<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">But why exactly? Many other religions say the same things about themselves.Originally posted by Tra:
Everyone may think they are truly the happiest they can be in their religion...they're not. Only Christianity leads to true happiness as only following God and doing His will leads to good.
I would think it's a bit presumptuous on the part of ANY human to tell us what God thinks of other faiths, much less say they're wrong.
<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ August 14, 2006 02:23 AM: Message edited by: ButtercupFlibble ]</font>
God already told us what He thinks of other faiths in His Word, the Bible. John 14:6 says that "Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
As for why? Because God said so. How do we know we are right? We have faith. God said so, and I believe Him.
Does it ever bother you that practices from other faiths have so easily been taken into and even effected Christianity? If those faiths are completely wrong, how come their traditions can honor God?
I think I prefer beliefs, because it is so important to believe the right thing and to believe it all the time, not just change it at the drop of a hat.
See the newest thread.
Aside from Judaism, which is the predecessor and forerunner of Christianity, I don't see that anything has been taken in to Christianity to honor God except for the days on which we celebrate things (i.e. Christmas). And it is good to celebrate God on any and all days. Anything that is wrong is not practiced in true Christianity.
Actually it's been deduced by some scholars that Christ was born in the spring.* They used the time around the winter solstice to coincide with the pagan celebrations at the time.
Many pagan Gods or Goddesses were incorporated into Christianity as saints to help convert people.
A lot of evil things have happened because of churches of various denominations of Christianity. The bible (Titus 2:9-10) actually advocates slavery (something that in this day and age, I hope we can agree is evil) and says that slaves should not run away from their masters. The Catholic church took a platform of non-involvment during the Holocaust and then there was the whole Spanish Inquisition thing where oridinary people were tortured to death. Protestants had innocent people hanged (in the US) and burned (parts of Europe) during the witch hunts and all that.
* As with any theological question, there is a lot of argument over it. Since it happened 2000+ years ago and all, it's hard to pinpoint an exact date.
Just because some who claim to be Christians do bad things, doesn't mean Christianity is wrong.
As for Titus 2:9-10
It says: "Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them, and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive."
That does not say slavery is right, but that if there is slavery, then slaves should obey thieir masters...why? Because to be a good witness of Christ you must make that attractive. Also, read Titus 2:11 "For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men."
This shows that the Bible says everyone is equal and loved by God.
But--I am not saying that the Bible says slavery is a good thing...IT DOES NOT...but if it did, I would also believe such a thing to be a good thing, for whatever the Bible says is true and right and I would take what the Bible says over what people (man, us, modern society, etc.) say any day.
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">But as you've said before, nobody is perfect like God. Everyone does bad things and if all sins are equal in God's eyes, then someone who kills and tortures innocent people is exactly the same as a kid lying to his mom about having done put his laundry away, if they both accept and love God. I would imagine that the people responsible for the Inquisition and so forth truly believed they were doing God's work.Originally posted by Tra:
Just because some who claim to be Christians do bad things, doesn't mean Christianity is wrong.
And even if the bible started out as God's word and it was completely perfect then, it has been translated and mistranslated and reinterpreted and misinterpreted so many times that the version you or I might read is subject to human imperfections. As you're very fond of saying, humans aren't perfect, so how can the Bible always be right?
It could be argued that American Girl dolls (well any kind of dolls or stuffed animals) are sinful because the bible says in several places that you can't make a model of anything on Earth (a Graven image).* A doll is a model of something on Earth - a human. Therefore it is a Graven image.
*Exodus 20:4 - Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
Deut 4: 4:16 Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female,
4:17 The likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in the air,
4:18 The likeness of any thing that creepeth on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth
I believe that the people who wrote the Bible, translated it, compiled it, or had anything to do with it's becoming what it is today was filled with the Holy Spirit and guided by the Hand of God. Thus, the Bible is still perfect.
Maybe some of the people of the Inquisition truly believed they were doing God's work, but that doesn't make what they did right or God's will. But what people do does not make Christianity or God wrong.
As for "graven images," I have always thought graven images were idols. In fact, in the NIV it these verses mention idols specifically. Anything you put before God is an idol. AG is not bad in itself unless you worship AG or put them before God as idols.
I don't want to enter into a debate, but I do know something that may answer a question that has gone unanswered.
For the person who asked the question, "How does science explain people living for 100s of years in the Bible?" I had a college biology professor who explained that scientifically very well. You may notice that all of the people who lived 100's of years were before the time of Noah. During that time, there was a much thicker atmosphere surrounding the earth--a lot of water vapor acting as a barrier between the earth and the sun, protecting all the creatures from the devastating effects of the radiation from the sun.
During the Great Flood, water broke loose from everywhere, both from deep within the earth and from the atmosphere. When it was all over,the earth was left with a lot less water in the atmosphere, and a lot less protection from the sun. You will notice that it was immediately after the Flood that the ages at which the people died suddenly dropped sharply with each generation.
Joy
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