Is Christianity Dying?

I personally feel that the mainstream religions are dying because they are straying away from the only GOOD message they have ever preached. That message being one of "love, caring and understanding".

These things SHOULD be the cornerstones of Christianity, yet, more and more "Christians" are spreading the message of "hellfire and brimstone" to try to spread the word.


More people these days are willing to entertain a notion if they aren't being threatened to entertain it.



That's my 2 pennies and you can have them for free.


J

I think Christianity is dying because people in Europe and North America (to a lesser degree, but it's getting better) are realising (through easy access to good education amongst other things) that there is no god and that all religions are a load of crap.

Well I wouldn't go that far.....but close.

Originally posted by SimiusDei
I personally feel that the mainstream religions are dying because they are straying away from the only GOOD message they have ever preached. That message being one of "love, caring and understanding".

These things SHOULD be the cornerstones of Christianity, yet, more and more "Christians" are spreading the message of "hellfire and brimstone" to try to spread the word.


More people these days are willing to entertain a notion if they aren't being threatened to entertain it.



That's my 2 pennies and you can have them for free.


J

Alot of the original Christian teachings through the years have been most likely "modified" to suit the needs of the Church in order to keep the fear ingrained to anyone who commits sins. I think that fear is a driving principal in most major religions. I keeps people inline.

My belief in Jesus will never die friends.

Christianity is certainly not dying.


It is alive and well in a small, die-hard core of followers.


.....So, there is an increase in the spread of islam, as there is in the occult, etc., and Christianity is in the minority.


This has always been the case, though.

I am a Muslim and I believe Christianity is dying because it has evolved, changed according to what the Christians wanted during past centuries.
I was taught that Muslims believe in Injeel, Tawrat, Zabur, & Qur'an. Tawraat being the Torah. Injeel being the Bible.

The injeel are the gospels. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Barnabas et al. (there are many gospels, some of which that are not included the New Testament.)
The whole of the Bible is written by men, the Torah by Moses, Zaboor by David, and the Injeel is the life of Jesus which was recorded by his Apostles.
The whole of the Bible is written by men, the Torah by Moses, Zaboor by David, and the Injeel is the life of Jesus which was recorded by his Apostles.

That is why the Qur'an supercedes all of these previous books; because it is the only 1 out of 4 the scriptures that are directly from God, and no one else's words. Also because these books have been altered, even just by translating the text into a different language you lose the true meaning, and plus the fact the Injeel has many different takes on the life of Jesus also proves how they have been altered.

According to many Muslim scholars Jesus had his own gospel which was the Injeel, but it no longer exists and the New testaments of today is just teachings of Jesus recorded by men. So some of the New testaments maybe true and some may not. Allah knows best.

We already know that the Holy Qur'an is the infallible Word of God, revealed to our Holy Prophet Hazrat Muhummad Mustapha (Peace be upon him) word for word, through the agency of the Archangel Jibraeel, (known as Gabriel in English), and perfectly preserved and protected from human tampering for the past fourteen hundred years! 1 Even hostile critics of Islam have grudgingly vouched for the purity of the Holy Qur'an: "THERE IS PROBABLY IN THE WORLD NO OTHER BOOK WHICH HAS REMAINED TWELVE CENTURIES (now fourteen) WITH SO PURE A TEXT."

yay, one religion down many more to watch decay and fall in on themselves.

christianity, next we'll need the other big fish (islam) to go down
after that, hinduism.

all atheism has to do now for us to bring light to the world is keep talking about how there's an alternative based in logic and reason while the religions keep being unable to provide answers.

we'll have far more success in the educated world as the uneducated don't tend to be able to choose logic over superstition because they don't know any better.

Reply to madnessinmysoul
Nope Islam will never go down. Allah has said that it’s his responsibility to protect the pureness of Quran and will be never changed. This religion will grow and will keep growing at its fastest rate.

reply to post by Damien_Hell

And which religion did Christianity steal that one from?

I don't remember, . . can you think of it, offhand? More importantly, is it, like the rest of the "prophecy scriptures" relevant today? I wonder how the predictive texts of the past can match so well what is going to happen in the "last days" with what has actually become our material world today?

Five years ago I was -- for a brief period of time -- an atheist, and felt great about it. I had not always been atheist, but after doing a fairly exhaustive study of the bible from an historical point-of-view, I was shocked to find out how it began to fizzle out as a solid source the further back in time one goes, and concluded it all, then, must be hogwash.

What renewed my interest in that line of study was the knowledge of prophecy I had acquired during my life as a Christian. I had expectations of future events, down to the degree of severity expected, and for a while nothing was really happening in a dramatic way, I felt. In recent years, global life has gotten intensely dramatic, and just as the prophecies forewarned.

