Results for: Christianity

126,341 Contributions

Answered

Why are you Christians?

Person A says: I'm a Christian because I was lovingly pursued by God through His Holy Spirit who spoke to my heart/spirit. I realized I was a sinner and needed a Saviour.… I believed what the Bible said, that Jesus Christ was the Saviour I needed, who had paid the penalty for my sin by dying on the Cross. He then was resurrected, breaking the power of sin and death. I gave my life to God, and am now seeking to live as Christ did. I have never regretted this life-changing decision which I made 44 years ago. I have great joy, strength and peace because of my relationship with God. The good changes I have seen in myself and others because of the transforming work of God have confirmed my beliefs many, many times. God has revealed Himself to be a faithful, true, just, good and loving Father despite all of the hardships of this earthly life. I highly recommend Christianity as revealed in Jesus Christ to everyone! Person B says: I'm going to try and give the totally clinical, objective response here. The reasons why some individuals hold to the Christian faith are the same as for any person that holds any kind of belief. There are one's upbringing, personal experiences, and developed personality. Your parents, or whoever might have raised you, had a tremendous impact on your current beliefs. Not so simple as "my parents are Christians and they taught me to be", but they were a symbol to you of what that religion stood for. If you had bad parents that professed to Christianity and justified their actions through that, you might discount the faith because you have that experience of Christianity failing to provide goodness into your life. Or you may have good Christian parents who brought you up in the faith, and you feel content in that. There are an infinite number of variables and scenarios regarding your upbringing, but it's undeniable that your impressionable early childhood can sway your adult thought patterns and values in such a way as to make a religion a safe haven of faith and spiritual comfort, or a fool's delusion. Your personal experiences can effect it as well. If one who perhaps never truly considered religion found occasion to pray, perhaps for the safety or health of a loved one, and those prayers were answered in a common or less so manner, that may influence once to believe in a faith. Alternatively, unanswered prayers might have the opposite effect. Once again, these are the simplest of situations, and an actual life has so many variables and different scenarios as to make it impossible to list them, but it may be seen that personal experiences can lead one to or away from a faith. Lastly, consider the mind you mold during your life. Some psyches are certainly more welcoming to faith than others. Life may have brought you up to value pride in oneself, to believe in the power your own hands wield and the works you can create. If so, the humility and acknowledgment of inferiority to an Almighty in Christianity may not sit well with you. Or you may well indeed be accepting of the idea of a super being, one who accepts your flaws and grants unconditional love, one with whom you can rest your problems and worries, and find peace. There are variables uncountable as to why somebody might eventually find faith in Christianity to be an integral part of their life, and just as in any religion or lack thereof, it's more up to the individual to evaluate other individuals based on what they know rather than what they might deduct based on something so amorphous as faith. (MORE)

PeteNco

13,505 Contributions

Answered

In Christianity

Why are you a Christian?

