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Post by Jeff on Jul 27, 2005 20:27:38 GMT -5
Adam,
When I think of you, I think of a person who loves God and loves the Bible. I know you are a good person; heck, you're one of the best people I know!
I know you are strong in your faith, and I am very happy about that.
What worries me is this: A very evil man, a man who has signed more death warrants than any other human on the planet (including those on trial now for war crimes in Africa and Europe) was elected to a second term as American president largely due to the Christian Right. What I have been trying to do since October of last year is to figure out how Christians (a group I regard as mainly good) could be party to such a crime against humanity. And it has seemed to me that it was a too certain commitment to a specific theological understanding of the Bible that was the root of the problem.
I think that Fundamentalism is misguided. What that means for Fundamentalists, I think, is that their theology cuts them off from ways of faith that would be more Godly, more personally fulfilling, and better for the world. But there is Good News for Fundamentalists: The legalistic interpretation of Christianity is just as misguided now as it ever was. Jesus can free us of these chains of human making.
Jeff
PS Can you give a good answer to Amanda's question?
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Post by CaptAdam on Jul 31, 2005 14:45:59 GMT -5
If two believers ask the holy spirit for guidance and understanding regarding scripture yet come up with two different interpretations, who is correct? How do we know? My firm belief is that there will be only one interpretation not two espesially two that contradic each other. For God is not the God of confusion, other wise why does it say in the bible "I write these things so that you may know." If beleivers at the very least follow 3 concepts of the bible:
1 It is God's word not man's 2 Jesus is who he claims to be 3 Salvation is by faith in Jesus and discipleship is what a believer does and has nothing to do with whether he gets saved or stays saved. That is entirely based on God's promise. He holds us in the palm of his hand and know one can snatch us out and the one who gave us to him holds us and know one can snatch us out of his grasp and the faither and son are one.
Sorry maybe more than 3, but still if all of the christians held to these truths then any other problems are very minor in deed. But they don't so this is where you get your different interpatataions.
Either people don't wish to believe the bible to be God's word thus making man the authority and pushing God out of the picture. Or they confuse disipleship with salvation, thus makeing salvation something you have to work for or keep working at cause you could loose it. If you can loose eternal life then the Bible lies out right cause the idea of eternal life means you can't loose it other wise it was never eternal in the first place.
If you note the hole reason we have the vast majority of these debates is because our core beliefs are so different. Either God really is all powerful and in control (whether we understand why he allows somethings to happen or not) or God is no real different than the Gods in our DnD games very petty and full of human faults in which case he doesn't really have the right to set laws and standards for us to follow if he can't keep them his self.
In the end you have to ask your self where does your asurrance come from, in your own strength or from a God who has the power to keep his word??
Rick pointed out some faults of his, my faults are just as bad. I recall once that Jeff compared me to Sir Lancelot, now I don't know if that was Lancelot's pride of self strenghts or his loyalty and goodness. Either way I never felt worthy of such a complement even to this day. I have broken many of the Top Ten commandments before I ever discovered Country Side and I still manage to break some (maybe not as many) since Country Side. I can give a list if you like. But my point is I was set in my ways I had even begun to start doubting the proper translation of the bible from it's original languages to english and I had been raised in the church my whole life. But also during that time of being lost I lived with guilt of knowing that not only was I not the good person some believed, but that no matter how many times I confessed my sins I knew I was just going to go out and do them again. So I believed I just must not be ready to be a believer cause I just couldn't seem to turn away.
Then I came to under stand God's love and mercy and his assurrance. I had always believed in Jesus, but I had confused disipleship with salvation. The truth is you can't be a disciple with out first being a believer. My guilt and fear kept me from growing in the knowledge of God thus my comments where based on my lack of knowledge and I was easly swayed by those more learned than I. Thus once I realized that I was saved and couldn't lose my salvation, then I began to really grow, many of my attituteds towards people changed, I could now served God out of love instead of fear and through that I've been a much better example to those around me. I may be unhappy with people and their choises, but I don't hate them. Instead through my faith in God and through his power I can show love even when I council them against unwise actions or lifestyles. A person can be a homosexual and that won't keep them from being saved. Too many Preachers and Church bodys beleive they have to control people cause if they where to fully understand the freedom of salvation then they would just run amuck and not serve the Lord. Yes, there are some who do that, after all that's what Paul counciled the Corrinthins against. (sorry for the spelling) "Should we keep on sinning just so that God's mercy may abound, may it never be" Otherwise how will the rest of the world see that we are truly different . Instead you get those comments "look at that person they claim to be a christian, but their just as bad if not worse than the rest of us." Thus the testemony is distroyed and Christianity gets more bad press.
So if the Preachers and the Churches would just trust God and share the truth of freedom instead of trying to add to it to keep us good. Then the world could see that Christianity is about life through God's love and mercy.
To restate My answer, on the core beliefs, there should always be just one answer. As for evolution or what cloths to wear or whether weman can be preachers, these things have nothing to do with whether your saved or not and non of these things can cause you to loose your salvation once you believe. This can be a big stumbleing bock for many christians and churches (such as the Cathlics and many others). So my prayer is that all will believe and then we can serve God through his power of love and mercy.
Sorry for the rambling and I hope I answered your question.
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