It looks like you're using an Ad Blocker.
Please white-list or disable AboveTopSecret.com in your ad-blocking tool.
Thank you.
Some features of ATS will be disabled while you continue to use an ad-blocker.
Are you perfect? You never, ever do anything wrong? You never, ever do things that hurt yourself or others?
Really?
For example, my husband and I were cranky and snapped at each other this morning without reason. It caused hurt feelings. There you go. Sin.
absolutely not. I sought only to clarify for you the truth. It mattered not so much what you thought or what i could gain. I simply tried to address your specifics and as it went on, to quantify and clarify it because you showed some real concern. You never gave any declarations outside feelings that drive you. I try not to let my feelings and emotions get in the way of discerning truth. I only tried to provide light to a darkened room.
originally posted by: BuzzyWigs
I'm finding all of your answers to be very interesting.
I want to point out a few things, and wonder if they will change any of your thoughts/comments:
I did not say whether or not I WANT to be a Christian.
As I clarified earlier, I did not say I DON'T BELIEVE in God. Actually, I see "God" in everything.
I didn't ask "what should I do?"
And also: I am actually pretty comfortable with my position, while at the same time I didn't state how I 'categorize' myself, either.
Honestly, it's been quite interesting to read all of your responses and thoughts. I don't feel helplessly lost, and I didn't ask for "instructions" on how to be 'saved.' Your responses have come across with a variety of themes:
How-to guidance; pity/disappointment; simple legalism; semantics; cultural views; comparative approaches, and others.
One more question for you all:
Did this exercise cause you to think about your own views, and how they are assessed - by yourself AND contrasted as to how they might be assessed by others?
Christ died for our sins. Belief in that is the way to salvation, and it's not enough to just say you believe in it.
originally posted by: BuzzyWigs
a reply to: Serdgiam
I explained that in the OP. Simply curious - to get some insight into how the group here sees me - how they define "Christianity", and how they see themselves.
Some I suspected would say "yes" because I was baptized into the church and trained up in it...some I suspected would say "no" because I don't (and never did) believe the Nicene Creed or the miracles or Jesus being the only one.
It was sort of a 'poll' to get a feel for how members who hang out here think - not whether I can "join the club."
Basically I am asking why you presented the question in such a way that will define and limit the answers you receive. It would have likely been more productive to simply ask about how forumites go about defining their own Christianity (if you wanted to focus on that religion specifically), rather than how we define your beliefs. So, why do you ask the question in the first place?
Is it really so hard to be humble and admit you make mistakes? That's all you have to do.
We all want to believe the best of ourselves all the time when it is and isn't warranted.
originally posted by: BuzzyWigs
I wanted to know how they would 'receive me' if I approached them. That's all. It's not so nefarious as you're making it out to be. Last year I actually contemplated a plan to attend EVERY church within a square mile of my home - unannounced, to see how I would be received by the parishioners/congregations. I guess this was a way to do that without leaving home.
originally posted by: BuzzyWigs
a reply to: ketsuko
:
Baptized as an infant in the Episcopal Church…Attended churches of that denomination for 16 years…Attended Sunday School…Recited the Nicene Creed every Sunday…Participated in Mom's advent wreath/calendar stuff/bedtime and pre-meal prayers at home…Went to midnight Christmas Eve Mass as well as Sunrise Service at Easter…Sang in church choir…Tried my hardest to be 'worthy.'..Had a role in the Youth Group's production of Jesus Christ Superstar movie we made…Confirmed in Episcopal Church (after classes)…Stopped regular attendance around age 16…First marriage took place in Episcopal Church (after mandatory premarital 'counseling')…Had first child Baptized…Was never "excommunicated" (I don't even think Episcopalians do that, as far as I know)…Started looking into other faiths out of curiosity…No longer an attendee…Do I, or did I ever, believe:..Nicene Creed? No..Jesus's existence? Yes, probably…Jesus's message? Yes, insofar as the "Golden Rule" is concerned…Unconditional Forgiveness? Yes…Original sin? No…He died for our sins? No…Resurrection? Not the way it's taught. Maybe the swoon theory…Rose into heaven on a cloud? Nope…Will come again? No…Will judge everyone? No…Hell? No….Heaven with wings, halo, harp on cloud? Nope...
One life only? No. (Reincarnation? Yes.)..Once saved always saved? No…Jesus is the only way? No…The Bible is the inerrant word of God? No…Works or faith or both? Works only.
WOW ..no wonder you are so effed up!!
I am curious about your curiosity, as it were. Because it seems to be an exploration of social interaction more than an exploration of beliefs.
If you are looking for answers to those "big" questions, and some sort of solace,
that takes active practice on your behalf rather than relying on how others see you.
i thought it was pretty obvious you were baiting christiand from the get go. My first post addressed you with the word play you were engaged in. I played pool for a living in my youth and played professional poker for a number of years. What you were doing is called "the business" you were giving us the business. We see now what your true motives are.You, through your pride, thought in your heart that christians are dense and that we live with superficial ideals that govern us. That you, this great person, is more a christian than all those phonies and after you tell us all how christian you are weld all have to sit back and "question our faith". But you got something else didn't you? I saw Christian after Christian lovingly share with you how you simply had it wrong. That no, you simply had no idea what being a true Christian entails. You set a trap and fell in it. In the end you showed nothing but pride, a mortal sin that is the most common of all iniquities that seperate us from the love of our Father in Heaven. Your initial attempts at sincerity now look like a faux love that was meant to deceive others into the hole you first dug for us then fell into yourself. Your definition of christian which you attempted to redefine to make yourself its poster child was soon destroyed by those that actually could define it. You are not a Christian, but you are a christian. A worldly self appointed deity that through pride sets herself up above others and sets traps in order to elevate herself. Now that you, pridefully, explain your true motives we all can see how much you think of yourself and how it molds you into believing others are hypocrites by denying how good a person you are by comparison.
originally posted by: BuzzyWigs
a reply to: manna2
absolutely not.
"Absolutely not" what?
It didn't prompt you to think about your own faith? Okay then. Just wondered.