Questions for Christians

[Nickmano]

Very new here, im 15 y/o kid wanting to know answers to some questions i have about christianity.
Is Chritianity a cult?
isnt is one big doctrine?
and
Why does christianity start so many wars, if the main feeling behind it is peace/love?

 

[Nickmano]

Re: “Judge not, lest ye not be judged.†(Matthew 7:1)

1 other thing i was wondering, i asked this question to a mate of mine but he couldnt answer it very well:
Why did Christianity start the Crusades???

 

[samuel]

Re: “Judge not, lest ye not be judged.†(Matthew 7:1)

Why did Christianity start the Crusades???

It was the Catholic Church that started the crusades, now that all depends on what you consider Christian, or cultish.

 

[Free]

Re: “Judge not, lest ye not be judged.†(Matthew 7:1)

1 other thing i was wondering, i asked this question to a mate of mine but he couldnt answer it very well:
Why did Christianity start the Crusades???

At least one of the initial reasons for the Crusades was to reclaim land taken Muslims, particularly the Holy Land. But of course with all the looting they quickly became about power and wealth, to the point where "Christians" from the west sacked the Eastern Christian capital of Constantinople. The Crusades are a blight on Christian history.

 

[Free]

Taken care of (and merged some other relevant ones).

 

[JoJo]

Nickmano, always remember that not all Christians are the same. A quick peruse around this forum will give you a small sampling of the differences in opinion. But one thing we do have in common is that we believe in God and Creation, we believe that Jesus is God's Son and that He died to save us from our sins.

 

[Chrisv]

Hi Nickmano,

Very good questions you asked, I will endeavour to answer them without a lot of religious mumbo jumbo.

Is Chritianity a cult?

Wikkepedia describes a cult as

Cult may popularly refer to a religious group with relatively few adherents whose beliefs or practices are regarded by others as strange or sinister

.
If you look at this definition and listen to some stories of what some so called "Christians" are doing you can certianly label Christianity as a Cult.
But it must be understood that we should not judge God by the actions of men. Many people call themselves Christians but they do not follow the true Jesus. By their actions they have done untold damage to the Christian image.
In short...Christianity is about love. God's love for us and our love for Him AND for each other. The one true way to see if someone is a real follower of Jesus and not someone that is only pretending, is to look at his/her life and see if there is an abundance of love evident.

isnt is one big doctrine?

Again, in many Christian circles the relationship with God has been watered down to Doctrine, a set of religious practices with no heart or real meaning. This has been done by people who try to follow God from an intellection point of view where they try and structure God into what they think He sould act like. True Christianity is anything but doctrine, it is a live vibrant relationship with a Almighty God that loves you back and protects and guides you through your life.

Why does christianity start so many wars, if the main feeling behind it is peace/love?

The wars in the Bible that was initiated by God was always to protect the people that He loves. God is very protective over His true children. Many other wars where started in the name of "Christianity" but in fact they where just power plays by men at the cost of many innocent lives.

I hope this answers some questions, feel welcome to ask some more if you want.

 

[Nickmano]

Wow, thank you all for the answers, 2 other things, do all chritians go to heaven?
And
does each different denomination think that they are correct and all other denominations are wrong or do they all agree on somethings but not others?

 

[Free]

do all chritians go to heaven?

All true Christians will go to heaven but not all who claim to be Christian are actually Christian.

does each different denomination think that they are correct and all other denominations are wrong or do they all agree on somethings but not others?

Yes, most denominations believe that they are the most correct, hence why that denomination exists. All Christian denominations share a core set of beliefs which defines them as being Christian. You will get many different answers on this since it varies depending on which branch of Christianity the person answering adheres to.

For instance, most Protestants, and Evangelicals in particular, claim that there are essentials (doctrine essential for salvation) and non-essentials (doctrine not affecting salvation). But Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic are likely to state that there are no non-essentials. What is important is that none think they are 100% right but continually and humbly seek God for the truth. (On that point the EO and RC may even disagree but I would hope they could at least acknowledge the possibility that error could have been introduced at some point in their histories.)