That is not proof of anything, but in my mind, coincidences should be studied.

I suspect that as long as people need to believe in something supernatural, something beyond the mundanities of their lives, there will be religion. Religion deals with the inexplicable. There is an infinite amount of inexplicability in the Universe. There's no reason to suppose that will change any time soon.

Christianity is just one of those religions. Anglicans would do well to remember that their own particular branch of Christianity was dreamed up as a matter of political expedience, rather than spiritual enlightenment. The point being, religions evolve to suit the societies that have adopted them - but they very rarely are extingushed altogether.

At the moment there are many countries around the world who use Islam as a vehicle for often violent resentment of other countries. The true causes of that resentment are many and varied, but Islam does little more than offer a psychological spearhead. It seems more fervent, more real and more (dare I say it) exciting than Christianity precisely because it represents fervent, excitable and very genuinely held social, political and spiritual beliefs. To some extent that encourages more people to follow Islam, simply because if you have the choice between a bright colour and a pastel you tend to look first at the one that stands out the most.

Christianity has held similar positions in peoples' minds through history, and may do again. The fundamental truths or teachings of Christianity, and Islam, have not changed in thousands of years. People's use of them is what constantly evolves. But it is an evolution, not a life cycle, for the reasons I describe in my first paragraph.

Originally posted by jedimiller
christianity is not a religion, it's a form of life.

Is this some sort of covert way of saying "Christianity isn't a religion, it's reality."? e_e;

Sure reeks of arrogance to me...

Originally posted by kangjia57
Reply to madnessinmysoul
Nope Islam will never go down. Allah has said that it’s his responsibility to protect the pureness of Quran and will be never changed. This religion will grow and will keep growing at its fastest rate.

The day the majority of women in the world are wearing hijabs on their heads, and the entire world is ruled by Sharia law, is the day I hope the world is nuked, because the latter I would prefer.

Considering I am a pagan, and worship the freaken` earth, that should show you how much I utterly despise your "faith".

I'd prefer to not be a second-class citizen in the entire world.

Reversion back to the Mother Goddess and holding onto Her everlasting love is the only way the western world has now of protecting our cultural identity and most importantly our precious long-forgotten connections with Mother Earth before another cancerous religious plague washes over it, distracting and subverting people from their true pagan souls once again like Christianity did so long ago; this cancerous plague that I am referring to is Islam.

[edit on 12/3/2007 by Kacen]

Originally posted by kangjia57
Reply to madnessinmysoul
Nope Islam will never go down. Allah has said that it’s his responsibility to protect the pureness of Quran and will be never changed. This religion will grow and will keep growing at its fastest rate.

Allah is just another interpetation of "God". Muhummad was well aware of the injeel and the Tawraat while he wrote the Quran. He states nothing new in the Quran that cannot be found in the other books...nothing.

Its just his interpetation not "Allah's" since "Allah" was not involved in the writing of the Quran.

Muhummad had an agenda just like the Church did to find a means to better control the masses by manipluation.For example, Look at a womans role in Islam always beneath the man seen but not heard.....sound familiar the Early church started that hundreds of years before.

You may want to read "The Satanic Verses" by Salmund Rushdie.

Originally posted by arpgme
Islam may be growing fast but atheism is growing faster!

That may be true but only in the US and some parts of Europe.

Not to mention the new breed of atheists are complete "assh*les".
I have never seen a bunch of people more bent on converting than the current crop of "athists", most of us (yes, I am one) are downright rude, antagonistic, mean spritied and oafish when it comes to 'spreading the word'.

Keep in mind I am an atheist, so I KNOW what I am talking about, my breed is downright awful to be around if you don't share the views.

I don't see atheism spreading much more beyond the US/UK.


Why? Take this example of a modern conversation between an Atheist and a Christian and the exact same conversation with a Muslim:

Atheist and Christian:

Atheist: "There is no God, you are living in a fairy tale"
Christian: "The Lord jesus Christ is our savior, you should open your heart and let his light in"

The Atheist will then insult and raise his voice at the Christian for the next 2 hours before getting frustrated and walking away.



Atheist and Muslim:

Atheist: "There is no God, you are living in a fairy tale"
Muslim: "INFIDEL" - (sound of legal court sanctioned sword inserting into flesh)

(ok, so that may be an extreme of Islam, but still, when you can get jailed for naming a teddy bear....)


