Why are you a Christian?

[JBlack]

I'm looking to better understand Christians and Christianity. I would like a couple of Christians to just answer a couple of questions.

1. How, why and when did you become a Christian?

2. What has reassured you that your religion is the one, true religion?

3. Outside of the fact that the Bible says so, how do you know that the Bible is the Word of God?

4. Is your God perfect?

5. Is your God the creator of evil? ...If not, then who created evil and how did they obtain the ability to create it?

6. What is the purpose of life?

7. What do you think of people who don't believe in Christianity?

8. Do you understand why others don't believe in Christianity?

9. Have you ever questioned the truthfulness of Christianity or the the validity of Bible? Why or why not?

10. Have you ever questioned God? Why or why not?

not looking for debate, just some answers

[puddleglum]

I'm looking to better understand Christians and Christianity. I would like a couple of Christians to just answer a couple of questions.

I think this is more that a couple of questions.

1. How, why and when did you become a Christian?

I have always believed that the Bible is the word of God because I was raised in a family that believed it but in my early life I didn't receive much instruction in what it taught. I joined a church and tried to live up to the Bible because I thought that that was the way to earn salvation. When I was sixteen years old I was finally taught that salvation is a free gift which we can receive by faith because Jesus has paid for our sins by his death and resurrection.

2. What has reassured you that your religion is the one, true religion?

Jesus claimed to be the only way to God and the fact that he rose from the dead after his crucifixion is reason to believe that what he said can be believed.

3. Outside of the fact that the Bible says so, how do you know that the Bible is the Word of God?

It contains prophecies that have been fulfilled and are being fulfilled today. Historians and archaeologists have confirmed that it is historically correct. Believing and obeying it has made a postitive change in my life.

4. Is your God perfect?

Yes

5. Is your God the creator of evil? ...If not, then who created evil and how did they obtain the ability to create it?

Evil is not something that was created. It is a negative quality resulting from the absence of good, just as darkness is the absence of life. God has given some of his creatures free will, meaning that they have the power to obey or disobey him, and some of them have chosen to disobey.

6. What is the purpose of life?

To bring glory to God by serving him. The only way we can achieve permanent happiness is by doing this.

7. What do you think of people who don't believe in Christianity?

They are in spiritual darkness and I have an obligation to do what I can to help them.

8. Do you understand why others don't believe in Christianity?

Yes, because there was a time when I didn't really believe in it.

9. Have you ever questioned the truthfulness of Christianity or the the validity of Bible? Why or why not?

Yes, I have found things in the Bible which seemed wrong, but after studying them I have come to the conclusion that the Bible is true.

10. Have you ever questioned God? Why or why not?

Yes, there have often been times when I didn't understand what was going on in my life and it seemed as if God had forgotten me, but I have found that in the end God is in control and uses the problems in my life to bring about good results.

[JBlack]

I'm looking to better understand Christians and Christianity. I would like a couple of Christians to just answer a couple of questions.

I think this is more that a couple of questions.

Sorry about that. I started off with 4. Somehow 4 questions became 10. I meant to come back and edit this post. I wanted to change a couple questions, and take some questions away. It slipped my mind though. Thank you for taking the time to answer all 10.

2. What has reassured you that your religion is the one, true religion?

Jesus claimed to be the only way to God and the fact that he rose from the dead after his crucifixion is reason to believe that what he said can be believed.

What has reassured you that Jesus really did rise from the dead?

3. Outside of the fact that the Bible says so, how do you know that the Bible is the Word of God?

It contains prophecies that have been fulfilled and are being fulfilled today. Historians and archaeologists have confirmed that it is historically correct. Believing and obeying it has made a postitive change in my life.

Are there any prophecies you feel have failed?

6. What is the purpose of life?

To bring glory to God by serving him. The only way we can achieve permanent happiness is by doing this.

I've never understood this. Personally, I find the idea, that the whole purpose of our lives is to be a servant for a man we never met, to be a depressing one.

Then again, I guess Christians feel that they have met God.

9. Have you ever questioned the truthfulness of Christianity or the the validity of Bible? Why or why not?

Yes, I have found things in the Bible which seemed wrong, but after studying them I have come to the conclusion that the Bible is true.

Can you give an example?

[puddleglum]

What has reassured you that Jesus really did rise from the dead?

One thing is the effect it had on those who claimed to have seen him. They were willing to give their lives to spread the gospel.

Are there any prophecies you feel have failed?

I can't think of any. Some of the prophecies are still in the future and sometimes people have claimed that prophecies have failed because they didn't understand them.

There is one prophecy that is being fulfilled right now. That is the prophecy that at the end of the age God would allow the Jews to return to their home and once again have a nation of their own.

9. Have you ever questioned the truthfulness of Christianity or the the validity of Bible? Why or why not?

Yes, I have found things in the Bible which seemed wrong, but after studying them I have come to the conclusion that the Bible is true.

Can you give an example?

