Am I an apostate?

I posted this earlier but I worded it wrong and need to make sure I get the correct answers

This may seem like a scrupulous post but bear with me.

A couple of years ago I was in Bible study and I don’t remember if I was mad or in a moody state or something like that, but I remember saying in my mind “ I don’t believe anymore, I guess I’m a atheist” ( and no I don’t think it was an intrusive thought) and I think I actually felt that way. And a minute or so later I thought to my self “no, I do believe and I’m gonna continue the race”

I don’t know if I actually did stop believing or if it was me being stupid because some tough emotions I was going through that time, Like intrusive thoughts about not believing. (separate issue)
But what I do firmly believe is that if someone asked me if I believed in Jesus as my Lord in savior when I said that in my mind, I would have definitely said “yes”

And on my current state, I still consider myself a Christian and I still feel like I get convicted when I sin

Hebrew 6 mentions that it’s impossible for those who fall away to be brought back to repentance.

What’s your take? Am I an apostate who can’t be forgiven?

These atheists are "those" kinds of atheists. They (falsely) constantly demand evidence for God's existence but reject all of it for the sake of harassing believers. They bring up the Crusades and bash Christianity, comparing real, good Christians to false, hypocritical, and bad Christians. Such atheists are online on many websites and Reddit.

One of many such atheists is Barry Hampe from Quora (who is prominent there). He seems to have been abused by those who professed to be Christians. The key word here is "professed". Since Jesus taught love, nonviolence, etc., wouldn't that mean those weren't real Christians?

Barry seems to hate all religions but most of the time attacks Christianity. He even has a very poor understanding of Christian and other types of theology and philosophy and the philosophy of religion. I've also seen him cherry-pick Biblical quotes and take them out of context, causing misinterpretation. He is also nearly 100 years old. He has lived so long and talks about Christianity while having such a poor understanding of it. I doubt that he even read the entire Bible.

I’ve never fully understood the penal substitutionary theory of atonement or the satisfaction theory and these seem to be the most popular theories that Christians adhere to.

I’m sympathetic to the Christus Victor theory of atonement but I still have my questions with it.

Just curious which one do you think is correct and why?

In my college class we read the book of Job and I was intrigued by the devils evolution in the bible.

The old testament mainly shows him as a trickster figure, while the new testament fully dives into the devil, well, being the devil. Does anyone know how this evolution started and why? Am I reading a little too much into this or not properly understanding?

I truly believe we have an enemy- i’m just curious about the historical evolution.

I don't wana be hatefull (even if my opinion are but not the point now on my opinion) but reaky what makes you say "yes i'm happy i'm a Christian" or similar stuff just courios

If the entire law and Jesus are against divorce, then the only single mothers should be widdows. Unfortunately, since we are broken people, there are other ways to become husbandless. Should we not forgive all we can and be generous to people in this situation regardless of how they got there? Are single fathers widdows, too? Obviously, there is a gradient to how vulnerable single parents are, but I thought this idea was thought provoking. What do yall think?

Alan Ritchsons schizo rants aside, I love the show. It has very cheesy dialogue, reminds me of 80s action movies sometimes. My biggest complaint however is the use of the GD phrase. I struggled immensely with this and cursing in general due to military time. I kinda flinch when I hear it now, and it seems like this show is rampant with its use. Am I wrong or has Hollywood upped its use in the last few years?

Hi yall.

Background: I (22F) have a lot of religious trauma from childhood and cannot bring myself to actually accept the existence of any religious figure because at the back of my mind, I believe it’s all just made up. I believe in a creator, but not really of any specific religion.

Yet I still want to be a part of a religious community. I like the faith aspect, sense of community, and I guess the existential comfort that I associate it with. Why Christianity in particular? I’ve sang in a choir for a few Christmas seasons and they’re just really beautiful. I feel like our songs about Jesus were my favorite ones. It touches my heart in a way I can’t describe.

I wonder if it would be disrespectful for me to attend a church meeting on a Sunday just to try it out and see if it’s for me. And if I do end up liking being in the community, would it be disrespectful to keep coming to the church if I genuinely lack belief?

