I suppose it would highly depend upon the centrality of the beliefs in question to the religion. If a given belief is both highly speculative and serves little value/function in the overall belief system, I think people would tend to be more forgiving of changes to the 'official' doctrine. The...
Don't misunderstand me - I don't think anyone's going to be condemned because they believe or practice Infant Baptism. It's simply a pointless exercise. It's no more a baptism than if you were to go down to a brothel with a super soaker and start squirting people with Holy Water. It has zero...
Forgiveness requires repentance - which we do, not God. Nor should we need to ask forgiveness for sins we did not commit. An infant can neither repent nor does an infant need to repent and be forgiven.
The idea that you inherit sin itself (not merely that we suffer consequences of that sin, but we are actually guilty of the sin itself) is at the crux of this issue. While there can be no doubt that the consequences of sin are felt throughout creation via Adam (and thus also Christ's, the second...
You can address pretty much everything on your list while remaining a Christian - just not a fundamentalist one. The fundamentalist mindset is dangerous w/e your belief system happens to be. As a Christian I don't believe in eternal hell (but rather destruction Matthew 10:28), I don't believe in...
Sounds to me like you are skipping over major and obvious counter examples in scripture. The scriptures certainly teach respect for those in authority - and sees the government as a necessary part of society. However, that does not translate to "follow whatever the authorities say." Rather, the...
As a Christian, the most important teaching is to love; love God and love your fellowman. And Christ is the epitome of love - giving his life for the sake of others.
Most definitely. I've very much enjoyed my theological journey to this point and look forward to what the future brings. My...
I don't think having a guide for how to behave to reach a desired goal is the same as ethics. A recommended diet and exercise to lose weight isn't part of one's ethics, for instance.
Ethics and morality are concerned with good vs evil and how to live a morally good life.
I don't think there's one purpose or set of purposes for religion. Indeed, many religions have competing objectives. They have very different origins and were founded for different purposes.
Judaism is concerned with God's relationship with God's chosen people, their history and culture, God's...
You need to study more than a quick excerpt from Wikipedia. Yes, they emphasize "action without intention," not unlike Buddhism. Karma = moral action, and is characterized as wholesome or unwholesome based upon one's intentions. Neutral Karma = action without intention. Unlike whole and...
God gave us freewill to choose to do good or evil.
Deutoronomy 30:11-19
Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. 12 It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, “Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” 13...
Were gonna have to agree to disagree at this point. The meaning of those verses is clear as day. You'd rather attempt to read your own ideas into scripture rather than read what they actually say. Same with your usage of the dictionary. Hence you conveniently throw out his clear comments about...
No you are very much writing from a secular perspective. The scriptures are quite clear on the matter. You are tossing out their testimony to fit a secular perspective.
Whether he was a direct eye witness himself is irrelevant.
It's the same Jesus :rolleyes:
Not a red herring. The truth of the Trinity is irrelevant to this discussion. The point is that a term doesn't need appear to be applicable - such as with the Trinity (which I'm assuming you believe as a Catholic).
It is VERY possible to show that two mutually exclusive terms conflict from...
I and anyone else are free to clarify what connotation they intended when using a given term. You are free to clarify what connotation you meant by evil in the OP - and I would encourage you to do so since you are using a secondary connotation of the term which isn't clarified in the OP. You...
You don't find the word "Trinity" in scripture either - will you therefore reject the doctrine?
Not finding specific words being used doesn't mean that they aren't applicable.