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Your car manufacturer sends you a notice than all their cars have been recalled. Please bring your car in for a free repair. Don't wait too long, as this problem is serious. You ignore the notice because you don't see a problem. Your engine catches on fire and destroys your car. Whose fault is it?
Your argument that the terms 'rejection' and 'unbelief' are unrelated has been shown to be wrong. Readers can simply refer to what I posted in post #83 to see that. Whether or not you are willing to acknowledge your error is up to you. And there will be no further discussion with me on the matter.
Your argument that the terms 'rejection' and 'unbelief' are unrelated has been shown to be wrong. Readers can simply refer to what I posted in post #83 to see that. Whether or not you are willing to acknowledge your error is up to you. And there will be no further discussion with me on the matter.
Your argument that the terms 'rejection' and 'unbelief' are unrelated has been shown to be wrong. Readers can simply refer to what I posted in post #83 to see that. Whether or not you are willing to acknowledge your error is up to you. And there will be no further discussion with me on the matter.
No discussion necessary. You think God condemns people to hell for not accepting as truth, something which they believe is false.
Do I reject Christ?
I actually believe Christ existed. I just don't believe what was later written about him. And what is in the bible was written much later. I no longer believe the fantastical things written about him. So I don't think there is a Christ for me to reject as I don't buy the Bible personification of him anymore.
If you no longer believe, are you still saved? Does that even mean anything anymore?
I don't think there is anything for me to be saved from. I don't believe in hell or any kind of devil.
If you were baptized as a kid, did you understand what it meant? Does it mean anything now?
I was baptized as a kid. I was about 8 years old. I had no idea what it was supposed to mean. That particular event means something to me in so far as it marks a specific time and era of my childhood. I do believe rituals can have significant meaning for the people who engage in them. However, I would never take a personal ritual and try to prescribe some kind of meaning for it to some other person.
You’ve probably been taught that those who accept the Christ are destined to Heaven, and those who don’t are destined to Hell. If you believed that, and now you don’t, do you feel the concept of the Christian Heaven/Hell is a lie? Does it no longer “apply” to you now that you no longer believe? Can ones eternal destiny depend upon what one believes? How would that work individually from person to person?
I personally think heaven and hell were originally meant to be metaphorical. One of the worst things to happen to Christianity is Biblical liberalism. That's another post for another time. I think there is something after this life. But that's just my hunch. I can't say much for eternal destiny as, well, I don't know what to base it on. Even when I was attending church regularly and reading the Bible I had my doubts about the doctrines related to the afterlife.
What do you make of the claim that if you leave Christianity, you were never among (them) to begin with? What does it mean to “leave” Christianity?
I don't make much of it. What was I before I given the religion my elders brought me up in? What about my ancestors who were forced to convert to Christianity? Were they lucky to have had it forced on them? Am I unlucky to freely walk away? Of course these are rhetorical questions. But these are the kinds of questions I had to sort through in my own head as I found my own way. In the end, I don't worry about what others say .
Each person has to decide for themselves. I respect anyone who chooses to remain and try to walk in faith and true love. But I have no respect for those who claim Christ but endorse bigotry and hatred of others.
No, it means some people choose to not believe God or trust Jesus Christ ... and, as a result, reap the consequences God has promised for such rebellion against His ways and truths. The frequent attempts to make God seem arbitrary or vengeful for being faithful to His promises is disingenuous and dishonest.
Was God wrong for allowing Adam and Eve to die as the promised consequence of their actions? --- This is not a matter of innocently "not accepting something as true." It is a matter of judging God and His revealed character, nature, plan, purpose and promises.
Where else does one gain this information, except for God's revealed and inspired Word, Scripture/the Bible. Those on this forum who repeatedly pretend to believe God, but actually only believe a non-Biblical God, have chosen their "god" and it is not the God of Scripture. Is it now vengeful and arbitrary for God to reject them? (Hosea 4:6, Jeremiah 15:6, Job 36:12, Proverbs 5:23, 10:21).
jghorton, thank you for speaking God's truth. It's so refreshing and much better than I can do.
According to Christianity, I'm drowning because God is holding my head under water. God offers to let me live if I obey him unconditionally. He's like a mafia boss.
I felt this way when my old pastor would talk about tithing and what would happen if we neglected to give. Was Joe Pesci going to show up at my door with a baseball bat if I skipped out on the collection plate? It all just became too much after a while.
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