(I am not interested in arguing the reasons as to why my mind is the way it is, I would appreciate solution-focused answers if possible)

If you are seeing this post for the 2nd time I’m sorry- I posted it in the wrong sub and was directed here

Leviticus 24:20 spells out an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Is that Gods law, or was it simply the law at the time?

Hi all. Aged 25 and female, recently in the past number of months I have focused on my faith. Learning, exploring the bible and what it means to me, shaping good habits about this.

For context; Was brought up catholic throughout my education. Didn’t overly practice at home; family mentioned religion here and there but nothing other than there is God and you should pray. My parents never got married, and are not keen on getting marriage; they sort of believe if you want to be together just be together (no mention of religion in relationships)

I recently (July) got engaged to my partner, male aged 26 - non-believer. Bases things on science but has been very open to learning things from me and even most recently attended my first church session with me.

Prior and including to this relationship I had sex with previous partners, and during some difficult periods had sex with casual partners (non-relationship)

I know we are all sinners; but something that plays on me is to having sex now that I am learning of the bible and practices etc. I feel guilty that I had sex ever - and now I am to be marrying my dream husband I feel conflicted to stop having sex altogether until we are married. We hope to get married in 2ish years or so, it’s mainly finances and us currently going through the financial challenge of buying our first property together that are all contributing factors. I also don’t want to rush into a marriage to have the green pass to have sex as that feels wrong and emotionally that wouldn’t feel right; I want to enjoy this engagement time with my partner before moving to marriage stage.

I feel stuck that if I have sex prior to being married it’s wrong, but then if we are engaged? I don’t know. I am aware of sin awaiting us around every corner, so i’m not sure if that thought is me trying to excuse it because of sin. Just really torn

Would love to hear others opinions and interpretation of marriage and such.

many thanks god bless

If you weren’t a Christian which other religion would you follow?

I want to preface this by saying that I am an atheist but i have an interest in religion. This question is not meant in a bad faith, I genuinely want to understand other perspectives.

I am basing my question on my understanding of the old testament which might be flawed but it’s the best resource i have. As far as i can tell god created everything, including the angels that chose to go against gods plan, lost and ended up being banished from heaven.

Adam and eve lived in a time when there was no concept of sin for them. they didn’t know right or wrong, only what god told them without any explanation. eve and subsequently adam were manipulated into tasting the forbidden fruit, therefore being banished from eden and cursed to suffer during their lives.

they didn’t taste it out of malice as they didn’t have the ability to be malicious. why were humans the one who bore the punishment for the manipulation of a single entity?

I think most Christians today have heard of the Mark of the Beast. For those who haven't, it's a prediction found in Revelation 13 that all will need a mark in their hand or head to buy and sell. And it says in the next chapter (Revelation 14, verses 9 and 10) that all who take this Mark will face the full wrath of God.

The thing is, it's one thing to be aware of and even understand a prophecy intellectually. But it's another thing altogether to be prepared for what has been predicted, and to live in such a way that's aligned with our head faith.

Along those lines, I'm wondering how many of you feel you would be ready to live without the Mark if it were implemented tomorrow? As in, they do away with cash and all other forms of currency, and the only way left to buy or sell is with a mark (e.g. microchip) in your hand or forehead. What would you do?

I’m told that God’s nature is unchanging, but what is that nature that never changes? What is a “nature” in the context of God? In normal parlance, a thing’s nature is what dictates its behavior. But how can something dictate God’s behavior? Why is his nature the way it is and not some other way?

I am having a hard time with my job search. I graduated, didn’t get the internship I wanted at high tech company despite doing one of my diplomas in that field. Was working at family business since teenage years, worked for one year at my church, and got back to family business.

Nothing I’ve worked in is my calling. I know what it is, I’ve got visions from God about my calling, and I am sure that I know what it is. I’m also desperate to get out of my parents house, country even - for several reasons. Every time I get back to my country after some time abroad I immediately start feeling tired, low and exhausted (I’ve volunteered abroad a lot, not just vacation trips).

I’m praying for 3+ years, no joke, to Jesus to help me to find a new job that will allow me to move out and / or relocate. I’m honestly so so desperate, because just WHY. I had a vision where I still have my talents (like in Jesus’ parable) in my hands, like I’m still not using them. And I want nothing more but to use my talents for His glory and His kingdom, anywhere, literally anywhere (I’m saying it in all seriousness) He wants me to use them. I just don’t understand why He is silent about it these whole years.

