This may suprise you, but I have often considered converting (well, practising) to Christianity. After all, as someone once pointed out on here (I forget who) that some of the most basic liberal values have come from Reverends, Fathers, Bishops, etc.

I must ask though, as the Bible has a tendency (no slur intended) to contradict itself, should I act on the word of Jesus over all others? After all he was the son of God.

Is there some heirarchial (sp?) system over what overrules what when something contradicts; like the Gospels over Exodus, or Corinthians over Galatians?

Can anyone help?

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"I see no reason why...there should not arise a United States of Europe" Winston Churchill, 1946

Christianity has been interpreted in more ways than any other modern religion. There are more sects of Christianity than all other religions, which says quite a bit. You have the super liberal Chrsitans who believe you can do anything to be saved. You have other sects that are much more strict and prefer a more literal interpretation of the Bible, and you have some in the middle.

And then you have some groups that are just plain out there, such as the Mormons and the Jehovah's Witnesses. They have formed their own distinct versions of Christianity that are really completely separate from the religion. The Mormons believe that God spoke to Joseph Smith in the mid 1800's and found golden tablets with the word of God written on them. That is what consist of the "Book of Mormon". I'm not exactly sure what the Jehovah's witnesses believe, but I know that they have tried very hard to separate themselves from other Christians, and they have very radical views about the Bible and the nature of God.

I am a non-Denominational Christian. I currently am a member of the ICC (international Church of Christ). We believe in a very literal interpretation of the Bible, believing that the only way to truly follow Christianity is to apply the principles of the Bible to our own lives. Strangely enough, other Christian groups don't really believe that, they think that a priest has to interpret the Bible for them. However, most Christians do believe in the Bible, and that the Bible is the word of God and must be followed in a literal way. But what the Bible says is rarely agreed upon.

If you are interested in becoming a Christan, I would highly recommend that you do not follow the guidelines of any organized religious group. Any group that wants to teach you their doctrine is only giving you their personal opinion on what the Bible says. I would recommend that you first study out the Bible in debt, and if you have questions to read books written by independent scholars. I think that the teachings of Christ are some of the greatest ever written, and can help anyone who wants to learn from them. So good luck in your quest for spiritual fulfillment. I can tell you from personal experience that becoming a Christian is a worthwhile decision. But always be aware of organized religion, especially ones with highly structured hierarchies.

Good points, Hansmoleman

Believing is the the first step, which it sounds as if you do. Second and most important is excepting Christ as your personal Savior. This is a simple process asking Christ to come into your heart. Acknowledge to God that you, like everyone else, are a sinner and are not worthy of His Kingdom. Ask God to forgive you of your sins and guide you on you path to Salvation. It really is that simple. The rest will come as all of us Christians study The Word and our Relationship with Christ grows. Just start with the most important first two steps and hang on for the Awesome Ride.

I too am not big on denominational congregations. I grew up in a Southern Baptist Church with many great Christians and many that were/are more into the Baptist Doctrine than the Word of God. As I say quite abit.... Never put the church before "THE CHURCH"! Currently, I attend an Independent Christian Church, which is very similar to the Church of Christ. That to me is not that important, but I think that Christian Fellowship is very important.

One more thing..... Always remember....
Jesus did not come to make the Bad Good.
Jesus came so that the dead can LIVE.

God Bless ya....and I am gonna pray for ya.
Ken

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Ken Rogers

I agree with that. Believing definately is the first step. You cannot follow Christ unless you accept his message.

This I have a hard time believing. While I do think that we must all accept Christ in our hearts, salvation must come with baptism. And while I am not as adament about this as I used to be, and focus more on the teachings of Christ based on love, grace and spiritual fulfillment and not as much on doctrinal arguments; I do think that the Bible teaches us about the importance of baptism. If it is not for salvation, it is certainly something that cannot be disregarded, that is my concern.

Well said. I think that instead of Christian churches looking down on eachother, they should have fellowship together in order to understand the similarities between them and NOT the differences. My church used to be notorious for looking down on others that did not believe in what we believe in, to the point where many of our leaders said that anyone that is not in our church is not saved and will go to hell. This is one of the dangers of following a religious organization blindly.

You are right. There are some Christians who have done many great things all over the world. Of course, Christianity has been used as a tool for evil as well. But I firmly believe that at the core of Christ's teachings, is love. And if you don't distort that fact, you can use it to do a lot of good.

