Any Questions about Christianity?

Hello you probably know me already , and probably that I am a Christian, an maybe also that I take special interest in what I believe and think about it all the time to make sure I have it right. so if you have any questions about what I believe or about the religion of "Christianity" then I am more then happy to answer you. Even if it is just little things that are remotely connected or ideologies and histories I will do my best to give an accurate unbias answer.

Thank you.

Sorry, but I can see this thread is going to turn into a major argument. Personally I think it was a bad idea to make a Religion board at all.

~Tintin, do you believe that the world was created 4000 years ago? If so, what is your opinion of dinosaurs?
enchilado

enchilado wrote:

Sorry, but I can see this thread is going to turn into a major argument. Personally I think it was a bad idea to make a Religion board at all.

~Tintin, do you believe that the world was created 4000 years ago? If so, what is your opinion of dinosaurs?
enchilado

I am sorry, this is not a discussion thread .

can you please read my post lol this is about questions about my religion for those that are interested and not for a matter of argument.

So sorry I won't take the bait i will answer it but I do not expect a reply this is purely for the sake of learning more about Christianity...

As a Christian I believe the world was created about God roughly 6000 years ago

any more questions?

Can I second Enchilado's question?

How do you explain the existence of dinosaurs?

Not take the "seven day" birth of the world literally, and thus say that each day is longer than 24 hours but is in fact thousands upon thousands of years?

Very true Christie!

May I add they found a fossilised Dino footprint with a fossilized human footprint in the dino footprint?

basically proving that at some stage they both lived on the Earth together!

also like Christie pointed out about the apes and humans the theory of Evolution is "survival of the fittest" thus seeing humans are more "fit" then apes because "if" we evolved from them that means that humans are more evolved and seeing the theory goes evolution makes things stronger and more complex that would mean that apes would have become extinct being the lesser beings and humans would have killed and eatten them of to propel humans forward and thus we could have no apes!

also I just find this LOL hope you dont mind...

ok for evolution to work you need intermediates. Now not just a few I'm talking a few hundred stages inbetween and the fact that "all" fossils are inbetween stages because if the theory is correct then it will still be evolving. Now in the past few thousand years of recorded history there has NEVER been even ONE advance in evolution. In fact in all cases where there was change it was degenerate meaning there was a loss of information. why are hares white in the arctic and brown in Australia for instance? because in the arctic the hares first had the genes for both white and brown furr. Its just the ones with brown fur got extinct so now the hares ONLY have the genes for white hair thus they "LOST" genes they lost complexity they are now less-evolved talking in evolotionary terms. But the lesser-evolved rabbits survive better then the ones with a more complex genetic makeup. Huh? If that doesn't like totaly disprove evo I dunno what will...

also like Christie said people DON'T WANT God to exist because if he existed then they would have to change, and they want to keep living their sinful life. So they cling to religions and belief systems just so they don't have to believe in God.

also what you believe dertermines how you interpret the evidence. If you believe in one thing then you will interpret all evidence to match your beliefs, everyone is bias there are NO exceptions, thus it is entirely pointless to try argue with facts and evidence you must battle on a belief level and once you win the belief battle you would have already won all the other battles like Creation Vs Evolution. I'm not saying not to tell people what we think and I am sure some people would wake up if they see it right but generally I use belief tactics. If people are interested then by all means tell them that is in fact the better stage.

well that is enough for now... (I love this more then the 8 hours of hard manual labour I gonna do today LOL)

ta ta all!

i have a question!
Is there a difference between being a Christian and being a Catholic?
Creation of the universe; Science or Religion (Christianity)? since alot of people are saying it was God and some people say science( big bang). I reckon it might have been both; Like what if God is the Big bang?

Quote :

also like Christie said people DON'T WANT God to exist because if he existed then they would have to change, and they want to keep living their sinful life. So they cling to religions and belief systems just so they don't have to believe in God.

did you mean people wouldn't want to live their sinful life? because fi God did exist in person or if he actually IS watching us, wouldn't people have to follow everything in the Decalogue (10 commandments) so that God wouldn't condemt them to hell or get punished?

