What makes a Christian, a Christian?

[Reika Noko]

No, I think what Dogen was trying to explain was that being a 'good person' doesn't grant you access into Heaven. You could be the nicest person in the world, but if you're not a Christian, you aren't accepted into Heaven. To be granted access into Heaven, to my understanding, you have to accept Jesus as your Savior and follow him with your heart by upholding his morals and principles in the world.

If you become devoted to such, it would go against your own morals and principles which would also go against the Bible saying about having your free will of taking action of your own choices.

But really, if all Christians devoted all of their lives to the religion, corruption would spread faster than it needs to be due to religious influence and staying within the religion itself. Looking throughout the history, it would bring much illusion to the fact that although you devote yourself to God, you are also forced into the hypocrisy that every religious ranked figure within has to play a part in and become a victim as well. For example, although the church encourages for others not to commit sins they themselves commit the worst sins of all, which are the majority of the Seven Deadly Sins.

Plus punishments, ceremonies, etc have many loopholes enough to keep a lot of things in the dark, especially the ceremony where you must not ever talk during the period nor go against any actions given to you when in the monastery during the ceremony. This pretty much gives the punisher(i.e. the priest) to do whatever he wants to the victim especially rape, which the advantage is excessively used throughout. So pretty much, you have to be careful about how you practice the religion and to not be so involved into it because even though you follow God, you are still committing a sin whether or not you know about it till the last minute. And there's no turning back. Ever.

My view of heaven, however, is that it doesn't exist for humans, only God. Because no matter what, one sin is all it takes to not get into heaven. And He likes to play with this rule a lot. Obviously, humans will always be brought into doing at least one sin in their lives be it a minor one or no. And thus, not allowed in heaven. The "paradise" that humanity wishes for after dying, sadly for them, is all but an illusion making Him an asshole. "Heaven" is merely God laughing at us as we keep deluding ourselves.

 

[Dant?s de Divinity]

BBC - Religion & Ethics - Christianity
Basics of Christianity
Christianity

Jew= Only first testament
Judaism 101

Islam= Selected books of the old and new testaments and the life of Muhammad (Koran it can also be spelled with a Q)
FAQ's concerning Islam

Scientology= (Need to be a member with the highest Thetan level to know)
Scientology - Church of Scientology Official Site


Is that enough info for you? I just picked faiths that are in the news a lot.

Also there are many branches of Christianity.

 

[Azrael]

Just in one of my religion classes we were talking about Christianity and how there are similarities and differences to other religions. Then for homework my teacher gave the class the question: 'What makes a Christian, a Christian'? It doesn't necessarly mean that they go to Church or read the Bible although these are types of practising ways I suppose you could say. She want us to look at how they protray Christianity in their lives and in the lives of others. So what do you think? Any suggestions? Comments?

Christians evangelize the hell out of people.

 

[Nazo]

My view of heaven, however, is that it doesn't exist for humans, only God. Because no matter what, one sin is all it takes to not get into heaven. And He likes to play with this rule a lot. Obviously, humans will always be brought into doing at least one sin in their lives be it a minor one or no. And thus, not allowed in heaven. The "paradise" that humanity wishes for after dying, sadly for them, is all but an illusion making Him an asshole. "Heaven" is merely God laughing at us as we keep deluding ourselves.

God laughing at humanity for doing what he told them to? Umm...

Look I don't want to offend you, or anyone, in any way, but one sin is not enough to condemn you to Hell. It's clearly stated in the Bible that God forgives you for your sins so long as you follow him. The only way you wouldn't be forgiven is if you committed what I think is called an 'Eternal sin' which means you outright defy God by basically either siding with Satan or trying to deliberately preach people away from God. You're portraying God as if he's toying with us like a puppet master and that, my friend, is not God.

 

[Raz]

Just in one of my religion classes we were talking about Christianity and how there are similarities and differences to other religions. Then for homework my teacher gave the class the question: 'What makes a Christian, a Christian'? It doesn't necessarly mean that they go to Church or read the Bible although these are types of practising ways I suppose you could say. She want us to look at how they protray Christianity in their lives and in the lives of others. So what do you think? Any suggestions? Comments?

A Christian believes that God sent down his son into the womb of a virgin to live a perfect life and to die for the sins of all to come. And that, three days after his death, Jesus would arise and ascend into heaven.

