Who, What, When, Where, Why Your Religion?

[BlessedBe13]

SPOKENWORD:

Where do these evil thoughts come from?

Free will.

If Satan, or some other “demon” were placing evil thoughts into people’s minds to make them do bad things, then that should be a legally accepted criminal defense. It wasn’t the person committing the acts. “Satan” made them do it. Why, that would solve all our problems. Let’s arrest Satan. We shouldn’t arrest anyone else, because it’s not their fault they committed the crime. Why ask for forgiveness for sins? God will understand, it was Satan’s fault. Sure, some people might get away with an insanity defense with this, but if that’s the case, every criminal should, because it’s Satan’s fault evil is in the world, not human beings.

As I said, people should start taking responsibility for their actions rather than blaming it on “Satan”

 

[darwindidntknow]

I am a Christian Hedonist and attend an evangelical free church of america. I

 

[Ahimsa]

BlessedBe13:

Free will.

If Satan, or some other “demon” were placing evil thoughts into people’s minds to make them do bad things, then that should be a legally accepted criminal defense. It wasn’t the person committing the acts. “Satan” made them do it. Why, that would solve all our problems. Let’s arrest Satan. We shouldn’t arrest anyone else, because it’s not their fault they committed the crime. Why ask for forgiveness for sins? God will understand, it was Satan’s fault. Sure, some people might get away with an insanity defense with this, but if that’s the case, every criminal should, because it’s Satan’s fault evil is in the world, not human beings.

As I said, people should start taking responsibility for their actions rather than blaming it on “Satan”

BlessedBe,

I’m not Catholic, but I was curious: you don’t believe in Satan, but do you believe in the existence of spiritual beings with whom humans are able to contact (through magick, ritual, meditation, etc.)?

 

[Katholikos]

SPOKENWORD:

Every Christian can have it they truely seek His face.

Then someone has the right answer? Who? And I 'spose those millions of other Christians with different answers to the identical questions aren’t “truly seeking His face.” Poor souls. Just like you, they think they are. How do you know that you are “truly seeking His face” and they aren’t? Your (il)logic escapes me. Jay

 

[SPOKENWORD]

Katholikos:

Then someone has the right answer? Who? And I 'spose those millions of other Christians with different answers to the identical questions aren’t “truly seeking His face.” Poor souls. Just like you, they think they are. How do you know that you are “truly seeking His face” and they aren’t? Your (il)logic escapes me. Jay

Hi Jay, Of course I can only answer for myself.I know because I keep wearing out my knee pads. How about You? God Bless.

 

[Catholic4aReasn]

Originally Posted by Catholic4aReasn
*Hi SPOKENWORD!

How, specifically, would scripture be sufficiant in meeting these needs?

****Someone deciding which Christian church teaches truth

****Somone deciding how to interpret the scriptures correctly when other Christians are telling her she’s wrong.

*****Someone making a decision about abortion

*****Someone making a decision about contraception.

*****Someone making a decision about in vitro fertilzation

****Someone making a decision about taking a loved one off of life-support

In Christ,
Nancy *

Hi Nancy. So simple,all you need is godly wisdom and understanding. Lets see now where do we get it. Lets go to Proverbs chapter two.Lets read it. What do you think? God Bless.

Hi SPOKENWORD!

I think that Proverbs 2 is not the slightest bit sufficient to deal with any of the above issues. I also think it’s a cop out. In essence one could simply appeal to Proverbs 2 for everything and claim wisdom. As long as he really believes he’s receiving wisdom from God he’s good to go. I don’t find that to be a scriptural method for determining morality and truth. (Although one could always appeal to Proverbs 2 as scriptural suppport for always appealing to Proverbs 2). Got anything else?

In Christ,
Nancy

 

[SPOKENWORD]

Catholic4aReasn:

Hi SPOKENWORD!

I think that Proverbs 2 is not the slightest bit sufficient to deal with any of the above issues. I also think it’s a cop out. In essence one could simply appeal to Proverbs 2 for everything and claim wisdom. As long as he really believes he’s receiving wisdom from God he’s good to go. I don’t find that to be a scriptural method for determining morality and truth. (Although one could always appeal to Proverbs 2 as scriptural suppport for always appealing to Proverbs 2). Got anything else?

In Christ,
Nancy

Hi Nancy,I pointed to only a speck of Gods Word. You mean to tell me that Gods Wisdom and understanding would not solve your answers? Interesting? God Bless.

