What do you believe?

The Greatest Man in History:

Jesus had no servants, yet they called Him Master. Had no degree, yet they called Him Teacher. Had no medicines, yet they called Him Healer. He had no army, yet kings feared Him… He won no military battles, yet He conquered the world. He committed no crime, yet they crucified Him. He was buried in a tomb, yet He lives today. I feel honored to serve such a Leader who loves us! The Great “I AM” !!

and Yes Yes, Sadly more and more Christians will say they know that God exists only because that was the way they were raised or that was the way they grew up. and when you ask them these questions they say “ Well its because my pastor said so”. You have hit the Hammer right on the nail with the flaws of Christianity in today’s society. Because the truth of the matter is Today it is more about Religion and less about Christ. This is not how God intended religion to be but that is another argument for another day…

No, no, no…

We are NOT talking about faith in Christianity, we are talking about faith in GOD. It doesn’t matter how much one knows about Christianity (or doesn’t know, in most cases) …when dealing with the idea of God existing, there are NO facts that make God factual or non-factual, there is only evidence and speculation.

That is the BIG problem with religious people on this site (mostly the Christians). They state their belief as matter of fact, as if they KNOW they’re right.

Well, it isn’t… and they’re NOT…

Because by presuming or pretending they know, or by truly BELIEVING they KNOW that their concept of God is right; this in itself defies God, and undermines their own system of beliefs. This also misrepresents what it means to be Christian.

Well I could go on and on for hours filling your head with facts behind Christianity both the good and the bad. But I’m assuming that isn’t what you want to hear. Or maybe you do..But from the previous discussion we had earlier it seems as though you believe that there is more than one truth. That there is more than one answer to the big question on how we got here. But before I go any further in what I believe..We both know that it is FACT that there was a man named Jesus, who do you percieve Him to be the Christ? or just another man?

Good point Haileybre but there is more to it than just having faith. There are other people that have “faith” that their religion is just as true, and Since Christianity is an exlusive religion ( meaning it can not be true along with other religions) then people who believe other things outside of Christianity will question you. And you can’t just be prepared to answer them “ I just have faith” there has to be fact behind faith. and you have to know how to defend what you believe. At the same time keeping your daily walk with Christ strong! : )

Actually the Earliest copy of the Gospel of Judas to be found Was written between 230 AD and 330 AD it is mentioned by Irenaeus in between 130 and 180 AD However, it is uncertain whether this text mentioned by Irenaeus is in fact the same text as the Coptic “Gospel of Judas” of the extant fourth century text, and there remains no solid evidence for an early Greek version. Coptic or Coptic Egyptian is the final stage of the Egyptian language. You also have The Gospel According to Mary Magdalene dating to the 3rd century And the Gospel of Thomas dating back to 140 AD All three books are considered Gnostic ( A Radical Christian group of the early church) works. All for Gospels in the Bible were wrote in the life time of the people credited with writing them and have physical documents dating to that time. . . Matthew 40 - 65 AD Mark 40 65 AD Luke around 60 AD John 70 to 100 AD If The Gospels of Judas, Thomas and Mary Magdalene were wrote in their life time would God not see fit to Save fragment of them from the decay of time also?

1. Yes, I believe the bible to be fact, and true. I am willing to base my entire life         
     upon it.

2.  Yes, we are to live by what the bible says, it is our guide.

3.  Yes, I agree that men wrote the bible, Holy men of God, that were inspired by 
      the Holy Spirit, and I believe the bible can be trusted to be the authority in our   
      live.

4.   Yes, the bible states clearly, that we must be saved. We have 2 options, 
       Heaven or Hell. 

5.   Yes, the bible says that blasphemy against the Holy Spirt, will not be forgiven.

6.   Yes, the bible states that you have to be born again, to enter heaven.

7.   Yes, there is only one God... many gods, little g, one faith, one baptism, one 
       savior, Jesus Christ.

   In addition, I would like to add, that God has made a way for every man, woman and child, on the planet to be with him in Heaven, but, man always likes to do things his way, that is why there are so many diff. religions, and you can pick and choose, like a smorgasboard, but, if you want to come to the real God, you have to go thru Jesus Christ to get there… Blessings…

rnealw :

I should have said that the Trinity is not defined in the bible. None of the above passages define what the trinity is. On a further note, none of the listed passages use the term “trinity”.

