Ask about Christianity? (help appreciated)

[Mackay]

Well, I've been following Omie's thread, and have been tossing up about starting one of my own. I know there are a lot of misconceptions people have about Christianity, I also know I'm probably the GLer least equipped (with the possible exception of Will) to answer them to people's satisfaction. Nonetheless I'd like to try. I would LOVE help from other Christian GLers, too.

Ask away! *looks nervous* Other Christians, tell me if I'm wrong about anything?

[jadesmar]

Are your answers going to represent a specific denomination of Christianity? If so which?

[Mackay]

I myself am a non-denominational Christian. So I guess the answers will be somewhere in the middle. I hope. If I do okay, the answers should apply to most or all denominations, with the possible exception of Catholics. Then again, I've had bad experiences with Catholicism in general, so I might be generalising.

But yeah. no particular denomination, though I can't speak for any others who help.

[Guest]

Could Jesus microwave a burrito so hot that not even Jesus could eat it?

[doormouse11]

Thank you so much. I have so many questions.

This first one is really more general, tho, and applies to anyone who believes in God.

How do Christians, or anyone else, believe in God? Is it something that is felt, known somehow, or just something that you have to place faith in?

Is there anything in the Bible that specifies how strong your belief has to be? Will God be mad if you don't believe in Him 100%? (I mean, I have trouble believing in Wyoming 100%, seeing as I have never met anyone from Wyoming.)

Why do we capitalise Him when talking about God? Does God appreciate it? Or is it for us?

There was actually a convention during the time of Constantine to determine a lot of the "facts" about Jesus. (The following is paraphrased from a stodgy book written on the history of the Catholic Church by an Irish-Catholic scholar who currently lives in the Vatican - I wish I could remember the name - it was a good book.) He gathered the most prominent authorities on Christianity at the time and had them vote on various issues. One issue was whether Jesus was really the son of God. The vote was a close yes. What did Jesus mean by calling himself the "son of God?" Also, when he says that everyone is a child of God, could he possibly be equating everyone with himself? Richard Bach's Illusionscomes to mind (the idea that everyone could be a messiah if they wanted to). I just wonder if he meant to suggest that we could all learn to be exactly like him, or if he thought of himself as a deity-like figure. I do get the impression that he thought of himself as something above-human when I read the Bible.

Does the Christian God play an active role in our lives? Is there anything in the Bible to suggest that he has a plan for everyone?

[mudbuck]

If your sins are forgiven everytime you go to mass, why is there such thing as Confession?

If the Christian God is everywhere, why must we only go to a special building to worship him, and a sin if we don't?

If the Christian God was everywhere on Earth, wouldn't heaven be quite lonely?

Why does Christianity encourage us to lower our pride, self-esteem, and expectations to a point that everything seems heavenly?

Why are Christians waiting for the second coming of Christ? Didn't that happen right after he resurrected from the dead?

When Jesus died at the cross, he "absorbed" everyone's sins to a point that the Christian God abandoned him (thus making Jesus say, "God, why do you abandon me?")

If a human cross-breed with another species somehow, would the half-human thing still be "God's chosen people," being that the phrase implies to all humans.

Why does Christianity, in general, encourage men to stay single? Does the Christian God want the human population to significantly decrease to an endangered point?

If a man converts from Christianity to Hinduism, and the very next Sunday his church exploded somehow and killed everyone inside, which God (or Gods) saved him from being at the mass that Sunday?

How big is the gate to heaven?

Is it okay to sin if everyone and everything being affected by sining would benefit from it?

...that's all I got...
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[Courk]

[Courk]

My answer on the "why have you forsaken me" question didn't really answer it.

Here are later sections of the psalm:

[doormouse11]

[Eykir]

[doormouse11]

I think this one probably varies between denominations: when Jesus talks about Heaven and Hell is he being metaphorical or literal?

Is God a guy or a girl? (this one probly varies, too)

What is purgatory? What do you do in purgatory? How do you get there? And what about Limbo?

Which books in the Catholic Bible are not in the protestant Bible? Why are they not also in the protestant Bible?

What is the signifance of Saints in the Catholic religion. Saint Patrick (and other older saints) seems to holds much more reverence in the eyes of most Christians than the hundreds of new saints Pope John Paul has announced over the last several years. What's with all of the new saints?

Is Jesus a separate entity from God? Or just a manifestation of God?

