Followers of Christ and his teachings is what I believe.

I hear a lot of people who call themselves Christians. But, then they say they don't believe the Bible. Or, they just think Jesus was a really nice guy. But if they don't believe the Bible, how do they know anything about Jesus? Or, they tell me they just "feel it" whatever that means. And, yes, you can feel God and be very spiritual. But, if you really don't know what you believe then how is that Christianity?

I am not so sure anymore. What I believe Christianity should be is certainly not what many who claim to be is certainly not the actions they are showing.

It's actually pretty simple


Christ
-ian means related or belonging to
-ty means state, conditions or quality

Christianity means the state or condition of belonging to Christ.

OK - so cute little hijack along the lines of "from the mouths of babes".

Last night at dinner, we were talking about evolution - the pastor made a joke yesterday and the kids wanted an explanation. Anyway, Jojo wanted to know what evolution is, and this is how the conversation went -

Me: We believe the God created the world and everything in it, the people, the animals, everything. Now, everything on the earth is made up of DNA - we talked about that before, how everything is made up of DNA, right? (Jojo nods head). Ok - so some people don't believe in God. If you don't believe in God, you need an explanation of where people came from. Now, apes and people have very similar DNA, so many people think that apes eventually turned into people and that's where we come from.

Now, she was quiet for a minute, and then, very matter of factly told me that, "that is the stupidest thing I have ever heard!"


God is in the hearts of children. Before the world corrupts them, they know he is there.

 

She was also not very impressed when I told her she would learn all about evolution in school, but they would not teach her about God in school.  

-- Edited by Lawyerlady on Monday 20th of March 2017 03:46:52 PM

Lindley wrote:

---

Lawyerlady wrote:

---

OK - so cute little hijack along the lines of "from the mouths of babes".

Last night at dinner, we were talking about evolution - the pastor made a joke yesterday and the kids wanted an explanation. Anyway, Jojo wanted to know what evolution is, and this is how the conversation went -

Me: We believe the God created the world and everything in it, the people, the animals, everything. Now, everything on the earth is made up of DNA - we talked about that before, how everything is made up of DNA, right? (Jojo nods head). Ok - so some people don't believe in God. If you don't believe in God, you need an explanation of where people came from. Now, apes and people have very similar DNA, so many people think that apes eventually turned into people and that's where we come from.

Now, she was quiet for a minute, and then, very matter of factly told me that, "that is the stupidest thing I have ever heard!"


God is in the hearts of children. Before the world corrupts them, they know he is there.

 

She was also not very impressed when I told her she would learn all about evolution in school, but they would not teach her about God in school.  

-- Edited by Lawyerlady on Monday 20th of March 2017 03:46:52 PM

---

 A wise young lady...  my class at Church  had a similar  conversation. One little  girl asked "if we came from apes why are there still  apes?" This young lady had a very high I and was promoted  to a couple of grades higher.

---

 Yes, DD13 and her talked about that, too.  And where did the apes come from.  When I said a big star exploded and everything grew from that, DD13 asked where the star came from.  

The intrinsically know the right questions to ask.  

the thing that most folks don't consider when looking at evolutionary theory is the immensity of time--our lifespan is so short and we acquired the ability to speak and to write so recently in our existence on this earth that virtually any human experience/process/lifestage older than about 10k years must be discerned very, very long after the fact

one thing that has always intrigued me about anthropology(minored in the discipline)is the astounding assumption that as of 1970 or so, when considering human existence, the dead outnumbered the living in a ratio of about 20 to 1--that meant(at the time)that approximately 100 billion humans had walked this planet--and have always been curious as to WHERE are all the bodies?--and why, after nearly two centuries of prodigious searching, all over the world, we have yet to locate, the " missing link " between ourselves and our primate ancestors-- the " holy grail " of anthropology?

What does "belief in Jesus" mean.

James 2:19 "Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well. The devils also believe — and tremble."

Belief doesn't really define it.

Just curious. If you can't trust the Bible. Then you don't believe that a God who created the Heavens and Earth could give us a document that is reliable? And, if you don't believe it, then how do you really know anything at all about Jesus?

Lady Gaga Snerd wrote:

---

What does "belief in Jesus" mean.

James 2:19 "Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well. The devils also believe — and tremble."

Belief doesn't really define it.

