In 2019, Christians represent 65% of the total adult population, 43% identifying as Protestants, 20% as Catholics, and 2% as Mormons. People with no formal religious identity at 26% of the total population.
double life., like US politicians. from mon-fri - evil politicians bomb here, bomb there....weekend- pastor talk about righteousness like buddha ma. just kidding. wakaka
Well, I think we need to have a "balanced view" when taking about God.
One should go for courses on theology, philosophy (Philosophy of God/Religion, Cultural Anthropology, etc.) to get a fair conceptualization of God. To talk about God, a lot of things need to be clarified.
Remember this: Calvin's conversion experience should be respected as this is something that makes him a better person. Believe in Jesus Christ is the centerpiece of Christianity - we should live a good life, and at the same time, we realize we are only humans with many imperfections (as no one is perfect). Some people might experience what we term as "private revelations by divine interventions." Private revelations are MEANT for the "person who experienced them" as the messages received are intended for him alone - different from "public revelations" that are applied to everyone. Not everyone has the same experience as we are all unique in our own way. If a private revelation leads a person to be a better person, then it bears fruit and it is good. So, Calvin becomes a better person - so his story needs to be respected.
Surely in this modern, scientific world, if a person claimed God appears to him and talks to him everyday, we would doubt whether it is true. These experiences could be due to real divine intervention, the dark power or psychological issues. Which is why we need to differentiate between "authentic and inauthentic experiences." When it comes to certain private revelations "which attain worldwide and public attraction – with the directive for the messages to be spread to the whole world (not in Calvin’s case), usually the Church would come out and do investigations (not in the case of "private revelations as experienced by many born-again faithful)." Private revelation, “intended only for the recipient”, is fine as long as it bears good fruit in certain aspect of life.
Many laypeople today misunderstand the claim/term, "God appears to me in his whole self, and talks to me face-to-face." This is our common human language Well, when God intends to communicate with a person, it is usually done through visions, apparitions, etc. (theological concepts dealing with revelations). These are the "channels" where the divine communicates with humans. But they are something RARE and not everyone will experience them.
GOD DOES NOT APPEAR TO A PERSON (IN THIS MODERN WORLD CONTEXT AND UNDERSTANDING) IN HIS WHOLE SELF, AND DOES NOT TALK TO HIM FACE-TO-FACE (like the way we meet up our friend and talk to him face-to-face). Instead, God uses visions, apparitions to communicate - these are NOT SEEING GOD FACE-TO-FACE. Since authentic visions or apparitions are RARE, some of these experiences could be caused by psychological factors or other forces that are not of divine origin. Nevertheless, what Calvin had experienced is something bearing fruit and should be respected. They are true and real to Calvin as his experiences brought something 'good unto him.’ We are all sinners, and we need to become better through the grace of God.
Of course, at the same time, we should respect other religions as there are many people of other faith. For example, Christianity and Buddhism all teach good values and virtues - leading people to become better in their life and so can attain their intended afterlife. Christianity and Buddhism do have a lot of differences when it comes to certain beliefs, doctrines or teachings, but they present faithful with meaningful lessons. In this case, all religions need to be respected in the public arena.
Remember, it is true that there are religious institutions which are involved in immoral practices. Well, these are human weaknesses. No religion is perfect in this world. As long as there are humans, they are surely some problems. Yes, some (not all) new religious sects or cults are going after financial benefits rather than sincere preaching. But there are also a lot which are sincere. Some (not all) people who are involved in Vatican dealings have certain problems or issues while some are honest. The same goes to other religions. But this doesn't mean that the "core teaching" of religion is no good - since all religions teach the same "universal value" - love, care, charity. Religious institutions need financial support from the faithful, this applies to all. Definitely, we should be careful if a religious institution manipulates people financially, or misleads people with weird, funny teachings. In general, all religions teach good values. But not all faithful are good. Some are good, some are not. This is important to note.
The Church maintains that faith and reason goes together. God’s existence is seen both in the supernatural and the natural. The Church doesn’t see science as going against religion, but sees it as something to explore more about this world which is not answered by religion. Science still cannot explain many things in religion since they are beyond human’s limited 5 senses.
