So this is my problem. We will examine one god and that is the God from Christianity.
Well within Christianity there are many different views on God right?
Ok so Christian group one says drinking and gambling is bad because God said so. Then Christian group two says that drinking and gambling is alright because God does not say it is bad.
Now the way I see it is that within Christianity those two groups have created more than one god. So would this make Chritianity not monotheistic? Or is one group right and one group wrong?
This is a reason why I dislike religion.
Am I correct because I’m not sure what to do with this question.
You dislike religion because religious people are allowed to disagree about stuff? That seems weird.
As far as matters like gambling or whatever, don’t you think you might be blowing it out of proportion just a bit to say that, because two people disagree about God’s teachings on gambling, they are worshipping two different Gods? If you and I disagree about the President’s opinion on something, are we talking about two different people?
Naturally, if two groups disagree about something, either one of them is wrong, or else they both are. That’s the simplest thing in the world.
No because it demands absolutes but is extremely ambiguous.
No I am not infering to different people with the Presidents view but only one can be right or both wrong. Also people claim that their is God is the one and only and that he is absolute so therefore either one group is right or both are wrong. Do you see my point. For both to be right there must be two gods.
The key concept in what you said is: Christian groups. When I hear that I hear “Christian denominationsâ€. It seems to me that each denomination picks and chooses whatever suits their need and purpose. Jesus’ teachings and parables had a world view, a philosophy of life – agree or disagree; he espoused a life view just like Lao-tse or Siddhartha Gautama. The one thing that all Christian groups have in common is they have come to worship the messenger (actually deify the messenger) and ignore the message. In that they have much in common with other religions.
If it allows for ‘extreme ambiguity’, then it’s not exactly demanding absolutes, is it? You can’t have both. Either Christianity sucks because they demand everybody to believe the same thing, or else Christianity sucks because no two Christians do believe exactly the same thing. You need to pick one and stick with it.
So far so good.
But they aren’t both right, and they can’t be. Why would you even entertain the idea that it could be so? Again, just because I think something different about God than someone else, doesn’t mean they and I are thinking of two completely different Beings. The Muslims, Jews, and Christians all believe in the same God, and they have much more radical differences than things like the ethics of drinking and gambling.
Waterlover
This sounds like what I heard about the Anglicans back in the day. Beyond that, can you give me examples of how ‘each denomination’ simply picks and chooses beliefs for their own benefit, as opposed to honest disagreement about matters of faith? This seems like a very cynical claim to simply pluck from the air.
Well if some group is demanding that the way they see God is correct and all others are not good enough then how is it not demanding an absolute?
That is my point.
I never state that I believe this but it is the only way to satisfy both sides.
I know that you could be refering to the same Being this I am not arguing. I am saying that if you say something is wrong because God said so and they say God never says that it is wrong then how are you worshiping the same thing?
I never speak of Muslims, or Jews in this topic because it has little to do with my point. If you reread my post I focus on Christianity. You are comparing 3 religions from 3 different text. I am comparing the many different groups in Christianity who all operate in 1 book. Baptist, Catholics, Lutherans, etc… Don’t get hung up on the “ethics of drinking and gambling” they are just and example. I was mearly give something that is a difference. It doesn’t matter what it is you may pick a different one if you like.
Without entering the realm of comparative Christian theology, I pose the simplest difference that I can. There are some Christian denominations who believe that you can only “enter heaven†if you accept Jesus Christ as you God and Savior. There are other Christian denominations who believe that if you live a just life you enter heaven even though you may have been a practicing Buddhist who obviously did not accept Jesus Christ as their God or Savior. In fact many Christian Fundamentalist denominations view other world religions as being partly or completely false, and either influenced by Satan or actually controlled by Satan. The denominations with this belief use 1 Corinthians 20-21 as support for their belief:
I believe that this Evangelical Fundamentalist belief is in direct contradiction with Catholic teachings on the issue, no? Both of them claim the same sacred scripture. They just pick and choose the belief and then search their sacred scriptures for support. I put to you another instance: Catholic opposition to the death penalty as out of line with Christian teaching and other denominations’ support for the death penalty as being in line with Christian teaching. Each has scriptural support for their position.
Now I understand that you will drape the mantel of “honest disagreement about matters of faith†over these disagreements, but I put to you that you do not know if they are honest and they may not be matters of faith at all. I simply said that they “choose†(obviously accurate, they are not forced to) whatever fits their need and purpose (which I don’t claim to know). I did not denigrate any Christian denomination. I did however note what they all had in common with regard to Jesus and his message. They worship the messenger (Jesus) as god (which he never claimed to be and which was not creed until centuries after his death – if he even lived) and bury the message (Judge not lest ye be judged. Love thine enemies. Let he who is without sin cast the first stone. And so on) beneath a pile of other scriptural writings that are in direct opposition to the words and teachings of their claimed God and Saviorâ€.
The bible encourages us to avoid drunkedness, but does not forbid us from drinking alcoholic beverages. Common sense, and moderation would be the guiding factors. If you are prone to sinful activity while under the influence…don’t drink. Drunkedness can lead to all sorts of bad things, it’s best just to avoid it. Addiction is strickly a no no, and has been proven to ruin lives.
Gambling tends to tempt one beyond reasonableness, and can consume your focus. The love of Money is the root of all evil. Though gambling is not strickly forbbiden by the Bible, many of the effects are.
Again common sense, and moderation should be the guiding factors, but both drinking and gambling can impair ones judgement, at which point sin can become more appealing.
Some say yay…some say nah…
Yeah it’s tough brother…who’s right?..who’s wrong? What’s the story with this doctrine, and that doctrine? It frustrates me trying to figure it all out at times.
Diligently seek after the ONE true God…the Creator of the universe, and you can’t go wrong. Pray to Him.