Quote :

i have a question!
Is there a difference between being a Christian and being a Catholic?
Creation of the universe; Science or Religion (Christianity)? since alot of people are saying it was God and some people say science( big bang). I reckon it might have been both; Like what if God is the Big bang?

As far as being Cathlolic and Christian, I dont see any difference in todays society.
They both read the same bible, and pray to the same God. And believe that my mate JC is the son of God. However a few hundred years ago the Catholics did some things that were... far less then what scripture did. Churhes had a bit of a dark era. Anyways, the reason other dinominations broke off from the catholic church is because back then the cathlolic preists believed they were the only ones who could read the bible. Everyone else had to just take their interpretation of it. Which is... wrong... cause God's word is for everyone. Things have changed since then though.

As far as the Big Bang is concerned, if God did it to create the earth, Im okay with that. But I do believe there is an intelligent designer at hand.

Ok I have a lot to say to all of this sorry but I can't be bothered quoting.

Firstly lets tackle this Creation issue, now all beliefs regarding creation are a religion of some sort because it is based purely on belief no-one was their so no-one really knows so faith is needed no matter what you believe, Atheism is a religion as much as Christianity and Humanism are.

now on to Catholics and Christians and why they are not one and the same.

For one Catholics don't believe in Christianity they believe in Catholocism
For second followers of Catholocism are called Catholics where followers of Christianity are call Christians
For third Catholics killed millions of Christians, I'm not laying blame I am just stating a historical fact, people do not kill their own followers. You could say well Muslims kill Muslims? but no they don't Sunnis kill Shiites and the other way around but Sunnis DON'T kill Sunnis.

also Catholics don't use the same Bible they use their own version with their own added books and worship their own Gods i.e. Mother Mary, Baby Jesus, the Saints.

This actually has a very interesting and long history that I know a lot about but writing it all would take me several hours to put it out in depth and why. And I am hungry and have to do school but I will write it all up someday.

But just to finish of Christians are Christians and Catholics are Catholics, different religions as different as Judaism and Islam are from each other, (in fact that is probably the best comparison).

SeaSalt IceCream wrote:

... None of the Catholics I know use a different Bible...

They follow the Catholic Bible though there Bibles just don't have the extra books maybe but the extra books are taught at Mass and such places.

They follow "Baby Jesus" not Jesus Christ

and they put "Mother Mary" over Jesus which is blasphemy as Jesus in in fact God.

Putting a mere human over God himself? No-way!

What is that supposed to mean lol? I never said feelings should be respected...

I search for truth if its not true then well I say it! xD

Seeing your so interested I will write up not tomorrow because guests over and probably not Friday because we are going as guests somewhere and then Sat is work and Sun is always busy so maybe next Monday I will write up all my beliefs on the Catholic Church and then take it from there...

Expect a few thousand words...

I'm still annoyed I accidently deleted Lights post here though :/

SeaSalt IceCream wrote:

I dont think it's a seperate religion, I mean they let catholics teach RE in schools just like all the other dinominations.
I think it really all depends what you define as a christian.
Scriptually a Christian is defined as
"a follower of Christ"
That sorta includes Catholics.

Its because catholics are a type of christian. Theres a minor difference between the latter.

Lol its okay if you deleted my post xD it was an accident.
Feelings and beliefs should be respected.

Oooh an essay on catholics? This should be interesting

I think it was that the Catholics follow the Roman Catholic Bible which has 72 books and the Protestants follow the King James Version which has 66 books or the Revised Standard Version which has many verses and chapter thrown out cz they were fabrications right?
Wanna learn more about the faith, so hope you don't mind me asking a few questions. I get very confused when you say Jesus is in fact God. Why do some say that he was the son of God then? That is clearly very different.

Thanks I'm sure you guys will be able to clear stuff up as well as I to you.

Hm ok, but how can that be? Doesn't the bible say that Our Lord is One Lord?. That there in no likeness of Him? To say that he is three persons is a contradiction. Three persons can't be one person. 3 persons means 3 personalities and 3 personalities are not the same.