“Neither the Old Testament nor New Testament uses the term “Trinity,” though Trinitarians believe the concept is implicit in various biblical passages.” (Wikipedia)

My Question: How does mention of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit imply the idea of the trinity? The trinity is defined by the idea that all three are really the same being. One could interpret the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit as three separate entities by merely reading the scriptures mentioned by rnealw.

“The doctrine of the Trinity is the result of continuous exploration by the church of the biblical data, argued in debate and treatises.[1] It was expressed in early writings from the beginning of the second century forward.[1] The First Council of Nicaea in 325 AD established a nearly universal Trinitarian dogma and expressly rejected any alternate beliefs, which it considered heresies.” (Wikipedia)

A new question inspired from dolce84…Did you know that some of the Christian beliefs, such as Santa Clause and the Easter Bunny are taken from Pagan traditions? Seriously. Easter is representative of the goddess Eastre (unsure of the spelling) and the egg is a symbol of something. Christians had to change those traditions into something that had meaning so it wouldn’t be as though Christians were worshiping a different God. There is a lot more to this. Do the research. There are a lot of traditions Christians practice and the origin and history came from Paganism. Where in the bible does it say Jesus was born on December 25th? If my memory serves me right, the bible mention his birth being in the warmer months. I know, I know, in different parts of the world warm months could be during the cold months for the US. If I was a Pagan, I would laugh at Christians. But, alas, Pagans don’t laugh. They are very kind and accepting people, and they DON’T worship the devil.

I have a question totally off the specific subjects. Who invented the Trinity? I don’t need an explanation of what the three components are that make up the Trinity. I am talking about the denominations of Christianity that hold the Trinity in such high regard. That explanation of God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit being One, is not found in the bible. Who decided to give it a name? To me, that is just another way man interprets the bible in his own way.

Last thing, dolce84, thank you for answering my questions.

i believe that yes, the bible was created by man and that man is flawed. HOWEVER, the bible was created by Jesus’s disciples and therefore, the bible was not written by one person, but by all of the disciples (except Judas)… and so, we can believe what we want by piecing everything together and coming up with what we believe.

The bible is probably not fact, but full of beliefs. I believe when you sin, as long as you ask for forgiveness by praying to the Lord, then you will be forgiven. I remember reading something in the bible where Jesus said something cannot be forgiven… and i believe… i think… it was if…you insult the Lord… I’m not sure…I forgot .. =/

I believe anybody and everybody has a right to believe in anything they want. I have tons of friends who are not Christian and I am the ONLY Christian in my WHOLE family but it does not bother me. I don’t believe Christianity is ABOVE ALL RELIGIONS but nothing is the “TOP” religion if you get what I mean. They are all religions and everybody has a right to believe in what they want. I believe Christianity is the TRUTH.

I’ve always enjoyed hearing other peoples opinions on religion and spirituality–it can be such a sensitive topic. We had a discussion about this in a philosophy class and it got quite heated, to say the least. I’ve always had trouble with religion in general, being gay adds an extra stress on beliefs (or what you want to believe). Personally, I’m agnostic–I’m not a believer or a non-believer, I simply believe it’s impossible to know the ‘truth’ of the existence or lack thereof God. That being said… I like to remain spiritual, I have my own private thoughts and beliefs of God and spirituality. I think we argue too often on whether or not the bible or other religious texts are ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ or if one religious denomination is better than another; I think religion and spirituality is in each of us in our own ways and we have to find a way to express that. I’ve also had the opportunity to talk with some people of various faiths/beliefs– from Catholics and Jews to steadfast atheists. I enjoy learning peoples beliefs, it makes us that more diverse. :-) -S

Then… who was God talking to? Himself? Don’t tell me he has multiple personalities. Because that would be completely stup–

thinks

Actually, that would explain ALOT.

Not at all God is one. I guess it could sorts be explained like we have our physical self our mental self and out spirit self. . . We are created in the image of God So he must have a simular structure the Mental self The Father. the Spirit the holy ghost and the physical self Jesus Christ the Word of God made flesh. That nswer may not be perfect but at least I’m trying.

