Different Understandings And Branches Of Christianity

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I am not surprised with the conclusion, it is consistent with the premise: division is unwanted.

But I disagree with the premise: "division is unwanted"

NOT that am saying that "division is wanted" NO….

What am saying is what you see as “division”,,, I see as “roles”…

And different roles is a need for an organization, a body to function effectively....there is Unity in Diversity


1 Corinthians 12 New King James Version (NKJV)
Spiritual Gifts: Unity in Diversity
12 Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant: 2 You know that[a] you were Gentiles, carried away to these dumb idols, however you were led. 3 Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.
4 There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. 6 And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. 7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: 8 for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same[b] Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.

Unity and Diversity in One Body
12 For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. 13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into[c] one Spirit. 14 For in fact the body is not one member but many.
15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? 18 But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased. 19 And if they were all one member, where would the body be?
20 But now indeed there are many members, yet one body. 21 And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 22 No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary. 23 And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor; and our unpresentable parts have greater modesty, 24 but our presentable parts have no need. But God composed the body, having given greater honor to that part which lacks it, 25 that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another. 26 And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.
27 Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually. 28 And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles? 30 Do all have gifts of healings? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? 31 But earnestly desire the best[d] gifts. And yet I show you a more excellent way.
I see your point and I agree. I do not agree with 41,000 denominations - that's pride, not roles. Preachers, teachers, healers, yea... those are roles.
 
I might disagree with 41,000 denominations, but I don't deny that they exist. And I wouldn't deny them the right to worship as they see fit.
 
I'm so sick of having this argument with you Major.

There is nothing wrong with believer's baptism. Nor is there anything wrong with infant baptism as it has been practiced for 2000 years since you were born.

Please respect other people's beliefs and practices.

For people born into Chrisitianity we rarely undergo a "come to Jesus" moment. Unless someone strays from the faith it is a gradual learning process and for Catholics is completed at confirmation.

Is there a difference between what YOU believe and what I and many others believe? Don't I have the same opportunity to explain my beliefs as a Protestant as do you being a Catholic?

Why my friend is it OK for you to hit me over the head with comments when all I do is post the Scriptures from the Bible.

WHY do you say....."Please respect other people's beliefs and practices," when you do not afford that same practice to me?

Why is it acceptable for you to have an opinion of....."For people born into Chrisitianity we rarely undergo a "come to Jesus" moment", and then in the same breath condemn me for my Biblical postings of verses that say to be a Christian one must be "born again".

Why do you impose such a double standard to me when I have shown absolutely no personal comments at all to you????
 
Willy nilly beliefs without a foundation are as unstable as roaring waves of the sea.

[Pro 12:15 KJV] 15 The way of a fool [is] right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel [is] wise.
 
What you're doing now, Major, is proselytizing, which was not my reason for starting this thread. I'm not interested in debating one doctrine over another. I'm very well aware what the beliefs of fundamentalists are. I am also very aware of my own beliefs. My point was to show that you can say you're not "saved" and still be a perfectly valid and legitimate Christian.

Is it really so hard to accept that different Christians have different beliefs? I certainly don't mind having my position debated or raked over the coals, but don't DISMISS it as though it doesn't exist! Especially when it is held by a denomination who can claim to be the largest body of Christians.
No, he was explaining.
 
So Adolf Hitler could technically slaughter millions of people, have a deathbed conversion and accept Christ, and get into heaven? I'm seeing something terribly wrong with this picture.
If it was a true acceptance (which only God would know BTW), then yes.

He would get in the same way we do.

FTR I do not believe Hitler would make such a confession.
 
So Adolf Hitler could technically slaughter millions of people, have a deathbed conversion and accept Christ, and get into heaven? I'm seeing something terribly wrong with this picture.

What you're doing now, Major, is proselytizing, which was not my reason for starting this thread. I'm not interested in debating one doctrine over another. I'm very well aware what the beliefs of fundamentalists are. I am also very aware of my own beliefs. My point was to show that you can say you're not "saved" and still be a perfectly valid and legitimate Christian.