I was convinced at an early age that the man Jesus Christ is theSon of God. In my studies and teachings as an adult the evidenceavailable today clearly supports this truth. I …chose to followJesus Christ's teachings and try to follow his way of life which isoutlined in the Bible. Though I may fail at this on a daily basisJesus Christ is true to his word concerning His forgiveness which Ipersonally ask for every day. Accepting God's love for you ( JesusChrist ) is a wonderful thing. Everyone should give Him thatchance. I just want to say that I'm not the same person who wrote theabove. Life is cruel isn't it? I mean, would you say that you havebeen living in a happily ever after story? This is why you shouldaccept Him in your heart, to have a happily ever after even whenthere are problems. Personally, I am a Christian because I have apersonal relationship with God, not because I call myself one. Thismeans that I accepted Him. I decided to give my life to Him becauseI was in so much pain and with him there is only peace which bringsjoy. When I was 9 years old I wanted to get out of this world (thisis something I'm not proud of). Soon though, my family and I beganto go to church. You wouldn't believe how many joyful people stoodup each morning just to come and sit and sing and listen and readthe Bible. I wanted that joy! now, thanks to Him, I have that joyevery single day! Because I love the Lord! I believe that there is a God in heaven. Why else would there bethis wonderful world we live in. Atheists seem to think that theBible was made from some people that wanted to start something likeBuddha. I almost read the Bible everyday and it is there to make usas people better Christians. When I was a child I wanted to be ableto spread the Word of God and have people saved. I don't see howpeople aren't scared to go to hell. It is almost mentionedeverywhere you turn! Somehow the Bible is called a "fake" which Idisagree with. And all the promises He gives us are awesome. Ithink that if anyone read Romans 8:38-39 " I am persuaded that nordeath, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, northings present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor anycreature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, whichis through Christ Jesus our Lord." That they will not let anyone oranything get in the way of it. God has His arms out to you. He wants you to come up and live withHim; that's why you need to get saved! God is always watching youfrom heaven. He is there 24/7 no matter if you feel it or not. Heis and He is always watching you. As a Christian I have learnedthat the hard way, my family just went through a death and I feltthat God had left me and my sadness turned into hatred. I went intotherapy and was asked " Are you a Christian?" I broke down crying,I had turned my back to God and put myself in His place. I am aChristian because it became clear to me that being religious andhaving all the right answers intellectually is just nonsense as allour righteousness and cleverness is 'filthy rags' - I realized it'sall nothing when I came to face the reality of the loving person ofJesus Christ. He changed my life in many ways and still is. He hasnever once let me down or forgotten me, although I regularly failHim. His word is absolute truth and able to be tested. Through itHe changes lives and its truth provides answers to the questions oflife and the future. Well, first off, I would like to say that I can kind of see why youwouldn't believe in Christianity (or any religion, for thatmatter). The essence of any religion is lack of proof, in believingin something you can't be sure of. Remember how, when you were akid, you believed in Santa, even though there was no proof? Well,it's kinda the same thing (with obvious differences, of course,since Santa isn't real). However, if you only truly believe inthings you've seen with your own eyes, then religion would appearto be a "load of rubbish" as you put it. But, riddle me this: haveyou ever directly seen a black hole? Have you ever seen an atom?While I am guessing here, the answer is probably "no." But youstill believe in them, even though you haven't seen them with yourown eyes. Now, I'm not a particularly religious person (I don'tattend church every Sunday,) and I do agree that while somethings in Christianity do appear to be impossible, it doesn't meanthat they necessarily are. (MORE)

Dan Galilee

66,700 Contributions

A Jewish-American Rabbi living in Israel, studying, teaching and writing on Judaism.

Answered

In Religion & Spirituality

Why are you not a Christian?