[mudbuck]

Whoops. I didn't finish that question. Let me revise it:


When Jesus died at the cross, he "absorbed" everyone's sins to a point that the Christian God abandoned him (thus making Jesus say, "God, why do you abandon me?"). If this is true, then original sin has also been taken away. Why must people be baptized, since its purpose is to wipe away the original sin?
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[Courk]

Catholicism doesn't encourage all men to reamin single. Sure, if you take an oath to work for the Church and marry it, they don't expect you to get married, but that's so that you can focus all their attention on the Church. But, that's only for priests. If you don't want to be a priest and haven't taken whatever oaths they have to, then you can go ahead and date and get married.

I think saints actually have less importance in the Church now-a-days. I'm not sure if it was a result of Vatican II or not. It's not that saints are unimportant, but I think people don't pray to a specific saint for a specific thing anymore.

About saints being less popular now, it's partially because of what I just mentioned, but I also think that the time is important. Yes, St. Patrick and St. Valentine are big saints, but they've also been saints for ages. I'm sure on the first feast of St. Patrick people didn't drink green beer and party. If they recognized it at all, it would have been because they celebrated every feast day (which would get tiresome...)

Have you ever heard of St. Hallvard or St. Halward (same guy)? He died a martyr in 1043. His memorial is May 15. No one celebrates that (maybe Osloians do, but they have a good reason). I only know about him because I had to do a small presentation on a saint, so I chose the most obscure one I could find.

The Calendar of Saints has two columns of saints listed for most, if not all days. Only a few saints are really remembered. St. Patrick has an interesting story behind him, which helps to keep him interesting to younger people. Because there are so many saints that don't really get recognized, there is All Saints Day "to supply any deficiencies in the faithful's celebration of saints' feasts during the year."

"What's with all the new saints?"

There is a process for canonizing a saint. I'm too tired to look it up right now, but it's something like a miracle is performed after praying to them, and then another one after that.

I hope that answered your questions. If not, I'll try to elaborate more.

[Antrax]

doormouse, you'd do well to take "The Da Vinci Code" with a grain of salt. I'm planning on posting something about this in a day or two.
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[Jedo the Jedi]

I'll take a stab at some of these.

[Mck]

I only have my sister's computer for about five seconds. My level of Internet access at the moment depends entirely upon her mood.

I just wanted to say that I've written down all the questions to this point, and I'll be creating answers to them and posting whenever I'm "allowed" internet access. Yes, it's *that* lame.

So anyway, I... just put my sister in a worse mood, I'm lucky to have her permission to finish my post.
Where was I... I will answer soon. How soon depends on various outside factors. I would like to elaborate on some of the answers that have been given, but for the most part post answers that are COMPLETELY different from the ones already posted. *laugh*



Okay, well... *sigh* my GL time is up for a long while. bye.

[doormouse11]

[doormouse11]

Thanks Courk and Jedo

[Jedo the Jedi]

I wanted to give some quick answers to these, too. I'm sure when Mackay gets access again that she will elaborate, but I wanted to at least give base answers. Of course, these are strictly my opinion and interpretation of the Bible. Hers may be different.

[Dread Pirate Westley]

[Eykir]

Bah, no one is answering my question. I know there are different flavors of Christianity, but what do all of them consistently believe in?

[doormouse11]

Do you trust the Bible to be accurate all of the time, even tho it was written by humans? Likewise, do you always trust ministers? If so, why?

When the Bible says that God made man in His own image, does it really mean that God looks like a man? Does it also indicate that God and man are of the same nature, or is the likeness strictly limited to physical images.

What is Christening?

Why are people baptised as babies? I thought that baptism represented a conscious decision to give yourself to Christ. Can babies do that? Are babies born knowing God, or is faith something that has to be developed and taught?

Would you call Christianity polytheistic? Obviously there is only one god that is worshipped. But aren't satan and the angels and saints similar to the minor gods of ancient polytheistic religions?

Is Satan an actual being or just a personification of human weakness?

When people pray to the saints, angels, and Virgin Mary, are they sinning by having more than one God?

Is it okay to have more than one god, as long as you do not place them before God? "Thou shalt have no other gods before me."

Does the Bible mention anything wrong with dancing?

Why do some denominations not allow instruments in church?

Why don't Christians celebrate Jewish holidays? Didn't Jesus celebrate Jewish religious holidays?

(this one probably only applies to some denominations) Why interpret the Bible literally?