That is the basis of Christianity.

You could be the worst person in the world, or the best. But as long as you accept Christ, you go to heaven.

 

[Nazo]

A Christian believes that God sent down his son into the womb of a virgin to live a perfect life and to die for the sins of all to come. And that, three days after his death, Jesus would arise and ascend into heaven.

That is the basis of Christianity.

Well, I think that about sums it up right there, lol. That should answer QoH's question.

 

[Reika Noko]

You're portraying God as if he's toying with us like a puppet master and that, my friend, is not God.

...Are you forgetting that he tried to kill all of us twice before in history out of Wrath? Sometimes, when a Christian takes extreme, they would call him "master" from time to time or so I've seen heard. Hell, the only reason why He banished Satan in the first place was because the idea of Satan having equal power to him in Heaven, means that He wouldn't have as much leadership and power anymore as a sole individual. And having God's equal power to have power over humanity as well went against Him, only because He wanted all the greatest power to Himself.

When He tried to kill His children, He tried to kill both humanity and animals but Noah built his famous Ark. The second time was more precise; He tried to kill us but made sure the animal kingdom was safe (which doesn't make sense because we are animals). The reason for the first time was because He grieved or rather, disgusted with the corruptness that humanity created, even the church, which is why he decided to destroy and end it all. He was so angry, he forgot about the fact that He told Noah to save us. So the next time He decided to destroy the world, He would try to be careful on how things plan out. Although He said that He regretted producing all of the disasters to destroy the world and promised "never to do it again" He pretty much did later on anyway.

The second reason why He tried to kill us was because the Romans tried building the coliseums as a sort of tower to get into Heaven and have Godly power themselves, which would be a similar with the case of Satan; trying to have equal power as God would be going against Him, as He is, and always, the ruler. Out of anger, He destroyed the "tower" and was angered at the same concept of why he did it the first time, breaking His promise to Noah; he was angered because of the corruptness humanity created just to reach its goals. He tried killing us all again, this time, remembering His mistake during the time of when Noah created the Ark, He saved all the animals before decreeing His judgment among humanity, leaving all of us to die without any food. I forgot how He forgave us.

If it wasn't for Jesus' last words, "Father, please forgive them", at the time of his crucifixion, God would try to kill us again for killing His Son, all because His Son's teachings went against the Roman church and their teachings. Now consider this:

Now, sometimes when you talk about God being a God of wrath, certain people get disturbed. And they don’t understand how God can be a God of anger and God can be a God of wrath and God can be a God of fury, a God of terror. But that’s because they don’t understand God. Let’s see if we can’t help ourselves to a deeper understanding of His wrath in perspective with all of His other attributes.

God’s attributes are balanced in His divine perfection. And they are perfectly balanced. If God did not have wrath and God did not have anger then He would not be God. God is perfect in love, on the one hand, and He is equally perfect in hate, on the other hand. Just as totally as He loves, so totally does He hate. As His love is unmixed, so is His hate unmixed. Of Christ, it says in Hebrews 1:9, “Thou hast loved righteousness and hated iniquity.” And there is that perfect balance in the nature of God. As I mentioned, one of the tragedies of Christianity in our time is a failure to preach the hatred of God, the judgment of God. We’re so saccharine. We’re so sentimental. We’re so kind of mushy in our Christianity. When is the last time you heard a new song on the wrath of God? Heard one lately? I haven’t.

This pretty much proves that God loves us just as much as He hates us. Which is just enough amount that equals certain doom upon all humanity. If you're not reading the passages right and carefully on how He, although has brought upon good deeds, has tried to screw with us since the dawn of time to the point of contradicting Himself in order to kill us, then you, sir, are a damn retard stuck in the light of the illusion that God is nothing but a good person. Fuck no. That is not true at all.

 

[Forever Atlas]

I'm kinda in a rush so I'll try reply quickly

A Christian believes that God sent down his son into the womb of a virgin to live a perfect life and to die for the sins of all to come. And that, three days after his death, Jesus would arise and ascend into heaven.

That is the basis of Christianity.

You could be the worst person in the world, or the best. But as long as you accept Christ, you go to heaven.