Opinion I have learned over time that the church does not follow the bible I was taught, the one where people are instructed to love their neighbors before themselve…s. Everyone may have their own opinions but mine are that if there is a god (which I do not think is possible), then as long as I am a good person in this life she will honor me. It is my experiences that shaped my beliefs and those of my friends. Everyone should make their own choices so think carefully and look into many religions before you decide which one is best for you. The right question would be: "Why are you a Christian?". If you knew why you are a Christian, it would become very easy for you to understand why most people on Earth are not. Opinion Because reading the Bible made it more and more apparent to me that this could be no more the word of God then anything else written. It has too many statements to prove that it was written by a group of people that simply had no concept of modern Science and therefore should not be trusted as the word of a God. If one understands this to be true of any part of the Bible then an intelligent person must become skeptical of other parts as well. I later came to terms with the fact that there is nothing more to religion, in general, than just trying to believe something because life can make a complex and lonely. We are the only animal in existence that is this complicated so we often wish for another life form that we can relate to so we start making things up to deal with this fact. Opinion My mother decided it would be wrong to baptize me, so she left me to decide for myself later in life. I was later taught Christian values in school, but although I could sympathize with some values, I came to the conclusion that I would not be part of the system surrounding Christianity, a system which I hold responsible for endless evils. I am also appalled by the way some shady creatures seek shelter in that religion, drawn in by a notion of being able to be forgiven for all sorts of misdeeds. I have concluded that there is no god, and that there is no afterlife. Sometimes this is a very lonely and scaring thought that make me feel like an infinitely small speck in the universe, but it is also a great freedom. I also find comfort in the views of Sami shamanism, which states that all things are connected in some sense. Opinion I remember the day i stopped being a Christian. The church decided to show a video about how you can only get in to heaven if you know of Christ. it basically boiled down to that it was the guy's best friend's fault he could not get in because his friend never told him about Christ. it made me so angry! how could a supposedly loving god, forsake a good person over some thing SO trivial. so i asked "what about the people who do not have a chance to hear of him, or the ones where it is not a viable option?" and the response? "every one hears of Jesus" so i said "that is impossible" and they replied "no, every one hears about him!" that was the day i started looking at things my own way. as i got older i came to the conclusion that humans wrote the bible, and even if it was originally dictated by God, humans messed it up. i will never be a Christian again. Opinion My reasons for steering clear of Christianity are many, but three predominate: Firstly, the Abrahamic god is rather harsh, and yet we are supposed to believe He is kind and loving. In the Bible, what are called the hard passages, God is unyielding in the atrocities He commits, from commanding genocide to nuking entire cities. By comparison, the Geneva Convention, demonstrates the morality that humankind can conceive is at a higher standard than is held by the biblical deity. Secondly, the Bible, often considered the divinely inspired literal word of God, is frequently confusing and contradictory, which explains why there are so many denominations, and yet almost all of them dictate Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus (No salvation outside [their] church) which is an absurd standard by which a god would judge His creation. I have yet to encounter a ministry that does not make liberal use of parsing and interpretation to mold the word of God to its own end, i.e. of all the abominations in the Old Testament, homosexuality is the only one that continues to be recognized. Similarly, Jesus advocates prayer in private: on the mountain, in the field, in the closet. Not one church acknowledges this, as it is contrary to organized religion. Thirdly, and I must admit this is rather prejudicial of me, but contemporary Christians as they conduct themselves in the media and online are not folks on whom I would want to model my own behavior. This is partly due to the increased visibility of obnoxiousness, but the frequency by which I see judgment and damnation to hellfire and the ferocity with which I see pundits and politicians try to breach the wall of separation and inflict their Procrustean values upon the rest of society, frankly, makes me cringe even to be wished Merry Christmas, or God Bless. I'd rather not have the holiday at all, and have Evolution taught in schools, and the rights of gays and women honored. Opinion Not only am I not Christian but I am increasingly worried how Christian fundamentalism closes many people off in their own minds from accepting obvious scientific findings. It may not be absolutely obvious to the layperson how old the Earth is, but to dismiss the fact that tectonic drift takes place - to determinedly ignore the glaringly obvious fit between South America and Africa (as some do) is to deny one any logic. To have the idea that preconceived religious ideas better scientific breakthroughs shows an unwillingness to accept logic itself, which is very worrying. Opinion I am not Christian or any other religion because I use logic and critical thinking skills. I have read the entire Bible, most parts of it several times, and have sought explanations for everything that could be proof of a God. When carefully studied, the Bible itself becomes proof that God does not exist ,rather than proof that he does. Opinion Because I am an American and I have the right to choose whether or not to believe in anything, and frankly I think it is infuriating that people are so easily willing to demean other people that don't believe in, "ALMIGHTY GOD". Opinion I am not a Christian because I am incredibly indecisive, and would like a half-hour chat with any god or gods I end up devoting myself to, in order to clear up some points. Opinion Because I am part of another religion. Opinion Because [the Christian] god is a propagandist figure someone or a group created before history can remember. Opinion Because I choose to not believe in imaginary things. The same reason why I don't believe in Santa Claus and Spiderman; they are both the creation of men. Opinion Because God is just a character from ancient times.There is too much going against Christianity. I'm not just going on faith. Opinion Because I believe that Christianity is just an idea and belief that people support in order to seek comfort form their ignorance of the unknown. It is natural for human beings to be afraid of the unknown due to survival instincts and therefore to try and seek safety in the form of false or pretense knowledge. Opinion I made up my own mind about what I believe because what the Catholic church was teaching just didn't sit quite right with me. I researched other religions, found one that better reflected what I believe to be right as well as making more sense to me, and I'm now a happy pagan with no intention of going back. And for the record, religious and the ability to use logic, reason and critical thinking skills are not mutually exclusive. Opinion The real question should really be why are you not any of the other thousands of religions out there. Christianity is only one religion one that many are born into. This many religions all claiming that they are the one true religion is one of the strong reasons I am not Christian. I was born that way. I think most of us are... but some of us succumb to teaching and/or training. The proper question is not "why am I not a Christian", the question is "why are you?" Opinion Any and all religions are a matter of personal conviction, that is, of 'being convinced' of it's truth. A religion does not necessarily have to be true in reality in order for a person to be convinced in his or her own mind that it is true. People who are not Christians are not convinced to their personal satisfaction that Christianity is true. Rather they are convinced of the opposite. Opinion I was never given a good reason to be a Christian. Every time someone tried to give me a reason to become a Christian it only further convinced me that that was not who I was. Opinion I have read the "holy bible" cover to cover. It is flawed is several hundred places, contradicts itself at least 30 times, and it was just flat out wrong in at least 25. The more I read it, the more I doubted it. I can think for myself, and like the person above me said, i don't need an invisible friend to control my life and my actions for me. I don't believe it's right to condemn people of other religions (Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims, etc) because they don't believe in the same invisible avenger that you do. Opinion The question,"Why are you not a Christian", is basically the same as asking,"Why do you not worship Zeus" ? Or any other of the thousands of gods that have ever existed. Clarence Darrow, who defended John Scopes in the Dayton Tennessee "monkey trial" for teaching evolution said, "I don't believe in God because I don't believe in Mother Goose". Every Christian is an atheist when it comes to all the other gods that have ever been worshipped. The dyed-in-the wool atheist just goes one god further. Opinion Because I'm sticking with my tradition, which is the original: Judaism. (MORE)

