Anyone have any uncommon/weird/controversial/obscure beliefs?

[Tick]

The whole "JESUS WAS A ZOMBIE LOL" thing is getting so old. Was kinda funny once. Is not funny anymore... And definitely isn't funny as a troll post.

I guess that's my uncommon belief...

I'm tick and I approve this message!

[Tick]

I believe in God wholeheartedly. Something that is somewhat rare these days.

[ehra]

Since when?

[PlaysLikeMyung]

Since when?

Yeah really. This country is still, by and large, a God believing Christian country. That trend hasn't really changed much

[Jamesman42]

Since when?

Yeah really. This country is still, by and large, a God believing Christian country. That trend hasn't really changed much

Changed much from when?

[hefdaddy42]

I find it odd that some Christians don't believe in Hell (or some form of eternal damnation) when passages like this:

19 Jesus said, “There was a certain rich man who was splendidly clothed in purple and fine linen and who lived each day in luxury. 20 At his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus who was covered with sores. 21 As Lazarus lay there longing for scraps from the rich man’s table, the dogs would come and lick his open sores.

 22 “Finally, the poor man died and was carried by the angels to be with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried, 23 and his soul went to the place of the dead. There, in torment, he saw Abraham in the far distance with Lazarus at his side.

 24 “The rich man shouted, ‘Father Abraham, have some pity! Send Lazarus over here to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue. I am in anguish in these flames.’

 25 “But Abraham said to him, ‘Son, remember that during your lifetime you had everything you wanted, and Lazarus had nothing. So now he is here being comforted, and you are in anguish. 26 And besides, there is a great chasm separating us. No one can cross over to you from here, and no one can cross over to us from there.’

 27 “Then the rich man said, ‘Please, Father Abraham, at least send him to my father’s home. 28 For I have five brothers, and I want him to warn them so they don’t end up in this place of torment.’

 29 “But Abraham said, ‘Moses and the prophets have warned them. Your brothers can read what they wrote.’

 30 “The rich man replied, ‘No, Father Abraham! But if someone is sent to them from the dead, then they will repent of their sins and turn to God.’

 31 “But Abraham said, ‘If they won’t listen to Moses and the prophets, they won’t listen even if someone rises from the dead.’”

exist.

Obviously, when you take time to think about the existence of Hell and people actually going there, it's unnerving and uncomfortable. But that doesn't have any bearing on its reality, and sometimes it seems like people denounce Hell's existence based upon their feelings like that.

I'm not basing it on my feelings. 

[Jamesman42]

That's good. What are you basing it on, then?

[hefdaddy42]

That's good. What are you basing it on, then?

Lots of things.

Too many for my lunch hour, that's for certain.

[Tick]

Since when?

Yeah really. This country is still, by and large, a God believing Christian country. That trend hasn't really changed much

Really? Based on the fact alot of people still attend church? The Godless grow in strength and numbers and want to be a Godless society and fight to further there agenda of removing God from everything possible. It is surely taking place today.
I don't care if you agree with me but that is reality. Your too young to remember how things used to be, and I'm too young to remember how they were when my parents were kids. In God we trust used to have meaning.

I made a statement of what I believe. Why can't people respect that? Did I rip apart ZGrav for being a pagan and saying who needs God, sunlight is all you need.
Of course no one has an issue with that do they?
Nope.

[Ħ]

Judging from people from college I've met, probably 80% are atheist/agnostic.

[hefdaddy42]

Judging from people from college I've met, probably 80% are atheist/agnostic.

I would go farther and say that around 25% of people who are church members are more or less agnostic.

[Ħ]

Probably. 

I wonder how many people, even among Christians, that believe every word of the Bible?  Usually people take the NT literally but change up a bunch of stuff in the OT.  I don't see what gives them the right to decide what's what--someone getting resurrected from the dead is just as scientifically improbable as a man surviving inside a whale for three days.

[Tick]

Judging from people from college I've met, probably 80% are atheist/agnostic.

I would go farther and say that around 25% of people who are church members are more or less agnostic.

DING!

[Tick]

Probably. 