The Church even encourages the progress of science to explore more about this world. Even in science and natural things (apart from religion), we can still explain the existence of God. Christianity fades in the US and Europe. Churches which were previously fully filled are now slightly occupied during Sunday mass or service. But that doesn’t mean that God no longer exists.
This is a common and popular question! Why does God allow suffering and sorrows in this world? It needs a lengthy discussion, but I just make it short. If one looks at theology, everything good or bad happens under the watchful eyes of God. But we ask, "Why does God allow bad things to happen?” Well, we need to understand this. When God creates humans, God gives us freedom to live in this world. And since we have freedom or free will, we can do good or bad things. So, God allows things to happen by respecting our fully given freedom. This is different from saying that God causes all bad things to happen. God “allows humans to use their freedom as they are created free.” In doing so, humans might use freedom to do either good or bad deeds.
In saying so, suffering could be due to a lot of factors – divine purpose, one’s sin, weaknesses, upbringing, influences from others, genetic/natural tendencies, the dark power, other peoples’ action, circumstances/situations we are in, and/or mother nature/natural events (either due to purely natural consequences, or human actions which cause the nature, climate, world to change). Though we try to understand the meaning behind all these sufferings and/or evils, we can get some ideas. However, on another perspective, at times suffering is still "a part of the mystery." We might be able to EXPLAIN SOMETHING, but of course, we still CANNOT EXPLAIN EVERYTHING.
Whether a person wants to believe in God, surely it is his own decision or choice. We need to differentiate between "belief in God's existence by a person" and "God's actual existence." DON'T MIX THEM UP!
IF you do not believe in the Almighty God, then the Almighty God does not exist FOR YOU ONLY, but this DOESN'T mean that the Almighty God really DOESN'T EXIST OUT THERE. For those who believe, the Almighty God does exist for them. Of course, what you wish to believe is what it makes REAL FOR YOU, BUT THIS DOESN'T MEAN IT IS REAL OUTSIDE THERE! Since there are some unjustified, unfair ideas presented here, it is justified to say something here.
The world is surely filled with a lot of inequality and unfairness. While it is true that some people are more predisposed to do bad things like cheating, stealing, hurting people, etc. due to the environment, circumstance they are in, or even due to their genetic, it is therefore our human responsibility to lead everyone to the right pathway (as intended by God). But one might have asked, would they go to heaven or hell? How would God judge them? Well, we cannot really answer whether this or that person would be saved. All is required is to repent and believe in Jesus/God. Whether the person would be saved or not DEPENDS ON GOD! We can’t say for certainty – we are only humans. But one thing we need to remember, we should try to be a good person in this world!
Regardless of what is said above, though humans try to understand God, WE CANNOT KNOW EVERYTHING ABOUT GOD! Yes, God did reveal to us all that is important to our salvation, but we cannot “ABSOLUTELY KNOW” EVERYTHING ABOUT GOD! We know something about God, but GOD IS STILL LARGELY A MYSTERY AND UNKNOWN TO US! We can understand something about God, trying our best, however OUR KNOWLEDGE IS STILL LIMITED!
“GOD IS GOD, AND GOD IS GREATER THAN WHAT WE CAN THINK ABOUT HIM! PRAISE AND THANK GOD!”
I am a Muslim and I respected Jesus ( pbuh) as a prophet but not as a God. Can any Christian explained why you regarded Jesus as a God while he prayed to another God and he had beginning and ending like human.
When Jesus (the 2nd person of the Godhead became man He emptied Himself and humbled Himself to come down to earth to be born as a man through virgin Mary
Because of Adam sin entered into the world and death by sin . so death passed upon all men
Jesus is called the 2nd man from heaven who did no sin but suffered and paid for our sins by His death of the cross where He shed His precious blood to wash away all our sins
because without shedding of Blood there is no propitiation (forgiveness ) of sin
The Jews used to sacrifice a lamb or goat on the day of atonement (Yom kippur)
The lamb was killed in Moses time when the blood was applied to the door posts so that the death angel will not enter to kill the 1st born son during the last plaque
But that lamb is a type
They called it the Passover
Passover in judgment of their sins because in future day God sent His Son to be the Lamb of the World that truly take away men's sins
Once there lived a sheep with her baby lamb But the mother sheep died and the baby lamb needed milk
So the farmer put the baby lamb to feed from another sheep
The sheep could smell that this lamb is not hers
So she refused to give her milk
Knowing that the lamb will not survive the farmer thought of an idea
The sheep had also lost her lamb which has died
So he took the skin of the dead baby lamb and wrapped it over the living lamb
Now the sheep smelled the skin of her baby and allowed the orphaned lamb to take her milk and live
The morale of the story is this
When Adam and Eve took and ate that forbidden fruit they sinned and found out that they were naked And them made clothing out of leaves to cover themselves
calvintaneng Trinity was not in the bible but was put in the bible but later on removed from the bible because bible scholars found the earlier version of Greek manuscript did not contained such verses.