I believe God to be One. Also in the bible, the King James version and the Roman Catholic, the word Trinity doesn't exist does it. The only verse that comes close to the theory of Trinity is this:
Which is in the Gospel of John Chapter 5 verse 7 I believe. But this verse does not exist anymore in the Revised Standard Version. Why? Because 32 Christian Scholars removed it as they did not find this verse, along with many others in the most ancient manuscripts. These were 200-300 years after Jesus's time they say, whilst the King James version was derived from the scripts they say that were written 600-700 years after his time. This indicates that somebody added this in doesn't it? It just brings the question up about the authenticity of the bible. How many more mistakes are there? God is One, and Jesus was a Messenger sent to restore the message told by previous Messengers that God is One. To say He is 3 is going against His message.

Let me try to explain...

The word Trinity indeed isn't found in the Bible and as such I do not believe it... Well not strictly as it is told...

You see the term trinity comes from the Roman Catholic Church. You could compare the Trinity to Mother Mary, Baby Jesus and the Pope. It doesn't mean that but its a comparison.

now Trinity defines 3 people in one... *takes 3 apples* now to make 1 apple out of 3 apples will be rather hard won't it? (read impossible) now there are hundreds of verses with sayings like "me and my father are one" etc.. now how can a finite human being (as Jesus was) be an infinite God (as God in Heaven was) now God can't interact with the world because he was infinite, now that sucks right? You make the world then can't interact with it so simple he creates Jesus. Jesus being himself yet a finite version so he can interact with us. also *throws 2 of the 3 apples away, and pulls out knife* see where this is going? *cuts apple into several pieces*, one piece is God the Father, the other is "holy Spirit" another "Jesus", possible the burning Bush God wrestling with Abraham in the river even the Pillar of Fire and Cloud guiding the Israelites across the dessert could be parts of God... So see he in infinite (means not finite) means you can't define what he is. He simple IS. That is why one of his names is "I AM" because he simple just is and it is impossible to explain who he is from a Earthly sense. Now what I explained could be classed Trinity I guess but it isn't really its more like itytrin, its 1 God several parts instead of several beings 1 combined being, because you CAN'T have 3 things in 1 it isn't logical but you can indeed have 1 thing in several parts, for instance Humans. Body Soul and Spirit Humans are then 3 beings in 1? I am 3 people in one GREAT! not I am 1 being with 3 parts body spirit soul. also that could be compared to God. We were created in Gods image... if god is 1 God 3 parts then humans would also be 1 human 3 parts i.e. body soul spirit. also how can an infinite being have an image? you see Jesus is the "Image" of God, Jesus is also the "Word of God" and the "Word became flesh and dwelt among us" Gods "words" created the world, its all linked. God is The Father he is The Son and he is The Holy Spirit, just as I am my body I am my soul and I am my spirit, connected yet not at the same time... As Jesus/Gods Body died so ours will die. thus our spirits are separate in a sense but also the same. and as we were created like Jesus it would make perfect sense that we also look like him (are human), he did look like us we look like him. Also about Christmass... It doesn't say in the Bible to 1. celebrate birthdays 2. when his birthday was 3. if it was important it would be in the Bible but its not 4. if its not in the Bible don't follow it 5. Santa Clause comes from Saint Nicholaas in norway i think it were he helped poor people and things and over the years it chances to Santa Claus (its Catholic) 6. as I said before if it was important it would be in the Bible but its not. 7. it is also a pagan festival I think a fertility festival or something of that sort, the trees might come from Eastern mysticism where they set up trees at a certain time of the year and decorate them to scare of the evil spirits.

I hope that clears some uncertainties up... And creates a ton more because that might be a portion of what I was going to say (read) "Be prepared for another one" next time on 1. Easter 2. Emperor Constantine (the first pope and birth of a new religion "Catholocism")

p.s. sorry for bad spelling its late and I gotta rush to bed so I not bone tired for work XD!

Not a bad explanation my friend, but the problem is your still going with the theory of trinity when it doesn’t really exist nor was it something that Jesus himself said. For some reason things are misunderstood. You see when Jesus said I and the Father are one in the bible, you have to read and understand the whole context. Let’s look at the verse and see exactly what it means.

