I was a Christian ... once upon a time

[blackout]

oiy.

do your thing and be happy.

I'll leave you all to your scripturing
and get out of the way.

 

[elmarna]

All beliefs are formed out of opinions we keep.
Religious or not they are formed by those who help guide you to how to see and deal life!
If the choice to see a better way to live no longer regaurds the ways of how you first dealt with things then you have grown and matured in the way you feel to respond in life is wise!
I say -if it is for the good of you and mankind, then your faith is a good source of inspiration!

 

[Protester]

People should understand the Bible was written to and for Semites not Western Greko/Romans thinkers. When the Semitic thought, culture and language are not explained to westerners, the Bible cannot be understood.

Ah, Awoon, we meet again, but we are not Hellenistic or Roman as such, though you perhaps hadn't noticed that while the Jesus and the Apostles were Jewish they had interaction with the Romans, and the Romans in many cases understood the superiority of monotheistic superiority of the Jewish/Christian religions.

Acts 10
there. 19 While Peter was pondering the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men seek you. 20 But arise, get down, and go with them, doubting nothing; for I have sent them.”
21 Peter went down to the men, and said, “Behold, I am he whom you seek. Why have you come?”
22 They said, “Cornelius, a centurion, a righteous man and one who fears God, and well spoken of by all the nation of the Jews, was directed by a holy angel to invite you to his house, and to listen to what you say.”

30 Cornelius said, “Four days ago, I was fasting until this hour, and at the ninth hour, I prayed in my house, and behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing, 31 and said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer is heard, and your gifts to the needy are remembered in the sight of God. 32 Send therefore to Joppa, and summon Simon, who is surnamed Peter. He lodges in the house of Simon a tanner, by the seaside. When he comes, he will speak to you.’ 33 Therefore I sent to you at once, and it was good of you to come. Now therefore we are all here present in the sight of God to hear all things that have been commanded you by God.” ---WEB

It seems to me Awoon, there was quite a bit of contact between Romans and Jews just by looking at these verses, especially the first couple of them.

No, we are blessed to live in a Judeo-Christian culture,What does 'Judeo-Christian' mean?,especially in the United States.

Ah, and for those who were wondering about the paraphrase of,

'Tis Education forms the common mind, Just as the Twig is bent, the Tree's inclined.---Alexander Pope

Who know doubt was paraphrasing,

Proverbs 22:6Train up a child in the way he should go,
and when he is old he will not depart from it.---WEB

Of course Proverbs state general truths, and as seen by atheists who were raised in Christian homes, one doesn't have Unconditional Election - is it Biblical? by birth. Well at least as far as conservative Baptist are concerned.:sorry1:

 

[IsmailaGodHasHeard]

Please forgive me if I sound rude, but I disagree with you on some things. I believe that God is real and He loves you. I also disagree with the people choosing the religion of their parents because my father was an atheist and my mother was saved after I was. Please do not give up on Jesus.

 

[the-jesusist]

I was a christian many years ago. I believed I was saved and I believed that Jesus loved me. I began to question my faith and the more questions I asked, the more my faith fell apart. I felt sure God would answer all my questions eventually. But no answers came. I gradually realised that i was just talking to myself.

In my opinion, Christianity (and every other monotheistic religion I have encountered) fails from several standpoints - moral, scientific and logical. It seems to me that if someone is religious at all, it is overwhelmingly likely that they will have the same religion as their parents. It's a cultural phenomenon.

Don't give up on Jesus. He was neither the Messiah of the Jews nor the son of God, at least no more than any other person. He didn't suffer and die for the salvation of humanity. He was a philosopher, teacher, and humanitarian. He drank wine, consorted with dubious women, defied authority, and congregated with the lowest in society at that time. The sick, diseased, and the dirt poor were his responsibility, because no one else cared. His God was the God of all humanity, the caring God, the God of all people and all things. But also the God who let the world be. Hence his asking why God had forsaken him. Traverse the internet. Read all you can from documents about Jesus, both new and old and accept or reject them based on your own judgment. It won’t fail you.

 

[Protester]

A question: Why are you a Jehovah's Witness from choice?

This is an excellent question because there is no way you can get those beliefs from reading the Bible alone! You have to have a Bible interpreted in such a way, that it will support the Watchtower positions, It is noted that even the JW bible, www.ankerberg.com/Articles/_PDFArchives/theological-dictionary/TD4W0605.pdf I will say it has an interesting history. There are enough copies of it and orthodox Bibles such as the NASB, WEB, NIV, (check out Realms of Faith: Comparing Bible Translations :yes for good information on the Bible versions, so you can check them out against the NWT and vice versa.

