The Slow Death Of Christianity In The United States

[sojourner]

Sure, some parts of 'Christendom' is flourishing, but Not flourishing as 1st-century Christianity was.
People can think of themselves as religious but still be spiritually dried up.
I see a political connection in some religions which is the dried-up opposite of Jesus as role model.
Jesus and his followers were only politically neutral and Not part of world affairs.
They did Not even get involved in the issues of the day between the Jews and Romans.
They were No part of world affairs, but many in ' Christendom' are Not neutral as Jesus was.
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Actually, that's false. Studies have shown an almost steady 5% annual growth since the inception of Xy. Jesus and his followers were HIGHLY involved in world affairs. That's largely the reason why Jesus was crucified. I don't know what bible you're reading, but you need glasses and a better light source.

 

[sooda]

There is absolutely No scriptural reason why a pastor needs to make the money - period -.
This is because I find in Scripture the spiritually older men are voluntary and un-paid.
Jesus instructed to teach for free ( No salary ) - Matthew 10:8 B.
Thus, a paid clergy is Not a Bible teaching but a tradition of men - Matthew 15:9
So, we need to go the the 'church' of God's choice where there are No paid pastors.

LOLOL… Do you also oppose welfare?

 

[sooda]

And that ignorance comes by listing to man's teachings and not the teachings of Jesus Christ.

Do you believe that Jonah lived in the belly of a fish for three days?

 

[sojourner]

You can't be serious, throughout the whole bible is all about history and science.

Well it's evidence that your one of those that follows man's teachings.

Incorrect. The whole of the bible is all about myth. It has been shown that the history is highly skewed in many places. The history parts are not history as we understand it, that is, a recounting of raw fact. To the ancients, history was more story, recounting major shifts, but taking liberties with details. In fact, the German word for history is Kulturgeschichte, or "stories of the culture."

 

[sojourner]

No. I don't believe it. If people were leaving the churches because they were not teaching the word
of God in truth then you would expect for these people to be searching for the Truth. They are not.
We live in an increasingly self-obsessed and God hating world (see my profile below.)
People in traditional churches for millennia lived in wholesale opposition to many of the tenants and
standards of the Gospels - they didn't turn away - they thought it was just right.

I disagree in essence. I think people yearn for truth; they just don't know how to go about the process.

 

[sojourner]

The Bible is based on myths borrowed from Egypt, Sumer and the Canaanites. The message is more important than the children's stories. Even the ancient Jews knew the stories were teaching narratives and morality tales NOT science or history.

Well said.

 

[sojourner]

"They" said there were no Jews, just a religion. There was no central administration in Jerusalem.
There was no Jewish writing. There was no House of David. The bible knew nothing of the late
Bronze Age. Cities, villages, monarchs mentioned didn't exist. Camels were not domesticated in the
Bronze Age. There was no Isaiah or Jeremiah.

And so on, for forth.

But, bit by bit, the amazing story of the Jews and Israel is slowly emerging from the mists of time.
Sure, the Jews didn't create monuments to themselves. And they were a tiny nation - like the bible
says. But the bible isn't a myth like the Greeks and Roman made myths.

Yes, it's the same literary genre. The story about David's army? Completely made up. Israel was never that large -- it could not have been sustained by Israel.

 

[sojourner]

And that accounts for the drug addiction and broken homes today.

I disagree. Drug addiction and broken homes and other abuse are rampant in highly theocratic homes.

 

[sojourner]

The Seven Mountains of Societal Influence In 1975, Bill Bright, founder of Campus Crusade and Loren Cunningham, founder of Youth With a Mission(YWAM), developed a God-given, world-changing strategy. Their mandate: Bring Godly change to a nation by reaching its seven spheres, or mountains, of societal influence.
The Seven Mountains | Generals International
www.generals.org/rpn/the-seven-mountains/

Yet another cultic religious movement, the likes of which James Dobson and his crowd of snakes promulgate as "spirituality."

 

[sojourner]

The decline is probably mostly due to the failure of the Christian paradigm to keep pace with modern ideas and modern people. As long as churches believe in fantasies about Christian origins and the infallibility of its scriptures, it is digging its own grave.

There is a slight chance that "emergent" Christianity has a chance of surviving, because it is scientifically literate; it understands that scripture is rarely to be taken as literal fact - and that literal fact, at least in spirituality, is secondary to metaphorical truth; and even that Jesus did not need to be a literal historical biographical biological human person in order that the transcendent message attributed to him be both true and practicable.