Christianity isn't a cult, it is a religion. Cults are typically fringe groups that may or may not claim ties to a certain religion but do have some sort of religious beliefs. A good example are Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses--they both claim to be Christian, yet they deny the core, essential doctrines which define Christianity and are therefore considered to be cults and not a part of the Christian religion.

Christianity isn't one big doctrine as the word doctrine refers to a certain belief within a religion. A religion, such as Christianity, has many doctrines.

 

[JoJo]

do all chritians go to heaven?

The Bible has the best answer for this question. John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

 

[AAA]

do all chritians go to heaven?

The Bible has the best answer for this question. John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

So the question (and Christians ought to consider this the most important question there is, since one's fate in eternity hangs in the balance) becomes, how can you make yourself really believe in Christ? (You can't fake belief in Christ just to get everlasting life, because god will see right through you)

Can you do so and remain intellectually honest?

Is, for example, being born and raised by Orthodox Jews in Jerusalem an impediment?

Are the factors that determine if you can believe or not within your control? Can you control what you believe? Eg. can you control whether you believe that Santa Claus is a fairy tale?

 

[NIGHTMARE]

Its called faith,,,and faith comes from hearing the word........For those that have not and will not get a chance to hear the word they will recieve it at the millenium........

 

[Chrisv]

Don't get caught up in philosophical discussions about what is real and what is not. Christianity is very simple, people complicate it. Faith(to believe in something) starts with a decision, you cannot believe in something if you do not initially decide to believe in it.

Yes, initially your faith is more an intellectual exercise than spiritual, but God looks at the heart. As long as you truly want to believe in God, He will lead you to a point where your faith becomes more than just a mindset, it will become part of your life.

Bottom line of Christianity is this:
God loves you more than you can ever imagine, His greatest desire is for you to realise that and have a relationship with Him. To that end He did everything possible to make it as easy as possible for you to achieve that. All you have to do is to honestly decide to believe in Him and what He did for you and He will take care of the rest.

 

[Nick]

Chris!

 

[JoJo]

Christianity is very simple, people complicate it.

So true, and I know I'm one of them.

 

[AAA]

...Faith(to believe in something) starts with a decision, you cannot believe in something if you do not initially decide to believe in it...All you have to do is to honestly decide to believe in Him and what He did for you and He will take care of the rest.

Why don't you honestly decide to believe that Santa Claus is watching Days of Our Lives at the North Pole right now and see how far that gets you to really believing it?

I have honestly tried to believe in Christ. I was raised as a Christian. When I honestly think about it, I absolutely cannot believe in Christ anymore than I can believe that sasquatch is really wandering around in the forest. Sorry, but that's not under my control or influence. I need some persuasive reasons to believe, just like everybody else. I'm sure you have your reasons.

 

[NIGHTMARE]

...Faith(to believe in something) starts with a decision, you cannot believe in something if you do not initially decide to believe in it...All you have to do is to honestly decide to believe in Him and what He did for you and He will take care of the rest.

Why don't you honestly decide to believe that Santa Claus is watching Days of Our Lives at the North Pole right now and see how far that gets you to really believing it?

I have honestly tried to believe in Christ. I was raised as a Christian. When I honestly think about it, I absolutely cannot believe in Christ anymore than I can believe that sasquatch is really wandering around in the forest. Sorry, but that's not under my control or influence. I need some persuasive reasons to believe, just like everybody else.

Ask GOd to help you and hopefull He doesnt have to to wake you up.....

 

[JoJo]

It's taken plenty of to wake many of us up, I'm sure.