I wonder how many people, even among Christians, that believe every word of the Bible?  Usually people take the NT literally but change up a bunch of stuff in the OT.  I don't see what gives them the right to decide what's what--someone getting resurrected from the dead is just as scientifically improbable as a man surviving inside a whale for three days.

Who determines what should be believed and what should not? If some of it is false, why should I believe any of it is true?

[Ħ]

That's my point.  Most Christians just pick and choose what they believe.  Like Nietsche said, they formulate their beliefs outside of the Bible, then come to the Bible and say, "Oh!  Look at all the things that match up!  I choose you, Christianity!"

[hefdaddy42]

Most Christians just pick and choose what they believe.

This is certainly true of some Christians, but the more accurate answer is that most people who call themselves Christians don't really know very much about Christianity or the Bible, and they just do the best they can with that lack of knowledge.

Then there are other Christians (like myself) who sometimes get accused of "picking and choosing," when in actuality we have made conclusions based on critical study of the text and much prayer.

[Ħ]

"study of the text and much prayer."  That's exactly how it ought to be done.  Not one apart from the other.

But...why critical study?  If you approach the text with a heart of belief, and temporarily suspend your own human reasonings, taking off the lens of skeptical criticism, you will be astonished at the amount of light you let in.

[ehra]

I made a statement of what I believe. Why can't people respect that? Did I rip apart ZGrav for being a pagan and saying who needs God, sunlight is all you need.

No one ripped what you said apart. No one even showed any disrespect.

[Tick]

I made a statement of what I believe. Why can't people respect that? Did I rip apart ZGrav for being a pagan and saying who needs God, sunlight is all you need.

No one ripped what you said apart. No one even showed any disrespect.

I guess you have a point.

[PlaysLikeMyung]

I made a statement of what I believe. Why can't people respect that? Did I rip apart ZGrav for being a pagan and saying who needs God, sunlight is all you need.

No one ripped what you said apart. No one even showed any disrespect.

This. Honestly, I may be missing something, but I still see a large number of God-believing people in the country today. Maybe there is a trend towards Agnosticism/Atheism, but I don't think it's 'somewhat rare' as you say

[Tick]

I made a statement of what I believe. Why can't people respect that? Did I rip apart ZGrav for being a pagan and saying who needs God, sunlight is all you need.

No one ripped what you said apart. No one even showed any disrespect.

This. Honestly, I may be missing something, but I still see a large number of God-believing people in the country today. Maybe there is a trend towards Agnosticism/Atheism, but I don't think it's 'somewhat rare' as you say

Hey mr. moderator, I just agreed that I was wrong in the post above yours.

[j]

But...why critical study?  If you approach the text with a heart of belief, and temporarily suspend your own human reasonings, taking off the lens of skeptical criticism, you will be astonished at the amount of light you let in.

Would you use this same approach when reading the Qur'an?

-J

[Ħ]

I agree that the first few times you read any scripture, whether it be the Bible, Koran, Book of Mormon, or something else, you will of course be scrutinizing and critical.  But there comes a time when the scripture passes enough tests and proves itself true in enough areas, that you no longer need to worry about verifying every single passage.

[GuineaPig]

The problem is, as j pointed out, is that I'm sure Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, Scientologists, etc. would all say the same thing about their sacred texts.

[Ħ]

My comment was to hefdaddy who is already a believer.  Not to be offensive, but I don't think it's something a nonbeliever can come to understand.

[j]

I understand that the Christian scriptures have met whatever criteria you require in order to consider them absolutely true.  I'm just not sure how a person could arrive at that conclusion, a) without decades of rigorous study, and b) given what I know about the scriptures.  Out of curiosity, have you given other religious texts the same examination?  What about extra-canonical early Christian writings?

Not to be offensive, but I don't think it's something a nonbeliever can come to understand.

If a nonbeliever can't understand, then how does one go from nonbeliever to believer?

-J

[Ħ]

You are going to hate this answer, but I'm not going to pretend.

Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.  It is after you have faith that you are saved and given the indwelling Holy Spirit, which acts as an intellectual "sixth sense" of sorts, and helps one discern the truth more easily. 

You have faith when there is no proof, and then the proof presents itself to you over time, only to strengthen your faith.  It's not a lifelong "I'm going to not believe until I see proof" type of thing. 