Just curious. If you can't trust the Bible. Then you don't believe that a God who created the Heavens and Earth could give us a document that is reliable? And, if you don't believe it, then how do you really know anything at all about Jesus?

---

 The Bible says it does - 

 

John 3:16

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish, but have ever lasting life.  

 

John 3:36

Whoever believeth on the son hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not the son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him. 

Lady Gaga Snerd wrote:

---

Lawyerlady wrote:

---

Lady Gaga Snerd wrote:

---

What does "belief in Jesus" mean.

James 2:19 "Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well. The devils also believe — and tremble."

Belief doesn't really define it.

Just curious. If you can't trust the Bible. Then you don't believe that a God who created the Heavens and Earth could give us a document that is reliable? And, if you don't believe it, then how do you really know anything at all about Jesus?

---

 The Bible says it does - 

 

John 3:16

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish, but have ever lasting life.  

 

John 3:36

Whoever believeth on the son hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not the son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him. 

---

 I quoted you that  "belief" has to be directed.  Demons believe. Satan believes.  They know and acknowledge who Christ is.  The true believer believes in a way that acknowledges Christ as their Savior, not simply acknowledging His existence.

---

 Demons and Satan are not people.  

Lady Gaga Snerd wrote:

---

Yes, but there are people who simply believe Jesus was a nice guy, but not a Savior. Are they Christians?

---

 No they are not. You have to believe He is the son of God, risen from the dead and to make Him Lord of your life. Simply  just believing  He was a nice guy isn't  enough. The devil and demon's  believe  in  Him.

Belief in Christ as the risen Savior and part of the Trinity. Unapologetically following His commandments. Not shying away from what the Bible says just because it isn't popular. Repenting of one's sins.

Just curious. If you can't trust the Bible. Then you don't believe that a God who created the Heavens and Earth could give us a document that is reliable? And, if you don't believe it, then how do you really know anything at all about Jesus?
- Lady Gaga Snerd

_________________________________________

I believe that God could give us a document that is reliable. There is nothing beyond God's capabilities. God however didn't write the passages that became the Bible, nor was He the sole editor of it, nor was He the sole translator of it. Men were all of those things and men are flawed - even when directed by God.

To find the truth of God in the Bible, you must remove the flaws of man from it.

What edits were those?

So what? Great care and the greatest minds undertook translating the Bible.

Btw, for all u Bible skeptics, einligten me on which parts are true.

I minored in anthropology as well and believe 100% in evolution...No one "corrupted" me.

flan

Tignanello wrote:

---

Lady Gaga Snerd wrote:

---

What edits were those?

---

 Well, given that there are over 100 different translations/revisions of the Bible since 700 c., there are many things that were updated, changed, lost from the scriptures, etc.  Many of those bibles have re-translated many of the psalms, Acts and other parts resulting in significant change due to the nature of translation itself.  There is never a perfect equivilent.  So, which translation is 'the one'?

Also the King James Bible was developed as a revision to meet the needs of the various branches of the churches all at once and unite them under his rule.  Christianity.com teaches this as; 

'Reynolds "moved his majesty that there might be a new translation of the Bible, because those which were allowed in the reign of King Henry VIII and King Edward VI were corrupt and not answerable to the truth of the original." James warmed to a new translation because he despised the then popular Geneva Bible. He was bothered more by its sometimes borderline revolutionary marginal notes than by the actual quality of the translation.

Get to Work!
So James ordered a new translation. It was to be accurate and true to the originals. He appointed fifty of the nation's finest language scholars and approved rules for carefully checking the results.

James also wanted a popular translation. He insisted that the translation use old familiar terms and names and be readable in the idiom of the day.

It was made clear that James wanted no biased notes affixed to the translation, as in the Geneva Bible. Rule #6 stated: "No Marginal Notes at all to be affixed, but only for the explanation of the Hebrew or Greek Words." Also, James was looking for a single translation that the whole nation could rely on "To be read in the whole Church," as he phrased it. 
He decreed that special pains be "taken for an uniform translation, which should be done by the best learned men in both Universities, then reviewed by the Bishops, presented to the Privy Council, lastly ratified by the Royal authority...."

The King James version was created because he believed that previous versions were incorrect and that the political times required a new translation/draft that appealed to many branches.  In order to do this, and to remove the 'corrupt' versions of the old one, changes had to be made.  How can this (and really, any of the other translations/updates/clean ups of the Bible not result in the loss of vital information decreed by God?  Again, the hand of man is falliable.  Like they say ... too many cooks spoil the soup'.

