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Are you a Christian..if so, what is it that makes you a Christian?
Dear FilletofSpan:
Although I am non-denominational, let me apologize for the "snooty" church members you encountered in your youth. It is always sad when people who claim to represent Jesus fail to reflect His love toward others. Those individuals will have to face God, and give an answer for their misdeeds and/or rotten attitudes.
Apparently, back then, the emotional distress caused by these so-called Christians was a primary reason for you to question even the existence of God. I can understand your pain, but it is unfair to blame God for the wrong which others do. You certainly wouldn’t want me to blame you if some of your friends or family had mistreated me.
Although God is certainly big enough to stop offenders, that would deprive them of their free will and personal responsibility. So it is quite rare for God to intervene in a situation. Until the final judgment, where these matters will be dealt with, God provides grace to the offended which enables them to even love their enemies.
You asked, “Why would God judge mankind based on faith?” Would you rather have God base His favor on one’s personal accomplishments? If that were true, then those who earned God’s approval would have a good reason to boast in themselves. They could rightly declare to all: “Look at me! See what I have done!” Obviously, such an approach would serve to foster pride — and pride is sin. However, pride is abolished when I recognize that there is nothing I can do to deserve God’s favor.
Only someone who has never done anything to displease God could ever expect His approval. I would be lying if I claimed to have never done anything wrong. Of course, sin brings condemnation and judgment. I freely acknowledge I am guilty, and deserve the righteous judgment of God. How then can I get God’s approval upon my life? By simply recognizing that Jesus bore the penalty for me on Calvary’s cross. Thus the good news of authentic Christianity is not about what we should do, but about what Jesus already did! Yes, it does requires faith on our part to accept the free gift of redemption, but, then, that offers no room for pride. Even that faith is a gift from God.
As far as hell is concerned, it was not even originally designed for man. Hell is the destined doom for the Devil and all the angels who rebelled with him. It was only when man committed high treason and joined forces with God’s enemy that hell also became the destined doom of unredeemed man. Furthermore, it is not so much that God sends a man to hell, but by rejecting God’s love and favor offered through Christ, man, in effect, chooses his own dreadful destiny. What if God would force such an individual to go to heaven anyway? For someone who doesn’t already fervently love God, who wants nothing more than to spend time learning new and exciting things about Him, and finds the passionate worship of God the most fulfilling experience ever, that individual would be utterly miserable in heaven. It would be like compelling an unbeliever to go to church forever. So, for that person, heaven itself would simply be another kind of hell.
I believe that God arranges opportunities for everyone, including the Hindu you mentioned, to learn more about spiritual reality. If that person responds favorably, God is obligated to reveal more about Himself, until that individual comes to know Him in truth. However, anytime someone rejects new light, the door can close to anything further.
God has not been silent. He has spoken within the continuum of history through the prophets and writers whom He could trust to faithfully represent His ideas. The greatest revelation of all was in His Son, Jesus. Jesus came to show us what God is like. In His loving sacrifice for us we discover how important we are to God. He doesn’t want anybody lost. However, it was the resurrection of Christ that demonstrated a victory over death which we, too, can share.
Some will question the reality of the bodily resurrection of Jesus. (That is the very foundation of Christianity.) How can we, today, be certain of the validity of the Biblical record of that event? I believe the veracity of the first witnesses to the resurrection can be realistically demonstrated by the fact that not one of them ever recanted their story. Even when a simple admission that the whole tale had been fabricated would have spared their lives, they kept the faith unto death. I submit that no one has ever died for what they knew was a lie.
Besides, if you will sincerely and seriously seek Him, the Lord will make His love real in your heart, too. The person with an experience is never at the mercy of someone who only has an argument.
Nothing finite can be infinite (eternal). Since the universe is made of finite things (matter, time, space), it therefor must be created by something without time (timeless), thus making it eternal. If it is eternal, it must be infinite, and if its the Creator, it must be God.