Well, the first part I agree. The last part though, about being the worst person in the world, and the best going to heaven as long as you accept Christ, I disagree with.

The Bible explicitly says that you must disown one's self and follow the word of God with actions and faith. The Bible also states that the demons themselves, along with Satan believe and accept Christ, however, they surely will not be getting any blessings. Not only that, Bible says that not all go to heaven <.<.

...Are you forgetting that he tried to kill all of us twice before in history out of Wrath?

If God tried to destroy all humans completely from existence he would have. Now all destruction that God did wasn't out of "wrath," rather justice. Now I know someone will comment on how God's justice is this and that. Whatever comments come from that are through the eyes of man. Our sense of Justice is perverted.
God's justice is perfect. Not only does God send warnings far in advance and pleaded over and over with people to turn around from their wicked ways, but forgives a numerous amount of times. Those times people were destroyed was their own fault.

It's just like I see here where I live. A hurricane is on the horizon, the weather man far in advance reports that it's way out in the Atlantic ocean. Some of us will take the necessary precautions and heed the warnings, still, there are those who say to themselves, "Oh nothing will happen." Then when the hurricane comes and causes them disaster, they wonder why them.

Hell, the only reason why He banished Satan in the first place was because the idea of Satan having equal power to him in Heaven, means that He wouldn't have as much leadership and power anymore as a sole individual.

No one is equal to God. Satan while a powerful spirit creature had nowhere close to the amount of power God had. However Satan wanted God's right to rule. God threw him out because Satan was a perfect being who revolted against Him. Thus influencing/causing the problems we see today.

because He wanted all the greatest power to Himself.

The power that he deserves and is rightly his?

When He tried to kill His children, He tried to kill both humanity and animals but Noah built his famous Ark.

If you are going to debate about the Bible, try having some basic Bible knowledge. God commanded Noah to create the ark to save all those who would heed warnings. God not only commissioned Noah to build the ark, but also to preach the coming destruction by flood. God didn't want ANYONE to be destroyed, but all to be saved. However, it was only Noah and his family who listened. So all the wicked who boldly refused to turn around were destroyed. They didn't listen, they had their chance. It was well over 40 years that Noah pleaded with the people of the nation.

The second time was more precise; He tried to kill us but made sure the animal kingdom was safe (which doesn't make sense because we are animals).

What are you talking about? ........................

The reason for the first time was because He grieved or rather, disgusted with the corruptness that humanity created, even the church,

Let's stop right there. You do know, "the church" wasn't even thought about until well after the first century.

which is why he decided to destroy and end it all. He was so angry, he forgot about the fact that He told Noah to save us.

Where are you getting all of this? Oh, just putting some words into the Bible of your own eh? Don't worry, it's not the first time people have twisted the stories.

So the next time He decided to destroy the world, He would try to be careful on how things plan out. Although He said that He regretted producing all of the disasters to destroy the world and promised "never to do it again" He pretty much did later on anyway.

Can you explicitly tell me the first and second times you are talking about? It seems that you are dividing the account of the Flood into two.

The second reason why He tried to kill us was because the Romans tried building the coliseums as a sort of tower to get into Heaven and have Godly power themselves,

Romans eh? =] That's news to me.


I'm sorry, I just realized that I am replying to a topic that the poster obviously has very limited Bible knowledge and is probably posting solely from hearsay. I can't even reply to the rest. When you pick up the Book that you judge so harshly and actually study it, then we can have this discussion again.

 

[Raz]

The second reason why He tried to kill us was because the Romans tried building the coliseums as a sort of tower to get into Heaven and have Godly power themselves,

Er, Romans were Jesus' time. The Tower of BABYLON was built during the Old Testament. And God didn't kill them, he just spread people out and gave them all new languages.


That is, if you believe in such.

 

[Brandonazz]

A Christian is someone who believes that Jesus of Nazareth existed and was divine, with implied acceptance of the holy texts regarding him.

 

[Nazo]

This pretty much proves that God loves us just as much as He hates us. Which is just enough amount that equals certain doom upon all humanity. If you're not reading the passages right and carefully on how He, although has brought upon good deeds, has tried to screw with us since the dawn of time to the point of contradicting Himself in order to kill us, then you, sir, are a damn retard stuck in the light of the illusion that God is nothing but a good person. Fuck no. That is not true at all.