Awoon, you keep asking, Why is it so hard to understand the Bible? but as Eisenhower pointed about What is the Judeo-Christian ethic? we don't have that much problem understanding our cultural heritage. If you were raised in this country, you can't have that much trouble understanding Jewish culture of even the first century, if you do -- get a good Bible dictionary! or a good study Bible, such a Ryrie or a MacArthur, it will help over the hard spots.

 

[Protester]

A question: Why are you a Jehovah's Witness from choice?

This is an excellent question because there is no way you can get those beliefs from reading the Bible alone! You have to have a Bible interpreted in such a way, that it will support the Watchtower positions, It is noted that even the JW bible, The Jehovah’s Witnesses’ New World Translationof the Holy Scriptures – Part 1,
I will say it has an interesting history. There are enough copies of it and orthodox Bibles such as the NASB, WEB, NIV, (check out Realms of Faith: Comparing Bible Translations :yes for good information on the Bible versions, so you can check them out against the NWT and vice versa.

Awoon, you keep asking, Why is it so hard to understand the Bible? but as Eisenhower pointed about What is the Judeo-Christian ethic? we don't have that much problem understanding our cultural heritage. If you were raised in this country, you can't have that much trouble understanding Jewish culture of even the first century, if you do -- get a good Bible dictionary! or a good study Bible, such a Ryrie or a MacArthur, it will help over the hard spots.

 

[javajo]

I was a christian many years ago. I believed I was saved and I believed that Jesus loved me. I began to question my faith and the more questions I asked, the more my faith fell apart. I felt sure God would answer all my questions eventually. But no answers came. I gradually realised that i was just talking to myself.

In my opinion, Christianity (and every other monotheistic religion I have encountered) fails from several standpoints - moral, scientific and logical. It seems to me that if someone is religious at all, it is overwhelmingly likely that they will have the same religion as their parents. It's a cultural phenomenon.

Hi and welcome. I believe you are still saved for Christ is faithful to the faithless, he cannot deny himself. If you ever placed your trust in Christ, you have been made alive spiritually and are a new creature, adopted into the family of God, and he has promised to never leave you or forsake you or cast you out and that nothing can take you out of his hand or separate you from his love. So, Jesus loves you all the time, no matter what, and there's nothing you can do about it.

 

[Awoon]

Ah, Awoon, we meet again, but we are not Hellenistic or Roman as such, though you perhaps hadn't noticed that while the Jesus and the Apostles were Jewish they had interaction with the Romans, and the Romans in many cases understood the superiority of monotheistic superiority of the Jewish/Christian religions.

Acts 10
there. 19 While Peter was pondering the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men seek you. 20 But arise, get down, and go with them, doubting nothing; for I have sent them.”
21 Peter went down to the men, and said, “Behold, I am he whom you seek. Why have you come?”
22 They said, “Cornelius, a centurion, a righteous man and one who fears God, and well spoken of by all the nation of the Jews, was directed by a holy angel to invite you to his house, and to listen to what you say.”

30 Cornelius said, “Four days ago, I was fasting until this hour, and at the ninth hour, I prayed in my house, and behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing, 31 and said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer is heard, and your gifts to the needy are remembered in the sight of God. 32 Send therefore to Joppa, and summon Simon, who is surnamed Peter. He lodges in the house of Simon a tanner, by the seaside. When he comes, he will speak to you.’ 33 Therefore I sent to you at once, and it was good of you to come. Now therefore we are all here present in the sight of God to hear all things that have been commanded you by God.” ---WEB

It seems to me Awoon, there was quite a bit of contact between Romans and Jews just by looking at these verses, especially the first couple of them.

No, we are blessed to live in a Judeo-Christian culture,What does 'Judeo-Christian' mean?,especially in the United States.

Ah, and for those who were wondering about the paraphrase of, Who know doubt was paraphrasing,

Proverbs 22:6Train up a child in the way he should go,
and when he is old he will not depart from it.---WEB

Of course Proverbs state general truths, and as seen by atheists who were raised in Christian homes, one doesn't have Unconditional Election - is it Biblical? by birth. Well at least as far as conservative Baptist are concerned.:sorry1:

Yer a Greko/Roman influenced Protestor of the Greko/Roman influenced Roman Catholic Church.

No difference with either of yous.

 

[Protester]

Ah, Awoon, you know I'm really a great admirer of Chinese culture, I took a few history courses in college that dealt with Far Eastern history. Guess where one of the places of great growth in Christianity? -- China!:clap A part of the world which is very proud and highly influence by Chinese culture and usually care nothing for Greek, Roman, or for that matter Near-East culture.

