What is the CENTRAL Truth of Christianity?

[jkiernan56]

Thank God for the skeptic.

Dameedna, I sincerely do thank God for you … and there is no sarcasm when i say that … at least you think and question things … some people don’t even do that …

You have to realize that everything I talk about comes from an “experience” I had of a particular truth about myself and God. It doesn’t make me better than you … I just know now in my bones that I am loved … that is it in a nutshell … that is the truth that is changing my life … and it makes me able to appreciate and thank God for you

 

[Dameedna]

You have to realize that everything I talk about comes from an “experience” I had of a particular truth about myself and God. It doesn’t make me better than you … I just know now in my bones that I am loved … that is it in a nutshell … that is the truth that is changing my life … and it makes me able to appreciate and thank God for you

Now the REAL question is…did you take the red pill…or the blue one

 

[jkiernan56]

Now the REAL question is…did you take the red pill…or the blue one

Laugh!!! But that is an EXCELLENT example of my story. The experience I had did wake me up to a completely new kind of reality … a reality that I never knew existed … and in that understanding of reality … I know that I am deeply and personally wanted and loved … as are you

 

[HappyRevert]

The CENTRAL Truth of Christianity to me is that God sent his only begotten son to save ME, have him die on the cross, and defeat the death that our sin deserves. The best part is that that is true for every person who has been born and will be born. God loves each individual so much that he would do the same for each and every one of us. That includes the drug dealers, addicts, child molesters, rapists - every single one of us. When you finally internalize that truth, the entire world shifts. How can we not love one another when God loves each of us so much? I could blather on for hours about that one truth…

 

[jkiernan56]

Can you prove any other the truths of our Catholic Faith are true if Christ had not risen from the dead? On what basis can you say they are true? Because the Magisterium says so? If I had to try to prove them, I would point to the cross and resurrection of Christ. It is an OBJECTIVE fact and historical event. It validates ALL that Christ said and did - not because the Church says so.

 

[Numinous]

The central truth of Christianity lies at the heart of the mystery of our Catholic faith: Christ has died; Christ is risen; Christ will come again.

 

[taylor007]

Can you prove any other the truths of our Catholic Faith are true if Christ had not risen from the dead? On what basis can you say they are true? Because the Magisterium says so? If I had to try to prove them, I would point to the cross and resurrection of Christ. It is an OBJECTIVE fact and historical event. It validates ALL that Christ said and did - not because the Church says so.

JK
for me,the central truth of Christianity is very concise:

• there is a loving God,who created us in his own image and gave us everything that we could hope for.
  *when we rejected his love,he didnt let us perish.to bring us back,he sent his own son( himself,from one angle),to live with us,to suffer for us and ultimately to die for US,and then rise from the dead so that our eternity can be saved.
  now,if the guy u and i call christ had not risen from the dead,he simply wasnt the messiah the world had awaited.the above story would then crumble,so would the faith of us.that,christ had died for us and risen ,is the very foundation on which Christianity and all its teachings are based.even the statement that we so often use,that God is love,would lose much of its credibility.

 

[JJJ4Eva]

My Central Truth to Christianity is:
That even God changes. God evolves. (For what God allowed before Christianity He may well not allow anymore. His Son has ascertained change. God is willing to change. He may well allow evil now, but in a few years time decide to destroy it. He may well decide that committing suicide isn’t punishable by eternal damnation, because taking certain drugs today, may well induce this.)
Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life - not the stories of the Bible, these are open to interpretation, and were in fact interpreted and translated and related down generations, some of the good stuff possibly got lost in translation. Not that it’s not a Sacred Book, God has allowed it to grow and reach the corners of the Globe.
Following Christ is easy - The path is narrow and there are crags on the side, but He holds your hand, and if you slip, He reaches for you.
Learn to love everything that God loves and you love God
God needs affection, if you can imagine that He doesn’t then you can imagine a God without love.
God is Omnipotent – He is invincible, but He is ruled by prayer and love.

 

[Numinous]

My Central Truth to Christianity is:
That even God changes. God evolves.

God does not change, only our perceptions of him through our reason and his revelation.

Following Christ is easy - The path is narrow and there are crags on the side, but He holds your hand, and if you slip, He reaches for you.

In the sense that his yoke is easy, and his burden is light.
Not in the sense that narrow is the path, and few will find it.

God needs affection, if you can imagine that He doesn’t then you can imagine a God without love.

God needs nothing. He is completeness. He is in perfect communion with his Triune Godhead.

God is Omnipotent – He is invincible, but He is ruled by prayer and love.

Unclear. You mean he has to do what I say in my prayers?? And the whole invincible thing–this is a quality that is N/A to God and very much sounds like you’re describing Zeus.

 

[jkiernan56]

Would the Catholic Church exist today if Christ had not risen from the dead?

 

[Numinous]

Would the Catholic Church exist today if Christ had not risen from the dead?

Certainly not. If Christ has not risen from the dead, then our faith is in vain, and we are to be among all people the most pitied.

 

[jkiernan56]

Certainly not. If Christ has not risen from the dead, then our faith is in vain, and we are to be among all people the most pitied.