The universe changes, and time is the measure of change. How many changes have happened before right now? If you claim an infinite number of changes (which is impossible because you can not have an infinite amount of finite things), it is a logically impossible to conclude we could ever have reached this moment in time. In a world of cause and effect (which we live in), there can not be an infinite regress (an infinite amount of cause and effect reactions to get to a certain cause).
Allow me to rephrase. Imagine that the Earth orbits the sun every 365 days (it does). Now, on Mars, a year is much longer than an Earth year, being 687 Earth days (basically double). So, for every 2 years of Mars, Earth has circled the sun approximately 4 times. Now, imagine that this has been going on for eternity. By your logic, they would both have circled the sun the exact same amount of times, because its been going on forever (this is clearly impossible). This shows the impossibility of an infinite regress, whereby there could not have been an infinite amount of (x) before right now, in a finite universe based on time.
Now, back to God. God exists outside of time, in Eternity. God created time, and time is irrelevant to Him. God is Eternal, not created. Firstly, you have 2 choices; either everything came from nothing (which is impossible), or something always existed and created us. You have no other choice. Take a moment to think about that, remembering that it can not exist in time, that would be impossible. Time can not be eternal.
This thing that always existed would be considered Eternal, having transcended time, space, and matter, being everlasting, having always existed. If you argue this is impossible, I would argue the contrary; it is impossible for this Eternal 'thing' to not exist, because the alternative is that nothing existed, which could only produce nothing. So, something always existed, and is therefor Eternal.
Now, for something to be Eternal, it can not consist of time, because time must have had a beginning. We exist in a universe of causality, so an infinite regress is impossible; there could not have been an infinite amount of time before right now, because we never would have reached this moment in time. That means time had a beginning, and whatever created time exists without time, beyond time, in timelessness; Eternity.
So, this Eternal Creator, created time, and the universe. This Eternal Creator clearly is extremely powerful, because the energy of the trillions of stars in the known universe were created by this Creator. And obviously, the Creator is extremely intelligent, having created an intelligent being such as mankind and a world in which to populate with it.
I love God.
Speaking just for myself and being an agnostic, there are just too many contradictions in religions to take it all on faith. Here are the daily things that I consider:
FAITH I'm a firm believer in the scientific method of reaching conclusions. Granted there are a few basic things in life that you have just have to take on faith & trust (waking up tomorrow, not getting in an accident on the road, etc), but it does seem that everything else in our short lives can be explained with enough time and logic and statistics. I'm not really sick, so the chances of me waking up tomorrow are excellent barring some weird disease that strikes me dead. Also, I drive carefully and watch my fellow drivers, so my chances of not getting in an accident are pretty good.
DEITIES Whoever your deity is, who made him/her/it? What was the source? And who made the deity that made your deity? If you have a questioning mind you will always question that, unless you simply just have FAITH (see above)
UNBELIEVERS Christians make up less than half of the worlds population. People lived for tens of thousands of years before Christ (ok, ok, if you belive in 6000 years then fine too). Does the statement "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved" apply to the rest of the hundreds of millions of people who died not knowing anything about Christianity both before and after Christ? What has become of them?
PRACTICE OF RELIGION It seems that religion is mostly about following the rules. Except that most of these rules seem to be generated by the religion itself. Judaism, Christianity, etc have myriad rules that seem to have nothing to do with getting you into heaven itself. If you are Jewish or a Muslim and you eat pork, will that prevent you from getting into heaven? Can a Christian who never got a chance to be formally baptised (either as a baby or as an adult) ever get into heaven? -- remember the gospels say you must be baptised.
NATURE vs. DESIGN What about evolution? Just observation of the world, the animals and the flora around us shows certain things. Plants get hardy over time if they are in harsh climates. Animals grow long fingers or bills the better to reach their chosen kind of diet in crevices or under the ground. The 9 plated Armadillo has awesome claws, the better to dig rapidly to find his food. A few animals have no obvious place in the ecology. Some humans have a tail. We have vestigial canine teeth.