John 10:23-30

Now what do we understand when we read it in its context? These verses prove only that Jesus and the Father are one in that no man can pluck the sheep out of either's hand. They are one in the purpose that the people cannot be led astray as long as they are following the teaching of Jesus. And whose message is he teaching exactly? God’s message. It does not at all state that Jesus is God's equal in everything. In fact the words of Jesus, " My Father, who gave them me is Greater than ALL...," in John 10:29 completely negates this claim, otherwise we are left with a contradiction.
More proof that the ‘one’ means one in purpose is in John 17: 20-22



Jesus is saying this to his disciples. Now if we take this literally the same way people seem to do in the verse mentioned above, then that means we have to believe in 14 gods as God is in Jesus and he is in his disciple’s right? Wrong. He is clearly proving that it is the one in purpose.

I agree with you that Jesus was a finite being, human being basically as he required to eat, drink, sleep and everything else a human being does. And that God is infinite, He does not possess human qualities as He is being far greater than us but that doesn’t mean He doesn’t understand us, cuz He created us. He is all-knowing as is stated. But we’re not, so I agree with you. How does He interact with us? Through messengers, but it wasn’t just through Jesus as the bible says. He was one of many messengers, as was Moses, as was Abraham, David, Solomon, Jonah and many more that are mentioned. Each of them was sent to the world in different times to spread and teach the message of God to the people as it says in the bible. And how do we know he was a messenger?

John 7.16 “My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me”.

All those that preached the message were not their own message but the message of God. Thus proving he was a messenger.

Why Jesus is believe to be Son of God is again another misunderstanding. I don’t understand, or even why he is worshipped as God as he never claimed to be God nor said worship him. He always prayed to God and taught the Oneness of God. As he says in the bible, “My father is greater than I” “My father is greater than all” If we look at the verse continued from John 10:30,

“Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him.
Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me?
The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.
Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?
If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken;
Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?”

So Jesus was telling the Jews that you and the prophets are called gods in the law (Old Testament – Psalms 82:6). So if I call myself son of God this means I claim divinity? So if we believe that Jesus was the son of god then we have to also believe the other sons of gods also mentioned in the bible.

But it’s this verse that astonishes me most in that many seem to not take notice of it at all.

Matthew 7:22

All those who say we have done wonderful things in your name, worshipped you, instead of glorifying and worshipping God, (like he came to do and preached and taught and bled and felt brutal pain for), he will say to them, get away from my sight. Why? Because they have made him a god when he never claimed it nor told them to do that. He prayed to God, he did everything in his name. All his miracles he did by the power given to him by God and yet his teachings and preaching’s seemed to have been in vain as they are not followed. Please my brothers and sisters, pray and worship One God, the God our Jesus prayed to. Not him. I repeat again, God is One.

PS. Don't worry lol. I know how it is, I had to find the time to reply back properly =/ Sorry that its so long D=

tis ok...

I actually found a youtube vid... and i can't sumarize it so I send ya the link finally I found the perfect explanation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xi2nAHPpgvI

Erm, ok I see what his saying and I agree with many things but it does raise a lot more questions.

It seems Dr Brown is a Jew who believes in Jeusus as the Messiah and not God. I believe that also.
The questions that are raised again are about the contradictory statements. As he says, the bible says no one has seen God or knows His image yet still people are claiming and writing that they have seen God. And note it isn't God, Moses or Jesus who are telling you this but somebody else altogether. Again proving that its man who is making this claim and creating these contradictions.
He also talks about the Trinity towards the end, but it seems his explanation is that God sent Jesus as his word to man, basically a messenger like those previously. And not to worship him as God. When Dr Brown talks about how the 'word of Lord spoke' that doesn't mean God's spirit form or whatever, but its about messengers. They reveal to us what God tells them, so I agree with that. But then he says, his son who revealed himself as flesh and blood. That is a wrong beleif as Jesus never claimed this. But he was one of the mightiest messengers of God.

Remember, I only quoted the verses that Jesus actually said and not what other people are telling you that Jesus said. Because as Christian Scholars have already proved, there have been and still are fabrications. The only words we can believe are the words of God and his messenger. Sadly the bible can't be said to be this as it contains contradictory statements and mistakes as well as scientific mistakes, and we know that God does not make mistakes. If it was this Holy Ghost that enlightenend the men to write the stuff that they write, I don't understand why he would make contradictory statements and even copy a whole chapter word for word in the bible. You know? Its just not right.

