I think the logic goes like this.
Personally, I think this is about right. Lol. I’m painfully aware of my flaws, as is probably everyone in PWI by now. It’s better if we don’t imagine that there are different kinds of people, and that we are somehow of the more noble kind. But yeah, without Christianity we loose Mother Teresa, and Corrie ten Boom, and the Reverend Martin Luther King.
Not sure if Z had me in mind, but regardless, I understand the sentiment. I cringe at seeing fellow Christians demonize immigrants (documented or not). Or, vote for someone else who does it. It’s one thing to argue that a nation should know who is coming and going while having control over its borders. But its something else to make these people into evil villains. And, you can’t vote for a man who uses the promise of torture as a rallying cry. I’m sorry, you can’t do that. That’s from some other belief system. Not ours. It’s not supposed to be, at least. Try not to be single issue Christians and stop carrying the water for some political party. If the right is anti-abort, but also seems hawking on war and voting for a man that promises more water-boarding…And if the left is more aware of the needy and refugee, but not so protective of the unborn…Who knows.
Even simple things, like responding back with pure name-calling and insults. We don’t get to do that. I struggle with that sometimes and find myself wanting to lash back at some perceived insult.
Still, it is true to say we aren’t perfect. I see it as identifying ourselves as sort of patients and Christ is the Dr. Here for the sick, type deal. We are sinners and always will be. But it’s annoying when a fellow Christian uses it to unapologetically excuse their own behavior. You kind of need to at least try to be repentant, no? Instead, it sometimes seems more like, “this is how I am. I’m not perfect. Sue me.” Bleh.
And I include myself in my own criticism. I’m not perfect, either. =p
Being critical is not disrespectful.
No. The rest of your post is why.
There are a lot if Christians who pick and choose. I know plenty of Baptists who believe that drinking alcohol is a sin, yet Jesus turned water into wine. Not the other way around. How they reconcile that I don’t know.
But your assertion that I originally responded to, that christians who don’t want to stone homosexuals are bad christians is nonsense. That’s not a matter of picking and choosing. The New Testament explicitly overturned the old. Not understanding that is a failure of theology.
I don’t think you’ve read the old or New Testament. I think you have heard or read criticisms of Christianity (and there is much to criticize) and bought into that because it confirmed some belief or prejudice you already held.
‘The church is not a hotel for saints; it is a hospital for sinners.’
Same. For Christians, nothing is so clear as how we are to treat the poor and downtrodden among us. Unfortunately, as Reverend William Barber as noted, "Many Christians say so much about areas where the Bible says very little [read: abortion; homosexuality] and speak so little about the issues where the Bible says so much” [read: poverty, empathy, and justice]
(Excerpted by me from William Barber Takes on Poverty and Race in the Age of Trump | The New Yorker)
Hey BB, well I am not sure what you mean by diverting from original teachings, but I have a feeling that no matter what I say, I am not going to convince you pretty much of anything, at least where religion is concerned.
The questions you posed and statements you made would quite literally require a disertation to address it all.
And even after all that, I am not sure it would move your needle one iota. You seem to have your mind pretty made up.
For instance, there are actually twork primary schools of Christianity. You have the Evangelical Tradition which would include your Baptist, Lutheran, Pentacostal, etc. The other major school of thought is called the Apostolic traditions. These are your Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Greek orthodox, etc.
The differences really are not really rooted in what we believe about God, it more rooted in the way we worship and theological revelation.
With very few exceptions, if you you were to ask almost any ChristIan what the top 2 Commandments are, you would likely get the same answer actoss the board.
The reason for the large number of denominations is because, especially in the Evangelical Tradition, each Church is a denomination. There is no hierarchy. So the numbers of denominations are high, but most of the churches believe virtually the same things with very little difference.
Well I hope I have answered at least some of your questions.
There is tons of theology and theological history on line. There are Christian\ Catholic encyclopedias. There is the catechism of the Catholic church which is very detailed about the teachings and why they exist.
If you are interested that is where I would direct you. It’s all free and searchable.
If you are not interested, just as well.I am not going to push you, argue with you or become that which I loathe to convince you of anything.
I wish you the best…
No, they don’t. There is a big difference between a Catholic Church which accepts evolution as fact and some church taking the Bible literally and believing the Earth is 6,000 years old.
To be fair I only know of like 1 or 2 churches in my old area of WV that still preach that stuff. Even MY family (mostly the sub 60 crowd) accepts evolution these days.
Oh, it’s still alive and well in my neck of the woods.
Uncle G I don’t think you came down in the last shower. Anyone who has lived the last 30 years or more has seen a giant change in acceptance of homosexuality, and its decriminalization. Before that they were definitely not accepted by secular society, even less so by any religion. To say otherwise would be disingenuous, its just not true. Sure homosexuals haven’t been stoned to death by Christians for quite a while(it still happens today in some Muslim territories). Even up to the Baroque times, and maybe later a charge of sodomy even between a man and woman was punishable by the death of both parties, if proven.
Thinking that I haven’t read the Bible doesn’t change the fact that I have(I also read the Book of Morman). I just didn’t buy what it was selling. I was brought up Anglican and believed in God until I grew old enough to work out that everything I was taught wasn’t adding up, to my satisfaction. There were too many holes for me to keep on believing. Religion in general has many positive benefits to a society. Life would probably be better for me if I could suspend my disbelief and be part of a religious community. I can’t do it though because I would feel like a hypocrite.
Thanks Pat, I wish you well too.
That explains it. 
Who cares? Both believe God is the Creator of existence, both belive love of God and love of neighbors are the 2 most important comments.
That’s the part that matters. It’s not always well expressed, but it’s the ultimate goal.
And most Evangelicals do not disbelieve ‘evolution’. Some do and the most people that reject it are Evangelicals but not all Evangelicals.
That’s not a fair characature
Everybody is a hypocrite as one time or another, we all do what we ought naught from time to time.
Scientific advancement cares.
Science is objective, it’s incapable of feelings or caring. Sad you don’t know that.
First off I wasn’t speaking literally. Second, you misused the word objective. Science does not feel because it isn’t alive, not because it is objective.
Christians can blame the devil, atheists can only blame themselves.
