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Transformed Empress Sarah
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Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2010 10:31 pm
i am Christian but at the same time i question what is the right belief. im at a confusing time in my life and looking around at all my Aithiest, Jewish, hell even Wicca (yes that religion is still around) friends i dont know what is right or wrong right now
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Posted: Sun Jan 10, 2010 2:56 am
Yeah this is always difficult. But at some point of life I think doubts and questioning are a part of faith, otherwise it will always stay just a childish kind of faith. Maybe you should think about what are the reasons that make you question Christianity. Not feeling good in your church? Having unsureness about some specific parts of the beliefs? Doubts about the historic background of Christianity and whether it is true? And according to what your issue is, look for answers to it. Talk to Christians who are more educated and might know the answers or at least some of them. Or look for literature; according to your topic of interest - about spirituality as well as about the history of Christianity and the bible, how it was written and translated. - For example about this, the book "How we got the bible" by Lightfoot. I think that the most important thing is whether you have enough basis to believe that the religion is true; and from my research so far I don't have any reasons why Christianity wouldn't be. Though there can probably never be complete sureness as long as we live here.
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Posted: Sun Jan 10, 2010 7:16 pm
S-okuru the vampire i am Christian but at the same time i question what is the right belief. im at a confusing time in my life and looking around at all my Aithiest, Jewish, hell even Wicca (yes that religion is still around) friends i dont know what is right or wrong right now right and wrong are semantic. neither actualy can be defined except by any indiviual on thier own terms. What this means is that you first have to decide on what right and wrong mean to you, then what is right or wrong FOR you by way of a religion. and finaly, decide wether Christianity (or any other religion for that matter) fits into what you have decided is in fact RIGHT FOR YOU! good luck.
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Posted: Mon Jan 18, 2010 1:20 pm
Umm Luz? I thought that questions and doubt were the exactopposite of faith. Also, you seriously can't see any reason why Christiaity wouldn't be true. Realy?
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Posted: Mon Jan 18, 2010 2:04 pm
Lazarus The Resurected Umm Luz? I thought that questions and doubt were the exactopposite of faith. Also, you seriously can't see any reason why Christiaity wouldn't be true. Realy? i agree in that questions is apart of it, as long as it motivates you to find answers to those question. that's the only way it seems that questioning could help make your faith stronger. though, sometimes even when you find that answers its almost impossible to be 100% sure based of facts alone. after all, can anyone really be sure what happened all those years ago? most religions and historical events travelled by word of mouth. stories were changed, people made mistakes, things were left out (both by accident and on purpose) it's impossible to make sense of it all without it all being there. so it's only natural to question it.
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Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2010 10:07 am
Yes I agree with Alex here. Though with the last part about stories changing over time, with the New Testament it doesn't apply because already a few weeks after the Easter event the apostels went and preached about Jesus and about having met him after his ressurection. Since the body was never found, the authorities couldn't provide a proof against them, yet there was a risk of persecution from the authorities who didn't like that [and eventually it happened.] These people weren't just people who had heard the message through tens or hundreds of other people. They claimed to be personal wintesses of the events themselves; and either they really were or they just made it up. The decision is up to us.
And I think if you never have doubts/questions about your beliefs then your faith won't become as firm as the faith of those who had the doubts and have found ways to resolve them. But if you have doubts with some specific parts of the religion you need to decide what to do about them - leave the faith, ignore the questions, or try to look for satisfying answers [like in prayer, talking to Christians who are more educated or experienced, or literature.] Different persons may have different issues with the religion - it's not only a matter of the religion itself but also the person and their way of thinking and feeling and what they're looking for in a religious faith.
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Posted: Tue Apr 13, 2010 8:13 pm
Ametrin Yes I agree with Alex here. Though with the last part about stories changing over time, with the New Testament it doesn't apply because already a few weeks after the Easter event the apostels went and preached about Jesus and about having met him after his ressurection. Since the body was never found, the authorities couldn't provide a proof against them, yet there was a risk of persecution from the authorities who didn't like that [and eventually it happened.] These people weren't just people who had heard the message through tens or hundreds of other people. They claimed to be personal wintesses of the events themselves; and either they really were or they just made it up. The decision is up to us. And I think if you never have doubts/questions about your beliefs then your faith won't become as firm as the faith of those who had the doubts and have found ways to resolve them. But if you have doubts with some specific parts of the religion you need to decide what to do about them - leave the faith, ignore the questions, or try to look for satisfying answers [like in prayer, talking to Christians who are more educated or experienced, or literature.] Different persons may have different issues with the religion - it's not only a matter of the religion itself but also the person and their way of thinking and feeling and what they're looking for in a religious faith. a few weeks after the first easter the apostles went and preached, but a hundred years or so after that same easter is when the first Gospel was written.
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Posted: Wed Apr 14, 2010 5:17 am
Yes and because they started preaching and forming communities of believers so soon I believe that the system of beliefs stayed unchanged during those times, for the most significant parts. The gospels were written about the 60's - 80's I think. There are also the epistles that tell us about the beliefs of the first Christians, and they are older than the gospels by the way [40's or 50's.]
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Posted: Thu Apr 15, 2010 6:05 am
Yeah but the Epistles are all written by one guy. Do you konw what that guy's profession was before he became the author of half of the new testiment?
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