 

[Catholic4aReasn]

SPOKENWORD:

Hi Nancy,I pointed to only a speck of Gods Word. You mean to tell me that Gods Wisdom and understanding would not solve your answers? Interesting? God Bless.

Nope, that’s not what I’m telling you and I don’t believe for a moment that you thought I was.

In Christ,
Nancy

 

[BlessedBe13]

Ahimsa:

BlessedBe,

I’m not Catholic, but I was curious: you don’t believe in Satan, but do you believe in the existence of spiritual beings with whom humans are able to contact (through magick, ritual, meditation, etc.)?

I’m not sure exactly what you mean? God and Goddess? Yes I do. Spirits/souls of deceased people? Yes.

 

[Lilyofthevalley]

And exactly how do these mess up our life? They’re NATURAL things man has, religion goes against nature in this regard.​

There are many natural things that are not good for human kind in nature. Greed in natural, wanting revenge is natural a study in psychology found this,snake poison is natural, V.D is natural.
Natural does not always mean better.

 

[SirShaun]

I identified as Baptist rather than non-denominational on the list because I currently attend a Baptist church and I’m married to a Baptist, so over all, my household is Baptist. (Unless the cats get to vote… they’re theo-cat-ic. It’s a joke and if you don’t get it, skip it.)

The irony in my calling myself Baptist is I don’t have a strong opinion towards the Believer’s Baptisim issue (the defining attribute of being a Baptist) and for reasons other than what are traditionally believed by Roman Catholics, tend toward rejecting the idea.

I identify myself as non-denominational for a couple of reasons. First, I don’t associate myself with the teachings of any aspect of the Church which identifies itself with only one or two of the Apostles, as per 1 Cor 1:11-13

11For it hath been signified unto me, my brethren, of you, by them that are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. 12Now this I say, that every one of you saith: I indeed am of Paul; and I am of Apollo; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. 13Is Christ divided? Was Paul then crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? (DRV)

I don’t believe the Roman Bishop is infallible. I don’t believe Mary was free from original sin. And I don’t believe the bread and wine at communion stop being bread and wine at any point.

The historical connection of the Roman Catholic Church is a big deal to me, however, I see the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches both as branches of the Orthodox Catholic church.

The obviouos question then becomes, why don’t I become Eastern Orthodox? Two reasons, the first more compelling than the second right now.

First, the closest Orthodox church is a day’s drive away. I’m not in a position to move closer any time in the foreseeable future. I can’t afford the gas, I wouldn’t be able to afford the necissary motel costs, and I can’t afford to take Monday off of work every week since I wouldn’t get home in time to make it to work the next day.

Second, and much less compelling, as an Irish/Scottish/Welsh/English mix, my genetic connection to the Orthodox Catholic Church of the fathers and apostles is through the Roman See. Choosing from among the others (Greek, Russian) would be kind of arbitrary.

My hope is that one day the Eastern and Western branches will settle their differences. If/when that happens, I will be the most devout member of that church, almost no matter what they teach.

 

[BlindSheep]

Blessed Be -
From reading your posts, you seem to be a very intellegent and spiritual person. I hope you find great joy and fulfillment in your relationship with our loving Creator, in this life and the next.
I was once a Wiccan. I, too, was disgusted at what seemed to be the elitism and unfairness of Christianity, and saw no compelling reason to consider Jesus the son of God.
You say you are guided by dreams. It was a dream that led me to the Catholic Church - actually I consider it more than a dream, a kind of out-of-body experience. In it, Jesus revealed to me who He was - without words, somehow I understood and knew the truth of it on an intuitive level. Of course, I can’t transmit the experience to you, but I can share some specific insights.
The Catholic Church teaches that God gives every human being enough grace to be saved - including even those who never heard of Jesus. Their fate depends on what they do with the grace they are given. God wants everyone in heaven, and He goes to great lengths to get us there - short of overriding our own free will. Those in Hell are indeed there because they choose to be. He doesn’t force anyone to be with Him if they don’t want to.
I have a suggestion for you. You seem to be an open-minded person, so why not give Jesus a chance? Ask Him to reveal Himself to you. If He isn’t for real, you have nothing to lose.- if He is, you have everything to gain. Ask Jesus if Christianity is true, and be open to the answer, whether a sign, a vision, a dream, or whatever it may be.