Than are you suggesting that God is nothing but a selfish, power hungry, entity who secretly wishes to kill us all?

True, God can show wrath, anger, and what not, but that does not mean he is some iron-fisted tyrant as you're making him sound. And if you believe he is, then YOU are a damn retard for blinding yourself to the real God. Best of luck when your judgment day comes.

 

[Joy]

A christian is anyone who follows exactly the holy word of God.

Why wouldn't it be?

 

[Forever Atlas]

Well, no person can follow it exactly. God knows we are not perfect, however he sees the effort we put into it. It's about following the word of God to the best of our ability, and he knows when we give it our best.

 

[Reika Noko]

Than are you suggesting that God is nothing but a selfish, power hungry, entity who secretly wishes to kill us all?

True, God can show wrath, anger, and what not, but that does not mean he is some iron-fisted tyrant as you're making him sound. And if you believe he is, then YOU are a damn retard for blinding yourself to the real God. Best of luck when your judgment day comes.

True, He is a bastard, but He is also a reliable and faithful one. Although He brought upon His wrath upon us because of what we did (by which He apparently contradicted himself about that sin), He did give us the natural things we have today. But of course He would want to kill us but then again, He wouldn't want to go through the creation of mankind. You misinterpreted it a bit too far. Yes, I said He was an asshole who, of course, if He is to be God then He must be the ruler of all, even if He has to be just as equal in evil just as us humans have to be for Him to get us to listen. Like the quote said, He loves us and hates us all the same. Going to many extremities. So between Him and humanity, it's a love/hate relationship. He's not totally evil, but He's not totally good either.

Besides, Judgment days are crap. We already went through those things twice, and we can handle it already. So it's our fault that we filled everything with hypocrisy whether we know it or not. I'm surprised you don't reply to my entire posts but just the last paragraphs. You seriously have nothing to say to the rest?

 

[E.J.]

Anyone who has dedicated there life to God and worships him.

 

[Reika Noko]

Anyone who has dedicated there life to God and worships him.

Let's hope they don't become too dedicated...

 

[Nazo]

True, He is a bastard, but He is also a reliable and faithful one. Although He brought upon His wrath upon us because of what we did (by which He apparently contradicted himself about that sin), He did give us the natural things we have today. But of course He would want to kill us but then again, He wouldn't want to go through the creation of mankind. You misinterpreted it a bit too far. Yes, I said He was an asshole who, of course, if He is to be God then He must be the ruler of all, even if He has to be just as equal in evil just as us humans have to be for Him to get us to listen. Like the quote said, He loves us and hates us all the same. Going to many extremities. So between Him and humanity, it's a love/hate relationship. He's not totally evil, but He's not totally good either.

Besides, Judgment days are crap. We already went through those things twice, and we can handle it already. So it's our fault that we filled everything with hypocrisy whether we know it or not. I'm surprised you don't reply to my entire posts but just the last paragraphs. You seriously have nothing to say to the rest?

Forever Atlas pretty much took care of all the rest for me. Especially the stuff about how God tried to kill us all without warning before Noah built his ark.

Also, are you serious trying to tell me that God hates humanity? Do you not know that hate is a sin and God is incapable of sin? God does not hate humanity, but like Atlas said knows we are imperfect and of course he may be upset and angered with the actions that people in this world will choose (aren't we all? There are some pretty sick people out there after all), but the Bible states that God loves us all unconditionally(unless we're referring to that eternal sin thing I said before.) because we're all his children. Parents(well, good parents anyway) love their children no matter what they do. The same thing applies to God in this case.

So, yes God does show negative emotion towards humanity for what it's done, but God does not hate humanity. God is an entity of grace, not spite, and not both.

 

[Reika Noko]

Forever Atlas pretty much took care of all the rest for me. Especially the stuff about how God tried to kill us all without warning before Noah built his ark.

Also, are you serious trying to tell me that God hates humanity? Do you not know that hate is a sin and God is incapable of sin? God does not hate humanity, but like Atlas said knows we are imperfect and of course he may be upset and angered with the actions that people in this world will choose (aren't we all? There are some pretty sick people out there after all), but the Bible states that God loves us all unconditionally(unless we're referring to that eternal sin thing I said before.) because we're all his children. Parents(well, good parents anyway) love their children no matter what they do. The same thing applies to God in this case.

