Question for Christians

[EllieTalbot]

In order to be a Christian, regardless of denomination, you have to believe Jesus Christ is going to come back and take all the good Christian folk to heaven, and everyone else is going to hell, and then that'll be that.

Do you really believe that?

If not, what's the point of calling yourself a Christian or raising your kids to be Christians?

Busing it to Bethlehem,
Ellie

 

[TexasWife25]

In order to be a Christian, regardless of denomination, you have to believe Jesus Christ is going to come back and take all the good Christian folk to heaven, and everyone else is going to hell, and then that'll be that.

Do you really believe that?

If not, what's the point of calling yourself a Christian or raising your kids to be Christians?

Busing it to Bethlehem,
Ellie

I dont know if thats how I would define "a Christian". I think to be a Christian you simply have to believe and follow the teachings of Christ.

 

[EllieTalbot]

I dont know if thats how I would define "a Christian". I think to be a Christian you simply have to believe and follow the teachings of Christ.

Yeeeeah... and the whole thing about his second coming and judgement day was one of the most crucial teachings of Christ. It's not just an underpinning of Christianity, it's, well... a pillar of it. Proselytizers are essentially following Christ's directive to save as many people as they can by bringing them into the fold before the shit hits the fan.

Have you even read the Bible?

Wondering in Winnipeg,
Ellie

 

[mercury14]

In order to be a Christian, regardless of denomination, you have to believe Jesus Christ is going to come back and take all the good Christian folk to heaven, and everyone else is going to hell, and then that'll be that.

Do you really believe that?

If not, what's the point of calling yourself a Christian or raising your kids to be Christians?

Busing it to Bethlehem,
Ellie

Ellie, where are you getting your information on Christians from? Because what you're saying is incorrect.

 

[Colonel Hogan]

Yeeeeah... and the whole thing about his second coming and judgement day was one of the most crucial teachings of Christ. It's not just an underpinning of Christianity, it's, well... a pillar of it. Proselytizers are essentially following Christ's directive to save as many people as they can by bringing them into the fold before the shit hits the fan.

Have you even read the Bible?

Wondering in Winnipeg,
Ellie

Essentially, you are correct. But almost every religion posits a relationship between its Godhead and its followers where the Godhead is in some manner superior and worthy of worship and obedience. Why would we expect Christianity to be any different?

Maybe it's just me, but it seems that atheists who would deny the reality of any religion reserve their harshest criticism for Christianity. I've never quite understood that.

 

[EllieTalbot]

Ellie, where are you getting your information on Christians from? Because what you're saying is incorrect.

If you want to expound about all the conflicting interpretations dealing with how Jesus may or may not reign over a perfected Earth after all the evil non-Christians are slain and cast down, by all means.

In the meantime, do you, as a Christian, believe Jesus is going to come back, pass judgment on all, and dole out heavenly rewards and/or everlasting torment for all the souls who've ever lived?


Querying about Quackery,
Ellie

 

[Peregrinator]

Maybe it's just me, but it seems that atheists who would deny the reality of any religion reserve their harshest criticism for Christianity. I've never quite understood that.

I think it's probably because you live in a place where Christianity is the most commonly shoved down people's throats. But I also see atheists being truly savage on Scientology and Mormons. When other religions come up, they're ridiculed or at least criticized as well.

 

[mercury14]

Essentially, you are correct. But almost every religion posits a relationship between its Godhead and its followers where the Godhead is in some manner superior and worthy of worship and obedience. Why would we expect Christianity to be any different?

Maybe it's just me, but it seems that atheists who would deny the reality of any religion reserve their harshest criticism for Christianity. I've never quite understood that.

The Catholic Church doesn't believe what Ellie says in her OP. All those Muslims living in Afghanistan? As long as they're living good lives they're getting salvation.

I'm sure there are plenty of Protestant churches that believe in even more inclusiveness than that, not to mention the ones that largely reject the idea of hell altogether.

 

[MeeMie]

In order to be a Christian, regardless of denomination, you have to believe Jesus Christ is going to come back and take all the good Christian folk to heaven, and everyone else is going to hell, and then that'll be that.

Do you really believe that?

If not, what's the point of calling yourself a Christian or raising your kids to be Christians?