What I do know about Spirituality is that I don’t have all the answers. Although most major religions contain elements of truth, I don’t believe they accurately answer the basic questions of “who are we?” and “why are we here?” I do believe in something beyond ourselves, but how can I be so sure of what exactly that is? I don’t think I’ll know until I’m dead. I think whatever it is, is extremely complex and our understanding of it as physical beings is limited. It would be like trying to explain electricity to a dog. He may see, feel and benefit from electricity, but is never going to understand the science behind it. Getting to your questions, no I don’t believe in hell, especially within the Christian context because it was adopted from the much older Zoroastrianism. Leaders found that the message of Hell worked quite well in controlling the masses. Men did write the bible, The Ten Commandments were earthly laws also written by men, and I don’t know about an unforgivable sin, but I do believe that if one commits spiteful suicide he or she is thrown right back into another incarnation without being able to have input in his or her life. Although I don’t think all organized religion is bad, its foundation is made up of a penchant for power, control and money. Anybody that doubts this should definitely do some research on the history of Christianity and the real reasons behind the Christian Crusades. This being said, I have no problem with Jesus, he was a cool Hippie. I just have issues with Christianity as a movement.

A few other thoughts…….

When does religion stop being regarded as truth and become myth?

Achaemenid era (648–330 BCE) Zoroastrianism developed the abstract concepts of heaven, hell, personal and final judgement, all of which are only alluded to in the Gathas. (Wikipedia)

That’s a WHOLE other discussion, my dear. The difference between TRUTH and BELIEF. I can’t remember which thread started it, but Mr. mealy-meal, thumper, committedchristian and myself DEFINITELY discussed it at length.

Ah, this is probably one of my favorite questions as of late.

Personally, I believe the Bible is a book like any other. The only difference between the Bible and a copy of The great Gatsby is that one happens to be the sacred text of a religion. The Bible was written by man who was inspired by another man, and knowing that man doesn’t have perfect memory and has the capability of embelishing the truth and tying fiction into non-fiction, I can’t bring myself in good conscience to percieve it as 100% fact. I can accept that certain aspects are true, but I also keep in mind it has it’s share of things that aren’t.

My flaws with the Bible are centered around things that I can’t bend my mind around: homosexuality being wrong and things of the like. I also don’t believe that a person’s life should be completely subjected to being ruled by the Bible and I feel that some people take it too seriously to the point where they stop living their lives as themselves and doing things for themselves and they become these obsessed individuals who suffocate every non-believer into trying to believe what they do, and when they don’t they become exceedingly agressive and even mean. Now, I have every respect in the world for people and their religions and I find religion an extremely interesting conversation topic, but I can’t enjoy when people try to force their beliefs down my throat.

I don’t believe breaking one of the ten commandments is something worth eternal damnation. It seems a bit far fetched to me that one slip up like, “Oh my god!” or “Jesus Christ!” and you’re going to Hell.

Unforgivable sin? I don’t think there should be such a thing. If God loves everyone, why not forgive the person who stole a pack of gum the same as the person who murdered another person? In fairness, if you forgive one you forgive all. Sin is sin.

I’m not religious at all, and so my belief is that if you don’t believe in Hell as part of your religion, you can’t go to Hell.

Dolce84 would you please explain (Mat 28:19) Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, (2Co 13:14) The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. And why can sin aginst Christ be forgiven and see against God be forgiven but Sin against the holy spirit not be forgiven Mar 3:28 “Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, Mar 3:29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”– Mar 3:30 for they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”

You will notice it defines 3 in the versus I mentioned one fron the mouth of Chirst countless time in the Bible you will find their is only one God but in Genesis it says “let US make man in our own image” implying you have more that one. . . Who is God Talking to if we are created in the Image of God and there is only one God.

okay lady… There is a difference between faith and fact. and you jave to choose which one overrides the other…

I have faith that the bible is fact… if that makes sense to you…

I believe the Bible was written to be understood at a later time in the history of man. The Hebrews had God there with them, in person, and didn’t follow his instructions; why would they follow the teachings of a “book”. I do not believe there are flaws, only misunderstanding. Two examples of this are the cloning of Eve and the cloud that hovered over the Hebrews during the Exodus. When it was written the language was, by our standard, limited. Now we understand the concept of cloning and flying craft.

A concept invented by someone…not found in the the bible. Interesting. What are some other “concepts’ created that are not found in the bible? Hmmm.

Many scolars believe Jesus was born in August or September since those are the months Shepard would be in the fields at night so the sheep would eat more and fatten up for the winter months. in the winter months the sheep would be in a fold at night to keep them safe from preditors.

The idea of the Trinity as stated, is not mentioned in the bible. The trinity was a concept that was adopted in the first Council of Nicea.

Hey now, I asked the question, I didn’t say what I personally believed. Do not attack me. I just want to see answers. My beliefs are not open for discussion. That being said, I do appreciate your passion in your answer. It was an excellent answer. And for the record, I agree with you about Christianity and sexuality and race!