Atheism has no where to go in Africa, Sourth America, or the Middle East.

reply to post by gormly


What would you rather have. An athiest telling you your dead wrong? or a born again Christian telling you your the work of the devil and you will burn in hell..............?
There are two sides of the coin



[edit on 3-12-2007 by luxor311]

Reply to Luxor311

God revealed many scriptures to man through the Prophets. The purpose of these scriptures was to show man the way of life suitable for the attainment of the object for which they were created.These scriptures are many. They were given to different Prophets and different nations at different times.
There are four of these scriptures which we know by their names and also know to which Prophet they were revealed.
a) Torah (Tauraat) was give to Prophet Moses.
b) Psalms (Zaboor) were given to Prophet David.
c) Gospel (Injeel) was given to Prophet Jesus.
d) Qur’an which was given to the last Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon them all).
Except for the Qur’an, all these other scriptures were changed and corrupted by some people after the demise of the Prophets, who brought them. The Qur’an is the only scripture to remain unchanged and is in its original form of revelation from the time of the Prophet up until today.

The main reason for the corruption of these scriptures is that they were written down long after the Prophets who had taught them were gone. However the Qur’an was written down whilst Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was still alive and it was written under his supervision. (Since he was illiterate he engaged certain literate Muslims and dictated the revelations to them.)

Another assert which is peculiar to the Qur’an is that it was sent for the benefit of the entire mankind whereas the other scriptures were sent only for those nations for whom they were revealed.
Because these scriptures were only sent to specific nations their authority ceased with the revelation of the Qur’an.
From all nations God chose certain people amongst them and made them His Prophets and Messengers so that they teach those nations the Divine way of life.

There are many Prophets about (124,000) which were sent to man. We do not know all their names. We only know the names of twenty five of them who are mentioned in the Qur’an.
Some prophets and messengers were sent to their people with scriptures and new laws, whilst some were sent to revive and support previous prophet’s work. Thus, the latter type did not bring any new scriptures and laws.

There are five prophets who are regarded as having played major roles in the history of prophethood. These are those from whom the major religions of today trace some of their teachings. They are Abraham, Moses, David and Jesus (peace be upon them). All these were sent to the children of Israel whilst the last messenger, Muhammad (peace be upon him), was sent to all mankind.

‘You may want to read "The Satanic Verses" by Salmund Rushdie.’

Why would I want to read his BS when he is not even a Muslim? Why do you think he caused outrage in Muslim world after he wrote that book?
Mate Islam is the real TRUTH and will spread until the day of judegment.The Quran noone can change it because Allah himself has taken the responsibility to protect it.Why do you think it hasn’t been changed for past 1400 years? Every word in it is Gods(Allahs) word. No human can create anything like it or change it till the day of judgement. And it could be thousands of years or millions of years till the day of judgement.

reply to post by Kacen


And as well that you should vouch for obliteration of both, as both claim to be against magick. Of course, this has changed for the betrayers who actually believe Harry goPotty is a tail of Good vs. Evil. White magic vs Black magick - God hates magick in total. Hope you find the Truth.

And the summerland is a myth.

But Christianity is dying out, as it should. For the World is in the hands of satan, and its only goal for mankind is total elimination. First those who believe on Jesus Christ; then those who stay behind, because it despises the fact that the angels have no forgiveness for their Sin.

They have none, because those who fell from Grace along with lucifer, know the power of the Holy Ghost; yet they chose to follow the creature, lucifer/satan, rather than the Creator God.

And in the Last Day, few, if any, shall remain true to the Gospel of Christ.

And those are not the Charismatics - their "holy? spirit" acts rather differently from the description Christ Jesus gave concerning the Holy Ghost as written in John 14-16. Neither Roman Catholics - the RCC is merely the World's greatest combined political and business -system.

It is merely the ancient Roman Empire under a different guise, with the Emperor renamed, "Pope" and Semiramis and Tammuz now being called Mary and Jesus.

But before you (most likely intentionally) understand me wrong: this is a case of the names of two real people, a woman and her God-given son, being projected over an incestous harlot and her grandson (Semiramis first took her son, Nimrod, when his daddy Cush died.)

And their main goal is still the eradication of the Protestants.

Which makes one wonder what the Protestant leaders had to gain, by joining again with the RCC?

reply to post by kangjia57


So why do the Mecca-verses proclaim prozelyting with peace, while the Medina-verses proclaim prozelyting with death?
Sounds like the mother of all contradictions to me. Of course, that would make it seem all the more logical when told that the RCC started Islam in an attempt to gain Jerusalem; let the Arabs get it, then get it back from Saladin. But he saw a bit farther than the pope, and refused to give in; he rather decided to keep the city, and the pope's idea of a peaceful concordat to gain control was demolished; so he had to revert to the Crusades.