JohnWelsh

5,961 Contributions

Answered

In Comparative Religions and Denominations

What is Christianity about?

My point of view in a short statement : It's about living in peace , loving our Father with our heart soul and mind and praising Jesus for giving us victory over flesh and the… (MORE)

victor osgood

6 Contributions

Answered

In Jesus Christ

What is a Christian?

ANSWER: A Christian is a follower of Christ. In the original, the word Christian was coming from Christ and even in English bears a resemblance. The word not only meant th…at, but it meant also : being like Christ. The Bible teaches that if you want a life with God, free from sin and have eternal life you have to become a follower of Christ (John 14:6 "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."). To become a Christian you need to accept Jesus who sacrificed Himself on the Cross as your Savior from sin and Lord of your life. You confess your sins to God, and repent from them. That is the start of your life as a Christian. Then you develop your relation with God by listening to Him. You need to know His will from reading the Bible and praying. In the Christian life there is also singing to God, praise, fellowship and others things described in the Bible. Christianity does not mean blind faith in some concept of a distant God but a close relationship with a loving God and a Savior God. Some people believe a Christian is someone who has followed a plan of salvation involving: 1. Romans 10:17 (hearing the message), 2. Hebrews 11:6 (believing the message), 3. Luke 13: 3 (repenting), 4. Romans 10:9 (confessing "Jesus is Lord" publically 1 Timothy 6:12) 5. Acts 2:38 (getting baptized) 1 Peter 3:21. They believe you are saved by God's grace, and your faith, plus baptism. Colossians 2:12 Ephesians 2:8 we are saved by God's grace. Formula: your faith + God's grace= salvation. Jesus extended the invitation to be his follower, saying: "If anyone wants to come after me, let him disown himself and pick up his torture stake and continually follow me." (Matthew16:24) Those who are true Christians have full faith that Jesus Christ is God's Son, the Promised Seed who sacrificed his human life as a ransom, was resurrected and exalted to the right hand of God, and received authority to subdue his enemies and vindicate Jehovah's sovereignty. (Mt 20:28; Lu 24:46; Joh 3:16; Ga 3:16; Php 2:9-11; Heb 10:12, 13) Christians view the Bible as the inspired Word of God, absolute truth, beneficial for teaching and disciplining mankind. Christian means Christlike, so Christians imitate to the best of their ability to be like Jesus Chris. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- That is a good question, what the hell is a christian? I honestly think they do not even know themselves. ~ Praise lou lou the spaghetti monster. (MORE)

