World vs. Christianity

Hi,

I would like to express my opinion but first, can you give us an idea where you are coming from? I mean, are you of the opinion that we should base our decisions on the Bible instead of our conscience?

Gala

I am a Christian and our church is with Assemblies of God. I feel that our world has turned away from biblical principles to satisfy our sinful nature. Because of this, I feel that many people have the wrong information about Christianity and I want to clarify questions. While doing this I hope to change people's views from a wordly perspective to what God wants.

Going to Gala's question, yes I am aiming towards helping people base their decisions based on what the Bible says. I don't believe in people having a conscience. I believe that Christians are given the Holy Spirit which speaks to them and tells them what God wants us to learn about Him. Does this answer your question?

OK, then. I am a Catholic from Spain, where the Christian faith was the religion of the estate. It was was imposed on everyone for many centuries by whatever it took, including killings.

The result is that nowadays people still follow the traditions: they are baptised and receive all the other Sacraments, but they don't take religion so much at heart as previous generations did. In fact, out of every two people who declare to be religious, only one goes to Church every week.

This is just an example of why we shouldn't impose religion onto others.

Back to the situation in the US. How about American citizens from different cultural and religious traditions? Can we Christians expect them to accept the Bible as the only sacred book and forget about their own? Do we have the moral or legal authority to force them? Nowhere says that US citizens also have to be Christians to live in this country....

I'm not that familiar with the Catholic church but I know that you are baptised as a baby which contradicts scripture. Colossians 2:12 says "For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to new life becuase you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead." Infants do not have the capability to accept Christ as their savior and ask him into their life. I think that baptism into the church as an infant is fine but I want to stress that you should be baptized again, making the decision yourself. Baptism is defined as a public proclamation of your faith, something you can't do as a baby. In my church, infants are dedicated to God. Then when they are older and make the decision themself, they are baptized.

I agree with the statement that this generation doesn't take religion that seriously. Part of this is due to the media and this new "thinking" that we should "tolerate" each other and accept each others beliefs and cultures. This is very dangerous because anything not with God is the work of Satan which is why it is so important for Christians to start standing up for their beliefs and stop this movement as much as possible. But in order to have an effect, you need to go back to the bible. In Joshua 1:8, God commands us to "Study the Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it". Unfortunately many Christians have pushed aside time with God and replaced it with more "important" things to do. If you are not solid with your Bible and your relationship with God, you are asking for temptation to enter your life.

Going to church is very important in maintaining a healthy relationship with God. Even Jesus attended the synagogue every Sabbath to study the scriptures (Luke 4:16). Church is a time for other brothers and sisters in the faith to come together and support each other while worshipping and listening to God speak through the sermon.

In America, there are many different cultures and religions that are practiced, but Christianity is still the most practiced religion. The "coexist" movement is beginning to take its stand, especially in diverse cities such as Los Angeles. The problem is the whole seperation of church and state. Because of this, we can't force Christianity on others which would be violating scriptures because a person has to decide for themselves if they want Jesus. Are you questioning about the "One nation under God" statement? Does this help? Please let me know:) And thank you for taking interest!

I thought being a christian you tolerate other peoples beliefs? Since the bible was written the world has changed alot,like you say "same sex marriages" "children being born out of wedlock".I would have thought god would be happy that we are not all the same as long as we got along.

I am a wiccan & we do not judge people at all,we are happy with all religions & believe that it is ok to be different.

I think you refer to the same church that says all other religions are blasphemy/primtive and whatever else. Secondly, it is the same church where priests indulge in sexual perversions with little children and it is the same church with our fellow in Rome from a Nazi background and some Christian sects (can't specify) have legalised abortion saying that the first 8 weeks, very conviniently might I add, the child has no soul. What about medical reasons? Women are forever to be punished because someone made up a story about Adam and Eve? Original sin in in their minds and kindly understand that none of us were there to bear testimony for a book that is written by human hands in a time of high political and social turmoil.

I wonder what you have to say about the Gnostics. I am not trying to be rude but I am an extremely frank person and I just realised this post after seeing Whytewitch's comment. MY opinions may be on the stronger side but saying that the whole world is against Christian beliefs is just rubbing against everyone isnt it?

My source is myself - I'm born a Hindu (it is the first religion on earth - more than 8000 years old and the cradle of civilisation) and went to a convent school and gave up organised religion years ago to follow the pagan path.

