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Author
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Topic: How close are Christians to their god?
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arachnophilia
Member (Idle past 1373 days) Posts: 9069 From: god's waiting room Joined: 05-21-2004
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Message 11 of 84 (339097)
08-10-2006 9:31 PM
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Reply to: Message 1 by dogrelata
08-08-2006 2:17 PM
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hello, welcome to evc.
My own experience tells me there are almost as many flavours of Christianity as there are Christians. don't be silly, there's only ONE kind of christian! i also feel fairly confident is saying that you're not a true scotsman, if you catch my drift.
| This message is a reply to: | | | Message 1 by dogrelata, posted 08-08-2006 2:17 PM | | dogrelata has replied |
| Replies to this message: | | | Message 12 by dogrelata, posted 08-11-2006 1:46 PM | | arachnophilia has replied |
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arachnophilia
Member (Idle past 1373 days) Posts: 9069 From: god's waiting room Joined: 05-21-2004
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Message 18 of 84 (339335)
08-11-2006 6:16 PM
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Reply to: Message 12 by dogrelata
08-11-2006 1:46 PM
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don't be silly, there's only ONE kind of christian! This caught my eye, but I don’t know anything about you or your beliefs, so checked out a few of your earlier posts to try to get some context. sorry, i realize you're new, so you're not familiar with many of the arguments i've had here in the past. i probably should have indicated better that that was sarcasm. ...incredibly bitter sarcasm. the "no true scotsman" reference above was the hint. one of the things that annoys me to no end here are the christians who are exclusionary, often because i am the one being excluded. whether or not the faith in christ is itself valid, to exclude and condemn people is utterly reprehensible and contrary to the basic tenets of the faith. the irony is somehow lost on them, that when they exclude people from salvation, they are excluding themsleves as well.
The ”strict literal reading of the bible’ line raises plenty of questions, but may be another debate for another day. i realize that raises a number of question, but you're probably misinterpretting what i mean. i am not, in any way, a fundamentalist. i find that they like to call themselves "literalists" yet it turns out that i read the bible far more literally and at its word than they do. often, the literal reading (including context) shatters just about everything a supposed literalist has to say about the bible. i also believe the bible should be read literally to the extent that we do not have to apologize for the text when it does not match reality. i have no problem with the text being in error -- so long as we take it at it's word. when you have studied the bible enough, it becomes very, very hard to hold on to this literal and inerrant word-of-god dogma. feel free to have a look at any of the debates i've participated in recently in any of the biblical forums for some more context of what i mean by "literal." and "proper understanding of the sciences" does mean the proper, academic, mainstream understanding, including evolution, and an old earth.
Today’s question is simple. What is your view of those who believe themselves to be Christian, but do not match the qualification criteria, as you understand it? the qualification criterium, singular, as i understand it, is a professed belief in christ -- ie: claiming to be a christian. there is no set that claims to be christian, but does not meet the qualification of claiming to be christian. if you claim to be a christian, to me, you are. if you're lying, that's for god to sort out, not me. Edited by arachnophilia, : typo
| This message is a reply to: | | | Message 12 by dogrelata, posted 08-11-2006 1:46 PM | | dogrelata has replied |
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arachnophilia
Member (Idle past 1373 days) Posts: 9069 From: god's waiting room Joined: 05-21-2004
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when the principles of your faith are "take the good news to the world" and "judge not" and your leader spoke of compassion and fellowship, and love of even your supposed enemies, yes, we must not be exclusive. if that's political correctness, blame jesus. he started it.
| This message is a reply to: | | | Message 20 by robinrohan, posted 08-11-2006 6:52 PM | | robinrohan has replied |
| Replies to this message: | | | Message 22 by robinrohan, posted 08-11-2006 7:23 PM | | arachnophilia has replied |
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arachnophilia
Member (Idle past 1373 days) Posts: 9069 From: god's waiting room Joined: 05-21-2004
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god separates the wheat from the chaff. we do not.
| This message is a reply to: | | | Message 22 by robinrohan, posted 08-11-2006 7:23 PM | | robinrohan has replied |
| Replies to this message: | | | Message 24 by robinrohan, posted 08-11-2006 7:50 PM | | arachnophilia has replied |
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arachnophilia
Member (Idle past 1373 days) Posts: 9069 From: god's waiting room Joined: 05-21-2004
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as far as people go, i certainly try not to.
| This message is a reply to: | | | Message 24 by robinrohan, posted 08-11-2006 7:50 PM | | robinrohan has replied |
| Replies to this message: | | | Message 29 by robinrohan, posted 08-12-2006 7:55 AM | | arachnophilia has replied |
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arachnophilia
Member (Idle past 1373 days) Posts: 9069 From: god's waiting room Joined: 05-21-2004
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That must be a real strain on you, trying so hard not to judge people. no, not really.