It is also pretty much a given that translation of Aramaic requires some 'impressions' of what the words and phrases might mean.  There is no direct correlation between Aramaic and english.

---

 The differences in translations are minor, even what you put in red says he only did it to make it more readable - and ACCESSIBLE to the common man.   But regardless, we have scholars that study in them in the original Greek and Hebrew.  James did not have the MEANING of the Bible changed - he had the it updated to a more modern readable form.  We still do it now, making it more readable in common vernacular.  Such as - 

 

Romans 6:12-23New International Version (NIV)

12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13 Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. 14 For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.

 

Romans 6:12-23King James Version (KJV)

12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.

13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.

 

14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

 

 

We've actually twice had a bible historian come speak at our church and bring the old bibles for comparison - even the first in regular print, the Gutenburg Bible.  Some of them we couldn't touch, but he had them all open to the same verses for comparison.  

 

Anyone who actually STUDIES the Bible instead of trying to justify not believing in it, can easily see that the translations have never changed the MEANING.

 

Furthermore, archaeology and history have consistently proven the Bible to be true.  

 

Lawyerlady wrote:

---

Anyone who actually STUDIES the Bible instead of trying to justify not believing in it, can easily see that the translations have never changed the MEANING.

 

Furthermore, archaeology and history have consistently proven the Bible to be true.  

 

---

 At no point did I justify not believing in it.  My overarching point is part of the answer to 'What is Christianity?'.  The meaning has changed in some places.  Comparisons of the Acts show differences.  Likely translation based or because some Monk drank too much of their homemade moonshine.  Yes, the archeology and symbiotic pieces give us a significant amount of information BUT as we are Man and Man is falliable, we have to go on faith that nobody has screwed up along the way and made God do a facepalm over the entire ordeal.

Part of Christianity is faith, because we don't have all of the information.  We go with what we have and follow the teachings as we know them to be.  I'm not totally sure why you are telling me that I am justifying not believing in it.  None of my posts have said that.  

And yes, I was born corrupted.  I spend my life making up for that.  You & all can believe yourselves to be better/smarter/more pious/more apologist Christians than I am and that's okay.  In fact, in ways, that is how it is supposed to be.

Belief in the Bible as Gods Word is a very important tenet of Christianity. You can call yourself a Christian if you don't believe in the truth of the Bible but you still are not a Christian.

The Bible is God Word. It has nothing to do with the men he chose to write it for him. If pretend Christianity works for you I can't stop you from calling yourself Christian but I know it to be a bunch of bull.

Tignanello wrote:

---

Tinydancer wrote:

---

Belief in the Bible as Gods Word is a very important tenet of Christianity. You can call yourself a Christian if you don't believe in the truth of the Bible but you still are not a Christian.

---

 I believe in the truth of the bible - but with a grain of salt, as I don't believe in the truth of Man.  I believe the Bible to be God's word, but I also believe that Man screwed it up.  So far, Man has screwed up pretty much everything given by God.

-- Edited by Tignanello on Wednesday 22nd of March 2017 10:57:13 AM

---

 Ain't that the truth.  We sure have!

Domestic Engineer wrote:

---

I don't believe anything is missing from Bible translations.  I do think some modern versions pick and choose what is included.  

 

Translating is repeating what what has been stated in an understandable way.  Versions are how a person chooses to repeat or tell something.

 

 

 

 

 

 

---

 You say this better than me.  Thank you.

Tignanello wrote:

---

Lawyerlady wrote:

---

Tignanello wrote:

---

Well, that's the point, right? We don't know which parts are true, and we don't know which words/parts have been bastardized by falliable humans. That is why faith is integral. Knowing that there are questions and following anyways.

Not being skeptical or whatever, just noticing that faith is a very important part about Christianity because we, as humans, do not have all the information.

---

 Humans that were inspired by God to write it -  The Bible is the word of God.  

 

The Bible was written by 40 different authors over hundreds of years (that did not have access to all of each others writings) and yet fits together and does not contradict itself.  

---

 Yes, and the other 100+ versions and translations?  (version itself indicated differences).  I'm sure nobody screwed up or translated anything differently.

---

 And that is why you are supposed to study it.  People study the history and the translations. But over all that time - the meaning remains the same.  

Please give me an example of where a new version has changed the meaning.