So, yes God does show negative emotion towards humanity for what it's done, but God does not hate humanity. God is an entity of grace, not spite, and not both.

Anger in itself is sin. He tried killing us out of Anger. Therefore, also with the Bible, He contradicted Himself.

And children take after their parents most of the time you know. If we were created from God, and God had no evil within Him as well to be in balance with good, we would have no such thing as sins or evil at all. To create something imperfect, the being must be imperfect itself. Even if it means that God is, whether you like it or not, you blissfully ignorant human.

 

[Nazo]

Anger in itself is sin. He tried killing us out of Anger. Therefore, also with the Bible, He contradicted Himself.

And children take after their parents most of the time you know. If we were created from God, and God had no evil within Him as well to be in balance with good, we would have no such thing as sins or evil at all. To create something imperfect, the being must be imperfect itself. Even if it means that God is, whether you like it or not, you blissfully ignorant human.

Lol you called me ignorant. Cute.

Anger isn't a sin Reika. That would be hate. Anger is an emotion that can become hate. Anger is a feeling of displeasure caused by a wrong doing be it yours or someone else. In that case, if anger is a sin, than that means God sinned when Satan betrayed him. And that doesn't make any sense. Also, the only two humans who were born before sin existed were Adam and Eve and they were perfect except for one thing God gave them: free will. God gave us free will because He wanted us to choose whether or not to follow Him instead of us all being His instantly.

Because of that free will, Adam and Eve were tempted to power by Satan and they fell just as he did and that's when the first sin ever was commited. EVERY other human has been born since. So, we were supposed to be perfect and clean, but becasue of our free will we strayed from that perfection and lost sight of God and over the years the truth about God has become more and more twisted and more confused until people come up with opinions about God as twisted as yours.

 

[Reika Noko]

Anger isn't a sin Reika.

Anger, Wrath, same thing.

That would be hate.

Exactly.

Anger is an emotion that can become hate.

Yes...

Anger is a feeling of displeasure caused by a wrong doing be it yours or someone else. In that case, if anger is a sin, than that means God sinned when Satan betrayed him.

And He did. If you look back, it said that God was angered with the fact that Satan tried to gain powers that equaled His as well.

And that doesn't make any sense.

Yes it does.

Also, the only two humans who were born before sin existed were Adam and Eve

But the events you listed happened afterwords in time, not before.

and they were perfect except for one thing God gave them: free will. God gave us free will because He wanted us to choose whether or not to follow Him instead of us all being His instantly.

Then people start making excuses such as "fate" and "It was what God told us to do. Therefore, it was not a crime." Remember the story of that priest who told people to pay him after they confessed their sins in the confession booth? And let's not forget the rape concerning the church. Then they say that they followed "God's words and instructions" during the the ceremony where a nun must vow to never act against what would be acted upon her. Corruptness ensues.

Because of that free will, Adam and Eve were tempted to power by Satan and they fell just as he did and that's when the first sin ever was commited.

At least, that's what some passages say. Others say it was because Eve, being naturally stupid, ate a fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil because He said not to. Besides, they didn't go to Hell. They went to Asia, Adam met Lilith, then she made a lot of babies that migrated and the circle life continues...

EVERY other human has been born since. So, we were supposed to be perfect and clean, but becasue of our free will we strayed from that perfection and lost sight of God

Due to hypocrisy that has been flooding the church. Then the secrets started getting out. Which are 1/3 of what's kept in the dark from the public.

Because God gave us free will and over the years the truth about God has become more and more twisted and more confused until people come up with opinions about God as twisted as yours.

You mean the Bible? Which is 1/8 of what they covered about God, made up of everyone's opinions over the years. Plus translation issues, laxing on the law of God (i.e. today), and the fact that they collect money...Why? Is there any reason why God needs money daily?

I say God is both good and evil. He gave us the Earth, we are grateful. He gave us free will, we used it to our advantage. We gained knowledge, and He realizes that even He, who is a deity, has made mistakes. So He should be at fault as much as we. Fight fire with fire, they say... And if humans were to listen to that, then God did just that.

Fight sin by committing sin.