That is EXACTLY the point of this thread. To get people to stop being lost in the forest because of all the trees. Our Faith springs from this central truth. Christ is Risen!!! It is a FACT!!!

 

[JJJ4Eva]

God does change, He once allowed no one into Heaven because of sin then His Son Redeemed us, I call that Change.
The path is narrow, the more you sin, the more you distance yourself from God, the harder it is to find your way back.
If God needs nothing why does He insist that He is a Jealous God – What is He jealous of? The fact that He is just a routine in your life could well be the reason, maybe He wants to be a part of your life instead.
God rules the World, but prayer governs God is an old Catholic saying, do you really believe that he dismisses your prayers? Then why bother? What makes God’s Invincibility make you think of Zeus?

 

[Hamlet123]

Could I be wrong (I am so often) that the central evidence for Christianity is the resurrection and the Central Truth is found in another statement? That is, the Central Truth is not the resurrection; the resurrection is the central evidence which enhances our faith and adds to our hope.

My first impression when this, the Centrality of Christianity, is to be defined leads me to the following:

There is a God
He made everything and controls everything
He is all powerful and all knowing
He is interest to the point of loving people
People have a free will
People sin
Sin must be rectified,atoned for
Man must pay
Man is not good enough to pay
God became man; that Man, God, is good enough to pay
He paid the price.
We must have faith in Him to be saved
We must DO things to be saved
We can not
Grace will help us
There is no better place to get grace than The Passover Meal - Mass
Mass is the ultimate; it is heaven on earth, nothing comes closer to God - it is union with God.
The Marlins are a great team and need a stadium.

This is my proposition that the Central Truth of Christianity is the above.

I just got off the phone with the Pope and he told me I was right and to call anytime I needed clarification and “yes” the Marlins need a stadium but not with public funds.

 

[taylor007]

Would the Catholic Church exist today if Christ had not risen from the dead?

may be there would have been followers of christ,ones who followed his teachings.but he wouldnt have the status of god.the apostles wouldnt have went around the world preaching christ is the way,the truth and the life.even if a church had been found,it wouldnt have withstood the test of time.

 

[jkiernan56]

Could I be wrong (I am so often) that the central evidence for Christianity is the resurrection and the Central Truth is found in another statement?

Very good question. Would you not agree that the central evidence and truth are one and the same? If Christ did not rise from the dead (either TRUE or NOT TRUE) - would the Church exist? I think the empirical evidence that the Apostles witnessed first-hand (not heresay) is the central TRUTH (as evidenced by those who saw,heard and touched Him).

The Resurrection does give evidence to WHO Christ is and WHAT He accomplished through His death. But the fact of the Resurrection is in and of itself a central TRUTH. Am I making clear the distinction between the central truth you think the resurrection points to … as compared to the central truth of Christianity ITSELF? Can you give evidence to any other truth in Christianity if the Resurrection is not true?

It seems like this is an exercise in asking the question - which came first - the chicken or the egg? LOL

In this case, I think the central truth of the Resurrection comes before ANY other truth of Christianity. Christianity relies completely on this FACT/TRUTH.

 

[Hamlet123]

Without having a lot of language skills (myself) perhaps you can clarify something:

How would you define Truthevidence?

Are the two the same? If so how would that effect rational judgement? I am a bit hazy on this.

 

[Numinous]

God does change, He once allowed no one into Heaven because of sin then His Son Redeemed us, I call that Change.

Christ is the Lamb of God slain from the foundation of the world. “Foundation” does not mean “bottom of the earth” in this instance but rather the beginning (and before the beginning) of time. Thus, our redemption came before the universe was born. Thus, God does not change. His redemption was simply revealed to us at a certain time, thus making it APPEAR that he changes.

If God needs nothing why does He insist that He is a Jealous God – What is He jealous of?

Do not confuse NEED and WANT.

God rules the World, but prayer governs God is an old Catholic saying, do you really believe that he dismisses your prayers? Then why bother?

There are more things wrought by prayer than this world dreams of, surely, but God is not ruled by our prayers.

What makes God’s Invincibility make you think of Zeus?

What you say about his invincibility is true, but it just seems to me a non-applicable trait. The word “invincible” makes me think of him as having vital statistics and being a superhero and whatnot.

 

[jkiernan56]

Without having a lot of language skills (myself) perhaps you can clarify something:

How would you define Truthevidence

?

Are the two the same? If so how would that effect rational judgement? I am a bit hazy on this.

These are excellent questions.
In the context of scientific discovery, evidence defines truth. Evidence is truth. Evidence is “self-evident” - it speaks for itself. It is REAL. It Exists. It is Fact (not just perception of what is real).

Gravity exists. Evidence of Gravity proves the truth of its existence. It is real.

When it comes to the evidence of the Resurrection, the Apostles were eye-witnesses. The Resurrection of Christ is TRUE, it is REAL, it REALLY did happen. It is Empirical Evidence. It is the CENTRAL TRUTH of Christianity.

 

[Numinous]

Do not confuse FACT and TRUTH.