The Christian view of life

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OFF TOPIC * OFF TOPIC * OFF TOPIC * OFF TOPIC * OFF TOPIC Aw how sweet. Seems to me I remember Robin getting drunk one night and asking me if I'd be willing to marry a nice nihilist. Or something to that effect. Now, he's not eligible because he's already married and not a Christian. But I suppose his question was merely academic anyway. You on the other hand are way too young for me. But that was a sweet compliment. OFF TOPIC * OFF TOPIC * OFF TOPIC * OFF TOPIC * OFF TOPIC I hope the admins appreciate my help.

No I don't discount Paul. But I also don't put his words on par with Jesus. And most of his epistles are in the form of advice, not commands. "Follow me" is a command. There is a difference between doing good works out of faithfulness to the words of Jesus and doing good works to make a name for oneself. Jesus was very clear about this and very tough on the Pharisees for their false piety. "When giving alms, let not your right hand know what the left hand doeth," etc. Of course it is grace that covers our sin, there is no such thing as "earning" our salvation. I don't recall saying or implying that. We do the good works because that is how we follow Jesus. The "works of the law" that Paul talks about is also not the same thing as doing good works to follow Jesus. That was the rich young ruler's problem. He thought he could earn his way into heavan by following the works of the law but what he needed to do was follow Jesus. What I am saying is we need to spend less time fussing about "right" or "correct" belief and more on following Jesus. What we believe about evolution, creation, original sin, virgin birth, bodily resurrection, literal truth of the Bible, etc. is ultimately of no consequence. How we follow Jesus is what is important. Jesus says the first and greatest commandment is to love God and the second is to love your neighbor as yourself. Since he also says that if you don't love your neighbor you don't love God the only true test of whether you are following Jesus is whether you love your neighbor.

It doesn't matter if we believe that Jesus rose from the dead? Doesn't scripture clearly say that it matters?It doesn't matter if we believe in the virgin birth? But that's intrinsic to believing Jesus is God Himself in human flesh. Doesn't it matter if we believe THAT?I suspect all the others on your list also matter a great deal because believing or not believing them has implications for other important aspects of Christian life, but they are harder to pin down so I won't get into them.I certainly agree that following Jesus is paramount, but attempting that "in the flesh," that is, without faith in God, without trusting in God, therefore without the power of the Holy Spirit, is as good as performing the dead words of the Law as the Pharisees do. Sorry, just realized this is off topic. Edited by Faith, : No reason given.

I was just typing out my south-of-shoulder anatomical treatise on the basis of kettle > pot > black.

Ya lost me, Iano, but I'm punchy from being up all night. Back to bed for me. But I'll wait until you explain -- or until I fall asleep at the keyboard, whichever comes first.

Me and Robin engage in a little of-interest-to-us-both banter and sister Faith emblazons "off topic" across our paths (and in a timely fashion too - we were dealing with shoulders at that point). We respect her remonstration only to see sister Faith immediately engage in some off topic herself.Kettle pot blackHope you had a restful sleep.

I think we need to forget the shoulders and get back to nihilistic Christianity. You must have had a few pints in you last night.

A few pints? No. Had a bottle of Heineken with my dinner hours earlier (it takes about 5 pints to get me reasonably drunk).Like, it doesn't require drink for me to talk about that which I find physically attractive in a woman. Do you not find them gorgeous at all times of the day?Anyway Christian nihilism. Is the position: "nihilistic Christian writings as a commentary on a Godless life - with a view to prosletyising" an acceptable explanation to you?

No it doesn't matter. No. No, it doesn't matter.
No, it is not.
Yes, that matters but it doesn't require a virgin birth. God is reincarnated in human flesh every time a baby is born. Are you saying God wasn't in Mary's flesh already?I know, off topic. But it is hard to argue that it is not relevant to the "Christian view of life." So much emphasis is made on BELIEVING the "right" thing that we forget what it means to be a Christian - follow Christ.On edit: And where did I say I didn't trust God? I think I made it clear that my position is that I believe and to me that means "trust". Just because someone doesn't believe the same way you do doesn't mean their faith is any weaker than yours. Until you accept that you will always come across as judgemental which is what I am feeling here.Edited by deerbreh, : Edited to respond to another point.

Yes, that's what I was thinking. Leaving yourself out for the Karma-collector.

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'I can't even fit all my wife's clothes into a suitcase for travelling. So you want me to believe we're going to put all of the planets and stars and everything into a sandwich bag?' - q3psycho on the Big Bang

Oh I'm very judgmental, no doubt there. Defending the "truth once delivered to the saints" requires judgmentalness. Not all who call themselves Christians are, that's just a fact.However, this is STILL off topic.

Well who appointed you judge? Maybe you ought to let God do that. If more people did the world would be a better place, imo.

We're all judges according to what we believe. You are judging me too, please note. I judge according to what I understand to be the orthodox view of what makes a Christian. You appear to judge me by some other standard.

So I ask again in a different way. Who appointed you judge and defender of Christian orthodoxy? Besides, the defenders of "orthodoxy" often have their own blind spots. At least the Waldensians, Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, and the Anabaptists thought so. Since it is only God that can look on the heart, how do you know what is in my heart? You don't. No. I have never questioned your faith. You have questioned mine, many times. Saying I think you are wrong about biblical interpretation is not judging, it is disagreeing. Saying someone does not have faith or trust God IS judging. There is a difference.And Jesus does command us not to judge.MATTHEW 7:1-5:"Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull the mote out of thine eye; and behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast the mote out of thy brother's eye."