For a country that claims to be overwhelmingly Christian, Americans have a funny habit of not believing in basic biblical doctrines:
"Americans by and large consider themselves to be Christian, but when you try to drill down to figure out what they believe, you find that among those who call themselves Christian, 59 percent don't believe in Satan, 42 percent believe Jesus sinned during his time on Earth, and only 11 percent believe the Bible is the source of absolute moral truth," said Mr. Barna, a conservative evangelical who regards these as troubling indicators.
Christian, like Fascist, is a heavily abused term in modern America. Non-Christians will arrogantly tell a conservative Christian "who are you to say who isn't a Christian," but they would never get in a Jew or Muslim's face like that over their religion.
There is, unfortunately for non-Christians and religious liberals, a true definition of what is a Christian. The Bible ended with the Book of Revelation because that was the last book written by an Apostle (John). Why does this matter? Because Jesus said that he would send the Holy Spirit to his disciples and the Holy Spirit would reveal scripture through them. Since the church fathers of the Church of Jesus Christ of Ladder Day Saints were not disciples, their "revelations" were not, according to the Gospel of John and church tradition, inspired by the Holy Spirit. I furthermore challenge anyone to show me in the New Testament where Jesus questions the validity of the Old Testament. It's not enough to believe that Jesus was the Son of God, you must also believe that the rest of scripture is true, lest we call God impotent (unable or unwilling to keep scripture accurate) or a liar.
If someone says to you that they believe in Jesus, and say that they believed he sinned, then they are not a Christian. If they don't believe in Satan, then clearly Jesus must be a liar because he told his disciples that he was tested by the devil.
Yes, of course we can dance around and say, "but... but how do you know any of this actually happened." It's called faith. It takes more faith to believe that parts of the Bible are true, than to believe all of it is true. How do you know which parts are right? Most conservative Christians would, ironically, reject Christianity if they did not believe that the Bible was entirely true because they are looking for a relationship with God, not a spiritual crutch to make them feel warm and fuzzy about the afterlife.
There is a good rule to use with religions that secularists would do well to realize applies to pretty much all of them. To find out what makes a true "X," you start out from the most hardline and traditional groups and move your way out toward the "mainstream." In Christianity this would be reformed protestants, conservative Eastern Orthodox and traditional Roman Catholics. These are the people who are most likely to study their religion seriously and take it all seriously. The further you move away from these groups, the closer you get to what are known as "cultural adherents." These are the people who say that Jesus is the Son of God, but can't embrace even half of the Nicene Creed, a statement of faith that all protestants and catholics (all types of catholicism) embrace as the core testament of faith.
I remember being a non-Christian. It's only been about 2.5-3 years since I was saved. The thing that I don't understand, though, is how anyone can make it through a decent university still ranting like a two year old about "how little Christians have contributed to science and culture."
It's not surprising, most of the world is lost. I believe that Jesus is the only Son of God. I believe he died for my sins. I believe that he rose from the dead and ascended to Heaven.
And I believe he's coming back.
I pray for the lost, but I can't save them.
If you don't think Jesus is God, you are not His.
Would it be fair to say that it comes down to trust?
Don't start me on the Bible. It is the awe inspiring hand of God reaching out to us.
But, it still isn't God. It is just a means he uses to reach us. John 5:39-44
I believe the Holocaust did not happen and that Hitler was a Saint.
Why would most people think the above sentence were the ramblings of a raging idiot? But similar Christian lunacy does not deserve the same scrutiny. Your beliefs are no different than believing in the various Greek God that people used to believe in. They changed their beliefs because people like you forced them to think like you or find the end of a spear.
I know this was a waste of time but this is good practice for me. Arguing with a person that believes in the make-believe is like talking to a person in a straight-jacket that is convinced two plus two is seven.
To the rest of the sane world, we must separate ourselves from these crazy people. They have killed us in the past and they continue to kill us now. Soon you will have a choice.
Wow... just... WOW... that deserves a post all of its own...
Unfortunately for conservative Christians, most liberal Christians believe in the Nicene Creed. In point of fact, I have yet to meet a liberal Christian who doesn't. I'm sure they're out there, but they're not a dime a dozen like you make it out to be.
Having been raised an evangelical, I expected liberal churches to be full of people who denied the divinity of Christ and were basically non-religious people who went to church out of habit or social obligation. Instead, I found that liberal Christians were basically the same as conservative Christians, and actually have more in common with them than they do with atheists. Shocking, I know, but there it is.
I don't. God does, though, and since He's still alive and speaking to us, I think that he can pretty well guide us in what's true and what's not.
Again, demonstrating how little you know about liberal Christianity. Firstly, liberal Christians are looking for a relationship with God; it's just different than the one you have. I also heard the old canard that evangelical Christianity was a relationship with God, whereas liberal Christianity was a "lifestyle" or a "religion." It's simply untrue.
Secondly, liberal Christianity rarely focuses on the afterlife. It's almost an afterthought to what God is asking us to do right here and now. Heaven is nice, but it's not what's important. What's important is following God, whether the reward be eternal bliss or eternal punishment. It's not about feeling good about yourself, although there's nothing wrong with that if it happens.
If it makes you feel any better, liberal Christians have similar misconceptions about conservative Christians. :-) It seems it's a very human thing to argue with the opponents in your head, rather than the ones who actually exist.
They're the ones most likely to be vocal about it. Most liberal Christians are very serious about their faith; you just won't know it unless you ask them.
It may surprise you to know this, but you have mistaken two terms I have used here. First, conservative Christian does not mean the same thing as "religious right." I am a "conservative Christian," but am also a political libertarian, for example. I actually tend to loathe the sort of religious sentiments espoused by much of the "religious right."
Second, "religious liberal" was not meant to be about "liberal Christians," but rather people who tend to take a "multicultural" view of religion. Any liberal who believes that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life is a legitimate Christian. In fact, I would say that as long as they uphold scripture as true, even if they err on the bleeding heart side, they're still legitimate Christians. It's only a matter of legitimacy when they start to doubt scripture itself as that leads to the "all paths lead to God" mentality.
My views, if you had to summarize them, would be neither "liberal" nor "conservative" but simply "libertarian" in how I understand scripture. It's a fusion of both traditions.