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when there are so very many factions who disagree so vigorously with each other?
Hearing them argue over biblical minutiae like it really matters just sours the whole soup for me.
Is the fact there are so very many different flavours the real secret to its longevity as a belief system?
What I would suggest my friend is this...keep in mind that all religions are man-made and thus unable to be "perfect" or flawless.
God is, however, perfect and incapable of flaws.
Do not let yourself be soured by man's inability to be perfect, just focus instead on a perfect relationship with God himself and ignore the argumentative humans
when there are so very many factions who disagree so vigorously with each other?
Hearing them argue over biblical minutiae like it really matters just sours the whole soup for me.
Is the fact there are so very many different flavours the real secret to its longevity as a belief system?
Like anything thing else, be it baseball, art or bicycles we all argue over minor points. But in the end we all agree on the major aspects of our interest.
It might "sour the soup for you", but the other 3 Billion of us are cool with the discussion. 30,000 denominations. 30,000 flavors of ice cream. Yet we are all, when you get down to it, are still ice cream! Is vanilla flavored ice cream true ice cream? Is strawberry ice cream false Ice cream? What about Rocky road? Despite the face it contains nuts and marshmallows, one cannot deny that it is Ice Cream.
when there are so very many factions who disagree so vigorously with each other?
Hearing them argue over biblical minutiae like it really matters just sours the whole soup for me.
Is the fact there are so very many different flavours the real secret to its longevity as a belief system?
I don't know that a reasonable person can take Christianity seriously, but a reasonable person can take Jesus seriously, up to and including the Resurrection. Jesus never heard of Christianity and probably wouldn't recognize today's version as having any connection with him. For someone willing to face the issue, the question is not "What is your response to Christianity?" but "What is your response to Jesus?" Many people sneeringly dismiss Christianity (or "Christianity," by which I mean the cartoon caricature of Jesus' life and teachings that characterizes the religion today, at least in America) but never really confront Jesus. I believe it is perfectly possible for an intelligent and reasonable person to confront Jesus and come away convinced that he was the Son of God. What accounts for the longevity of Christianity IMHO is that, beneath the lunacy, abuses and internecine squabbling, there is a core truth that people recognize at some very deep level.
Like anything thing else, be it baseball, art or bicycles we all argue over minor points. But in the end we all agree on the major aspects of our interest.
It might "sour the soup for you", but the other 3 Billion of us are cool with the discussion. 30,000 denominations. 30,000 flavors of ice cream. Yet we are all, when you get down to it, are still ice cream! Is vanilla flavored ice cream true ice cream? Is strawberry ice cream false Ice cream? What about Rocky road? Despite the face it contains nuts and marshmallows, one cannot deny that it is Ice Cream.
Sorry.
It certainly seems like that isn't always the case reading threads in the Christianity forum. For example, the question of who gets saved or how do you get saved seem like extremely important aspects. Yet I see threads where people disagree to the point of saying others are going to hell because they are not doing something "right".
I realize not every disagreement is like that, but there certainly seem to be some fundamental disagreements. To the point some of the denominations are not even seen as being christian to others.
What I would suggest my friend is this...keep in mind that all religions are man-made and thus unable to be "perfect" or flawless.
God is, however, perfect and incapable of flaws. :
Do you not see how you contradict yourself here?
Your premise is that all religions are man made and subject to error.
You then advance your religion, one which holds that there is a god and it is perfect.
But since all religions are man made, so then would yours be, and thus just as subject to error as all the others, meaning that you might be wrong about there being a perfect god.
When "The Way" became a religion there became a huge vested interest in having control in it. Most of what you see is that struggle for control in areas that are poeripheral to the message. Some people in all areas are still getting the message and most are just playing out their version of religion.
Do you not see how you contradict yourself here?
Your premise is that all religions are man made and subject to error.
You then advance your religion, one which holds that there is a god and it is perfect.
But since all religions are man made, so then would yours be, and thus just as subject to error as all the others, meaning that you might be wrong about there being a perfect god.
You cancel yourself.
YOU misread her. She is defending the existence of God . . . NOT a religion. You equate the two . . . but they are very different.
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is this...keep in mind that all religions are man-made and thus unable to be "perfect" or flawless.