ORTHODOXY/HERESY This is possibly the most infuriating thing for me and for other free-thinkers since the beginning of organized religion. People have been cast out of tribes, excommunicated from religions, executed in the mode of the day (Jesus Christ was crucified), by daring to think different from the orthodoxy of the day. In most of these cases, the orthodox thinker was proven right in the end.
What do you think? Am I way off base here? (Quoting scripture won't help)
As Catholics, we avoid the circularity of the Word of God is true because God says so/God exists because the Word says so argument this way:
We, as a community, remember our experience of God. We continue to experience God daily. The story of that encounter is in the Bible; our history and memory tell us the Bible is a true description. We do not depend on the Bible to prove God exists; the Bible at best helps us recognize and name the God we encounter for ourselves.
So, why the Church? Why all the rules to keep? Not because we need to keep them to earn heaven, but because we want to keep them to show how much we appreciate what God does for us.
I would say with God, in faith we do not have absolute proof, since we all come to the question with presuppositions. If we assume God does not exist, we can conclude God does not exist. If we assume God does exist, we can conclude God does exist.
We do not have absolute proof, but we do have evidence. The evidence is in history. The disciples, after Jesus died, would have been demoralized, broken men. They should have, as Gameliel describes for several other groups in Acts 5:34-39, been lost to history after they scattered. (This does not rely on the Bible for its truth. If we consider the situation, we recognize its truth for ourselves). But that is not what happened. The disciples insisted something happened--and their very insistence proves they were different men.
The same is true for other times. What nation has such an absurd orgin story as Israel, that God took them from slavery through the desert to freedom? Who would claim to be descended from slaves were it not true? It's just not a very flattering story. Or the survival of the Church, all the 300 years of persecution as it continued to grow? Or its continued survival despite all the sinners that constitute it do? No, as Gameliel suggests, if God were not with us, long ago we would have been forgotten.
And that is our irrefutable evidence: our living history, that we continue to survive and prosper, despite the world's antagonism and indifference, even despite our own failings. On our own, we would not be here. We are here, and that shows that God exists and is with us.
I used to be a Christian. My family wasn't church goers; we were Presbyterian and in our town the Presbyterian church was snooty and my family was blue colar so we never fit in. My parents taught me and I believed all the main tenets of Christianity. God created the universe, Adam and Eve fell from grace, Jesus came and died for our sins, and in the end we would be rewarded in Heaven or punished in Hell for our choices.
When I was 12 I started to think about Christianity as a theory. As a scientific theory of cosmology it seems very unlikely. Then again Christianity is all about faith. Why would God judge mankind based on faith? Is a crook and murderer who has a death-bed conversion to Christianity more worthy of Heavean than a Hindu who lived his whole life as a honest and generous person?
Then I thought about Hell which I was taught to be eternal torment. I was also taught that God loves us. I wouldn't wish eternal torment on my worst enemy yet our loving God sends people there just because they don't believe in Jesus. How is it that I have more compassion for my worst enemies than God supposedly has for his "children" whom he loves?
The more I thought about it the more God seems like Santa Clause; someone who you behave for to get a reward or avoid punishment. The thing is that while most kids figure out Santa Clause isn't real most people never figure out that God isn't real their whole lives.
You really don't need myth, superstition, and taboos to be a good person and have a happy life.
heathenscum, the PRIOOF is there with faith. You don't need to study up on religions, dogmas, beliefs, or any type of ism. Turn to God, have faith that he is there, then you will find him. Until then, if you are happy with your life the way it is, go for it. But don't believe and trust the weathermn either. They tell it will rain and it doesn't. They will tell it will not rain and it does. Read Revelation, study it. How many years ago was it written, and everything it says is falling into place, here and now.
