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Thread: What Is Your Christianity?

  1. #1
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    The following passage made me think about what people actually believe, not faith, belief. Are you a Christian? If you are, do you believe in things like the virgin birth, walking on water, water into wine, the resurrection, etc.. And what about your God, do you believe in the white haired old man sitting in a place called Heaven? Read the following and let us know.


    The following is excerpted from a recent book by Bishop John Shelby Spong titled, "A New Christianity for a New World; Why Traditional Faith is Dying and How a New Faith is Being Born" (Harper San Francisco, 2001).

    "Between 1910 and 1915, in response to biblical criticism in general and to the challenge of Charles Darwin in particular, a group of conservative Christians published a series of pamphlets under the title "The Fundamentals." From those pamphlets the word fundamentalism as a description of the literal beliefs of conservative Christians entered the religious vocabulary.

    "The tracts defended such things as the Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch, the Davidic authorship of the Psalms, and the accuracy of the biblical prophecy predicting specific events in the life and death of Jesus Christ. Each of these suppositions has been successfully challenged by modern scholarship. Beyond that, these tracts also defended the literal accuracy of what they called "the primary Christian themes," in time these basic fundamentals of Christianity were said to be five in number. To question or to deny the truth of any of these five doctrines was thought to be an act not just of heresy, but of actual apostasy.

    "These five fundamentals were:
    1.  "The inspiration of scripture as the literal, revealed word of God.
    2.  "The virgin birth as the miraculous and literal means by which the divine nature of Christ has been guaranteed.
    3.  "The substitutionary view of the atonement that was accomplished in the death of Jesus. The affirmation of the saving power of his blood and the gift of salvation that was accomplished by his death.
    4.  "The certainty of the physical bodily resurrection of Jesus from the dead. The accuracy of both the empty-tomb and the appearance stories in the gospel tradition.
    5.  "The truth of the second coming of Jesus, the reality of the Day of Judgment, which would be based on the record of one's life, and the certainty of heaven and hell as eternal places of reward and punishment."


  2. The Drawing Room   -   #2
    just to add to ur thoughts/points. quote about the bishop:
    Drawing on his Biblical scholarship, Bishop Spong reminds us that the Bible is a Jewish story-telling book, written by Jewish people and explains some of the many consequences that follow from that tradition, in contrast to Western ways of thinking. He speaks to the questions: How do you define God?  How do you define the transcendent?  How does one define the journey into a deeper and fuller humanity (which is what Bishop Spong believes the Christian life ultimately is)?  He urges Christians back to the mystery which is at the heart of Christianity, insisting that religion needs to be open-ended, a journey into the mystery of God, with no one path inferior to any other. He describes God as the very heart and source of life, of love, the ground of being. He connects this reality to what he sees in the life of Jesus of Nazareth

  3. The Drawing Room   -   #3
    bigboab's Avatar Poster BT Rep: +1
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    Why is it called Christianity if it was written in BC?
    The best way to keep a secret:- Tell everyone not to tell anyone.

  4. The Drawing Room   -   #4
    AussieSheila's Avatar Dazed & Confused
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    Long before anybody worshipped a male god (maybe 25,000 years ago until relatively recently) it was the 'Mother' or the Donii that was worshipped as the Creator. It's no harder to believe, in fact, it makes sense to me.



    And no, there's not too many bible stories I believe.

  5. The Drawing Room   -   #5
    bigboab's Avatar Poster BT Rep: +1
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    Surely the Bible, the Koran and all other religious books are just a moral guideline loosely based on actual or fictitious characters. Considering most of them were written when you could not argue against the contents or you would end up the in the centre of a bonfire or some such horrible fate. The central characters of all of these books dont stand up to very close unbiased investigation.
    The best way to keep a secret:- Tell everyone not to tell anyone.

  6. The Drawing Room   -   #6
    i put my faith in god and no 1 else we all need somthing to belive in i belive in god not in christainity i think the bible has been currupted over the many years to scare people into being good but i do belive god created our soul i do belive he loves every1 and i do belive he forgives every1

    Only God Can Judge Us

  7. The Drawing Room   -   #7
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    Originally posted by DrunkeNStylE@25 September 2003 - 21:35
    i put my faith in god and no 1 else we all need somthing to belive in i belive in god not in christainity i think the bible has been currupted over the many years to scare people into being good but i do belive god created our soul i do belive he loves every1 and i do belive he forgives every1

    Only God Can Judge Us
    I understand what you're saying, this thread was not meant to judge.

    I'd like to understand what form your god is. Is god a "man" to you? Does your god listen to you specifically, and act for you?



  8. The Drawing Room   -   #8
    understand what you're saying, this thread was not meant to judge.

    I'd like to understand what form your god is. Is god a "man" to you? Does your god listen to you specifically, and act for you?


    sorry


    i dont belive god has a specific form hes a soul therfore can be anything an di don tthink he will act for you induvidualy but he is there to guide us

  9. The Drawing Room   -   #9
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    Whether God is white haired, a man, black, tall or fat all are irrelevant and meaningless. This is to put human characteristics on God.

    To wonder whether Heaven has pearly gates is also meaningless.

    This is what I believe, I speak for myself and not for other people.

    I believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty,
    maker of heaven and earth,
    of all that is, seen and unseen.
    I believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
    the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father,
    God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God,
    begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father.
    Through him all things were made.
    For us men and for our salvation, he came down from heaven:
    by the power of the Holy Spirit he was born of the Virgin Mary, and became man.
    For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered died and was buried.
    On the third day he rose again in fulfillment of the Scriptures;
    he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
    He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
    and his kingdom will have no end.

    I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
    who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
    With the Father and the Son he is worshipped and glorified.
    He has spoken through the Prophets.
    I believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
    I acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
    I look for the resurrection of the dead,
    and the life of the world to come.
    Amen.

  10. The Drawing Room   -   #10
    thewizeard's Avatar re-member BT Rep: +1
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    I don't...But I do have respect for your statement and for your belief JPaul.

    Edit: oh yes, and for you.

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