On the surface Christianity is simple.
When one moves beyond the surface however, it becomes a whole different thing. Something more complex. Although the command of all the religions that we should love one another, the specific differences between different factions have been the cause of anything but love.
Then there is the more liberal perception of God that is committed to the punishing the sins of racial injustice, materialism, greed, war and the destruction of life yet has selective discipline for some of other sins of man.
It seems that the reality of God exists in the minds of man as is defined by the individual’s level of acceptable sin. This is why I have stated that God was created in mans image.
I’m interested in knowing what Christians think about what Jesus would do about the people that call themselves Christians today. Would he be a supporter of the nosy Christians that badger patients of abortion clinics? Would he advocate the war in Iraq and Afghanistan? Would he be forgiving of the churches sex scandal and subsequent cover up? What does He feel about the countless Christian atrocities committed throughout history?
Pentecostalism has become a danger in modern society breeding believers in unrealistic supernatural beliefs such as faith healing and the supposed gifts of the spirit including speaking in tongues and discernation. It is what outsiders would consider to be mental illness. Instead of the joy of peace and love some believers feel, it has become a religion of guilt, fear and disappointment.
The problem with such emotional subjectivism is that it makes a person spiritually arrogant and immune to any argument or correction. It is the common belief that once one receives the Holy Spirit, it is the third Person of the Trinity who is behind every thought, feeling, opinion, prejudice and inclination in the individual's head. It is a common refrain in Pentecostal circles that "God told me" and obviously there is nothing you can say to such a person that will convince them otherwise. This presumption extends so far that the individual's "feeling" trumps even the Bible's authority.
Another problem is that the belief system makes a person naively credulous about things which are proven false. There has never been a single miracle healing or fulfilled prophecy in the Christian church, yet its hundreds of millions of followers believe that individuals like Benny Hinn or Kim Clement are healing millions of people, predicting the future and even raising the dead.
The fact that those two, as well as many other proven charlatans, have not been tarred and feathered and driven from organized religion is a powerful testimony that the Christian belief system requires the loss of the mind.
Why is this emotionalism and credulity dangerous? First, because it leads to the creation of new gospels which is an offense against the Christian God. Secondly, because the system which rises up around it is harmful to people because it is false and nothing false can ever be good.
The message of peace and love can be quite appealing for those seeking something to grasp on to when reality gets to be too much for them to handle.
When one moves beyond the surface however, it becomes a whole different thing. Something more complex. Although the command of all the religions that we should love one another, the specific differences between different factions have been the cause of anything but love.
In Christianity alone there is a divide between the Catholic Church and the Protestant church. Then when we look at the divisive factors that separates one protestant denomination from another in their struggle to please God, that it threatens to destroy the very foundations of Christianity itself.
The differences between their perceptions of God are astounding. Some worshiping a conservative, republican type of God that controls the personal morality of men. This perception of God seems bent on punishing believers who drink alcohol, engage in illicit sex, dance, swear and gamble. However this God has little concern for the sins of the rich and powerful as they have throughout history have enslaved and controlled the not so rich and powerful.
Then there is the more liberal perception of God that is committed to the punishing the sins of racial injustice, materialism, greed, war and the destruction of life yet has selective discipline for some of other sins of man.
It seems that the reality of God exists in the minds of man as is defined by the individual’s level of acceptable sin. This is why I have stated that God was created in mans image.
I’m interested in knowing what Christians think about what Jesus would do about the people that call themselves Christians today. Would he be a supporter of the nosy Christians that badger patients of abortion clinics? Would he advocate the war in Iraq and Afghanistan? Would he be forgiving of the churches sex scandal and subsequent cover up? What does He feel about the countless Christian atrocities committed throughout history?
Pentecostalism has become a danger in modern society breeding believers in unrealistic supernatural beliefs such as faith healing and the supposed gifts of the spirit including speaking in tongues and discernation. It is what outsiders would consider to be mental illness. Instead of the joy of peace and love some believers feel, it has become a religion of guilt, fear and disappointment.
The whole process starts with the method of worship, which emphasizes excitement with loud, emotionally manipulative music and loud, emotionally manipulative preachers combining to agitate the congregation into a state of emotional frenzy.
The problem with such emotional subjectivism is that it makes a person spiritually arrogant and immune to any argument or correction. It is the common belief that once one receives the Holy Spirit, it is the third Person of the Trinity who is behind every thought, feeling, opinion, prejudice and inclination in the individual's head. It is a common refrain in Pentecostal circles that "God told me" and obviously there is nothing you can say to such a person that will convince them otherwise. This presumption extends so far that the individual's "feeling" trumps even the Bible's authority.
Another problem is that the belief system makes a person naively credulous about things which are proven false. There has never been a single miracle healing or fulfilled prophecy in the Christian church, yet its hundreds of millions of followers believe that individuals like Benny Hinn or Kim Clement are healing millions of people, predicting the future and even raising the dead.
The fact that those two, as well as many other proven charlatans, have not been tarred and feathered and driven from organized religion is a powerful testimony that the Christian belief system requires the loss of the mind.
Why is this emotionalism and credulity dangerous? First, because it leads to the creation of new gospels which is an offense against the Christian God. Secondly, because the system which rises up around it is harmful to people because it is false and nothing false can ever be good.
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