I do not attend church, or at least a building with pews and a steeple. I don't have a Lexus, or $40,000 vehicle. I don't wear designer clothes. And I believe I should remain devoted to Christ, not a church building and the people who go there. Satan has become such a large part of human activites, taken over many churches, fooling folks into thinking if you go everytime the door is open, put your money in the offering plate, and only take care of other members in the church, God will always provide you with what you want and need, and no suffering on this earth. God's house is full, but his fields are empty. You aren't to trust the people involved in churches or their personalities, you are to trust God. I have a few friends, and we have "church" together, study our bibles, prayer and share our love for God. When two or more join together to worship him, that is a church.
Ecounsult , the chicken and the egg controversery is easy... God created the chicken, and gave it the ability to lay the egg.. thus providing us with a food that is delightful, fulfilling and nourshing to the body, the chickens themselves are very pleasant to be around, and he even created them with a song in their heart, to sing to us... of their contentment and joy to serve us... They enjoy what they do, and want us to know it. We have chickens around just for these purposes.. It is truely enjoyable to hear their songs... and to collect their offerings... I am grateful to God, just to observe this, and with all the recipes that I now have, the egg... is a wonderful creation... it makes the cakes, pies, bread, all worthwile and possible, and I thank God for the chicken, the egg, the recipes, the ability to read them, and understand them, and to cook them, the ability to enjoy what I have cooked, and to share it with others.Such a simple thing... but, truly profound, I am glad that you gave me an opportunity to express my gratitude to God for these wonderful things... He has given us sooo much... to be thankful for... and his blessings are free... they are all around us... ours for the taking, and his spirit desires to live within us... to complete us, and to lead us into all the wonderful things that he has for us... I am grateful...
What makes me a Christian?
1 - My mum took me to church when I was young and I beleived in God.
2 - When I was at university I met some Christians who seemed to have a lot more going on than just 'believing in God'. I discovered they knew Jesus personally as their Saviour and Lord and this seemed both wierd and, if genuine, very significant.
3 - I tried to make a 'leap of faith' to see if I could know Jesus too. It seemed pretty pointless.
4 - When I felt at a really low ebb, Jesus gave me the way to him - I couldn't do it myself, but he came to me.
5 - I was going out with a guy who was a new Christian and later we got married so it's been a good 'walk of faith' together.
6 - Sometimes I wonder how all those non-Christians are coping, and even wonder if I could go it alone, without God, but my family and the problems of the world seem too important to leave in my hands - I need to trust God that he's got them in his hands too!
That is the faith-version. I could explain some of it in scientific terms for those who are more interested in that version too. My husband certainly could - he's a biologist!
See, that's the thing. I don't have that faith that you guys have. I HAVE to question everything and look for answers. There's a void in my mind that is always searching for a logical and scientific explanation for everything.
There's a certain enjoyment that cannot be explained to search and discover the reason why things are the way how they are.
No matter how I personally feel about the existence of God, I have to find out the reasons behind this environment or creation that we live in, even if it were to mean that that very act would disprove His/Her/It's very existence.
As for matter... (and the absense of it) those two things always existed in one form or the other. We will become that eternal dirt that you speak of. We will feed the plants and will make others like us live.
There are certain existential questions... some more than others: which came first... chicken or egg? Who made the deities that we worship? Can we travel faster than light? How old is the earth? Is there life on other planets?
Don't any of those questions make you curious?
esconsult1, there is and always will be one insurmountable problem when trying to have a rational argument with the faithful. That is that there can be no rational arguments about faith or religion. The entire concept of their viewpoint is based on NOT proving something. Faith is believing in something when there is LACK OF PROOF. Therefore ANY hint of scientific method being brought to bear on a religious argument is seen as a threat.
Theologians love to use the minutiae of what bible authors wrote as ways to "prove" their particular point of view, and will argue it endlessly. But when you ask someone to verify the accuracy of the document they are quoting from, or explain how the bible is believed to be the true word of God without any changes..They WILL NOT ANSWER YOU! This is where argument and the use of critical thinking stops! You will only get answers that amount to, 'because I believe it, it is'.