 

[JackPaul]

Led,
If your mind is closed and you refuse to hear, there is nothing we can do for you. If the choice that you have made in living your life proves out to be correct, the joke will be on us and you can have a big ole belly laugh. But, if we are right, you are wrong and all those horror stories of that antique book of folklore become true, you will be in big trouble… Of course, we wont really know until the last day.

I choose to believe that my Church is leading the way down that crooked path to the narrow gate that enters heaven. You choose your eternal sleep and live it up now, there will be no heaven for you later on. I can tell from your posts that you are very young and your choices now maybe poorly thought out. But really, don’t go down the path where science disproves the existance of God. Ask your local scientist how a baby is made and see if he can tell you. Sure, the sperm enters the egg and the proteins yada yada yada… Then the heart forms and begins to beat and the brain… There is no scientific explanation for this. NONE! Why does the earth spin like it does and stay just the right distance from the sun? How does a bumble bee fly?

I too am a scientist, but there are things that have yet to be answered and will likely not be answered by men. For some more on this subjest (though I doubt you are interested) look at this site: apologeticspress.org/.

I hope that you will pray; Tell God that you don’t know if he is really there, but if he is, to show you the way to truth. I think that he will answer you in surprising ways.

Peace

 

[JackPaul]

SirShaun:

I identified as Baptist rather than non-denominational on the list because I currently attend a Baptist church and I’m married to a Baptist, so over all, my household is Baptist. (Unless the cats get to vote… they’re theo-cat-ic. It’s a joke and if you don’t get it, skip it.)

The irony in my calling myself Baptist is I don’t have a strong opinion towards the Believer’s Baptisim issue (the defining attribute of being a Baptist) and for reasons other than what are traditionally believed by Roman Catholics, tend toward rejecting the idea…

…I don’t believe the Roman Bishop is infallible. I don’t believe Mary was free from original sin. And I don’t believe the bread and wine at communion stop being bread and wine at any point…

…The historical connection of the Roman Catholic Church is a big deal to me, however, I see the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches both as branches of the Orthodox Catholic church…

…The obviouos question then becomes, why don’t I become Eastern Orthodox? Two reasons, the first more compelling than the second right now. …

…Second, and much less compelling, as an Irish/Scottish/Welsh/English mix, my genetic connection to the Orthodox Catholic Church of the fathers and apostles is through the Roman See. Choosing from among the others (Greek, Russian) would be kind of arbitrary.

My hope is that one day the Eastern and Western branches will settle their differences. If/when that happens, I will be the most devout member of that church, almost no matter what they teach.

Whew…SirShaun,
You sure don’t believe a lot of stuff. But at least you have convictions.

My grandparents were Irish Protestants, so I wanted to be one too. Then I read that the Queen of Jolly Ole England made them Irish folks convert during the potato famine or they would starve. So, if an Irish Catholic would renounce his faith, he would get food. If they refused to renounce their faith they were starved, killed or had to go in exile. Apparently, they haven’t gotten over it yet. So, now I don’t want to be one of them anymore.

I was raised a Baptist and I just never seemed to get it there either. They would yell and scream at us every Sunday and they scared the hell out of us, but the relationship part with Jesus just didn’t seem to be there. They did memorize a lot of one-liners out of the Bible though; they just seldom put them all together. When my wife started to drag me to a Catholic Church I thought that every pew warmer was ignorant about the Bible. Then I realized that most all of them were extremely devoted to God. They weren’t afraid of him, the adored him, worshiped him and prayed to him. It was all about relationship. Much Bible teaching goes on, they just don’t memorize it or know where to find it in the book. But there relationship with Jesus was (is) fantastic.

Now, that wine thing. Well, if God can make a man out of dust, turn water into wine, he can transform bread and wine into his own body and blood. It comes down to what you think God can do and just how much faith you have in him. For my money, it is flesh and blood (he said so and he commanded that we do it).

That Pope is a great guy and we gotta have a guy in charge or we would fall apart like all the other churches have, so that is why Jesus put him there. Jesus began with Peter, and then Peter ordained bishops and the bishops ordained bishops. When Peter died, the bishops got together and prayed for the Holy Spirit to guide them in their choice for a successor, and then they chose one. This is the way it has been now for quite a few years and it seems to work just fine. We are still one Church with 1 billion members, not 30,000 splinter groups all going in different directions.

Keep seeking and you’ll find it…
Peace

 

[Ignatius]

flameburns623:

Christianity is not a religion.

Religion is defined as a set of beliefs and system or order of worship.
True Religion may have a different definition.