we have doubts. Stick with your faith, and God will reward you.

Most of all, talk to your pastor or youth pastor. They will help, and will point you in the right direction.

 

[Beasley]

Guys, okay....in the last week and a half my life has gone crazy. My Christian friends have really worried about me in the last week as we almost lost about 3 people important in our circle. They - as I - know life is not promised. Man, I have seen a girl cry at the alter over my salvation (and this girl literally never cries) and after confronting our best friend I found out that she had told God that this my being saved was what she wanted more than anything else in life. This weekend, I - a pretty big skeptic - have seen these things that are just coming together. A husband and wife told me the exact same story on two different occasion, the second was randomly inserted into her sunday school lesson (She even said she felt a need to tell this story). I do not believe in coincidences and this really sort of sobered me up.

I am struggling with my logic though. I can not see proof of a God. I can't believe some dude died so that I might live when I don't even know the man who picks up my trash on Mondays, yet I can feel a shift in my mood and feeling every single time I engage in conversation about God and when I am not.

How am I able to know that this IS the word. How - outside of the Bible - can I find this....everyone I ask refers to the Bible. I don't believe the Bible right now....it holds no weight in my heart. I want logic and no one has given it too me....this is the last plea I can give....I'm tired of asking, exausted....literal beaten down from this. I can't get enough sleep and I haven't been eating. It consumes me...so if anyone can help, send a private message....I could probably explain something in this message better.

hummm, knowledge of God is inherent inside of you. You already know that God exists and is. You know you are an eternal creature. Trying to suppress the knowledge of God is like trying to push a beach ball down in the water, it keeps popping up and you are getting tired of suppressing it. God created the universe and all that is in it, including you. Fortunately, he loves his creation and desires to communicate with it. Draw near to God and he will draw near to you.

 

[WarriorAngel]

Guys, okay....in the last week and a half my life has gone crazy. My Christian friends have really worried about me in the last week as we almost lost about 3 people important in our circle. They - as I - know life is not promised. Man, I have seen a girl cry at the alter over my salvation (and this girl literally never cries) and after confronting our best friend I found out that she had told God that this my being saved was what she wanted more than anything else in life. This weekend, I - a pretty big skeptic - have seen these things that are just coming together. A husband and wife told me the exact same story on two different occasion, the second was randomly inserted into her sunday school lesson (She even said she felt a need to tell this story). I do not believe in coincidences and this really sort of sobered me up.

I am struggling with my logic though. I can not see proof of a God. I can't believe some dude died so that I might live when I don't even know the man who picks up my trash on Mondays, yet I can feel a shift in my mood and feeling every single time I engage in conversation about God and when I am not.

How am I able to know that this IS the word. How - outside of the Bible - can I find this....everyone I ask refers to the Bible. I don't believe the Bible right now....it holds no weight in my heart. I want logic and no one has given it too me....this is the last plea I can give....I'm tired of asking, exausted....literal beaten down from this. I can't get enough sleep and I haven't been eating. It consumes me...so if anyone can help, send a private message....I could probably explain something in this message better.

Consider this sweetie.

Not only did every Apostle except one died a dreadful death for faith in Christ, but many after were martyred as well.

If He did not die for you...then why did the men not run away if it were a lie?

Also, Christ is not just some man, He is God. And God came to earth because He wants YOU to come and live with Him eternally in bliss.

2 Billion people cannot all be wrong.

Peace on your journey. May God give you the grace. And all you have to do is...just let go of doubt, and believe like a child. He will fill you will insight, and grace.

BTW, for the record, I am in an Apostolic Traditional Church, and we are not just scripture based. We also have history and martyred Saints that are testimony to the Lord.

PEACE!

 

[Eruliel]

To the Evidence of God
I'm recommending a book called Mere Christianity. It was written by C.S. Lewis who was an atheist before he converted to Christianity.

One of the things he said about the existance of God was not to look at Christianity, it's obvious they believe their God is the one true God and they'll tell you that. However if you look at legends of different cultures you can see the truth that God has implanted in each of us so we can find our way to salvation simply in the stories told around the hearth.