[jadesmar]

[Lepton]

Doormouse, since some of your questions have answers that depend on the person doing the answering, I'll give you the viewpoint of a fairly liberal Christian. Any questions that have non-subjective answers (imo), I will leave for someone else with more knowledge and clarity.

Do you trust the Bible to be accurate all of the time, even tho it was written by humans? Likewise, do you always trust ministers? If so, why? The Bible is the word of God - what else do we have? Some of the language and even some of the contexts might be outdated, but the lessons and the laws are still valid. That said, you won't find me sacrificing sheep... During the "dark ages", men and women weren't smart enough to think for themselves and interpret The Word for themselves, so the clergy were our only connection to God. Nowadays, most people can read and think constructively, so there need not be as much reliance on ministers. However, if you have a question about your health, you go to, and trust, your doctor. I do the same with ministers.

Why are people baptised as babies? I thought that baptism represented a conscious decision to give yourself to Christ. Can babies do that? Are babies born knowing God, or is faith something that has to be developed and taught? Baptism is something that varies depending on the secular beliefs of one's church. For mine, Baptism was supposed to cleanse the baby of Original Sin (a little bit of devil that we are all born with).

Would you call Christianity polytheistic? Obviously there is only one god that is worshipped. But aren't satan and the angels and saints similar to the minor gods of ancient polytheistic religions? We make fun of Catholics for having a whole bunch of gods, sometimes - they take the saints more seriously than most others do. The difference between Appollo and Gabriel is that one is a god in his own right, with powers and desires, while the other is merely a messenger or a servant of God.

Is Satan an actual being or just a personification of human weakness? Satan is an angel that has his own desires. Human weakness is Original Sin.

When people pray to the saints, angels, and Virgin Mary, are they sinning by having more than one God? No. Personally, I don't do this, because I cannot remember names. I think that prayer may invoke these dudes/dudettes, but isn't supposed to be directed *at* them... not sure...

Is it okay to have more than one god, as long as you do not place them before God? "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." There simply are no other gods. Also, one must not worship false idols (or something like that).

Does the Bible mention anything wrong with dancing? No, in fact, it encourages people to dance in praise of His Name and of His Son. But not in the styles that were popular during the 80's.

[Termital]

OK, most of these questions are not really christianity specific, but what the heck.

So, how do I know there is a God? How do I know that the christian version of religion is true? How do I pick the correct demonination from this supermarket of heresies?

Why did God made his presence known? Why does he expect my worship? What do I get in return, if anything?

What does the presence of an omniscient god mean for my free will, assuming I have one to begin with?

Is faith without deed sufficient for salvation? (Fyi, the Orthodox answer is "hell no, unless you've seen the light on your deathbed or something".)

To me it seems that most protestant branches display a la carte preferences for bible parts and blame the ones they don't like on the writer's interference with the divine message. This line seems kind of weak to me when refering to Jesus sayings as reported in multiple gospels. So, I wonder what's the word on the "divorced women=whores" teachings nowadays. _{(Yes, I'm too lazy to look it up in a KJ right now. When I go home perhaps I'll read the original and come up with a reference.)}

OK, these should keep you busy till page 35.

Oh, and doormouse, you'll be happy to hear that the Orthodox church provides for no purgatory. Just Heaven and Hell. Which kind of suits the biblical texts just fine far as I recall them from my believer days. Far as I know (which is not far at all), the Catholic church invented purgatory. As for Limbo and such, best stick to Milton and Dante. Or D&D.

Edit-- This is why one should research before he opens his mouth. Apparently, limbo is a West Indian dance in which the dancers keep bending over backward and passing under a pole that is lowered slightly each time. That is hardly Miltonesque, and also irrelevant to Dante although perhaps more inventive than some of the punishments in his work. And now that I think about it, I have seen limboing role players. Anyhow, the roman Catholic church seems to need to file every soul somewhere differently. The abode of unbaptized but innocent or righteous souls, as those of infants or virtuous individuals who lived before the coming of Christ is Limbo, and it is located in the borders of Hell. Which I suppose is good to know if you get lost in the afterlife.

And of course, now I have to ask: Is dancing the limbo an abomination before God? And does the answer depend on one's baptismal status?
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[Jedo the Jedi]

Okay, here I go. (Long post)


Since Lepton answered most of your questions, doormouse, I'll just mop up some of the others.

[mudbuck]

The beginning of the old testament sounds like its mostly fiction. No people were around to witness the first several days of creation. Also, many insects and other animals cannot live for even 40 days, so Noah's Arc is highly upredictable. Besides, when did Noah's Arc happen?