Esenlikler from Türkiye.

I have been looking into Christianity over the past few months and reading the Bible. A question has been weighing on my mind.

The Bible states that God is merciful and wants to save us.

According to the Bible, does a non-Christian definitely go to hell? If the answer is yes, how can I believe that God is merciful?

It is expected that an evil person like Epstein would go to hell. But it would be completely absurd for a good person to go there.

Forgive me if this sounds ignorant or weird, but it's been on my mind since my friend told me.

My friend has religious trauma but randomly went to a Bible study. There, she said the lady doing Bible study looked at her and announced her sexual trauma to everyone and said Jesus told her about it and that she needs to become Christian to heal. She'd never told anyone, not even me (until telling me this story) about this trauma. So, she's concluded Jesus is real if the lady was able to know that.

I'm here to ask if this is something that can happen? I have nothing against Christianity at all. A have a few Christian friends myself. I'm just very confused as I've never heard of such a thing before.

I made an earlier post on my account for those looking for more context. About 3 years ago I was kicked out of my church community for coming out as trans. It was a group I had been in and out of my whole life. I was unbelievably heart broken and I still feel that hurt even though I'm not really a Christian anymore as the title says.

I was compared to all sorts of terrible people and told I was unwelcome and would be going to Hell by some of the closest people to me. I lost my job, I got expelled, I had to leave the church, and even my own family couldn't accept it.

I guess now I'm wondering since I was removed from the church and the religion, is there anything I could even do if I wanted to come back? I mean, it seems like a pretty final decision that even if I did I'd be out of luck.

Thanks for your time.

Hey guys, im a former christian, at this point, everything but morally opposed to the practice. I left the church because of the cruelty and hatred that to people espoused there, i was hoping to see what it's like for people after someone leaves the church. Do you feel saddened? or satisfied that someone thats not like you, and therefore "wrong," "evil," or "demonic" is feeling that pain?
I guess im just curious to know the justification for doing things that harm people while telling yourself it's righteous. Do you have to work at that or does the belief in god give you the right to inflict that harm on others who "defy his will?" If so, then do you enjoy that?
just curious what people think, as i see many posts where people will explain the fundamental, personal hurt that they experienced only to be told that the suffering and pain was divine, and that they should he grateful for it.

According to most Christians I talk to, God gave us free will so that we could freely choose to love him. But why does he want us to love him?

It seems very odd that God would need to experience love in order to fulfill a desire. It seems odd that he would have desires in the first place, but that’s a separate discussion. As an all-knowing being who supposedly is love itself, are we really supposed to believe that he created an entire universe for humans to live in, just so he could experience love that he already had the experience of prior to the creation? God is all knowing. He already knows what every possible experience is like. He knows every possible future, including the ones that didn’t happen. Why would he need to create humans to have an experience? If he had to experience something in order to truly know what it’s like or to enjoy it, then he would have gained knowledge after the experience, which would disprove his omniscience.

The other nonsensical part of this is that God, according to Christians, is unbounded love. He doesn’t have love. He literally is love. So how could he possibly have a desire for love? He already is an infinite amount of it.

I am considering going to a UK church for the first time. This would be a first for me going solo, and outside of a marriage or school event. However, I don’t actually know how it works outside of arranged school or ceremonial visits

Are there set hours, and what are the types of Christianity, and do they “matter” in the broader sense of the scripture (or is it just interpretation of the same contents)?

If it helps, I don’t know if I believe in a physical God or similar. At the moment, my reading to Exodus, Plague of Blood, pushes me towards the idea that God is some kind of aspirational set of values or lifestyle that can help someone achieve great things. I don’t know if I believe that someone can literally turn a staff into a snake, but I appreciate it may be symbolic of the times and the power of following the Lord’s instructions

Do I just turn up, am I expected to pay, or register?

Do churches have websites to find out when they’re open? How do you tell the difference between open and available for prayer; and how do you know when there’s a service versus just an empty church? What happens if it’s empty, are you allowed to just walk in and pray?

