The Bible!

[Aries]

With me being a non-denominational Christian, is it wrong believeing the Bible to be more inspirational and influential rather than taking it literally? When I told a friend of mine from church my belief on the Bible, he said I was being an anti-Christ.

 

[LilyM]

With me being a non-denominational Christian, is it wrong believeing the Bible to be more inspirational and influential rather than taking it literally? When I told a friend of mine from church my belief on the Bible, he said I was being an anti-Christ.

What bits of it are you talking about not taking literally? Certainly there are some parts that may not be historically factually spot-on accurate, but the messages and underlying meanings and morals contained in each and every line at least are accurate.

 

[Aries]

One example is, my church believes that because all of us sin, Christians and non-Christians, we are not good people. I asked my one friend of mine if he believed that there was goodness in the world, and he said no. Would you agree that sins are more like mistakes rather than determining what kind of person you are?

 

[Pax]

The bible is inerrant but not all of it is to be taken in an absolute literal fashion.

Your discussion with your friend is a great case in point. Many protestants misunderstand scripture when it comes to the nature of man and they do not believe that there is anything good in man. This is an outgrowth of Calvin’s concept of “total depravity” as it applies to the fall. There are scriptures that can be read in such a way as to suggest such a view of man being basically evil, but this is a gross misunderstanding.

Genesis clearly states that God saw that his creation was good. God then creates man in “his image and likeness.” After creating man God again looks at his creation and says that it is “very good” per Genesis 1:31. The fall seriously damaged man but it did not make man basically evil and scripture does not say otherwise.

You are right in your understanding even if you do not have all of the scriptures at your finger tips to support your view. If needed, I can supply you with an effective rebuttal to the entire notion that the bible teaches that man is basically evil.

Your conversation with your friend demonstrates that we must be careful in interpreting scripture. The bible is true and inerrant. Individual interpretation of scripture is not inerrant.

 

[Aries]

Thank you so much! It’s a problem that I’ve been strugglin’ with my church for a few weeks. Even though I have sinned in the past, that doesn’t mean that I’m a bad person. It’s like saying a person is not intelligent because he/she mistakes. I see sins as mistakes, and you learn from them in order to become a better person. Is that wrong of me to say? With my friend, I feel as if because he was a bad person before he became a Christian, he believes that everyone in this world is bad. Sort of like “the world revolves around me” kind of idea. Feel free to e-mail me more scriptures that support this idea.

Another question, do you believe that Muslims and Jews worship the same God as we Christians do?

 

[rciadan]

Thank you so much! It’s a problem that I’ve been strugglin’ with my church for a few weeks. Even though I have sinned in the past, that doesn’t mean that I’m a bad person. It’s like saying a person is not intelligent because he/she mistakes. I see sins as mistakes, and you learn from them in order to become a better person. Is that wrong of me to say? With my friend, I feel as if because he was a bad person before he became a Christian, he believes that everyone in this world is bad. Sort of like “the world revolves around me” kind of idea. Feel free to e-mail me more scriptures that support this idea.

Another question, do you believe that Muslims and Jews worship the same God as we Christians do?

I suggest you invest n a “Catechism of the Catholic Church”, and read what it has to say regarding the nature of Man and the nature of Sin. It will be eye-opening, I promise. You will also be provided in the footnotes, etc. with all the scripture references you will ever need to know that all you are learning is, in every way, supported by the Sacred Scriptures!

 

[jlcasey]

Thank you so much! It’s a problem that I’ve been strugglin’ with my church for a few weeks. Even though I have sinned in the past, that doesn’t mean that I’m a bad person. It’s like saying a person is not intelligent because he/she mistakes. I see sins as mistakes, and you learn from them in order to become a better person. Is that wrong of me to say? With my friend, I feel as if because he was a bad person before he became a Christian, he believes that everyone in this world is bad. Sort of like “the world revolves around me” kind of idea. Feel free to e-mail me more scriptures that support this idea.

Another question, do you believe that Muslims and Jews worship the same God as we Christians do?

I would have to disagree with you - sin ‘makes’ a condemned person. ‘Bad’ doesn’t really come into the equation. Sins may appear to be mistakes - but there are many people out there that deliberately sin. That is part of what constitutes a mortal sin.

It sounds from what you have said that your friend is a little confused. Becoming a Christian does not change you from being ‘bad’ to being ‘good’. It gives you hope for salvation and eternity with God. This is a very narrow perspective to take.

 

[littleone]

With me being a non-denominational Christian, is it wrong believeing the Bible to be more inspirational and influential rather than taking it literally? When I told a friend of mine from church my belief on the Bible, he said I was being an anti-Christ.

HI Jesus own words were that His ways are not our ways; also we know that He gave us the gifts of the Holy Spirit. He would not do this if say this if He meant us to understand only literally. Literal language is factual, plain, unvarnished, accurate, and honest. However, why would Jesus say to the scribes and pharoses that they missed the mark when they took the word just as it was?

So it comes to the point that the Word of God is alive and for one person to gain much joy from reading a passage another person may not even blink an eye. The spirit goes where it wants touches one person how it does, the word of God sets a person free, therefore it is both in as far as the Holy Spirit wishes, for His own glory.

 

[Aries]

Wow! That was really deep. I def agree when ya said the Spirit goes where it wants to touch people. Thanks!

 

[littleone]

QUOTE=Aries;1729655]Thank you so much! It’s a problem that I’ve been strugglin’ with my church for a few weeks. Even though I have sinned in the past, that doesn’t mean that I’m a bad person. It’s like saying a person is not intelligent because he/she mistakes.

I see sins as mistakes, and you learn from them in order to become a better person. Is that wrong of me to say?

**I]**There are a number of ways of sinning. Remember firstly that NO sin is worse than either in as far as it is an act against God’s pure love. If you take the Ten Commandments and look at one person’s sin over another persons sin the fact that they both contravene God’s commandment that we are to Love firstly God who created all things in His hand and to love we people without question, who are made to His likeness.

What Catholics call venial sins are those that we commit basically unintentionally, or without control over our human desires physically or mentally. In realizing this, seeking forgiveness right at that time to God, and if not, going to the priest who will mediate for us to Jesus.

Mortal sins are those grave sins that we have understanding of the graveness of the act or thought. As you might know there is one sin that is so grave that it not only won’t but CANNOT be forgiven. And that is a sin against the Holy Spirit. We must also remember that Jesus told us that in the time of the Old Testament a person would commit the sin when the act was fulfilled. Jesus said that since His coming, it no longer is doing the act but in thinking about the act that is the very act of sin.

With my friend, I feel as if because he was a bad person before he became a Christian, he believes that everyone in this world is bad. Sort of like “the world revolves around me” kind of idea. Feel free to e-mail me more scriptures that support this idea.
You might find that as yet he has not forgiven his past and himself, and those who were his accomplices. He also probably has not put his past to the cross of Jesus Christ and let go of it.

Another question, do you believe that Muslims and Jews worship the same God as we Christians do?
**They may believe in God as we know God, but the question is; do they believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God, and that Jesus alone is the way the truth and the life, and the only way to the Father.

God bless
Littleone**

 

[Aries]

I def agree when you said that my friend hasn’t forgiven himself and his past and put it to the cross.