There are identical messianic themes throughout different cultures and in every story...every story, ancient or modern. Even in the gorey theology of the Aztecs you can find that the death of a god brings life.
These Messianic themes didn't get into the stories by themselves. They got in because God wanted them to be there. He's given every person a realization that there is a deity of some sort out there, and believing in one is just the first step in the right direction.

We've also got the identical ideals of right and wrong. It differs in every culture how many wives a man might have, but it is wrong in every culture to take another mans wife away from him. It's the same with any other law we recognize as the 10 commandments.
Once a person realizes he can't keep these laws he knows he's in trouble, and he continues to seek.

But look at Nature. Look at the stars, they declare the wonders of the Lord. There's a scorpion who stings the heel of a great hero who in turn squashes the arachnid to a pulp. There's another hero in battle with a great serpent. There's a bearer of living water (my sign), there's a fish, there's a lion, there's a scapegoat, there's a virgin. My favorite example is the cycle of the sun. It leaves the earth, causing death, and sorrow as it leaves, depriving us of light and life. We wait for it, we're sad, we want warmth and life, and then at an unexpected time it returns and slowly death releases its grip, and life springs from the frozen earth. Oddly enough I believe God lined the cycle of Christs life (the light of the world) with the sun (the light of the world).
Also consider the fact that there's no known scientific purpose for colorful sunsets or autumns. They just make us happy, and in many cases, we glorify God because of them.

One thing I forgot: Compare Jehovah with Zeus, or Osiris (who was slaughtered by his enemy and then was resurrected from a cave). I can predict that Zeus is nothing but a glorified, lecherous old man. He is a glorified human, with imperfections, a god who makes mistakes. I can predict what he's gonna do in any story about him. Osiris is a little cooler, but he still makes the mistake of trusting Set and getting himself minced.

Jehovah however is different. Every other god I know of is imperfect...just a glorified human being. Human beings write about what they know, so they write about themselves, so why is Jehovah so different? Why is he impossible to comprehend? Why does he do one thing, and not the other? My point is this: God is too complex to be made up by humans with a finite understanding.
Slainte!
Eruliel.

 

[Eruliel]

To the validity of Scripture:
There are Legends:
I'll use the example of the flood. Every culture has a story about a world wide flood that wiped out all life because the gods were in a bad mood. Even the Aboriginals of Australia, who in my opinion were probably the one ethnic group that remained apart from western civilization (and therefore Christian ideas) the longest, had stories of a world wide flood.

Each of these cultural flood stories have similar themes: At least one good man, and a myraid of animals clambour onto a boat or climb the highest mountain and wait out the storm. Heroes in boats landed on mountains, those who climbed mountains remained on the mountains until the flood waters receded. They came down from the mountain, and repopulated the earth.

How would so many groups of people, seperated by land masses, and oceans galore have identical themes and messages in their flood stories unless there is a possibility there was a world wide flood, where our common ancestor and his family and some animals survived and passed down the story?

History is an amazing thing to look at. There was a pharoah during the 18th dynasty who completely revoked all polytheistic beliefs, and tried to instigate belief in one God. This is the ONLY pharoah in history to have been accounted as being monotheistic in his beliefs. All the other pharoahs who followed were embaressed by him and quickly forgot he existed, and forgot anyone who was in his chain of command (the Patriarch Joseph perhaps?) He was also alive roughly around the same time that the Hebrews first made an appearance in Egypt. Ooooh.
A man named Josephus spoke of a Nazarene, in passing, a man rumoured to be a miracle worker who was crucified on the passover outside of Jerusalem. Josephus was pretty much ho-hum over the whole thing.

Then there's archaeology to look at. The Dead Sea Scrolls are nearly identical in words, perfect identical in meaning to the book of Isaiah you might find in an NIV Bible. There are documents written by direct followers of the Beloved disciple that are identical to Bibles of today. The technology to build great towers is in every culture, and that's feasible if you take the account of Babel to mind.
Slainte!
Eruliel