I'll admit it seems backwards, but hey, all I know is that it works, at least for me.  Everything just starts to make sense--it's like a steamy mirror after a shower.  At first you can't see your reflection, but slowly and surely it clears up.

Obviously there is no real proof nor refutation of such a claim, and there is really not much to debate about.  It's why I think religious debates between believers and nonbelievers is almost always going to be fruitless.

[emindead]

The Devil exists. (Good and bad (demons)) Spirits exist. Baby Jesus helps parents to win the sufficient amount of money (or give the opportunity to win it) for their Christmas presents if kids believe in Him and ask Him for them.

[PlaysLikeMyung]

I made a statement of what I believe. Why can't people respect that? Did I rip apart ZGrav for being a pagan and saying who needs God, sunlight is all you need.

No one ripped what you said apart. No one even showed any disrespect.

This. Honestly, I may be missing something, but I still see a large number of God-believing people in the country today. Maybe there is a trend towards Agnosticism/Atheism, but I don't think it's 'somewhat rare' as you say

Hey mr. moderator, I just agreed that I was wrong in the post above yours.

I know. But I wanted to reiterate because it was my post initially that you disagreed with

And the rest of it was continuing with the argument. I must not be paying much attention to others' religious preferences

[j]

@Brother: I'd rather you be honest and give me an answer that I will "hate" than bullshit me any day.   Hope you aren't taking my questions the wrong way, I just enjoy posting my thoughts and reading what others have to say about them.

You have faith when there is no proof, and then the proof presents itself to you over time, only to strengthen your faith.  It's not a lifelong "I'm going to not believe until I see proof" type of thing. 

But how do you choose *what* to have faith in, if faith comes before everything else?  There are a million things: religions, worldviews, TV product advertisements, etc that ask you to "just have faith" in them.  What is your tool for discernment?

-J

[hefdaddy42]

"study of the text and much prayer."  That's exactly how it ought to be done.  Not one apart from the other.

But...why critical study?  If you approach the text with a heart of belief, and temporarily suspend your own human reasonings, taking off the lens of skeptical criticism, you will be astonished at the amount of light you let in.

Why would I suspend human reasoning? "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and all your soul, and all your mind."  Too many Christians do great with heart and soul, but leave their minds behind.  Why would God have given me a mind if he didn't want me to use it?

And I'm not talking about "skeptical" criticism.  I'm not a skeptic, at all.

[Jamesman42]

That's good. What are you basing it on, then?

Lots of things.

Too many for my lunch hour, that's for certain.

Let me know. I just don't see how a Christian cannot believe in Hell. Just being sincere and not provoking.

[Philawallafox]

If you're using reason why are you not treating the bible as a whole unit rather than breaking it up, and why are you not interpreting Jesus in the light of the Old Testament? or Paul, or Revelation? Why are you not treating the writers as inspired?

@Brother: I'd rather you be honest and give me an answer that I will "hate" than bullshit me any day.  Hope you aren't taking my questions the wrong way, I just enjoy posting my thoughts and reading what others have to say about them.

You have faith when there is no proof, and then the proof presents itself to you over time, only to strengthen your faith.  It's not a lifelong "I'm going to not believe until I see proof" type of thing.  

But how do you choose *what* to have faith in, if faith comes before everything else?  There are a million things: religions, worldviews, TV product advertisements, etc that ask you to "just have faith" in them.  What is your tool for discernment?

-J

I put my faith i christianiaty simply because it's the best. It supercedes Judaism, it's more logical than Islam, it's more personal than Hinduism and I can't believe that there is no God. there is just too much evidence for it.

Judaism, Christianity are the only 3 that put themselves in actual history. This is why people try to disprove the bible. they don't want to believe what it says.

So to answer your question, I guess I follow Christ because he exists and told me to follow him. I follow him because he's more loving to me than other "god"s and it's the only answer that makes sense to me. Continued study is just confirming this more and more.

[GuineaPig]

If you think that only Judaism and Christianity "place themselves in actual history", I don't know what to say to you.

[Philawallafox]

Oh and By the way, Jesus mentions hell more than anyone else in the New Testament. If there was no need for Hell there would have been no need for Christ in the first place. without Hell there would have been no Christ at all.