 

[Chrisv]

I have honestly tried to believe in Christ. I was raised as a Christian. When I honestly think about it, I absolutely cannot believe in Christ anymore than I can believe that sasquatch is really wandering around in the forest. Sorry, but that's not under my control or influence. I need some persuasive reasons to believe, just like everybody else. I'm sure you have your reasons.

I feel for you man, unfortunately I do not know enough about your life to be able to give any meaningful response to your post. But what I can do is tell you a little about my life and maybe you can relate.

I grew up in Christianity in a very conservative, very religious church where God was projected as this Almighty being that loves you. the Holy Spirit was referred to as "it" and never but never was anything mentioned about the supernatural aspect of God. I read the bible and saw how people in the bible interacted with God and He frequently displayed His power by doing all kinds of things that would be considered supernatural.

I could not connect the God that was presented in the church with the God presented in the bible and nobody could help me understand. As a result I decided to turn my back on Christianity and live a "real" life in a real world that I can see and touch and understand.

Can you relate to this in any way?

 

[AAA]

I have honestly tried to believe in Christ. I was raised as a Christian. When I honestly think about it, I absolutely cannot believe in Christ anymore than I can believe that sasquatch is really wandering around in the forest. Sorry, but that's not under my control or influence. I need some persuasive reasons to believe, just like everybody else. I'm sure you have your reasons.

I feel for you man, unfortunately I do not know enough about your life to be able to give any meaningful response to your post. But what I can do is tell you a little about my life and maybe you can relate.

I grew up in Christianity in a very conservative, very religious church where God was projected as this Almighty being that loves you. the Holy Spirit was referred to as "it" and never but never was anything mentioned about the supernatural aspect of God. I read the bible and saw how people in the bible interacted with God and He frequently displayed His power by doing all kinds of things that would be considered supernatural.

I could not connect the God that was presented in the church with the God presented in the bible and nobody could help me understand. As a result I decided to turn my back on Christianity and live a "real" life in a real world that I can see and touch and understand.

Can you relate to this in any way?

For me, it was insidious: I can't pinpoint a time when I lost my faith, and I don't think I can be very analytical about it how it happened either. There is no question that there was a time that I sincerely believed the tenets of Christianity. I regularly prayed to Jesus (probably everyday). When I was growing up, I remember how much I was moved by the film "Jesus of Nazareth", and how special I felt that Jesus had died for me so that I could be saved. I went to Christian schools from grade 7 until university.

As a teenager, I began to doubt, but I never felt confident to entertain a position other than agnosticism. Eventually, I became agnostic, and now, I'd say that I am an atheist (in the same sense that I am an a-sasquatchist, since I can't prove that sasquatch does not exist).

Mankind has created literally thousands of gods. I see no reason to believe that the Judeo-Christian god is real and that Christian theism is true, while all those others have been false. I don't hate god, I just don't believe in him. I don't think that I am a god. I don't worship anything, though I do believe in the power of science (which is just intellectual honesty) in helping us to understand ourselves and our world. I have good reasons for that belief. I have not encountered any reason(s) to believe in anything supernatural: the natural world is already enough to fill me with awe and wonder and exhilaration. It's not all rosy of course ... some fear too.

I've repeatedly heard from Christians that intellectual honesty will not get me to belief: I require a leap of faith. Well I don't work that way. I don't see that as a choice that I make, nor do I see that as a personal fault. I don't choose to not believe as an adult anymore than I chose to believe as a child. I can't make a "leap of faith" and choose to believe that Santa Claus is feeding Rudolph a this moment, anymore than I can choose to believe that murder is an acceptable act.

I remain open to reasons to believe. Until I find some, I remain keen to challenge the beliefs of believers (Christians, Jews, Muslims, Zoroastrians, etc). I know why I believe what I do. I am interested in understanding why believers believe what they do. Defending Christian theism is the point of apologetics, so this ought to be the right place. Maybe in doing so, I'll find reasons to believe again. Maybe I'll just find more reasons not to believe. We'll see. Its an interesting conversation.