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Anyway Christianity is more than just a religion, it is a relationship with Jesus Christ. Anyway Churches are not perfect but the one that supposed to be head of the church : Jesus Christ is.
Hypocrites in the Church? Yes, and in the lodge and at the home. Don't hunt through the Church for a hypocrite. Go home and look in the mirror. Hypocrites? Yes. See that you make the number one less. Billy Sunday
What does one need with a mirror when there are whole congregations to see hypocrisy in action?
what's this "the Jesus character" crap? And look wadr if you don't believe there is a God, no problem; but you have to admit that you were created, how you do not know. And then you have to decide if this life is it, or will you exist in some form after you die. Answering these questions--which i'm sure you already have--pretty much dictates your model. If you do not believe in God, it follows that you are going to mangle Proverbs, and miss that you are also told to rely on solely your own understanding in other places. If you have no hope, what is the point of discussing 1Peter? To discredit those who have not yet discovered the gentleness and reverence? If we examined in the Bible where it plainly states that most people who think they are accepted by God are deceiving themselves, would that help, i mean would you agree there? I'm just looking for some frame of reference here.
Anytime I reference a person named in a book, I use the "character" pronoun, so don't take it personally.
I'm very aware that the Bible contradicts itself in reference to whether one should use one's own intellect or not, so I don't dispute what you are saying.
I'm not sure what you mean when you state "have no hope". I have plenty of hope that what I do in this lifetime has positively affected someone and has made this world a tiny bit of a better place. And, yes, I would agree with you last statement, even possibly or likely "ALL people".
Even as a Christian, God was distant to me. I know for a fact that I would not have allowed God to tempt me as he did Abraham. My family is real to me and is/was far more important than this mythical character in a book.
Ah. Well then wadr since i was reflecting upon the relevant verses in bed last night i'd like to at least say that i think God thinks that your feelings for your family are great, and what was likely being forwarded is to not go so far as to sin for a family member in order to shield them or enable them. God does not expect you to hate your family, ok. And i don't recollect "God tempting" Abe? With Sarah's maid? Is that what you mean? Finally, i would ask which mythical character you are talking about, as that character is representative of a certain spirit, which you almost surely agree with on some level.
What does one need with a mirror when there are whole congregations to see hypocrisy in action?
why do you need the congregations for that, this is amply outlined in the Bible lol. And "whole congregations" is surely a falsehood anyway, there are sincere people in any congregation. You only get what you give away, Z.
Ah. Well then wadr since i was reflecting upon the relevant verses in bed last night i'd like to at least say that i think God thinks that your feelings for your family are great, and what was likely being forwarded is to not go so far as to sin for a family member in order to shield them or enable them. God does not expect you to hate your family, ok. And i don't recollect "God tempting" Abe? With Sarah's maid? Is that what you mean? Finally, i would ask which mythical character you are talking about, as that character is representative of a certain spirit, which you almost surely agree with on some level.
My point is that I love my family because they are a part of my life. I didn't consider God a real part of my life, just a distant authority, not much different than an imaginary friend.
The temptation was to sacrifice Isaic. Even if I was 100% certain it was God asking, I would not even consider it. My family is far more important to me.
My point is that I love my family because they are a part of my life. I didn't consider God a real part of my life, just a distant authority, not much different than an imaginary friend.
hmm. imaginary friends have no authority, and i note some dichotomy in your current model of belief; meaning it seems you must believe God exists, or their would be no authority conveyed, no matter how distant. So, don't know if that was meant for just then, or also now, but i can relate; Christ was essentially an icon to me from the "church" pov. A picture on a special wall--a shrine-thingy.
Quote:
Originally Posted by maat55
The temptation was to sacrifice Isaic. Even if I was 100% certain it was God asking, I would not even consider it. My family is far more important to me.
Well, i don't think that is a fair comparison, because you did not walk in Abe's shoes, and you do not live in Abe's times. Characterizing this as a "temptation" is also...well, never mind that for now. You are aware that sacrificing your first-born to Molech back then was...pretty much what everyone was doing, right? This is OT, what even God considers "the time of death," and does not represent Christ anyway--well, Isaac does, but the whole characterization is deficient wadr, God is not asking you to sacrifice your children, or hate your family in the sense that is read, none of that.
In reality it is much more likely that Abraham could not have killed isaac if he had tried, and it is misunderstanding the passage imo to suggest that the character of God can be judged by a human based upon this.
What does one need with a mirror when there are whole congregations to see hypocrisy in action?
It's really easy to see the motes in the eyes of everyone in your congregation. The mirror makes it easier to see the beam in your own. But of course nobody has a beam in his own eye, does he?
For me it was a gradual process over 2 years of reading
after someone in here challenged me to leave my comfort zone
and read some materials by Bart Ehrman...
Good for you! A brave move considering the pressure from the Christian world.
I love Jesus as a teacher and I follow his words that have proved to work.
But, Savior....or his Father 'sent him to die for our sins' ?
I mean that God would even want ANY blood sacrifice at ALL?!
No.
But, I follow Jesus' advice more than anyone I know. But, I'm not a Christian.
I follow Krishna's words also...."In every thought perceive Me."
Ahhh....
What does one need with a mirror when there are whole congregations to see hypocrisy in action?
Everyone sins, Christians included: yet with Christians they have a new attitude of sin. The scripture states that all have fallen short of Glory of God. Even so sin cannot continue being a lifestyle choice if we have surrendered our lives to Jesus.
It is not just Christians that are hyprocrite but atheist as well.
Anyway a religious hypocrite is, by definition, a non-believer, since he is only pretending to be an adherent of the faith. A hypocrite is not a person who commits some sins on occasion (all people commit sin occasionally), but someone who practices those sins on a routine basis. The truth of the matter is that hypocrisy has been a problem for those who claim to follow God for a very long time.
There have been multitudes of Christians who have lived their lives free from scandal. I personally know quite a number of Christians like that in the Church too. A example of a Christian that has not had any scandals is Billy Graham.
Good for you! A brave move considering the pressure from the Christian world.
I love Jesus as a teacher and I follow his words that have proved to work.
But, Savior....or his Father 'sent him to die for our sins' ?
I mean that God would even want ANY blood sacrifice at ALL?!
No.
But, I follow Jesus' advice more than anyone I know. But, I'm not a Christian.
I follow Krishna's words also...."In every thought perceive Me."
Ahhh....
Ahhh, you are a breath of fresh air, Miss Hepburn.
I was reading another post on another thread and the poster used the phrase, "Jesus has a 'hypostatic' union with God the Father" and I thought to myself, "What in the frack is a hypostatic union?? And why do I need to know 10,000 such mumbo-jumbo theological terms to understand Christianity???
That's another reason why I walked away from Christianity. You have to be a cockamamie genius to begin to comprehend it.
Christus Victorious salvation, ransom salvation, satisfaction atonement, penal substitution theory of atonement......YAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!
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And why do I need to know 10,000 such mumbo-jumbo theological terms to understand Christianity??? 