At one time I had a problem with the accounts of Jesus' resurrection because it seemed to me that they contradicted each other. But after I had studied them I came to the conclusion that the differences were simply those that always occur when independent witnesses give there accounts of an event. There will be differences in which details they include and the emphasis they give to them. I have found that all of the apparent discrepancies can be explained. In fact they are actually evidence for the truth of the gospels because they show that the authors were acting independently in their decisions of what details to include. They also show that the gospels have not been edited by church leaders, as some people claim, because if they had they would have been rewritten to that there wouldn't even be any appearance of any discrepancies.

[lorene]

1. How, why and when did you become a Christian?

By grace alone, because He called me, depends on ones perspective really...

2. What has reassured you that your religion is the one, true religion?

See above answer...

3. Outside of the fact that the Bible says so, how do you know that the Bible is the Word of God?

Knowing what the bible says is important before one can know what the bible says so...

4. Is your God perfect?

If He feels like it...

5. Is your God the creator of evil?

Yes.

6. What is the purpose of life?

All things are for His enjoyment, pleasure, entertainment...

7. What do you think of people who don't believe in Christianity?

They are wrong.

8. Do you understand why others don't believe in Christianity?

Yes.

9. Have you ever questioned the truthfulness of Christianity or the the validity of Bible?

Yes.

Why or why not?

Human nature perhaps...

10. Have you ever questioned God?

Yes.

Why or why not?

It's hard to have a conversation without questions.

[lorene]

3. Outside of the fact that the Bible says so, how do you know that the Bible is the Word of God?

Knowing what the bible says is important before one can know what the bible says so...

IOW's, where does the bible say, in the bible, that the bible is the word of God?

[McCulloch]

Why [strike]are [/strike]were you a Christian? I'll bite.

1. How, why and when did you become a Christian?

I was eighteen or nineteen, looking for certainty and direction. These people with their revelation from God seemed to have the answers.

2. What has reassured you that your religion is the one, true religion?

It was from God. So long as you believe and follow the instructions to humanity directly from our Creator, you could not miss. If I or we were in error on any particular point, I was assured that more Bible study would uncover it and we would repent.

3. Outside of the fact that the Bible says so, how do you know that the Bible is the Word of God?

Here is the odd thing about that. Nowhere in the Bible is there a claim that the Bible is from God. There are a number of claims that a specific writing is from God but nowhere in the Bible is the Bible as a whole referred to. This is probably because when they were writing, the writers of the Bible had no concept that their writings would later be put together and published as a single volume.

However, that is off topic. I felt that I knew that the Bible was the word of God because, yes, I was told that it said that it was the word of God (a claim I did not investigate skeptically until later) and that if it was not the word of God, then I feared a return to directionlessness, aimlessness and ambiguity, the argument from consequences fallacy. That and the standard laundry list of evidences:

• Internal evidences
  • Lack of contradictions
  • Fulfilled prophesy and claims of miracles. If they were false, why wouldn't the many enemies of early Christianity point them out?
  • Incredible consistency throughout, God's plan for the salvation of humanity was said to be a single theme ringing out through the entire book (another claim I did not investigate skeptically until later).
  • Its own claims of divine inspiration
• External evidences
  • It has been protected for centuries
  • It changed people's lives
  • ancient witnesses
  • people in the early church died for it, how could they if it were a lie?

4. Is your God perfect?

Absolutely.

5. Is your God the creator of evil? ...If not, then who created evil and how did they obtain the ability to create it?

Yes, God created evil for his own reasons.

6. What is the purpose of life?

To glorify God.

7. What do you think of people who don't believe in Christianity?

There were two types. Those who were ignorant and those who were evil. The first group needed to be taught. The second group needed to be avoided or opposed. Sometimes it would be difficult to tell the difference.

8. Do you understand why others don't believe in Christianity?

I do now. Back then I did not. I was quite obnoxious in my efforts to enlighten folks.

9. Have you ever questioned the truthfulness of Christianity or the the validity of Bible? Why or why not?

At first no. My main focus was finding the true and pure expression of Biblical Christianity and to separate it from the human addition of doctrines and practices which divide Christians and may not glorify God.

10. Have you ever questioned God? Why or why not?

First the Bible. I started to notice that the deeper you go, the less satisfying the answers really are. The contradictions could only be solved by tortuous logic. The evidential basis was weak. Get rid of the Bible and God was not that far behind, although we did investigate a few other forms of spirituality after leaving Christianity.

[bjs]

1. How, why and when did you become a Christian?

I became a Christian in my late teens. I thought (and still think) that the world makes the most sense if there is a God. I did not realize it at the time, but my own thoughts followed the same lines as some of the classical arguments for theism.

At first I was drawn specifically to Christianity for personal and emotional reasons. I knew more Christians than any other religion, so I had the most access to that religion. I was also struggling with guilt over repeatedly falling into what I considered to be immoral behavior. Christianity seems to deal most directly and effectively with issues of sin and redemption. Once I studied the teachings and life of Jesus, and considered the evidence for his resurrection I became convinced that if any religion is true then it is Christianity.