As Trinity is a core doctrine of the Christians, how can you believed in this core doctrine if it was not mentioned in the bible. Instead there are many verses in the bible ( Old Testament and New Testament) that said the oneness of God. God's nature shouldnt change forever. If God is one during Adam's time, and Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Moses etc it cannot become a triune God during Jesus's time as Jesus himself said:-
Mark 12:29Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.
The word Trinity has never been included in the Canon of the Bible
So there was no mention in the Greek NT nor the removal
If you read the Book of Esther you won't find the word "God" mentioned in the whole book. Yet God is working through Modecai & Queen Esther to save Israel from annihilation
EngineeringProfit Posted by smalltimer > Jan 1, 2020 11:58 AM | Report Abuse
We were taught, God is loving. If God had forgive his Creation, non of us have to live & suffer.
___________
Brilliant! Common sense is uncommon. And simple thing has to be made complicated by people with power - in order to wield power. haha 01/01/2020 12:02 PM
EngineeringProfit From a flawless creator, angels are created as messengers and do not have free will, despite possessing the knowledge of good and evil. They are not subject of the material limitations of death. Moreover, angels have no carnal needs; they do not crave physical pleasure. In addition, They are not subject of the material limitations of death.
Mankind was given something very unique from the time of creation. Man received a free will, so that he could make his own choices according to his own free will. 01/01/2020 8:22 PM
EngineeringProfit Posted by smalltimer > Jan 1, 2020 11:58 AM | Report Abuse
We were taught, God is loving. If God had forgive his Creation, non of us have to live & suffer.
___________
Brilliant! Common sense is uncommon. And simple thing has to be made complicated by people with power - in order to wield power. haha 01/01/2020 12:02 PM
EngineeringProfit From a flawless creator, angels are created as messengers and do not have free will, despite possessing the knowledge of good and evil. They are not subject of the material limitations of death. Moreover, angels have no carnal needs; they do not crave physical pleasure. In addition, They are not subject of the material limitations of death.
Mankind was given something very unique from the time of creation. Man received a free will, so that he could make his own choices according to his own free will. 01/01/2020 8:22 PM
Calvin replies:
There is both truth & error mixed together here
1) God did create angels with free will to chose to love & obey God or also to disobey Him
How do we know?
See in Revelation 12
7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
One third of the Angels rebelled against God by choosing Lucifer: Two third of angels remain faithful & true to God in heaven
EngineeringProfit Posted by smalltimer > Jan 1, 2020 11:58 AM | Report Abuse
We were taught, God is loving. If God had forgive his Creation, non of us have to live & suffer.
Calvin replies:
God is loving is true.