Busing it to Bethlehem,
Ellie

You might be typifying "Christian Scientists" as Christians in entirety?

None of the above sounds like anything taught to me in my lifetime as a Roman Catholic Christian.

 

[mercury14]

If you want to expound about all the conflicting interpretations dealing with how Jesus may or may not reign over a perfected Earth after all the evil non-Christians are slain and cast down, by all means.

In the meantime, do you, as a Christian, believe Jesus is going to come back, pass judgment on all, and dole out heavenly rewards and/or everlasting torment for all the souls who've ever lived?


Querying about Quackery,
Ellie

I'm a Catholic. Vatican II moved the Church considerably away from it's old "all non-Catholics are going to suffer for eternity" position.

Personally I do not believe that Jesus is going to come back and bring us eternal suffering, no.

 

[mercury14]

You might be typifying "Christian Scientists" as Christians in entirety?

None of the above sounds like anything taught to me in my lifetime as a Roman Catholic Christian.

Plenty of non-Catholics confuse us for fundamentalists. We're so not...

 

[torchthebitch]

Yeeeeah... and the whole thing about his second coming and judgement day was one of the most crucial teachings of Christ. It's not just an underpinning of Christianity, it's, well... a pillar of it. Proselytizers are essentially following Christ's directive to save as many people as they can by bringing them into the fold before the shit hits the fan.

Have you even read the Bible?

Wondering in Winnipeg,
Ellie

You see this is the problem. If I profess to believe in Christianity, I am stereotyped by other people's definition of the Aunt Sally they want a Christian to be.

 

[RjThoughts]

Yeeeeah... and the whole thing about his second coming and judgement day was one of the most crucial teachings of Christ. It's not just an underpinning of Christianity, it's, well... a pillar of it. Proselytizers are essentially following Christ's directive to save as many people as they can by bringing them into the fold before the shit hits the fan.

Have you even read the Bible?

Wondering in Winnipeg,
Ellie

Now it all comes down to which part of Christianity you believe. Proselytizers aren't following Christ's word, they are following St. Paul. He's the one that was gung ho about converting, and is who Evangelicals follow. He was sort of a nut case convert: He rallied against ALL forms of sex, even within marriage. Yeah, he took Christ's words, added his own, and went WAAAAAAAAAAAAY overboard.

From my Catholic school teachings, the only mentions of going to Hell is in Revelation. That and those stupid "Left Behind" books.

Cafeteria Catholic in the Capital District
RJ

 

[JohnnySavage]

Further, the modern vision of 'hell' is largely a construct of an egotistical poet who was pissed that nobody read his tripe.

 

[Wok]

In order to be a Christian, regardless of denomination, you have to believe Jesus Christ is going to come back and take all the good Christian folk to heaven, and everyone else is going to hell, and then that'll be that.

Do you really believe that?

If not, what's the point of calling yourself a Christian or raising your kids to be Christians?

Busing it to Bethlehem,
Ellie

I grew up a JW and they do not believe that. They believe the 144,000 go to heaven while the good stays on a paradise earth. The evil will stay dead forever. Of course, some consider JW's as not real Christians.

 

[RoryN]

Ellie, where are you getting your information on Christians from?

From a flawed source consistently overrated by herself: her own mind.

And, for some reason, she feels a need to showcase it on a regular basis.

 

[DeathsKnight]

In order to be a Christian, regardless of denomination, you have to believe Jesus Christ is going to come back and take all the good Christian folk to heaven, and everyone else is going to hell, and then that'll be that.

Do you really believe that?

If not, what's the point of calling yourself a Christian or raising your kids to be Christians?

Busing it to Bethlehem,
Ellie

To believe in Iesous Kristos you will have to follow organized religion, organized religion is something that is man-made. Translation of the Scriptures has spelling, punctuation, gramatical etc mistakes in it. But to really answer the question?

Yahshua said two things: Love Yahweh with all your heart, all your soul and all your mind. Love your neighbor as yourself.

To me that is the basis on what religion should rest, then you get the Ten Commandments, then you get two Bible Books full of rules. But I think the best thing to do is to love God and love the people who believe like you do. Start there and the world will be a better place for you as person...