2. What has reassured you that your religion is the one, true religion?

See above.

3. Outside of the fact that the Bible says so, how do you know that the Bible is the Word of God?

To be honest: Faith. I have a few other reasons, but when you boil it all down it is faith. If the Bible is not true then we have no objective means of knowing God. If we must rely completely on subjective experience and our own guess work to know God then we can’t really know God at all. I believe that if there is a theistic God then He wants us to Him. Since I believe in God and Jesus Christ, I find that faith in the truth of the Bible must follow. Otherwise, God is unknowable and it is the same as saying that there is no God.


4. Is your God perfect?

Yes.

5. Is your God the creator of evil? ...If not, then who created evil and how did they obtain the ability to create it?

No. Taking my cue from Augustine of Hippo (who took his cue from Plato): Evil is not something that is created, but rather it is the lack of good. To take an old analogy: We can’t create darkness. We can only remove light. When we remove light, the result is darkness. In the same way we can’t create evil. We can only remove (corrupt, twist, distort) good. When we remove good, the result is evil.

6. What is the purpose of life?

To serve the Lord and rejoice in His presence.

7. What do you think of people who don't believe in Christianity?

Which ones? My goal is to not judge.

8. Do you understand why others don't believe in Christianity?

Sometimes. Real life is complicated. I don’t understand all the choices I make, so I certainly don’t claim to understand all the choices other people make.

9. Have you ever questioned the truthfulness of Christianity or the validity of Bible? Why or why not?

It depends what you mean. For instance, when I first became a Christian I was a literalist. The lasted a relatively short time (about two years), and then I began to gain a better understanding of symbolism and figurative language. My understanding of the Bible has changed, but to completely abandon the Bible would mean abandoning Christianity, and I have not done that.

10. Have you ever questioned God? Why or why not?

Yes. I have had both intellectual and emotional questions about God. For instance: The problem of evil first presented an intellectual question about the existence of God. Later I went through a time of prolonged hardship (the problem of evil working itself out in my own life) that presented and emotional question about God. I have faced this and a variety of other challenges, but as of yet I have maintained my faith in Christ.

[Slopeshoulder]

I'm looking to better understand Christians and Christianity. I would like a couple of Christians to just answer a couple of questions.

1. How, why and when did you become a Christian?

2. What has reassured you that your religion is the one, true religion?

3. Outside of the fact that the Bible says so, how do you know that the Bible is the Word of God?

4. Is your God perfect?

5. Is your God the creator of evil? ...If not, then who created evil and how did they obtain the ability to create it?

6. What is the purpose of life?

7. What do you think of people who don't believe in Christianity?

8. Do you understand why others don't believe in Christianity?

9. Have you ever questioned the truthfulness of Christianity or the the validity of Bible? Why or why not?

10. Have you ever questioned God? Why or why not?

not looking for debate, just some answers

1. Small answer: I was born, raised, educated, formed, baptized, and confirmed as christian. medium answer: it's where i first learned love, awe, compassion, onder, mystery, ethics, etc. Larger answer: it's my lens, and while I do try to stretch it, I have no desire to leave. It can't, it's my culture. It's my journey, my story, my language. Going to seminary deepened this.

2. I don't think such a thing exists. That's a dangerous, small minded, and ungodly illusion, although a popular belief. All religions are paths to the divine.

3. The Bible is the normative coillection of ancient writings for the christian tradition. I tmay cntain dvine truths; it is not the simple or literal word of God. That's false, silly, and idolatrous.

4. My conception of God will always be flawed. I find process theology (Whitehead) intriguing.

5. I don't know. I recommend readings in theodicy (thoughts about the problem of evil) for a variety of theories.

6. To overcome those things that keep us from God (fear, ego, arrogance, weakness, selfishness), and make our own life an example of co-creation with God. Sanctification. Union. Overcoming dualisms. Love. Finding and living the sacred.

7. Same as everyone else. I love them and learn from them. World religion is wonderful. I study it always, never trying to convince them of anything. Look for god/christ/brahmin/buddha/dao/truth from any credible source.

8. Sure. Too many reasons to list. I don't think God cares.

9. Of course. Faith must include doubt to be legitimate faith; otherwise it is false and arrogant "knowledge." We affirm faith without knowing, we doubt. You don't get a cookie for seeing that 2+2=4. You have to look at complexity and make something good with it, with no garuantees.

10. See 9.

It's about consciousness and lived commitments, not a list of "correct" beliefs. Orthopraxy, not Orthdoxy.
More technically, it's about emotive and performative assent, not propositional assent (look up Strawson and his influence on post-modern Christianity).
The lines of the creed or quotes from scripture are like zen koans, they are archetypal statements to wrestle with, that shape us, that help us break through to deeper awareness.
Or they are like poetry, redolent of layers of meaning.
Or like grammar, a language we speak in a community.
But to take it literally, without doubt, is childish and ignorant. It keeps you and God small.

I hope that helps.