World War III?

Honey, you need to get off your high horse and let your god do the judging, like your bible tells you to do. People like you are the reason christians get such a bad rap.

Drew, don't take offense to her crap, your beliefs are just as valid as her's.

 

Obviously Epiphany has seen The Book of Life and all those who are written in it to have absolute certitude of whom is saved and whom is not.

Astounding that she should still be walking amongst us without an aura of impenetrable holiness surrounding her.

I think she and fair few Pentecostals (of whom i have firsthand experience from my teen years) need to go back and take Matthew 7:1-23 to heart.

 

lol.... i totally agree with you both. Its sad today that christians themselves are less accepting of christians then other religions.

 

There is no God. The Bible is false. Religion is blind faith. Through my walk with Christ, I have continually heard these comments and I am sure many of you here can relate. I remember when I was younger telling my friends about Jesus and all they would say is, “Well how do you know the Bible is true?” and I would be stumped. Deep down I knew there was validity to this ancient book but I didn’t know how to explain it. I wanted to know the truth. Is the Bible just another myth or was it truly inspired by God?

I started out by asking my dad what he thought. He told me about prophecies of the Bible. He said everything that the Bible predicted up to this date has come true. My dad then explained to me about the Messianic Prophecies as an example. Almost the whole story of Jesus is told throughout the Old Testament yet Jesus did not come until hundreds of years later in the New Testament. He also told me about the prophecies concerning the Jews returning to Israel. The Bible predicted that in the last days the Jews would reclaim Israel. As I took history in high school I found this prophecy to be true. In 1948 the Jews took Judah first and then in 1967 they retrieved Jerusalem second. The Bible predicted this exact sequence in the Zechariah thousands of years before it happened.

My dad also informed me about the archaeological proof that the Bible presented. He explained to me a new theory of where the Red Sea crossing site was. A man named Ron Wyatt had discovered this site and found at the bottom of the sea laid chariots, chariot wheels, spears, human remains and much more evidence in and out of the water that this amazing Biblical event truly did happen.

Later, as I was doing my own research I came upon another proof of the Bible—scientific accuracy. It turns out that the Bible talks about scientific things before they were even discovered. For example in Isaiah it says the earth is round yet this fact had not been discovered until thousands of years later.

As I close, through my dad and my own research I found that the Bible is more than some ancient book-it is God’s word. And instead of blindly telling others about God, I can now tell them with confidence that the Bible is true. Prophetic, archaeological, and scientific proof of the Bible is what separates Christianity from all other religions. And as a final result, I am know confident in my faith knowing that what I believe is not blind faith but based on actually fact.

 

lol... It's very elementry

You disregard the word of the Lord, You disregard some of Christ's teachings. Being a Christian means knowing Christ, and having a personal relationship with him. Not taking a course in college on religion. Saying you know what Christianity is, and believing that he exsists does not make one a Christian.

Again... even the word of God says that knowing who he is, is not nearly enough. Faith without works is dead, my friend.

Forget about denomination. There is only one God, one faith, one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. Believing and following that makes one a Christian. Those aren't my words, those are the words of the Lord.

I didn't say you weren't a Christian, the Word says you aren't.

 

So Christian's aren't allowed to be misled or to even have a different interpretation on how to live as Christ commands? Since you're working towards a psychology major, what's going to be the most logical reaction you're going to get from what appears (from my perspective) to be a condescending post? Is it not your duty as a Christian to help people come closer to God; and do you think you're seriously accomplishing that here?

I don't mean to pick on you; the opposite, in fact. You're one of the few people I think who'll actually understand...

 

Good point Fulmah,

Shes knocking on my theology degree. (its only a 2 year degree, but it has helped me be alot less critical against other religions. And accept people for who they are.) Shes inadvertently making people not like christianity, because they think everyone is prudish like herself. She represents the vast majority of literalists, who are afraid of the people who have developed the ability to interpret the bible themselves. I say if what you take from the bible helps you justify the reasoning in itself, and that helps build your religious foundation, then you have just as much of a right to take part in that religion as anyone else. Its okay though, what ever helps you sleep at night. One day I hope you literalists learn that you are completing the tasks of "the anti-christs," and causing people to run away from christianity like its the plague.

 

America is described in Revelation 17 as Mystery Babylon. Today in old Babylon in Iraq, you will find flying over it, the Stars and Stripes. With American Marines in control of the city. Babylon in both the Old and New Testaament has a number of discriptions. When you read the descriptions you will find there is only one country on earth that can fulfill them all. And that would be America.

 

I am saying that you cannot use a theology degree to say you are a Christian. You said...."I believe in Christ and that he died for my sins"... Satan believes in Christ... He knows that Christ died for our sins because he was the one who told him to give up while Jesus was praying in the Garden of Eden. Satan believes, you believe... same thing... How exactly does you believing differ from Satan believing? That is why the Bible says you must do much more than just believe.

Secondly, I love when people say, "I have my own interpretation of the Bible". There is only one meaning... The meaning that the Lord gave when he used his Holy Spirit to work through the writers of the Bible. Sadly, like Christ said, many false prophets would come in his name and decieve the masses from the original meaning. I don't recall Jesus saying..."Only take what you feel is important out of my words."