You can't use proofs or argument to prove religion and rational thought has no place in religion. You either believe or you don't.
Yes. I am a Christian. What makes me a Christian is simply two things: that I believe that Jesus Christ is God's son and he died on the cross for me and everyone so that even with sin, we could spend eternity with Him. So basically that I was saved. And what being saved means is to be saved from your sin and that is exactly why Jesus did when he hung on the cross for us. He saved us from our sins. The second thing that makes me a Christian or what it means to be a Christian is that I try to live my life as Christ-like as possible. That is, trying to avoid committing sin as often as possible, praying and talking to God, trusting God with everything that goes on in my life, and having a relation ship with Him. That's what makes me a Christian:) And with that I know with all of my heart and soul that God is real and that when I die I will fly off to Heaven to be with Him for the rest of eternity:) I hope that helped and I hope and pray that you come to know Jesus Christ as your personal savior:) God bless you:)
Esconsult: You inquired, “Whoever your deity is, who made him/her/it?... If you have a questioning mind you will always question that, unless you simply just have FAITH.”
Of course, the basic answer of the theist affirms that God is eternal. No one made Him. Thus He never had a beginning. I admit that this is a matter of faith. On the other hand, I could pose a similar question: Where did matter come from? If you accept the evolutionary hypothesis, you would have to believe that matter, in some form, always existed.
So any discussion relating to ultimate reality must eventually come to this: Do you believe in eternal matter, or do you believe in eternal God? Unfortunately, science can offer no actual proof either way. This means you must exercise FAITH (there’s that dreadful word) in one viewpoint or the other.
Obviously, I find the concept of an infinite, personal consciousness far more intellectually satisfying than the idea of eternal dirt.
Christians are scattered everywhere... and for a purpose.. that of being witnesses of the one true and living God... the term Grow where you are planted... is significant... because as you grow.. everyone around you sees the transformation... and your life is the witness that they may need to come to a saving knowledge of Christ.
As to why I became a Christian.. God brought me to the end of myself.. so that I could look up to him... and when he called < I would be able to respond...
I did, completely.. .. and I have never been sorry... that was 22 years ago...
To know Christ, and to follow him... satisfies me completely...
I have no need to look further...
When you find him... you need nothing more... except to follow him...
Blessings...
Thanks for the thoughtful answer but all of your arguments you make either went through my mind when I was loosing my faith or were tried on me by believers. People have been trying to save me since I was 12.
The emotional stress of not fitting into our local church is not what drove me from Christianity. It wasn't even the kids in high school who made fun of for not believing in God or the teachers who didn't like me and kept me out of the National Honor Society.
I tried to be a Christian. I tried to talk myself into it. I read books about the different denominations and shopped for religions that would work for me and prayed on it.
All the wishful thinking won't make God real. I just couldn't believe in God and be truthful to myself..
I am a Christian and I'm living proof that Jesus Christ exists. God created everything and you and I are part of it. There is your proof. When I was young, I heard a Bible verse. It said, "Be still and know that I am God." I was and He is. I don't need anyone's permission to believe that Jesus Christ is my savior. I openly invite you to come into His kingdom like someone invited me. I accepted the invitation and am so glad I did. I was saved when I was 13 years old. I was baptised 40 years later. God and Satan are both real. Heaven and Hell are both real. Your freedom of choice is real. I suggest you get real and get on your knees and invite Jesus Christ into your life. I am so glad I did. He didn't come to condemn us. He came to save us.
Yes....when I was 9 years old I repented of my sin and asked the Lord Jesus Christ to come into my heart....He did and the Holy Spirit took up residence in my heart and changed my way of thinking/my life....over the years I have been so richly blessed....so, what makes one a Christian ?....one who is saved / has received freely offered salvation (John 3:16) and strives to live one's life, praising, only saying and doing those things which are pleasing God....I say again, striving
a person has a choice of what they do about Jesus....they either accept Him or reject Him, there's no 'riding the fence'....I hope and pray you've accepted Him
God Bless You !!