So what scripture can we believe to be the Words of God? A book where God speaks to us in first person and not somebody else telling us that this person said unto the Lord or the Lord said to so and so? But God telling you exactly what to do, proving that He is One God. How he created the universe, scientific explanations that we have come to know as fact in this modern age thanks to technolgy? A book that has not been altered since the day of its revelation with no contradictory statements glorifying Him and His messengers, including Jesus? Basically a book that proves the existence of God and the guide to humanity to follow a peaceful way of life. What is this book?

I actually think he made it out that no Jesus wasn't infinite he wasn't invisible yes no-one has seen "The Father", but God created Jesus as a manefestation so that through Jesus he could communicate to the world he created, no Jesus isn't God but he is a manefestation thus in a sense he is God because God made and uses him yet he isn't the infinite invisible God, it says "who has seen me has seen the Father also" but it also says the "no-one has seen God" now if those aren't contradictory? in a sense they are but if Jesus is both God and not God then it makes sense, He is Gods mediator, (as it says in the Bible) he is the manefestation God created to communicate to those he created otherwise he couldn't because God is so Holy that a mere glimpse would kill us, thus Jesus can't be God because we can see him, yet seeing God controls him that sort of makes him God at the same time. Also in the BIble like he mentioned it says times when God walked with prople and talked to them that is impossible if a mere glimpse would kill them thus... It must have been a physical manefestation of GOd that walked with them and not the infinite invisible God whom we worship.

Does this make Jesus not important?

No on the contrary without Jesus we can't ever come to God because he is the only one that can make us able to come to God, without him we are doomed to Hell. He is the one that washes us clean and makes us perfect BEFORE we can even be presented to God, if we were present before we were made perfect we would be instantly killed, because no darkness can abide in the Light of God. And I think the "Helper" Jesus sent was the Holy Spirit to come live in us, which in fact could be the Word or even Jesus in fact because Jesus is the Word of God and "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us" Jesus being Gods Word.

So we need God and Jesus and The Holy Spirit for this to make sense i.e. manefestations of God otherwise he can't communicate with us. Before the fall God walked with them in the garden he didn't need a mediator because they were perfect. Now God needs a mediator because otherwise his sheer presence would kill us! He doesn't show himself in his Glory because he loves us and doesn't want to wipe the world out just yet.

Mate! What you are saying about Jesus being a mediator is exactly right! THat he was the communicator, the link between us and God. That through his message and following what he says, can we come to God. What you are describing my friend is the trait of a Messenger!
That is exactly what they all did and were here for. To communicate to us the message of God. I didn't say Jesus was not important. On the contrary I believe he is one of the mightiest messengers of God, I believe he was born of a miraculous birth, I beleive he healed those blind with the power given to him by God, and he gave life to the dead with the power given to him by God. I believe, but when you say he was the manifestation of God, that he was God in human form, that I do not agree with. Because one, he never said that, and two, God does not need to come down here to see how it is to be a human, because He created us. The creator knows what He created. The way he communicates to us is through Messengers, men he chooses before they are even born, to convey His message to the people, to reveal scriptures for us to read and follow. People who follow the message of the Prophets are folowing the message of God, they are the words of God as in they are telling us what God told them. Not that they are God in human form, because as soon as God does that, he no longer becomes God. God does not require to eat, drink, sleep, excrete, or any of the things that humans do. He is God! The Greatest. Jesus did require all this and time and time again he proved that he was human. He tells you not to worship him as God as I gave you the verse previously where he'll say get away from me, I never knew you. You have to listen and understand what he says taking the whole context into view.

But if the scriptures and the message get changed and altered by man for his own gain and convenience they are no longer divine scriptures of God and we can never be sure what is the true words of God. And as I said before, Christian Scholars have found themselves for this to be the case. So again I'll ask you the question of which book can we follow to be the words of God and that has not been changed and has no mistakes and proves the existence of God? There is only one. The Quran.