Learning how to be a Christian from a course at a university is equivalent to me watching ER and saying that I know how to become a doctor. Theology professors are those who study the components of a religion. They know the basic ideas of a religion... Anyone who says that mere belief in Christ makes one a Christian, is being led by a false Spirit because that is contrary to what Christ himself said.

Theology is funny because it is merely someone's opinon on how a religion is formed. They might be able to tell you the basics, such as why Catholics use sacraments, or why Mormans have the Book of Mormon... but that is about all then can do. They aren't pastors, priets, reverands, bishops, or anyone else, chosen by God. Theology teachers are merely credited professors.

 

My god...
You are the most close minded person that i have ever inadvertantly come in contact with.

1. I never said, "im a christian because I have a theology degree." I was stating that it has assisted me in my choices of religious paths. You need to get off your holier than thou soap and look at what you are saying. Yes theology teachers are professors, because they are teaching college level courses at a university. Unlike churches universities need credentials.

2. Ive learned how to be a christian through life. I have learned how not to be a christian by observing people like you, and JD4U.

3. What makes your literalist interpritation better than mine? The bible has been passed through many hands over the years. Books have been deleted, and many translations have been made. I believe thats enough to give people the power to take from it what they feel is true.

Ive said it once, and I will say it again. Im appauled that you call yourself a christian, and I hope people realize that you are a bad represenative for our religion.

 

I don't interpret the Bible because it is not meant for interpretation. The Bible is not meant to read like song lyrics, where it's open interpretation of what the writer meant.

That is why I constantly stress the importance of the Holy Ghost.

The apostles didn't understand what Jesus was saying until they recieved his Spirit.

 

How is a religious book not meant for interpritation? I dont know who is feeding you this Sh*t but its wrong.

 

Originally Posted by Epiphany
I don't interpret the Bible because it is not meant for interpretation. The Bible is not meant to read like song lyrics, where it's open interpretation of what the writer meant.

That is why I constantly stress the importance of the Holy Ghost.

The apostles didn't understand what Jesus was saying until they recieved his Spirit.
How is a religious book not meant for interpritation? I dont know who is feeding you this Sh*t but its wrong. Airforce Drew



I get so much from my own interpretations of the Bible. Sadly, some folks like Albert Pyke, Jerry Falwell, Bin Laden, etc, can extract some pretty hateful ones. I see their problem as being personal, and not the religion or texts fault.
I have gotten some great, albeit eccentric, takes on the New Testament.
Like the relatively well known one about Mary Magdalene and He being married.
I totally believe that and not cuz some priest told me to, but cuz I can go and look at the clues myself. There are too many.
My new one is thanks to a friend who lives 3000 miles away. She did not tell me it, but it was my rereading of Luke with a new perspective that made it jump out at me.I won't say what it is, but I will tell you what set alarms off, leading to more corroborating verses. At the tomb when the stone is moved, Mary Magdalene is joined by Joanna. In the begats, if you follow Joseph's lineage, you will see another Joanna, described as "His son, Joanna." As I already had a good idea about the 4 gospels' description of the crucifixion, the differences now had an explanation, for me, from me interpreting the bible myself.
I will gladly listen to others' views, and learn much that way.
But I will never stop making my own decisions, my soul is too important to me.
I've read the bible through 3 times, so I already knew a bunch of puzzling anomalies that now made perfect sense......to me. Just me....I am not preaching.

I love the Holy Spirit too, and She is my favorite part of the threesome.

 

Well done, could not have said it better myself.

 

Actually when people state that the bible has been so altered, what they are saying is you really can't believe the book, or the book can't be trusted. Yet we have the dead sea scrolls which everyone seems to forget about. And when you read the scrolls we find that the bible is the same today as it was back 2000 years ago. So the idea that the bible cannot be trusted is a false one. And the reason so many Christians believe the literalist interpritation is because the prophecise are being fulfilled literally. The bible is not a book you can pick and choose from, it is either all true or a big lie. A bad represenative of the Christian faith is one who would deny the obvious biblical truth, not one who would imbrace it. I also am closed minded to those who would deny the scriptures. Your concept of the Christian Faith is in harmony with the world. Christ has told us He has over come the world.

 

Only problem reading the dead sea scrolls, is that you can't read them. The vatican is in possession of them. And they are almost as secretive about them as the military is about UFO's.

 

It is the Holy Spirit which open's up our understanding to the bible. Christ said the Holy Spirit would show us the understanding of His word. Human reason will fail, God's book is spirtually understood. And this is what is clearly taught in the scriptures. When you seek the understanding God will suddenly open your eyes. I have experienced this myself.

 

The "holy spirit" must influence interpritation then. Didn't god give humans the ability to interprit? The ability to say "oh That is what it means to me."

 

Well based on this last election seems to me we have a lot more Christians who are not running away, and are now makeing their vote count. I would say the liberal Democrats are the one's who appear to have the problem with the plague, and missing votes.

 

So your saying people who voted for bush were not christian? Or were they people who just didn't fit your fundie definition of christian?