According to Christ, he is the "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me" John 14:6 KJV

So, Jesus is the pinnacle of the Christian faith. Everything in the Old Testament was simply leading up to Christ. That did not mean it wasn't important, far from it. But everything and everyone before Christ simply set the stage for Christ and were used to help fulfill the prophecy about him.

If you compare Christ to other teachings in the Bible, they really do go hand in hand. Though some things may SEEM like contradictions, if you look more deeply you will often see that they work well together.

Very good question. It depends on who you ask. Some people believe that only what Jesus said is the word of God (such as Thomas Jefferson among others, who was no theologian, but he was a very smart man). Others believe that every word in the Bible is the word of God. I tend to believe that everything is inspired by God, but what should be put first is Jesus' own words, and Paul's teachings are also important, but they cannot override Jesus' own teaching (not that they always do, however). But that question has remained a huge debate for a very long time. I don't think anyone will ever come to a consensus on it.

Absolutely. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask me. I'm always around.

I am actually not an aethist per se.

I was baptised into the Church of England as a baby. I went to the local CofE school, and am now taking my A levels at a Catholic College (equivalent of High School I think) which I also attended as a Secondary School - I am not a practising Christian at the moment, but all this has given me a lot of insight into Christianity - we had to take RE at GCSE level.

I don't like the whole imagery thing that the Catholics have - its very pretty but it has little meaning to me. Nor do I like the idea of going to a big cold stone building and singing songs in it for an hour on a Sunday morning. However, MoleMan's idea of worship through deeds, lifestyle and personal study of the Bible seems like a good way to do it.

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"I see no reason why...there should not arise a United States of Europe" Winston Churchill, 1946

Good deeds are all well and good, but personally...I don't think Any of that means squat unless you have accepted Christ as your Savior. As I said earlier, Jesus did not come to make the bad good. Jesus came so that the dead could live. I do think that we can achieve a Lot of earthly good from good deeds, but I am going for the Heavenly good that only comes from doing good deeds in Christ Name.

I do somewhat agree with Baptism being important, but I think that accepting Christ is the key. the discussion of Baptism does open up a whole new debate though, doesn't it? LOL

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Ken Rogers

I am not Catholic, but I have visited Catholic Churches and I grew up in a very Catholic area, Boston. In my opinion, they have pretty much subverted the word of God. In some ways they still practice Christianity, but it is very clear from only a little bit of careful study of the Bible that they no longer wish to use the Bible as the basis for their doctine any longer. I have a whole list of things that I believe that they have messed up, but I don't want to be too negative. There certainly are Catholics that are just doing the best they can, and I think that's fantastic.

As for going to church and singing songs, I believe that the experience is much better if you meet in a congregation that you feel comfortable with. Some churches are just downright boring, others can be quite fun to visit. But is it essential to go to Church? I would say yes, but it is not essential to do it the traditional way. There are numerous ways to worship God, and not all of them include going to a traditional church service.

It is another area of debate. I am definately on the side that believes that baptism is necesary, simply because it is not possible to look at a conversion in the NT that didn't involve baptism. Based on evidence, it's clear to me that early believers participated in baptism (that is, a full submersion in water as an adult). I have heard some people present evidence that contradicts this, but I have not been convinced that one can accept Christ and be saved without baptism, at least according to the New Testament.

And again, a conversion to me is only the beginning. All of that is a moot point if one does not carefully study the Bible and reflect on the words of Christ. THOSE are the most essential aspects of Christianity. If you don't understand and accept Christ and his teachings, it doesn't make a difference. That's something we could probably all agree on.

Why tie yourself down to Christianity? I think organized anything - religions, philosophies, political ideologies - are all dangerous. Sure some Christians are responsible for great ideas, but so are Buddhists, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Atheists, and yes, Satanists. And let's not forget that more people have been murdered in the name of religion than for any other reason. Ever.

I think the reason that ideologies fail - especially the really large ones, religion in particular - is because they don't account for individualism. I call myself agnostic in every aspect and can't explain my beliefs on most matters in under a full page.

I'm assuming that if you did become Christian you wouldn't be a fundamentalist. And if that's the case then why call yourself a Christian anyway? It's just a word, and it causes more problems that it solves.

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"Violence isn't always evil. What's evil is the infatuation with violence."
Jim Morrison