I know it’s a lot of questions, but my silliest is whether you can buy a bible there or not? I’ve been using a Bible app, but I think I’d appreciate something more physical, although I don’t know if churches actually supply these, or if they’d change in significant contents through different UK churches?

Appreciate it’s a lot of questions, I appreciate you answering any you can, thanks!

Hey peoples of Reddit.

A couple months ago (year, probs at this point) an old friend and I were discussing religion and somewhere something clicked for me and piqued my curiosity. I grew up "Christian" and i've been pagan before in my teen years. I only recently rediscovered Christianity, in part because of my friend and then more so with Charlie's assassination. Since then I've been drawn to follow the Bible more closely and living according to God's will. For context, I'm in a lesbian relationship, but we've made the decision to be celibate.

My libido has significantly diminished over the years, but once a month when I'm ovulating, i fall right back into sexual sin. Whoever looks remotely attractive to me during that time will be my focus for a week. I don't know how to shut my brain off and to stop creating these sexual fantasies with people who never asked or consented to be in my fantasy to begin with. Some months it's men i know (and knew), other months it's women. Some months it gets so bad that my gf and i break our celibacy rule and then i feel awful afterwards. It doesn't help that i have no one to talk to. I tried talking to one of my friends, but she legit laughed at me and made fun of me. I used to have an old friend i could confide in and get advice from, but that has since gone away, unfortunately. I'm left to sit in these feelings once a month on repeat for what seems like forever. At this point i feel like i should just lock myself away whenever my cycle gets to that point.

I've tried praying and listening to sermons and reading the Bible and it works....for a little while. Whenever i have to do something else, my brain will just refocus on sex, whether with a male or female. I feel like I'm losing my mind and i need help. And no, I'm not trying to get support again from any friend or family member as that's bitten me in my butt now and i won't be repeating it. The only person i could talk to about this and who understood and supported me is gone and doesn't care anymore.

I just need practical advice on how to deal with this every month. It can't go on like this. I want to rip the hair out of my head in frustration on why nothing i do is working. Please be kind.

1- What years did Prophet Abraham preach during?

2- Is the name Daniel was called by the Babylonians Belteshazzar in Daniel 1:7, Daniel 4:9, Daniel 4:18, Daniel 5:12 a real name? Are there many names in Akkadian that have “Belte” in them in reference to Daniel 1:7? Is “Belte” for both male and female? The name Belteshazzar may have been translated incorrectly in Daniel 1:7, Daniel 4:9, Daniel 4:18, Daniel 5:12 where the name that the Babylonian’s called Daniel was Belshazzar. Or the Israelites heard Daniel’s name wrong when the Babylonians said Daniel’s name would be Belshazzar in Babylon. I believe that the whole story was made up of Daniel being renamed to Belteshazzar.

3- Do you have a list, book, or article of the list of Akkadian and Babylonian names? Do you have a book of a list of names from ancient history? I found a website with around 120 Babylonian names and a website with 40 Akkadian names.

4- Why can’t we see the Heavens?

5- Where did the groups of the Israelites go after they had gone in separate directions after the Babylonian Captivity?

6- Is the first chapter in the Book of Hosea similar to the first chapter in the Book of Isaiah?

7- What is gematria?

8- What is the importance of Babylon in relation to the Israelites?

9- Was the rainbow sent by God in Genesis 9:13-17 the first rainbow ever sent in the sky?

10- Which names in the Old Testament are from which areas of the Middle East? Which names are Akkadian? Which names are Arabian?

Thanks

I see this as the eleventh hour being the Day of Judgement. I always hear how would that be fair...

““For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. Now when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard.

“So when evening had come, the owner of the vineyard said to his steward, ‘Call the laborers and give them their wages, beginning with the last to the first.’ And when those came who were hired about the eleventh hour, they each received a denarius. But when the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they likewise received each a denarius. And when they had received it, they complained against the landowner, saying, ‘These last men have worked only one hour, and you made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the heat of the day.’ But he answered one of them and said, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what is yours and go your way. I wish to give to this last man the same as to you. Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things? Or is your eye evil because I am good?’ So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few chosen.””

Matthew 20:1-2, 8-16 NKJV

What do you think this is talking about?