Answered

In Christianity

Why is there Christianity?

Opinion Christianity exists because there are many people who attest to and have experienced the truth of Christ and his message, whether it be the intellectual, his…torical, archaeological, or scientific truth presented in the Bible. They find no need to suspend rational thinking or intelligence in order to believe because all harmonize perfectly. Many are involved in fulfilling the Great Commission of bringing the message of Christ's amazing work and presence to all people, despite intolerance and persecution against them and the message. Christianity came about because of sin in the garden of Eden. You see in the beginning God made everything very good. But because of Adams disobedience sin came into the world. That sin was passed on to everyone who has every lived. No matter who you are or what good you may have done we have all sinned. All of us have take something that wasn't ours that is stealing even if it were a paper clip. Most of us have hated someone and if we have hated someone then we have actually committed murder in our hearts. Most of us have looked on someone to want to take them to bed, this is adultery if your married and fornication if you're not. Having said that, God knowing that people were this way, and yet loving us still, made a way for us to come back to Him. Because sin had driven us from Him. He sent Jesus to pay the price for us. To die in our place and be punished instead of us for something that He didn't do. This is why there is Christianity. Want to know more. Christianity came about because of sin in the garden of Eden. You see in the beginning God made everything very good. But because of Adams disobedience sin came into the world. That sin was passed on to everyone who has every lived. No matter who you are or what good you may have done we have all sinned. All of us have take something that wasn't ours that is stealing even if it were a paper clip. Most of us have hated someone and if we have hated someone then we have actually committed murder in our hearts. Most of us have looked on someone to want to take them to bed, this is adultery if your married and fornication if you're not. Having said that, God knowing that people were this way, and yet loving us still, made a way for us to come back to Him. Because sin had driven us from Him. He sent Jesus to pay the price for us. To die in our place and be punished instead of us for something that He didn't do. This is why there is Christianity. Want to know more. (MORE)

Gp.27196275227319

5 Contributions

Answered

In Demographics

Who is Christian?

A Christian is someone who is a person who believes that Christ died for their sins and rose again.

Mark623

24 Contributions

Answered

In Founding Fathers

What can Christians do and not do?

If you want to check out the Christians way and Bible teachings, the best way to go is to visit and find out. You take it from there to make your choice. Christians can do a… (MORE)

Exhrn Hdr

6 Contributions

Answered

In Religion & Spirituality

What can you do to be Christian?

you should be sick in the head to believe that a human is a God.

Prioktan 918

768,708 Contributions

Law school student at Fordham University. Studied before at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service.

Answered

In Religion & Spirituality

What is Christianity?