Is it really so hard to accept that different Christians have different beliefs? I certainly don't mind having my position debated or raked over the coals, but don't DISMISS it as though it doesn't exist! Especially when it is held by a denomination who can claim to be the largest body of Christians.

As do I concerning Hitler.

But as for "proselytizing", You are absolutely wrong here PLR. I in no way am trying to get you to be a protestant believer, and I have not raked your faith over any coals at all.

YOU are what you choose to be and I have said NOTHING to give you the impression otherwise. I have not disparaged the Catholic belief in any way.

You have chosen to be what you are and so have I. Just so that we are clear, YOU stay exactly the way you are but please do not say things that I am not saying or doing. If you are comfortable with your faith...wonderful, stay with it, love it and live it. I am very happy for you. I do not know what else to say to you that would be any clearer than that.

I only posted the Scriptures as found in the Bible, and those words from Jesus are different from what you have stated. Now that is not a problem that you have with me. It is one that you have with Jesus as He is the one that said it.

In as much love and respect that I can give to you.... I am disagreeing with you on your comment that...........
"My point was to show that you can say you're not "saved" and still be a perfectly valid and legitimate Christian."

The basis for your comment is that it is your own opinion.

The basis for my comment comes from the mouth of God, the Lord Jesus Christ.

I hope you have a blessed day!!
 
No, he was explaining.
It was rather a long explanation, wouldn't you say?

The way it reads to me is I offered a post showing where my beliefs come from, and he wrote a dissertation about why I'm wrong. I think he's wrong about many things but I don't trumpet them. I wish he could extend others the same courtesy.
 
I only posted the Scriptures as found in the Bible, and those words from Jesus are different from what you have stated. Now that is not a problem that you have with me. It is one that you have with Jesus as He is the one that said it.
That's the hot button issue right there. I don't have a problem with Jesus or his words. I believe in the very same scripture you do. I wish you could stop correcting the understanding I and others here have of it.
 
If it was a true acceptance (which only God would know BTW), then yes.

He would get in the same way we do.

FTR I do not believe Hitler would make such a confession.
That leaves absolutely no place for atonement to the deaths of six million people who were innocent. Hitler just accepts Christ and those six million souls mean nothing. I cannot embrace that kind of thinking.
 
It was rather a long explanation, wouldn't you say?

The way it reads to me is I offered a post showing where my beliefs come from, and he wrote a dissertation about why I'm wrong. I think he's wrong about many things but I don't trumpet them. I wish he could extend others the same courtesy.

God bless you Peace! It is clear that you have a personal agenda toward me as all can see. I love you and hope that you will be well and that you will give to me what you want for yourself.
 
It was rather a long explanation, wouldn't you say?

The way it reads to me is I offered a post showing where my beliefs come from, and he wrote a dissertation about why I'm wrong. I think he's wrong about many things but I don't trumpet them. I wish he could extend others the same courtesy.
There's no size limit placed on explanations. They're as long as they need to be.
 
That leaves absolutely no place for atonement to the deaths of six million people who were innocent. Hitler just accepts Christ and those six million souls mean nothing. I cannot embrace that kind of thinking.
John 3:16 says nothing about atonement. It would be God's decision.
 
God bless you Peace! It is clear that you have a personal agenda toward me as all can see. I love you and hope that you will be well and that you will give to me what you want for yourself.
My wish for you Major is that you learn to accept that other people can have different beliefs and understandings about Christian matters than you do and it does not make them any less Christian. Once you accept that you'll learn no one has it in for you at all.
 
That leaves absolutely no place for atonement to the deaths of six million people who were innocent. Hitler just accepts Christ and those six million souls mean nothing. I cannot embrace that kind of thinking.
This is what makes Cross magnificent (for a lack of better word). Jesus bore our sins. Bible goes to the extent of saying He became sin for us. That would include the guilt of death of six million people, if confessed by the guilt. To say any sin is too big to be forgiven is same as saying Cross is not sufficient for certain sins..
 