Let me first start with Whytewitch's statement:

Christians accept that some people don't believe in Jesus right now. We are tolerant in the sense that we don't seperate ourselves from other beliefs because that wouldn't be showing the love of God. As for the Bible, God's word doesn't change (Isaiah 40:8, 1 Peter 1:25). Time and again, it has proven to hold truth. Everything that God commands is to prevent us from sin, heartache and pain. He is a loving God and doesn't want to see his creation fall under Satan's grasp. God loves His children, who are defined as those who have accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior (John 14:6, 1 John 3:1). I will use the example of same-sex marriage to illustrate a point. Many people hate that Christians don't accept gays or gay marriage. We as Christians are told to love everyone, just as God loves us (John 13:34). It is true that God hates homosexuality (Leviticus 18:22), but it is considered a sin just like stealing and murder. With that being said, it doesn't mean that it's ok to be one. This means that God still cares about you and that your sin can be forgiven. Christians should not discriminate against them because we are just as guilty of sin as they are. Now, for same-sex marriage it clearly goes against God's plan for marriage. Marriage was created to be between one man and one woman (Matthew 19:4-5). Sin distorts this as explained in Romans 1:26-27. Christians do not accept homosexuality as being ok because God considers it a sin, but we still should treat them equally. Christians dont accept same-sex marriage because it is a clear violation of God's plan for marriage.

Now for Shivangi's comment:

May I just note that God has existed since the beginning of time, therefore Jews were the first people on earth making Judaism the first religion on earth.

As for the authenticity of God's word I can understand your confusion. We know that God spoke to people using the Holy Spirit, and still does today. All of the books of the Bible are God-breathed. The writers were believers who were called on to write down their experiences, the history of the Israelites, and the truth about God that has been revealed to them. 2 Timothy 3:16 says, "All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right."

According to my definition of Gnosticism, it taught that salvation is achieved through a secret understanding of God. Not at all true. The Bible clearly states that all who accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior will have eternal life and go to heaven (Acts 4:12, Titus 2:11). My Bible notes further explains what it is in Colossians 1:9-14 and 2:4: "This heresy undermined Christianity in several basic ways: 1) It insisted that important secret knowledge was hidden from most believers; Paul however said that Christ provides all the knowledge we need. 2) It taught that the body was evil; Paul countered that God himself lived in a body-that is he was embodied in Jesus Christ. 3) It contended that Christ only seemed to be human but was not; Paul insisted that Jesus was fully human and fully God."

Hopefully this has clarified some of your questions. Please respond with any other questions or comments you may have!

Thank you for enlightening me but I have studied both Judaism and it's branches including newer religons like Baha'ii so kindly do not tell me that Jews were the first people on earth. There is no proof of that. Could you give me references outside the Bible? Or scholastic works that state this with facts to support this? It will really be welcome to my study. The concept of Time and Space are again man-made.

Let me tell you a little story:

A little boy asked his parish priest when mankind came to earth and he was told the Adam-Eve story complete with Original Sin which falls into the laps of women. But the boy said that he had learnt differently at school and there was proof for it. The priest simply said that God wanted to test the faith of his believers by planting evidence contrary to HIS word.

So you see if there is something you wish to invent and believe, you are the master of your own will. You are free to keep and preach your Bible. My bible as the herbalist Carol McGrath said,"

If you take the Christian Bible and put it out in the wind and the rain, soon the paper on which the words are printed will disintegrate and the words will be gone. Our bible IS the wind and the rain."

I will not reply to this thread anymore because this is the sole reason that I refuse to reply to religious fundamentalists there is already enough tension in the world with religion. India is by the way the first and was for a long time the only country to have all 10 organised religions recognised in one country. I would like to support this ideal.

Beware! A very opinionated lady and eccentric artist.

I just want to say to a comment you said that the bible says "all who accept jesus as their lord & saviour will have eternal life & goto heaven"

I know a few people who have passed away over the years who were non believers of god.Yet they have gone onto heaven.

I have done sittings where my loved ones have come through,i know you will probably say it is the work of satan but i dont believe that.

I have also seen the spirits of ones passed.

The messages i have got is that it does not matter whether you were a believer or non believer everyone is the same in heaven & all are accepted.

They are not in limbo as it is believed or sensaitionlised by the tv these days.