I have read the larger portion of the netire bible. And through it (as most christians will agree), there is one thing that makes you a christian-believing in god. Being saved means you are a christian, to be a christian means you believe in god. People put oo much emphasis on what the bible says, i think. This is a religion of forgiveness, love, and caring. But no one is a :better: christian. if you are a christian, that is it, you believe in god, just like every other christian. That does not mean though, that you should not strive to be a better person. You should trust in god's judgement and follow hs path to righteousness.
Am I a Christian? Yes: I was baptized as a child, raised in a believing family, and confirmed my commitment in various ways as an adult. I am active in my church, and most of all, I have a living relationship with God.
Why is it important? Well, because I have also discovered along the way that I am a sinner, and that my sin is stronger than I am. I need God's help if I am to live, much less try to make up for the harm my sin has done to me, to my loved ones, to the world. I need God, and God is there for me.
filletofspam, if you're talking about here on earth, you're absolutely right....you said: You really don't need myth, superstition, and taboos to be a good person and have a happy life........But if you're talking about Heaven/Eternity, I submit, as God's Word says, "unless a man be born again, he shall not inherit the Kingdom of Heaven......Ye must be born again".....man either accepts or rejects Jesus as their Lord and Savior.....there's no inbetween/no gray area.....I'll put you on my prayer list.
escounsult1...Here are some links that might be of interest concerning science and faith...
Science & God
http://www.godandscience.org/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9feXeL-3XA (astrophysicist Bernard Haisch)
http://www.thegodtheory.com/ (astrophysicist Bernard Haisch)
http://home.planet.nl/~gkorthof/kortho24.htm (Professor Richard Swinburne)
http://www.geocities.com/worldview_3/mathprfcosmos.html
escounsult1...Here are some links that might be of interest concerning science and faith...
Science & God
http://www.godandscience.org/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9feXeL-3XA (astrophysicist Bernard Haisch)
http://www.thegodtheory.com/ (astrophysicist Bernard Haisch)
http://home.planet.nl/~gkorthof/kortho24.htm (Professor Richard Swinburne)
http://www.geocities.com/worldview_3/mathprfcosmos.html
Yes, indeed. I also came to the Lord as a child.
I believe a Christian is someone who places complete trust in the blood of Christ alone as the sole basis for the hope of eternal life, accepts the validity of Gods Word as the sole basis for faith and doctrine, and seeks the power of God to live a holy, fruitful life which demonstrates consistent faithfulness to Gods directives in His Word.
Amblessed, what makes you think that Heaven or eternal consciousness even exists? Christianity quickly becomes circular. God exists because the Bible says so; and the Bible is true because it is the word of God. If you wish to live your life as if a literal God and Heaven exists than by all means go ahead, no skin off my back. I still view Christianity as a Santa Clause story for adults.
I have been a christian for 10 years.The thing that makes you a Christian is that you belive that Jesus died on the cross for your sins like it says in Romans 3:23 "For All Have Sinned and fall short of the glory of God" Read Romans Road in the Bible and that will explain everything.
What makes me a Christian is how I act, not that I was baptized one. Ask youself alwas, is this a Christian-like thing to do.
-I hope my advice helps you, remember, alwas ask yoursef, if you would act the same way if Gof was there.(spiritually he is) -phil2611
I am a Christian because I have accepted Jesus as my Saviour and he lives in me. I believe in the finished work of Jesus at Calvary. Because of Him, I am a Christian. John 10: 27-30 I heard his voice July 1977. Praise God
Shepherd I totally agree and I think we are greatly blessed to have a man of God of your calibre here with the wisdom and boldness that you have..it is an honor that you are my brother in Christ
that is good to hear and I hope the Lord uses your testimony to bring others to Him too
Ones belief that Jesus Christ is their Lord and Savior....it's called FAITH
yes im christian because that what I learn when I was little.