The Christian God seems to change his mind a lot. First, he casts the humans out of the protection of the Garden of Eden. Then, he told Noah to clean the world of the sinful people to save humanity, but drowns many innocent creatures in the process. Then, he gives a lot of land to Abraham, but then leads them to slavery in Egypt. Then, he allows them to escape, giving them plenty of food and water, but lead them to a land overtaken by barbarians. Later, he creates a son to save the world from themselves, again, but stills sends people to hell. Finally, he promises to destroy the world eventually, sending down Jesus to save humanity from themselves, once again. Is the Christian God really that merciful?

What ever happended to the animals in the Garden of Eden?

Wasn't the forbidden fruit a kiwi, contrary to popular belief?

Couldn't Jesus be a time-traveler from the future that decided to be Jesus? He could have abducted the real Jesus as a child while he was going through a desert and reappeared in a temple to wait for Mary and Joseph to find him. Also, technology from the future could have done those many "miracles" he done in the past, such as going back in time to replace a dead person, dead for days, with a dummy and cured him when it's still possible.
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[Leptonn]

The beginning of the old testament sounds like its mostly fiction. No people were around to witness the first several days of creation. Also, many insects and other animals cannot live for even 40 days, so Noah's Arc is highly upredictable. Besides, when did Noah's Arc happen? Archeologists speculate about a big flood a few thousand of years ago. Since The Bible doesn't provide dates for major events, so we can only speculate. (heck, even Noah didn't know what year BC he launched his vessel)

The Christian God seems to change his mind a lot. First, he casts the humans out of the protection of the Garden of Eden. Then, he told Noah to clean the world of the sinful people to save humanity, but drowns many innocent creatures in the process. Then, he gives a lot of land to Abraham, but then leads them to slavery in Egypt. Then, he allows them to escape, giving them plenty of food and water, but lead them to a land overtaken by barbarians. Later, he creates a son to save the world from themselves, again, but stills sends people to hell. Finally, he promises to destroy the world eventually, sending down Jesus to save humanity from themselves, once again. Is the Christian God really that merciful?

Yes

What ever happended to the animals in the Garden of Eden?

I believe they are touring with Barnum and Bailey.

Since your previous question was so long-winded, I'll retort with some words. God gave Adam a beautiful place to live and a single law. Adam broke the law, so God had to take away his garden. Later, Adam's descendants are fouling up the land they were given, so God has to teach them another lesson. God is no more a flip-flop politician than your parents were when they were trying to raise you. Humans did stupid things and we deserved the punishments we received. We, as a people, got more chances than I did as a kid.

Wasn't the forbidden fruit a kiwi, contrary to popular belief?

It was actually an eggplant, and it was forbidden because of it's name.

Couldn't Jesus be a time-traveler from the future that decided to be Jesus? He could have abducted the real Jesus as a child while he was going through a desert and reappeared in a temple to wait for Mary and Joseph to find him. Also, technology from the future could have done those many "miracles" he done in the past, such as going back in time to replace a dead person, dead for days, with a dummy and cured him when it's still possible.

Yes. It is equally likely that the current president of your country is "a time-traveler from the future".

[doormouse11]

Thanks a bunch Lepton, termital and jedo

[Eykir]

[casinopete]

Disclaimer: These are my views, not those of "Christians" as a whole.
(But of course I am right.) fnord.

[casinopete]

[casinopete]

[casinopete]

[casinopete]

[casinopete]

[casinopete]

[Reader's Di]

1)Is faith god-given? if so surely those without faith are those who God has chosen not to give it to. Why did he only pick some people? Even those who go and find faith must have been led to it by God. Is God selcetive?

2) In the Catholic church, people are asked to believe they are actually eating the body of Christ, not soem representation. Transubstantiation has taken place. Now lots of people do this every Sunday, surely the should be a bvit more excitied about it! I mean if the Turin shroud turned out to be authentic, many people would think it was a fantastic relic. Yet here we have a actual peice of Christ's body and people eat it like it was any old bit of bread. Why?

[Chuck]

Faith must be God-given. I don't believe that we choose to believe or disbelieve something. If someone offered me a million dollars to believe that the sky were green, and he had a reliable lie detector, I'd have to do without the million. Belief in something can't be turned on and off at will. It might be comforting to believe something but if the evidence contradicts that belief or is insufficient to support it then I'm out of luck.

[Courk]

To elaborate on CP's answer