I agree.

 

[sojourner]

I find Messiah mentioned at Daniel 9:25-26 is about a future Messiah who proved to be Jesus.
Jesus instructed to teach about God's kingdom as mentioned at Daniel 2:44.
God's kingdom government in the hands of Christ Jesus for a thousand years will crush the statue's feet.
We are now at the statue's ' time of the toes ' or more like the ' time of the toenails ' before Jesus takes action.

Confirmation bias.

 

[sojourner]

Remember: MANY come in Jesus' name but prove false according to Matthew 7:21-23.
The fake 'weed/tares' Christians outnumber the genuine 'wheat' Christians until the Harvest Time (our time frame).
The decline is mostly due to the failure of false Christians to keep pace with the 1st-century teachings of Jesus.
Instead they often teach church traditions or church customs as being Scripture when they are Not Scripture.
So, you are going to be in for quite a surprise when the powers that be will be saying, "Peace and Security..." which is really the precursor to the coming great tribulation as mentioned at Revelation 7:14,9; 1 Thessalonians 5:2-3.
It will be the figurative haughty 'goats' who I find are digging their own grave / destruction - Matthew 25:31-33,37,40.

You, of course, realize that there was no scripture (as in New Testament) in the 1st century? Sure, there were letters, there were stories, but not canonized scripture as you're talking about. Once again, your argument fails.

 

[sojourner]

That all depends on what and why a person is leaving the religion and church.

I didn't leave the religion, but the church.
I don't belong to any church.

It's more like you left the religion, but not the church. "The church" is the Body of Christ. "The religion" is the organization.

 

[sojourner]

As in King David that has multiple archaeological evidences that you were wrong, hopefully this will answer your modern position that it was written at 168BC.

When Was the Book of Daniel Written?

Of course, like King David, you can choose to not believe no matter what evidence is presented.

Not exactly a scholastic bell-ringer...

 

[sojourner]

Daniel, for one, predicted the temple's fall. And the long desolation of the Jewish people.
So too did Jesus, in all Gospels.
The Greeks did not destroy Jerusalem or the temple.
I don't get involved the 'days' of Daniel - they are symbolic only, and there's no agreement.
The Acts and the Epistles have no mention of the end of Israel - we can safely conclude
these authors wrote/lived before that event.
Furthermore, the Jews could have kept their nation but for two more wars, one in the following
century.
Luke was presumably gone from the scene with the end of his Book of Acts abruptly ending
when he arrived in Rome with Paul.
Many lives were saved by people heeding Jesus' advice concerning the coming Roman war.
I wonder if many were saved by leaving Jerusalem when the Jewish rebels lifted their own
siege in celebration at having destroyed General Gallus' legions.

That's hardly future prediction. Israel has perennially been the victim and in exile.

 

[sooda]

So.... there was a Messiah who gave himself for his people, way back in Babylonian times?
And that was the end of the Jewish people? W.w.w.w.a.a.a.a.i.i.i.i.t.t.t.t.t.t...a minute............

Cyrus was an anointed warrior king who rescued the Jews from Babylon.

 

[sojourner]

IMO having faith in God involves a different kind of science - proving things for yourself. This
is not a corporate thing, it is highly personal.

And yet, both Judaism and Xy are HIGHLY communal religions. What does this say about your theory?

 

[sojourner]

Luke researched his Gospel, interviewing people or perusing extant texts.
Luke most likely died with Paul. His Acts ends suddenly when they reached
Rome. With the exception of John's Revelation, none of the writers of the NT
had any knowledge of the fall of Jerusalem - it hadn't happened.

The OT was canon about the time of Ezra and the minor prophets. That's
why Maccabees and other books are not included - but Daniel, written during
the Captivity, was included.
To many Christians the NT works were canon because they came from the
eyewitnesses to the events - no other reason. Age of the text didn't come into
it, as opposed to the OT.

Your post is broken -- just too much wrong with it.

 

[PruePhillip]

And yet, both Judaism and Xy are HIGHLY communal religions. What does this say about your theory?

True. "Xy" involves an intensity of brotherhood, social responsibility and the like.
But the experience of knowing God is a private one. One of the tragedies of our
modern age is the growing tribalism and corporate thinking. Nothing seems to
be of a private concern anymore.

 

[PruePhillip]

Your post is broken -- just too much wrong with it.

You have to be specific, sorry. Not sure what is "broken" other than variegated thoughts.