For example, I think I'm right and that people who disagree with me are wrong. However, it doesn't offend me that they should be wrong. i often entertain the idea that i'm very wrong about very many things.
| This message is a reply to: | | | Message 29 by robinrohan, posted 08-12-2006 7:55 AM | | robinrohan has not replied |
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arachnophilia
Member (Idle past 1373 days) Posts: 9069 From: god's waiting room Joined: 05-21-2004
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Re: Christian Criteria
Was Christ a Christian? in john, probably. in other books, it's arguable. it's a little hard to establish. was christ even real?
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arachnophilia
Member (Idle past 1373 days) Posts: 9069 From: god's waiting room Joined: 05-21-2004
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That must be a real strain on you, trying so hard not to judge people. no, not really.
For example, I think I'm right and that people who disagree with me are wrong. However, it doesn't offend me that they should be wrong. i often entertain the idea that i'm very wrong about very many things.
| This message is a reply to: | | | Message 29 by robinrohan, posted 08-12-2006 7:55 AM | | robinrohan has not replied |
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arachnophilia
Member (Idle past 1373 days) Posts: 9069 From: god's waiting room Joined: 05-21-2004
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Re: Christian Criteria
Was Christ a Christian? in john, probably. in other books, it's arguable. it's a little hard to establish. was christ even real?
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arachnophilia
Member (Idle past 1373 days) Posts: 9069 From: god's waiting room Joined: 05-21-2004
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That must be a real strain on you, trying so hard not to judge people. no, not really.
For example, I think I'm right and that people who disagree with me are wrong. However, it doesn't offend me that they should be wrong. i often entertain the idea that i'm very wrong about very many things.
| This message is a reply to: | | | Message 29 by robinrohan, posted 08-12-2006 7:55 AM | | robinrohan has not replied |
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arachnophilia
Member (Idle past 1373 days) Posts: 9069 From: god's waiting room Joined: 05-21-2004
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Re: Christian Criteria
Was Christ a Christian? in john, probably. in other books, it's arguable. it's a little hard to establish. was christ even real?
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arachnophilia
Member (Idle past 1373 days) Posts: 9069 From: god's waiting room Joined: 05-21-2004
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Message 80 of 84 (341239)
08-18-2006 11:36 PM
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Reply to: Message 28 by dogrelata
08-12-2006 3:31 AM
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No probs. I have to confess that when I read it first, I assumed you must be a non-believer, despite your signature. Indeed, reading one or two of your posts in isolation may also have led me to that conclusion. However, the ”literal bible’ line suggested I should err on the side of caution and accept what I read as 'gospel'. i'm something of a walking contradiction, i know.
As for the ”literal bible’ aspect, I’m not so interested in what may be seen as the inconsistencies within the texts, that has been done so many times before. It’s more to do with what can be inferred from the divine/human interface that led to the compilation of the bible. However, I’m not sure how well I could formulate such an argument, so it may never see the light of day. actually, i think the contradictions are a good key to understanding that sort of thing.
One of the things I’m learning very quickly on here is that lack of clarity of thought or precision of expression can be mercilessly exposed. Which is probably the main reason I am here - for the mental stimulation. yeah, me too. i'd get lazy otherwise.
It started a couple of months ago when I read a magazine article about ID. I’d heard all the arguments before, so was taken aback at some of the responses in the letters page the following month. Quite frankly, some of them bordered on being offensive. This led me onto the net, and I quickly found this site. it's a good place to work out the frustration with the idiocy expressed in other forms of media, and feel like you're making a difference. but be careful, if you get to involved, you'll just lose your mind. (*cough brennacough*)
Rather than respond to your answer on the ”qualification criteria’ issue, I’ll deal with it in a response to jar if I may, as he has also ”pulled me up’ on it and I feel it’s important to try to deal with as many direct responses as is possible. alright, i'll look back a bit and see what you said (i'm just getting back from being out of town)
| This message is a reply to: | | | Message 28 by dogrelata, posted 08-12-2006 3:31 AM | | dogrelata has not replied |
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arachnophilia
Member (Idle past 1373 days) Posts: 9069 From: god's waiting room Joined: 05-21-2004
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Re: Christian Criteria
Was Christ a Christian? in john, probably. in other books, it's arguable. it's a little hard to establish. was christ even real?
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arachnophilia
Member (Idle past 1373 days) Posts: 9069 From: god's waiting room Joined: 05-21-2004
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That must be a real strain on you, trying so hard not to judge people. no, not really.
For example, I think I'm right and that people who disagree with me are wrong. However, it doesn't offend me that they should be wrong. i often entertain the idea that i'm very wrong about very many things.
| This message is a reply to: | | | Message 29 by robinrohan, posted 08-12-2006 7:55 AM | | robinrohan has not replied |
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arachnophilia
Member (Idle past 1373 days) Posts: 9069 From: god's waiting room Joined: 05-21-2004
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Re: Christian Criteria
Was Christ a Christian? in john, probably. in other books, it's arguable. it's a little hard to establish. was christ even real?
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