Another thread branched out into this territory earlier and I thought - wondered - if the topic can be handled tactfully and without rancor here in its own thread.

At issue was the expressions "born again" and "saved". I expressed that I didn't adhere to either expression, which led a few people to ask how it was possible to be a Christian and NOT be born again.

To clarify: There are a few ways to hear "born again". In the Bible we are told in John 3:3 that "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." I was raised Catholic and was taught that this referred to our baptism. I understand and respect that other branches of Christianity understand this expression to mean a public declaration. So in the first sense, yes, I am born again and would say I was with no compunctions at all. But I do not do so in the second sense as I have a different Biblical understanding on the matter.

More to the point, though, and more relevant to the discussion from earlier, I would say there is a difference between being born again and calling oneself a "born again Christian". And I was making THAT distinction because while yes, I do see myself as born again, I do NOT consider myself a Born Again Christian because I'm identifying as a Christian from the Catholic end of things rather than the Evangelical end. Evangelicals in my experience call themselves Born Again Christians. The Catholics, Lutherans, Episcopalians I know, do not. That may be different in the experience of others.

To come to the expression "saved" now: This is an area a little more cut and dried, in that I think I can confidently say that it's rarer to find Catholics who call themselves "saved" for the simple reason that Catholics are not "one saved always saved" Christians because the understanding is that salvation is something that happens after we have died, not before, and so we don't pronounce ourselves saved before God has judged us.

So this is what I mean when I say that I don't consider myself a "saved" or "Born Again" Christian, although I am very much born again in my view, considering my baptism.

Now these thoughts and beliefs are central to my Christian faith, and I certainly understand that they will be disagreed upon, challenged, and held up to scrutiny. But that is not the point of this thread, so much as to clarify that there are different understandings within Christianity which many people may not be aware of.

I offer this respectfully.

Call it what you want / look at it from whichever angle you like, but fact is.... all who have touched Jesus are changed. When we can grasp Luke 8:45, we will grasp I believe, that no matter what denomination we are in... there is a difference between those that have touched / tasted / experienced Jesus and those who have not.

2 Cor 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
John 3:3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.
1 Pet 1:23 Since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God.
Rom 6:6 know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.
Rom 6:4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.


A key verse that excuses many of our differences is Rom 14:5 One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.

That term '''''fully persuaded'''' is a key term!!!!!! I believe it is abused / not properly understood / the chief reason for most of our arguments.

Fully persuaded = Dealing with all scripture known and given by others, all experiences experienced, all revelations received and using all grey matter between ears.....to get on our knees and honestly / truthfully / nervously judge ourselves / our beliefs in fear and trembling before God.

Rom 14:5 is NOT an excuse for ''live and let live''.

Live and let live = believing that people should be allowed to live their lives in the way that they want to. Believe scripture how you want to.

Now that is what many posters posts sound like. That is why this kind of discussion can end up in an argument. Stupid self judgment gets under a Christians skin.
 
I don't wish to argue, but what you're reading as explanation I'm reading as a correction of my beliefs.
Seems to me you want to be less sensitive. I've heard it said, "if someone says something you didn't like, and you get angry about it, then they've spoken some thuth you can't handle."
 
Adolf Hitler committed suicide by gunshot on 30 April 1945 in his Führerbunker in Berlin.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Adolf_Hitler
I think the question of Adolph Hitler repenting on his death bed would be rather moot?

I don't wish to argue, but what you're reading as explanation I'm reading as a correction of my beliefs.
Some food for thought:
2Ti 3:14. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it
2Ti 3:15. and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
2Ti 3:16. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
2Ti 3:17. that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

We have a wonderful treasury of Godly guidance in the Bible, let's not be dismissive of it in the least.
Is it so bad, so distasteful to be corrected by the counsel of the Lord?
 
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