OK don't listen to me, I'm just a crazy guy who writes ORPs

 

[EllieTalbot]

Essentially, you are correct. But almost every religion posits a relationship between its Godhead and its followers where the Godhead is in some manner superior and worthy of worship and obedience. Why would we expect Christianity to be any different?

Maybe it's just me, but it seems that atheists who would deny the reality of any religion reserve their harshest criticism for Christianity. I've never quite understood that.

I don't expect Christianity to be any different in that regard. There are just some very basic tenets of it (and the other two Abrahamic faith), which are particularly ridiculous, that most of its followers seem to have outgrown intellectually, and I often wonder why it hasn't occurred to them to question the validity of the faith altogether.

And I don't know how familiar you may or may not be with my posts, but I defend Christianity more often that I criticize it. It's extremely overcriticized, I agree, and Christians are facing horrible persecution in the Islamic world these days.

In the meantime, I can't help wondering why so many carry on with a religion, instead of finding their own spiritual path, when they don't believe in the very basics of their religion. And since most people posting here who claim a religious affiliation are Christian, I chose Christianity to ask about.

Explaining in Exeter,
Ellie

 

[OzoneRed]

I'm not Christian, but I used to be. Ellie, you're correct, although the definition of "good Christian folk" varies from one denomination to another, and even from one Christian to another. As does belief in how the Second Comming and the Final Judgement are going to work.

 

[Colonel Hogan]

The Catholic Church doesn't believe what Ellie says in her OP. All those Muslims living in Afghanistan? As long as they're living good lives they're getting salvation.

I'm sure there are plenty of Protestant churches that believe in even more inclusiveness than that, not to mention the ones that largely reject the idea of hell altogether.

No way. There is no way you are going to convince me that orthodox Roman Catholicism recognizes salvation for anyone not declaring his or her faith in Jesus Christ and keeping the sacraments of the Church.

Individuals who call themselves "Catholics" or "Protestants" can believe whatever they want, but we should never confuse individualism with religious orthodoxy.

 

[torchthebitch]

Now it all comes down to which part of Christianity you believe. Proselytizers aren't following Christ's word, they are following St. Paul. He's the one that was gung ho about converting, and is who Evangelicals follow. He was sort of a nut case convert: He rallied against ALL forms of sex, even within marriage. Yeah, he took Christ's words, added his own, and went WAAAAAAAAAAAAY overboard.

From my Catholic school teachings, the only mentions of going to Hell is in Revelation. That and those stupid "Left Behind" books.

Cafeteria Catholic in the Capital District
RJ

The New Testament is pretty heavily weighted by Paul's writings, despite the fact that Peter was held in higher authority in the early Church. So much so that the primary church in Rome is named after Peter, not Paul.

 

[MeeMie]

No way. There is no way you are going to convince me that orthodox Roman Catholicism recognizes salvation for anyone not declaring his or her faith in Jesus Christ and keeping the sacraments of the Church.

You couldn't be more wrong about this.

 

[mercury14]

No way. There is no way you are going to convince me that orthodox Roman Catholicism recognizes salvation for anyone not declaring his or her faith in Jesus Christ and keeping the sacraments of the Church.

Individuals who call themselves "Catholics" or "Protestants" can believe whatever they want, but we should never confuse individualism with religious orthodoxy.

I'm telling you that the Roman Catholic Church recognizes salvation for non-Christians who have never been brought the Good News, as long as they live a good life. We believe that the Holy Ghost is not confined to just our Church.

You couldn't be more wrong about this.

People's misconceptions of the Catholic Church are making me team up with MeeMie....

 

[RjThoughts]

I'm telling you that the Roman Catholic Church recognizes salvation for non-Christians who have never been brought the Good News, as long as they live a good life. We believe that the Holy Ghost is not confined to just our Church.

BINGO!! I was taught that by Sisters of St. Joseph from 5 to 13, and also from 14 to 16 on Tuesday nights.

 

[EllieTalbot]

I'm telling you that the Roman Catholic Church recognizes salvation for non-Christians who have never been brought the Good News, as long as they live a good life. We believe that the Holy Ghost is not confined to just our Church.

And that homosexuals and people who use contraception aren't living a good life.

Hell-Bound in Halifax,
Ellie