You can well ask, What Is the Clarity of Scripture? (Perspicuity) but conservative Baptists such as myself (oh, q.v., What is the Baptist Church and what do Baptists believe?) that while such things as Bible dictionaries are very useful, and good study Bibles such as Ryrie and MacArthur's do an excellent job of holding your hand as you go through the Bible, we would think a good accurate Bible such as the New American Standard Bible without any commentary such as in the Inductive Bible format is completely understandable q.v., What is inductive Bible study? is a completely valid way of understanding the Bible, and you don't need someone else to explain it to you. (Oh, especially if you're part of the Judeo-Christian culturewhich Americans are a part of.)

 

[9Westy9]

I was a christian many years ago. I believed I was saved and I believed that Jesus loved me. I began to question my faith and the more questions I asked, the more my faith fell apart. I felt sure God would answer all my questions eventually. But no answers came. I gradually realised that i was just talking to myself.

In my opinion, Christianity (and every other monotheistic religion I have encountered) fails from several standpoints - moral, scientific and logical. It seems to me that if someone is religious at all, it is overwhelmingly likely that they will have the same religion as their parents. It's a cultural phenomenon.

Welcome to RF

 

[Spectrox War]

.. and you are living proof?

.

I did say "overwhelmingly likely" if they are "religious at all". There are exceptions to the rule. Exposure to religion in one's formative years is bound to have some impact surely?

 

[Spectrox War]

Welcome!

What kind of questions did you ask and not receive answers for?

Moral questions such as why is the Bible supportive of genocide, slavery, mysoginy, homophobia, Hell

Scientific / logical issues such as Biblical contradictions, miracles, far-fetched stories, evolution versus creation.

The usual stuff...

 

[Spectrox War]

You said Monotheistic religions fail from moral, scientific, and logical standpoints. So does your opinion differ on Polytheistic religions??

I should have just said "theistic" religions. I just didn't want to include Buddhism which is probably the only religion that I have some respect for although I don't meditate or practice it at all.

 

[Spectrox War]

Don't give up on Jesus. He was neither the Messiah of the Jews nor the son of God, at least no more than any other person. He didn't suffer and die for the salvation of humanity. He was a philosopher, teacher, and humanitarian. He drank wine, consorted with dubious women, defied authority, and congregated with the lowest in society at that time. The sick, diseased, and the dirt poor were his responsibility, because no one else cared. His God was the God of all humanity, the caring God, the God of all people and all things. But also the God who let the world be. Hence his asking why God had forsaken him. Traverse the internet. Read all you can from documents about Jesus, both new and old and accept or reject them based on your own judgment. It won’t fail you.

Thank you for your kind words. I sort of agree with you although I would argue that what you're saying is not Biblical. The jesus of the Bible has a sinister side to his character as well IMO.

 

[Spectrox War]

Hi and welcome. I believe you are still saved for Christ is faithful to the faithless, he cannot deny himself. If you ever placed your trust in Christ, you have been made alive spiritually and are a new creature, adopted into the family of God, and he has promised to never leave you or forsake you or cast you out and that nothing can take you out of his hand or separate you from his love. So, Jesus loves you all the time, no matter what, and there's nothing you can do about it.

I hope you're right. Many Christians I've spoken to don't see it that way. Thanks anyway.

 

[Spectrox War]

Welcome to RF

Cheers matey. There's just one letter difference between us. I am an agnostic atheist!

 

[doppelganger]

In my opinion, Christianity (and every other monotheistic religion I have encountered) fails from several standpoints - moral, scientific and logical. It seems to me that if someone is religious at all, it is overwhelmingly likely that they will have the same religion as their parents. It's a cultural phenomenon.

But if that's enough for someone that following their religion works for their purposes, what does it matter? And to whom is this opinion directed?

 

[9Westy9]

Cheers matey. There's just one letter difference between us. I am an agnostic atheist!

Funny how one letter can make so much of a difference xD

 

[Protester]

Originally Posted by javajo
Hi and welcome. I believe you are still saved for Christ is faithful to the faithless, he cannot deny himself. If you ever placed your trust in Christ, you have been made alive spiritually and are a new creature, adopted into the family of God, and he has promised to never leave you or forsake you or cast you out and that nothing can take you out of his hand or separate you from his love. So, Jesus loves you all the time, no matter what, and there's nothing you can do about it.

I will say to javajo, if someone keeps denying Christ, then it should be obvious that he isn't saved. If you are of the Arminian persuasion you would say he has lost his salvation, and if you're Calvinist you would say he never was saved. So, what are the consequences for the person who rejects Christ? Is universalism / universal salvation biblical? --eternally bad. Most conservative Baptists would say that, ultimate reconcilation isn't Biblical, q.v., Ultimate Reconcilation.


You gentlemen should define your terms, there isn't much vagueness in the terms, if you're an agnostic, What is agnosticism? you really don't need to add the term Atheism to it.