Byblos wrote:
Then I apologize for jumping to conclusions. You didn't exactly reply to my other post.
You didn't jump, it was my mistake on all accounts for not lending enough information about my own personal stance in each topic.
Byblos wrote: First, I did not call you insane, I just found it odd, that's all. My first impression of you was that you were giving christianity a chance (though not catholicism). Evidently my first impression was wrong.
It is odd. Especially when the Bible teaches that God came to the earth as a man and taught the only way to salvation. I understand the faith.
My interest in religion, truth, and God started along with my turning 18 years old. I've since wondered if the two are related in a significant way at all. I suppose that completing high school and somewhat abandoning childish things caused me to take the next step in deciding the direction of my life through a personal philosophy. Of course this failed and that led me to look to religion for answers. I have no problem in believing in the Divine Communication between God and Man. For some people this is the sole reason that they won't even consider reading of any religions. They feel that it's arrogant to assume that we as simple humans might ever be granted such importance from the Creator.
I do not feel this and view it as a simple logical argument. There are small things in the world and there are large things in the world. Both physical and mental. Sometimes the large things are actually small and the small large. A small dog can rip up an entire living room set while its owners are away while a large dog may sit patiently awaiting their return.
I believe that if there is a Creator, and I strongly believe there is, then He must have communicated with mankind at some point in time. People harden their hearts and deny the beautiful qualities we all have. It's ridiculous to deny the presence of morality deeply embedded in each sane person, and no such morality would be needed if the universe were the product of an uncaused chance.
With such I have chosen to seek which religion might possibly hold the key to God's heart and reveal His purpose to each of us. Of course, the Bible has this revelation and in my eyes it is very sound. The problem I have with this is the constant belittling that the Bible receives. I had someone tell me that it's good not to believe anything the Bible says because all scripture is the result of "chinese whispers".
We have comedians like George Carlin, Bill Maher, and Bill Hicks who often mock christianity and insult our faith as being that of Santa Clause. Without living a life of a recluse it's hard not to face the temptation of wavering in faith due to cold and brash attacks on the entire religion.
Byblos wrote: Second, the error in the Koran is that it is not the gospel (you know, the good news?). The good news is that God sent his only son to die and be resurrected for your sake, Atticus. And no one will make it to heaven except through him.
There's an interesting remark from Gandhi in which he mocked our belief that nobody is granted eternal life without declaring the name of Jesus Christ. On one level I can fully understand his point. But I do believe it was made in a slight ignorance of the christian belief. He (I assume) was speaking of the people who simply accept Jesus Christ but hardly know what it means and often live terribly there after. We all know people like this and it's easy to understand such a view as he had held.
Obviously, we understand that all people have sinned and are not right with God in our hearts. It is not our works (although they should be done) that grant us life but our faith. We should turn from sin and never welcome it into our minds again --- but that's an incredibly tough role to play and many would probably fail at it.
I think of it like this: An old man who had lived a life full of sin. He neglected his family, raised them without a proper moral compass, and let them grow wild into whatever they pleased. This man was cruel to his neighbors, and was cheap with his money. He scoffed at the notion of God with his typical sarcastic tongue. He thought that religious people were idiots who needed to believe in imaginary people to survive. He had himself and because he was so independent he knew he didn't need some God to help him.
This old man as he aged even more became sick in his body. He tried to receive treatments but none of them did any work. His sickness spread and he had no hope for himself. He had previously relied solely on himself throughout his whole life, yet now he was down and couldn't even walk! He had nobody to help him. His family had rejected him for his coldness, he had no friends, and he was too cheap to spend money on someone to help him. One man, however, was not so quick to give up on him. This man was of complete patience and he never let his anger give way to impatience with the old man. He had something that he didn't and he wanted to share it; this thing was God and he began telling the old man about his knowledge. He recited the Gospels to him and told him of Christ's promise to mankind. The old man seeing that his life had been full of hate and bitterness immediately accepted Jesus Christ to wash away his sins. He spent one day in pure prayer trying to make up for lost time.
That night the old man died in his hospital bed. He had lived a life full of hate and misery but it was all forgiven of him. The horrors he had done had been washed away by pure love. He hadn't any time to live more life and do good works but was saved solely on faith in Christ.
....................
I believe the christian teaching is sound. If I were never faced with any refutations of both the Bible and christianity I would live peacefully within it and never feel abandoned in my own faith.
Byblos wrote: This is a Christian web site. You can't expect to be encouraged to seek another religion or to claim that another religion is the truth now, can you? Particularly when christianity is the truth and Christ is the only way to salvation.
I've only been reading the Bible properly for about three months. The only thing I had done before that was play one of the "Three Wise Men" in an Easter play when I was about seven years old. I had no clue about the life of Jesus at that time. I generally study for about nine hours a day on the subject. My routine has been to wake up and begin with reading a Gospel and taking notes, then moving on to one of the letters and doing the same. After that I'll do some light reading of Proverbs, Psalms, or Ecclesiastes (the book I read daily more often than once) to cool my mind down.
With that schedule and for such a short time I've gathered a lot of information and have yet to put it all in order. This is where my questions about Islam and such come into play. I feel that my study might possibly be in vain if another religion also claims to have the answers. I then begin researching that and become lost in their writings. I become very intense in whatever project takes my interest and must apologize for seeming of a wavering faith in christianity.
I hope this clears some things up for you. I hope you don't think I was insulting your faith as a catholic in the other thread (I was questioning the actions of my family) and I'm sorry if I've offended.
