1. Thank you for the welcomes everyone! This forum has proven to be very informative, I'm glad I joined!
2. My previous signature was removed because it mentioned Jainism, (In my opinion not in any sort of promotional way). I of course do NOT believe that most Christians endorse the horrors of the Old Testament.
3. My Leviticus signature has now been removed as well, so no need to worry I guess...
4. Turnorburn, those other men claimed things that we can see and prove. I totally believe that Jesus existed, but the idea that he was the son of a God just doesn't seem that clear to me.
Hello ObjMoVa
Your mentioning of Jainism is curious because it is so different than what Christianity teaches in it basics. Christianity is an exclusive religion in that it requires allegiance to the Bible only and repudiation of all other religions. This was one of the foundational doctrines of the Reformation, and it is called (from Latin) "Sola Scriptura".
But this exclusivity is not a "Christian invention"; rather it is taken directly from the words of Jesus Christ himself. In teaching His disciples how to surely get to heaven, Jesus stated:
John 14: 6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me
Because Jainism is similar to Hinduism in the fact that it does not accept absolutes, but is syncretic, permitting an incorporation of mutually exclusive viewpoints into a new "unified" viewpoint, I am really wondering if you want to learn about Christianity and about Jesus Christ to add to what you already believe in. I believe that Jainism call that " anekantvad". Please correct me if I am wrong.
On this forum, the Christians here are almost to as person universally believing that Jesus was telling the truth in an absolute manner so that there can be no "wiggle room" in either what he meant, or in the consequences of not taking what He said as coming directly from God.
Therefore, while you believe in the historicity of Jesus Christ, do you understand who He is, and what He said about Himself is true? Wanting to learn the truth of that is a good place to start.
Here is a good starting place for that process:
Matthew16:13 When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?
14 And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.
15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? 16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar–jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
What we have is an extraordinary statement that Jesus says about Himself. There are only three logical conclusions: Jesus is a liar, and if that is the case that nothing that he says can ever be taken at face value as the truth. or else he is a delusional lunatic thinking that he is God, and that what he says about His Father is also a fiction, or else he is as He claims He is: LORD of Lords, and KING of kings.
Of course, I will be patient. I do not expect you to accept something just because I post it and if you "push back" because you do not understand Christianity, I will gently push back, and I will use the Bible as a reason for saying what I say. Rest assured, I will always be attempting to point you to the exclusivity of Christianity. and I also believe that what makes Christianity superior to all other religions is that it is simultaneously relational as well as, reasonable and Jesus Christ is still living.