God has provided a means to forgive & save His Creation by the atoning death of His Son on the cross shedding His Precious Blood to wash away their sins & save all to the uttermost
But it is not automatic
It must be an individual decision
Just as now there is Covid 19
And Vaccines are available
Not all are immediately vaccinated
Each person must decide to get the vaccine individually (not automatic & not by force) But by free choice
So God has provided the means of Salvation. Each person MUST ACCEPT BY FAITH & CALL UPON THE NAME OF JESUS HIMSELF/HERSELF TO BE SAVED
Romans 10:13 (King James Version) For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved
EngineeringProfit Posted by smalltimer > Jan 1, 2020 11:58 AM | Report Abuse
Mankind was given something very unique from the time of creation. Man received a free will, so that he could make his own choices according to his own free will. 01/01/2020 8:22 PM
THIS IS CORRECT:
MAN IS CREATED WITH A FREE WILL (NOT A ROBOT)
THEREFORE MAN IS ACCOUNTABLE BEFORE GOD FOR ALL HIS CHOICES, WORDS & DEEDS IN THIS LIFE ON EARTH AS HE SHALL HAVE TO GIVE AN ACCOUNT OF HIMSELF ON THE JUDGMENT DAY
Hebrews 9: 27
Berean Study Bible Just as man is appointed to die once, and after that to face judgment,
Berean Literal Bible And inasmuch as it is apportioned to men to die once, and after this, judgment,
King James Bible And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
New King James Version And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,
New American Standard Bible And just as it is destined for people to die once, and after this comes judgment,
NASB 1995 And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment,
NASB 1977 And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment,
Amplified Bible And just as it is appointed and destined for all men to die once and after this [comes certain] judgment,
Christian Standard Bible And just as it is appointed for people to die once—and after this, judgment —
Holman Christian Standard Bible And just as it is appointed for people to die once—and after this, judgment—
American Standard Version And inasmuch as it is appointed unto men once to die, and after this cometh judgment;
Aramaic Bible in Plain English And just as it is appointed to the children of men to die once, and after their deaths the judgment,
Contemporary English Version We die only once, and then we are judged.
Douay-Rheims Bible And as it is appointed unto men once to die, and after this the judgment:
English Revised Version And inasmuch as it is appointed unto men once to die, and after this cometh judgment;
Good News Translation Everyone must die once, and after that be judged by God.
GOD'S WORD® Translation People die once, and after that they are judged.
International Standard Version Indeed, just as people are destined to die once and after that to be judged,
Literal Standard Version and as it is reserved for men to die once, and after this—judgment,
NET Bible And just as people are appointed to die once, and then to face judgment,
New Heart English Bible Inasmuch as it is appointed for people to die once, and after this, judgment,
Weymouth New Testament And since it is reserved for all mankind once to die, and afterwards to be judged;
God sent His Son, they called Him Jesus He came to love, heal and forgive He lived and died, to buy my pardon An empty grave is there to prove my Savior lives.
CHORUS: Because He lives, I can face tomorrow Because He lives, all fear is gone Because I know, He holds the future And life is worth the living Just because He lives
VERSE 2: How sweet to hold a newborn Baby And feel the pride and joy He gives But greater still the calm assurance This Child can face uncertain days because He lives
CHORUS: Because He lives, I can face tomorrow Because He lives, all fear is gone Because I know, He holds the future And life is worth the living Just because He lives
VERSE 3: And then one day, I'll cross the river I'll fight life's final war with pain And then as death gives way to victory I'll see the lights of glory And I'll know He lives
CHORUS: Because He lives, I can face tomorrow Because He lives, all fear is gone Because I know, I know, He holds the future And life is worth the living Just because He lives
ENDING: And life is worth the living Just because He lives.
1 One day when heaven was filled with His praises, One day when sin was as black as could be, Jesus came forth to be born of a virgin, Dwelt among men, my example is He!
Refrain Living, He loved me; dying, He saved me; Buried, He carried my sins far away; Rising, He justified freely, forever; One day He’s coming: O glorious day!
2 One day they led Him up Calvary’s mountain, One day they nailed Him to die on the tree; Suffering anguish, despised and rejected, Bearing our sins, my Redeemer is He! [Refrain]
3 One day they left Him alone in the garden, One day He rested, from suffering free; Angels came down o’er His tomb to keep vigil; Hope of the hopeless, my Savior is He! [Refrain]
4 One day the grave could conceal Him no longer, One day the stone rolled away from the door; Then He arose, over death He had conquered, Now is ascended, my Lord ever more! [Refrain]
5 One day the trumpet will sound for His coming, One day the skies with His glory will shine; Wonderful day, my beloved ones bringing; Glorious Savior, this Jesus is mine! [Refrain]
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calvintaneng
56,036 posts
Posted by calvintaneng > 2021-08-29 14:39 | Report Abuse
Chinaman
You got it all wrong
The Church & politics are separate
US Govt does not represent Christianity
Christianity does not condone selling cigarettes of which US is number one exporter
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Separation_of_church_and_state_in_the_United_States
I am a Chinese. That does not mean I am a Communist
I am not.