Very nice. I love the IMHO amblessed. That is what I want to hear! I want to hear other people’s beliefs. I am not interested in trying to change what someone believes, I just want to know what all is out there.

Thank you for that profound answer!

Right on! I’m the same way, I’ve enjoyed reading some of the answers on your question–I’ll keep reading it to see what others have to say as well. Take care. -S

okay this may sound dumb but im not really sure i mean i really dont think its real but idk really i dont belive in anything im just a teen who is living life as it comes

I see the Bible as a book of old myths, taboos, and superstitions.

Certainly there is plenty of food for thought in it but it isn’t the sort of thing you should literally believe every word of.

still humming -__-

no,christianity is not the only good religion. it may not even be the best. i think people who believe differently than others should be left alone, just as people who are not straight should be left alone, and people who are black, white, hispanic or whatever should be left alone. and as for breaking one of the 10 commandments will land you in hell, no i don’t think it will as long as you get forgiven! THINK ABOUT IT!!! Peace be with you! Love,Sentrell

I love to hear to people talk about their beliefs. I think if you choose to believe in something, no matter what it is, stand behind it 100%. Not meaning you should force others to believe what you do, just be true to what you say you believe. For example, amblessed believes strongly in the Christian faith and is not swayed from those beliefs nor does amblessed try to “recruit” others to believe his way. I just want to hear what people believe with some detail. I am not interested in trying to convince people not to believe what they see as truth.

I believe that God is real. That’s as true as it gets. He made this world for followers in him, and made the bible, because we should live the way he wants.

xxSmiles

Regarding Easter: Originally a festival of Spring, bunnies represent sex, eggs represent fertility.

cough rapture…

Not unless he wanted it to disappear too…

…and ‘Atlantis’ too?

Oh, one correction. Judas DID write a book for the Bible. It was omitted…

Nope, its dying off too. They’re limiting me to Addison or Frisco…

…Deep Ellum???

hisses

plugs ears & starts to hum

I believe to Bible to be the inspired word of God. I believe God inspired the men to write as he would have them too. The Ten commandments belong to the Mosaic law which was fulfilled by Christ on the Cross and a new law was ushered in starting at the cross and completely replaced the old law with the fall of Jerusalum in 70 A.D. I believe the road to heaven is narrow and who ever makes it does so by the grace of God. I believe God gave us only one way to worship him and no other.

Wouldn’t that then contradict Christianity’s monothiesm?

Do you really want us to start WW3 here?

Yeah, well it looks like ‘MEAL’

And yes, we got almost five inches where I live, and a kitten…

The Sir RNEALW Sir. . . . Hey did it rain in DFW today. . . . It pour along the Red River. . .

If God want’s it to disappear it will just like Sodom and Gomorrah

Well said brian92. :)

How things change. . . Next they will be closing the stock yard in Fort Worth. . . .

I believe it’s time for Captain to go to Allgood Cafe in Deep Ellum and have a nice meal. . .

Well I’d give you the list but. . . Well ok one. . .and I know someone is going to blast me for this. . . . Salvation thru prayer alone.

there has to be fact behind faith

…like what?

Ok the west end. . . . .

I just post the questions. :)

IMHO, what ‘religion’ matters not - whether or not you have personally accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior determines where you will spend Eternity - certainly man is flawed (sinful/imperfect nature) but God is not - He says in His word ‘His thoughts are not our thoughts, His ways are not our ways’ - God is certainly big enough to guide/control what is written in His word - I’m a Christian and it’s not so super ‘strict’ - if you’re saved your desire is say and do things that please Him - you’re man and you will make mistakes, but He makes it clear, if you confess - He is ‘faithful and just to forgive’ - what sends one to Hell is rejecting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savoir - notice that thief on the cross who never had done anything good in his entire life - he recognized Jesus for who He is (sacrifice for our sins - His purpose), asked Jesus to remember him and Jesus said ‘Today will thou be with me in paradise’ - that’s all any of us have to do - realize your sinful state - be genuinely sorry and ask for His forgiveness and to come into your life / your heart - He WILL ! - anyone saved, regardless of religion is Heaven-bound, they’re covered by His blood shed at Calvary - see a lot of people think, well, I’m a good person, I give to charities, etc, He’s a loving God, He wouldn’t send me to Hell - a terrible misconception - where God’s love comes in, He loved you enough to provide you a WAY to get to Heaven through the sacrifice of His son Jesus - He didn’t, I repeat, He didn’t have to do that ! If anyone needs more information, just see my profile page…Take care !!

A sinner saved by Grace.