Rachel Bronwyn wrote:

Rumraket wrote:

One's a suicide bomber and one's wrong on the internet.

Rumraket wrote:

Rachel Bronwyn wrote:

Rumraket wrote:

One's a suicide bomber and one's wrong on the internet.

The latter also seems to have substantially bigger bombs.

Calilasseia wrote:Makes you shudder at the thought of what the inquisition and the Crusades would have been like with nuclear weapons, doesn't it?

laklak wrote:I see not collecting stamps has been raised, have we talked about believing there are no unicorns or leprechauns yet?

pelfdaddy wrote:B--urden of proof
I--ntellectual honesty
N--azis were Catholic
G--enetic fallacy
O--ccam's razor

What do I win?

carl wrote:

pelfdaddy wrote:When I taught Church History in a seminary, I encountered a serious problem....
It was straight up bullshit, and I suspected as much.

I find the above post to be as common as ever. It reminds me of a conversation I had with a pastor once, where he said he was in the ministry, as a pastor, for over 20 years BEFORE he became a Christian. He was an unbeliever for over 20 years in the ministry! I am not being critical of him as I was an unbeliever attending church for at least 20 years before I became a Christian myself.

BTW, this is the Biblical definition of a Christian as far I as I understand it:
"Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent". (John 17).

A Christian is someone who KNOWS God personally. Although I knew about God, I didn't KNOW Him personally for the first 25 years of my life. Going to church consistently doesn't make someone a Christian either, according to what Jesus said (Matthew 7):

"Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never KNEW you."

Notice the word "KNOW" and "KNEW" which are emphasized everywhere in the Bible, not the head knowledge but the personal knowledge similar to KNOWING your own mother, for example.

Just to clarify, I am simply explaining my own experience and understanding of the subject so am not 'preaching' as such. My understanding of this subject does not necessarily include everyone else under the sun.

carl wrote:

carl wrote:

pelfdaddy wrote:When I taught Church History in a seminary, I encountered a serious problem....
It was straight up bullshit, and I suspected as much.

I find the above post to be as common as ever. It reminds me of a conversation I had with a pastor once, where he said he was in the ministry, as a pastor, for over 20 years BEFORE he became a Christian. He was an unbeliever for over 20 years in the ministry! I am not being critical of him as I was an unbeliever attending church for at least 20 years before I became a Christian myself.

BTW, this is the Biblical definition of a Christian as far I as I understand it:
"Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent". (John 17).

A Christian is someone who KNOWS God personally. Although I knew about God, I didn't KNOW Him personally for the first 25 years of my life. Going to church consistently doesn't make someone a Christian either, according to what Jesus said (Matthew 7):

"Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never KNEW you."

Notice the word "KNOW" and "KNEW" which are emphasized everywhere in the Bible, not the head knowledge but the personal knowledge similar to KNOWING your own mother, for example.

Just to clarify, I am simply explaining my own experience and understanding of the subject so am not 'preaching' as such. My understanding of this subject does not necessarily include everyone else under the sun.

Just to clarify my post above, nowhere above did I mention I was providing or attempting to provide proof of God's existence. I wasn't. If anyone thought I was, I apologize for the misunderstanding.

I was only providing my personal understanding of the Bible's definition of a Christian - as someone who KNOWS God - as opposed to someone who knows ABOUT God. That is all.

For the posts/responses claiming I provided no proof of God, you may have been reading into my post something that isn't there. I never stated nor appealed to any sort of 'proof' for God's existence - only the Bible definition of a Christian.

Why did I define a 'Christian' using the passage in John 17 in the first place? Because there are many who 'thought' they were Christians at one time, of which I was one myself. I thought I was a Christian and later found I was not, as I did not meet the Bible definition of a Christian.

Carl wrote:
A Christian is someone who KNOWS God personally. Although I knew about God, I didn't KNOW Him personally for the first 25 years of my life. Going to church consistently doesn't make someone a Christian either, according to what Jesus said (Matthew 7):

"Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never KNEW you."

15 `But, take heed of the false prophets, who come unto you in sheep's clothing, and inwardly are ravening wolves.

16 From their fruits ye shall know them; do [men] gather from thorns grapes? or from thistles figs?

17 so every good tree doth yield good fruits, but the bad tree doth yield evil fruits.

18 A good tree is not able to yield evil fruits, nor a bad tree to yield good fruits.

19 Every tree not yielding good fruit is cut down and is cast to fire:

20 therefore from their fruits ye shall know them.

21 `Not every one who is saying to me Lord, lord, shall come into the reign of the heavens; but he who is doing the will of my Father who is in the heavens.

22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, lord, have we not in thy name prophesied? and in thy name cast out demons? and in thy name done many mighty things?

23 and then I will acknowledge to them, that -- I never knew you, depart from me ye who are working lawlessness.

24 `Therefore, every one who doth hear of me these words, and doth do them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house upon the rock;

25 and the rain did descend, and the streams came, and the winds blew, and they beat on that house, and it fell not, for it had been founded on the rock.

26 `And every one who is hearing of me these words, and is not doing them, shall be likened to a foolish man who built his house upon the sand;

Oldskeptic wrote:Why do Christians tend to get their own scripture so wrong?

carl wrote:

Oldskeptic wrote:Why do Christians tend to get their own scripture so wrong?

You do realize what I get out of the Bible is specific to me and me alone? I am not including you, but thank you for your concern.

Animavore wrote:Wait! You KNOW God personally?

Can you do me a favour and ask him why I never got that Commodore 64 I asked him for when I was seven?

carl wrote:

Oldskeptic wrote:Why do Christians tend to get their own scripture so wrong?

You do realize what I get out of the Bible is specific to me and me alone? I am not including you, but thank you for your concern.

carl wrote:

Oldskeptic wrote:Why do Christians tend to get their own scripture so wrong?

You do realize what I get out of the Bible is specific to me and me alone? I am not including you, but thank you for your concern.