Why is it?

Why is it that if Christianity is true. A belief system who’s core belief and purpose is about serving and spreading the word of God to others, it’s quite the opposite. I truly don’t think but all but a very few Christians truly believe in God. For if many actually do, who say they do, death would not be feared. And every second, every new person you met, should be told about God and salvation. But what I bet is, if you ask half the Christians in the world to make a choice between death, and life, depending on the belief in God they would deny him every time for life. What Christianity is today is a custom, a lifestyle, a philosophy of life, but it’s realness really isn’t real anymore. Most Christians don’t even ponder the God question, because it doesn’t matter to anyone anymore.

You’re on a bit of a downer these days aren’t you. Here’s some quoted gloom to go with your own…

“The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and left untried.”—G.K. Chesterton

I certainly agree with that statement. It is painfully obvious that Christianity is a social pacifier. Believers can suck on it to satisfy their desire to answer ultimate questions. It matters not that the answers that it gives are painfully elementary, highly unrealistic, and excruciatingly false. It only matters that they have answers and they don’t have to think about it anymore.

Well Christianity certainly has answers to lifestyles I feel. It provides a happiness, a code of conduct for many who don’t have one. For those who would be nihilists, enjoy and believe a God exist and this keeps them in good conduct with good morals, etc. If not for Christianity I think there would be alot more depressed people, alot more crime. This I will always believe. I however don’t see the idea of Christianity one that is easy to grasp in our age, not in our time. But as you said powderhound, nobody ever thinks of the idea of God existing, or the ideas of other promises that have been made.

All my life I’ve been basically forced to attend church, and when I was leaving for college my youth pastor even asked me to go on a church trip over the summer, he said it’d help me not lose my faith in college. It shouldn’t take church, a loss of a relationship with God, in order not to lose your belief in God. For the belief in God should be met without any religious undertaking.

Ned, I understand I’m different than how I used to be. I’m definitely truly agnostic now, even though I’d never tell my family, all of them who are Christian, on all sides, every last 3 cousin, on and on, all Christian. My position of beliefs is not one I take a liking to. In fact I hate being agnostic, I wish God made more sense as he used to. But he doesn’t, not with science, not with the bible being taken less literal everyday. I guess it’s not exactly my idea of a supernatural being I’ve lost alot of faith in, but the Christian God I am.

Within a Christian structure of beliefs, everything makes sense. It’s all so clear! And from this perspective it will always be. But if you ever stop like I have. Stop attending Church, stop being fed he exist all the time, start listening to real science versus the bible, the bible must be taken less literal, and from there we don’t know where to stop. From this point I cannot see how heaven can exist and us exist as we do now, for I like pain! Pain reminds me that I am alive and finite, and because of that I feel more special. Without any of this I wouldn’t be myself, in fact I cannot even posit what myself would be in heaven! Can you imagine infiniteness? However I imagine it it’s scary. Sure it’s worse to believe I may burn forever in hell because I wasn’t persuaded that God existed. But as far as I know the bible doesn’t ask that we be stupid. It says that we should obtain knowledge and be wise. If this is all so true, a man who has done this, and been somehow falsely decieved into not believing in God, will now not get what he wants! And as i’ve said before, even a saved man, who believes in God, but hates to worship him, will now do it forever against his will.

I see Christianity as a great life philosophy, a great humanism, and when you can decieve yourself into the back of your mind that God exists and live in peace and comfort it’s even better. Christianity can always be defended, in fact it’s very easy to defend. Anytime we do not know the answer all we have to say is God is beyond our understanding, God has a plan. But when it really boils down to taking another perspective… is it so convincing?

Christiainty is a very well structured system. In fact it provides no escape routes. For if you don’t go to church to see if it was brainwashing, then it’s Satan. If you go to college and learn, you’ve been mislead by Satan.

If nothing i’ve said is important, hear me on this.

If you stay in Christianity, you will never escape. For in it’s clutch it’s comfortable, logical, reasonable, believable, found wanting. But if you ever leave it out of an open mind to try atheism, to try not believing for once, or again. You will find it’s flaws. You cannot see the flaws within the belief, you never will, and when someone presents them you will defend out of everything that has seemed so true before.

I’ve had to arbitrarily leave Christianity before I could lose my faith in God. If I die and go to hell, a place I don’t want to go, it would all be because I was decieved and my brain wasn’t so powerful enough to see it wasn’t. It wasn’t out of selfish desire, because I wanted God to exist. But I was unable to continue to believe. And having to suffer for eternity for that is insane.

Honestly Club, your words illicit the beauty and horror we all struggle with everyday. Much like the quote from Buddha says Wheresoever you go, go with all your heart. The world can certainly be a scary and disappointing place. Only if you let it. You can forge a fire so hot in your soul that even at its darkest it burns through your core. This may sound lame at first glance but we need these moments to strengthen our resolve. Perhaps Christianity isn’t for you. That is worse case scenario. You do not have to stop believing in God, you do not have to stop believing in purpose, nor Truth, nor proper conduct. You can live your life so well that if there is a God, he would be foolish not to take you.

Live every moment as if it is your last and your last movements will assuredly be great.

I think the issue is that nearly all Christians are building their foundations on a bible and not God. I know of few Christians that even know the simplest thing about God and none have achieved salvation because the bible has mislead them into thinking that simple acceptance of Jesus is salvation. What they don’t realize and what no bible will tell you is how to accept Jesus, saying the words and professing this to men is not how its done. Only a true relationship with God through a properly prepared humble heart can allow one to find salvation, and no amount of bible reading or church going will do that, in fact I would say that it will hinder you to finding the necessary attitude to abasement and acceptance of Truth. After a certain age and a life long working of building walls and ego and self made truths, most adults require a severe traumatic experience and complete loss of all hope and will to achieve the necessary attitude to accept this Truth, so it stands to reason that the path is a lot narrower then many think it is, and the numbers of actual saved Christians are only a fraction of the church going public.

So maybe there is reason to despair.

King what kind of power can a belief have without some kind of earthly connection. The most convincing thing about Christianity to me has always been Jesus Christ and his story. For it is powerful, and even if many don’t believe his miracles, they will most likely believe he existed and died for a belief.

You may believe one must find God and Salvation through their own path, and maybe this can be halfway acceptable. It would take great faith, and the biggest problem would be is a contradictory God. For what is right for one is not for another. Then you’d get into people claiming God told them to kill this person, then another saying God asks for all to love each other, so on. There must be a monolithic connection in some way, or I don’t see it being a quality belief at all.

King what kind of power can a belief have without some kind of earthly connection. The most convincing thing about Christianity to me has always been Jesus Christ and his story. For it is powerful, and even if many don’t believe his miracles, they will most likely believe he existed and died for a belief.

You may believe one must find God and Salvation through their own path, and maybe this can be halfway acceptable. It would take great faith, and the biggest problem would be is a contradictory God. For what is right for one is not for another. Then you’d get into people claiming God told them to kill this person, then another saying God asks for all to love each other, so on. There must be a monolithic connection in some way, or I don’t see it being a quality belief at all.

I have no idea what you’re saying in the rest of your post, but this I am particularity confused about. How is any of this in contention with my thoughts? Everything I have explained about my belief system has shown that it is completely grounded with earthly connections, do I not give many examples for every assertion I make?