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 Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 1:57 pm
I'm going to tell a little story of how I became a heathen, as my grandmother would like to say.
I attended AWANAS (a Christian youth group thingy) all through junior high. I never really gave faith a second thought.
One day my group leader told us all why Christianity was the best religion. She said, "Christianity is the only religion that you do not have to do something to be a part of it. Other religions require something of you, require that you do such-and-such and that is the only way you can get into Heaven. But all you have to do to get into Heaven is accept Jesus Christ as your savior."
I thought this was an amazing concept. Of course Christianity was the one true religion!
But when I thought about it, I realized... Why be good? I asked my group leader and all she could say was, "Because God wants you to be."
"But I don't have to, right? I'll go to Heaven no matter what I do, so long as I accept Jesus."
And well... I got a different answer than expected. Apparently "accepting Jesus" entails that you follow the Bible's teachings (talk about fine print). It was then I realized the whole "difference" was crap.
Christianity requires something of you, just like all other religions. I find no difference that "seperates" it from the others.
Sorry if this is kind of rant-like or if you think I'm bashing Christianity, but this is my experience, and I was wondering how you all felt on the subject?
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Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 2:03 pm
Well, technically, Christianity just requires you to accept that Yeshua was the son of YHWH and the Messiah. Once you do that, you're a Christian. You don't have to do anything else.
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Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 2:10 pm
Not according to every Christian I have talked to, including many pastors.
(By the way, you are the one who inspired me to write this. I read what you put in the "religion of peace" thread, and it reminded me of this.)
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Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 2:11 pm
Some christians have told me that you just have to try to follow all the rules jesus laid out. As long as you try, that means you've "accepted jesus" and you can go to heaven.
But other people say different. My aunt has her "fire insureance", which means she "got saved" as a child (not by her own choice, though, but by her parents' choice) and feels secure about the idea that there might be a god, hell, and heaven.
I'm pretty sure all my bestfriend does is believe. She doesn't do much of anything about it.
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Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 2:12 pm
Rilian and feels secure about the idea that there might be a god, hell, and heaven. That doesn't sound very secure... ...the idea that there might be...
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Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 2:15 pm
NOOKIE MONSTER Rilian and feels secure about the idea that there might be a god, hell, and heaven. That doesn't sound very secure... ...the idea that there might be... No, I mean, she feels safe. Just in case there is a god, hell, and heaven, she's OK because she "got saved" as a child.
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Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 2:18 pm
Rilian NOOKIE MONSTER Rilian and feels secure about the idea that there might be a god, hell, and heaven. That doesn't sound very secure... ...the idea that there might be... No, I mean, she feels safe. Just in case there is a god, hell, and heaven, she's OK because she "got saved" as a child. Oh... That makes more sense, I suppose. 3nodding
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Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 2:18 pm
NOOKIE MONSTER Not according to every Christian I have talked to, including many pastors. (By the way, you are the one who inspired me to write this. I read what you put in the "religion of peace" thread, and it reminded me of this.)
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Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 2:21 pm
*Bangs his head against the desk*
I'm actually tired of this debate. Check out the other religion topic for my views.
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Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 2:23 pm
writercxvii NOOKIE MONSTER Not according to every Christian I have talked to, including many pastors. (By the way, you are the one who inspired me to write this. I read what you put in the "religion of peace" thread, and it reminded me of this.) Well, you learn something everyday... I had no idea there was a difference between Christianity and Christian religions.
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Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 2:41 pm
writercxvii NOOKIE MONSTER Not according to every Christian I have talked to, including many pastors. (By the way, you are the one who inspired me to write this. I read what you put in the "religion of peace" thread, and it reminded me of this.) I disagree. But it doesn't matter. You know what he meant now, if you didn't before, and most people use "christianity" the way you are using "christian religions". Also, a religion is a collection of beliefs about the way things are, and the way things should be. So.. these "christian religions" are themselves nothing more than collections of beliefs. So now I've lost your point.
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Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 7:59 pm
Rilian writercxvii NOOKIE MONSTER Not according to every Christian I have talked to, including many pastors. (By the way, you are the one who inspired me to write this. I read what you put in the "religion of peace" thread, and it reminded me of this.) I disagree. But it doesn't matter. You know what he meant now, if you didn't before, and most people use "christianity" the way you are using "christian religions". Also, a religion is a collection of beliefs about the way things are, and the way things should be. So.. these "christian religions" are themselves nothing more than collections of beliefs. So now I've lost your point.
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Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2007 1:08 pm
NOOKIE MONSTER I'm going to tell a little story of how I became a heathen, as my grandmother would like to say. I attended AWANAS (a Christian youth group thingy) all through junior high. I never really gave faith a second thought. One day my group leader told us all why Christianity was the best religion. She said, "Christianity is the only religion that you do not have to do something to be a part of it. Other religions require something of you, require that you do such-and-such and that is the only way you can get into Heaven. But all you have to do to get into Heaven is accept Jesus Christ as your savior." You know that means more then "just believe" right? Quote: I thought this was an amazing concept. Of course Christianity was the one true religion! But when I thought about it, I realized... Why be good? I asked my group leader and all she could say was, "Because God wants you to be." "But I don't have to, right? I'll go to Heaven no matter what I do, so long as I accept Jesus." When one truly accepts Jesus, doing good comes naturally. I realize this is a no-true-scotsman fallacy, but it's true. When one truly accepts and understands what it means to accept Jesus Christ, they don't just go about doing whatever the hell they want knowing they're saved anyways. Quote: And well... I got a different answer than expected. Apparently "accepting Jesus" entails that you follow the Bible's teachings (talk about fine print). It was then I realized the whole "difference" was crap. Christianity requires something of you, just like all other religions. I find no difference that "seperates" it from the others. Sorry if this is kind of rant-like or if you think I'm bashing Christianity, but this is my experience, and I was wondering how you all felt on the subject? I don't see why she said that in the first place. It's obviously not true. In fact, it's offensive. Very offensive.
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Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2007 1:10 pm
writercxvii Well, technically, Christianity just requires you to accept that Yeshua was the son of YHWH and the Messiah. Once you do that, you're a Christian. You don't have to do anything else. You don't have to in order to be with God, but that's not all that it's about.
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Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2007 1:13 pm
writercxvii The point is that being a Christian requires only the stated belief. That is a belief held by some Christian sects. They don't all agree on that point. Quote: One single belief doesn't constitute a religion. So, Christianity is not a religion. So all a theological academia is wrong then?
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