Christian Perspective: Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ as presented in the New Testament as the continuation of the Ol…d Testament revelation to the Ancient Israelites. Most Christians believe that Jesus is the Son of God, fully divine and fully human, the savior of humanity prophesied in the Old Testament, and and that He will again return as promised. Consequentially, Christians refer to Jesus as Christ or Messiah and the term "Christianity" itself is a derivative of "Christ". There are currently 2.2 billion Christians in the world and growing, making Christianity the largest religion in the world. Islamic Perspective: Christianity is Islam (or submission to God) per the Bible God revelation to Jesus.Jesus is referred to as Christ or Messiah.Christianity is one of the Abrahamic religions; namely Judaism, Christianity, and Islam per Qur'an God revelation to prophet Muhammad. Christianity is an Abrahamic religion. It is also a monotheistic religion, although its Trinitarian doctrine is seen by Muslims as non-monotheistic. Adherents believe in the Bible, and that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior, and that He will return as promised. Different Christian Sects There are five major sects in Christianity and some say even more, but the easiest way to break up Christianity is into these five categories: Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant, Eastern, and Mormon. Each of these groups believe the other groups are failing in their attempt to reach proper salvation through the Christ and as such have their own methods of attaining this goal. Orthodox Christianity is the one of the oldest Christian Sects in the sense that it represents a fragment of the original Church and holds many doctrines in common with Catholicism as concerns the Sacraments. The disagreement between the Orthodox and Catholic is over leadership. The Orthodox maintain that the Church is a community of Patriarchs all with equal standing as opposed to a Pope with supreme power over all cardinals. Orthodox are most famous for praying with icons. There are several movements in Orthodox Christianity, the most famous being the Greek Orthodox and the Russian Orthodox, but there are also Georgian Orthodox, Bulgarian Orthodox, Slavic Orthodox, and Eastern Orthodox. Catholicism is also one of the oldest Christian Sects in the sense that it represents a fragment of the original Church. Catholics hold that all seven sacraments are necessary to be saved along with the proper Eucharist. Catholicism also has several co-equal rites such as the Roman Rite (the most popular), the Byzantine Rite, the Slavic Rite, and so on. All Catholics (and exclusively Catholics) recognize the infallibility of the Pope on certain matters and the Pope's rule over Christendom. Protestantism incorporates a wide variety of different movements and in certain cases, different sects in its umbrella. As a result, it is hard to pin down Protestantism. It formed as a rejection of Catholic doctrine in some cases, especially as concerns Calvinists and Lutherans or Catholic power in some cases, especially as concerns Anglicanism/Episcopalianism and Presbyterianism. As Protestant doctrines most often derive from the idea that the Bible should be the only source of Christian belief, differing interpretations of the Bible have made Protestant movements most prone to splitting. New Protestant movements are being created all of the time, with the Evangelical Movement among the fastest growing forms of Christianity. Most African-Americans ascribe to Protestant movements such as the Baptist Church. Mormonism is a uniquely American form of Christianity (that is to say it embodies many American cultural ideas and American locales not that exclusively Americans are Mormons). Mormonism holds the Divine Revelation extended beyond the Biblical Period, resulting in additional Testaments of His Will. The most famous of these new documents is the Book of Mormon. Additionally Mormons believe that Divine Revelation continues into the present day and the Elder Mormon Leadership has partial access to Divine Knowledge in order to arbitrate Questions of the Faith. Many Christians outside of Mormonism consider Mormonism to be a heresy as it does not hold to the Nicene Creed's understanding of the Trinity. The Eastern Christian Churches are not a uniform group of churches, but this group represents all of the Churches of the Old World that do not fit neatly into the categories of Orthodox, Catholic, or Protestant. These churches include the Armenian Apostolic Church, the Egyptian Coptic Church, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, and the early Christian Heretical Religions (such as the Nestorians and Justinians). What makes these Christian sects unique is different in every case. The Ethiopians have additional holy books and a unique liturgy, the Coptics hold to Monophysite Heresy, the Armenian Church did not join with the Early Patriarchs of the Church, and so forth. (MORE)