The God of Christianity is neither the same as the god of the RCC nor Allah; for the RCC proclaim conquest and riches in God's Name, and Islam proclaim Conquest and submission (the meaning of the word Islam) in the name of allah. Islam denies the existence of the Holy Ghost, and the RCC only recently worked His name into their charismatic system; to lead the true believers in Jesus Christ my Lord and Saviour, the Son of God, Who intercedes for me at God's right hand right now; to lead them astray. The RCC believes Mother Mary is the Intercessor; Islam believes that Jesus was merely a prophet.

Jesus Christ proclaimed the peace of God, meekness, forgiveness, patience, and righteousness.

Nothing I say or write or claim shall convince any of you; the majority is afraid of being proved wrong, which would demand a whole new set of thought. Only the Holy Ghost can.

May you get to know His Truth.

[edit on 3-12-2007 by J.Smit]

Originally posted by kangjia57
Reply to Luxor311

God revealed many scriptures to man through the Prophets. The purpose of these scriptures was to show man the way of life suitable for the attainment of the object for which they were created.These scriptures are many. They were given to different Prophets and different nations at different times.

The main reason for the corruption of these scriptures is that they were written down long after the Prophets who had taught them were gone. However the Qur’an was written down whilst Prophet Muhammad was still alive and it was written under his supervision. (Since he was illiterate he engaged certain literate Muslims and dictated the revelations to them.)

Mate Islam is the real TRUTH and will spread until the day of judegment.The Quran noone can change it because Allah himself has taken the responsibility to protect it.Why do you think it hasn’t been changed for past 1400 years? Every word in it is Gods(Allahs) word. No human can create anything like it or change it till the day of judgement. And it could be thousands of years or millions of years till the day of judgement.

The Quran is not an historically accurate document and many claim it is ladin with falsehoods and contradictions especially the anti semitic tone, thats not love, its hatred.

Both the Muslim's and the Quran's hypocrisy is obvious. Their own Quran tells them that the Jewish Scriptures and the gospel of Jesus are true, yet they discard this Quranic teaching with the excuse that the Jewish Scriptures and the gospel of Jesus has been supposedly lost through time. In other words, according to muslims, Allah did not keep his word. He did not preserve his revelation. Yet, Allah claims that the Quran is pure and he will preserve this revelation.

So, according to Muslims, Allah did not keep his prior revelation pure, but he claims he will keep this one pure? If this truly were the case, Allah has not proved himself to be faithful. If he was unable to keep all his many prior revelations from corruption, who says he is able to keep this Quran pure from corruption? Those who claim "the Jewish (and Christian) scriptures as they stand cannot be traced direct (sic) to Moses or Jesus, but are later compilations" assign to Allah a bad track record and display him to be an unfaithful god.

"Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah; and those who are with him are strong against Unbelievers, (but) compassionate amongst each other. (S.48, A.29)"

"O ye who believe! Fight the Unbelievers who are near to you and let them find harshness in you: and know that Allah is with those who fear Him. (S.9, A.123)"

The Quran commands its followers to hate and be violent toward those who do not believe. (If the two quotes above are not convincing enough). This hostility is typically in the context of those who oppose Islam. But, in the Quran, this hatred becomes so perverse, that at one point a child is killed because it is feared the youngster might grieve his parents through unbelief.

From a Christian standpoint although I am not much of a Christian and Since Islam is such a violent religion, and Muslims may very well see fit to slay the "unbelievers" (e.g. S.9, A.29), should we be in fear for our lives?. So lets see what the bible says.." If you don't know The Messiah, you have much to fear (e.g. Hebrews 2:15; Revelation 21:8), but for those who put their trust in the true God, there is no need to fear the onslaught of the wicked"
.
Just the other side of the coin my friend.

Out of the Torah, New Testament and Quran, the Quran is clearly the most destructive

reply to post by SimiusDei


If you don't know what you need to be saved of, you will see no need for a Saviour. Thankfully, the "Good news" is not of an earthly peaceful kingdom of God, but of the Eternal Kingdom where no sin can go in. And if you are not Saved by the Blood of Jesus Christ, your sin still clings to you. And you shall be cast out into the hellfire and brimstone.

Sometimes you need to be cruel to be kind. I use to be an atheist and also a self-proclaimed satanist. the "friendly gospel" was over-used; the Hellfire-bit, made me realize the choice is pretty limited: Life in Heaven after some suffering at Mankind's hands, or eternal Hellfire and Brimstone after living my way.

I would summarize that Christianity is dying out, because the leaders have compromised with the World; instead of sin and repentance and justice, they preach forgiveness is free (it should cost you your life) and God's Blessing without a need to call on His Will.