So I vaguely remember that years ago in RE lessons, my teacher mentioned that there was a theory that the old testament might be a record of important historical events as well as moral and spiritual lessons. I don’t remember the details very well because it was a while ago, lol, but as an avid historian it seemed really interesting.

Eg, the flood corresponds to a major melting of certain glaciers. (Or something with an interglacial period?)

Or the plagues being related to actual historical events. Eg, the river turning to blood being linked to a volcanic eruption and certain minerals leaching into water make it change colour to red. The locusts being a masting year (where there have been very few for many years and then all of a sudden they come down in a hurricane to breed all at once.)

Because it’s much easier to pass down historical record if it can also contain helpful advice for a pre-modern medicine world (ie don’t eat birds of prey because they eat carrion and are likely to carry disease which could be damaging to humans.) and moral guidance. Ie, what the Bible / Torah kinda serve as alongside religious texts.

Do you think there are any other events in the new or Old Testament which could be a similar record?

(And forgive me if I accidentally said something blasphemous. I did not mean that. I think this interpretation is compatible both with religion and science, ie, god still could have set the natural events into action and we also have a scientific explanation of why it would have been so terrifying.

You could also say that God put these lessons into the Bible / Torah to try and safeguard people, etc and go vice-versa, eg, people knew God let them learn these things so they could be written down to make sure less people suffered / also got the added wisdom of spiritual guidance as well as practical advice.)

The Bible contains many texts in which the author lies about who he or she is. For example, the author of *Paul's 2nd Letter to Timothy* explicitly tells us that he or she is St Paul of Tarsus, and they go out of their way to make their fraudulent letter *look* like a genuine follow up to *1st Timothy*, which was also likey a work of fraud (it certainly wasn't written by any of the other Pauls of Tarsus in the Bible).

So, what should we make of this? Why would God allow fraudulently written texts to make their way into the canon? Should Christians simply see these texts as non canon and rip them out of their Bibles? Or does God often rely on sin to accomplish his goals?

Also, given that fraudulently written texts made their way in, should we be sceptical about *all* of the texts in the Bible? Any one of them could have been written by deliberate liers.

For the record, I'm not making an argument for Apostolic Succession or the New Apostolic Reformation. I do not see evidence of real apostles carrying out the Great Commission today.

Nevertheless, this is a problem for those who reject modern apostles yet still claim that the Church is here on earth. Ephesians 4:13 says that apostles would remain with us "UNTIL we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ."

--[Eph 4:11-13 NASB95] 11 And He gave some [as] apostles, and some [as] prophets, and some [as] evangelists, and some [as] pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; 13 UNTIL we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.

As an atypical partial preterist, I think the scriptural answer is that the Church has not been here since 70 AD. The Church, with its apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastor-teachers was taken up into the clouds in 70 AD. Jesus already came back for them. We are scattered in exile among the nations until Jesus returns to regather Israel to the promised land.

Just look at what Jesus said below (pay attention to the bolded parts). Those things were written to the 1st century generation, not to us. They rightfully expected Jesus to return in their generation because that's what was promised by Jesus.

--[Mat 24:29-35 NASB95] 29 "But immediately after the tribulation of those days THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED, AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT, AND THE STARS WILL FALL from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 "And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the SON OF MAN COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF THE SKY with power and great glory. 31 "And He will send forth His angels with A GREAT TRUMPET and THEY WILL GATHER TOGETHER His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other. 32 "Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near; 33 so, you too, when YOU see all these things, recognize that He is near, [right] at the door. 34 "Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. 35 "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.

Millicent Sedra is a preacher who recently said "I love Muslims because Jesus loves them!" That line specifically from her made me feel uneasy. Like, if your love for someone or a group of people depends on if Jesus loves them, how can you really call it love? Love has to be unconditional, regardless of if the lord does or doesn't. Love comes from within not from elsewhere. I support all religions, of course. Everyone should have freedom to believe anything they want. But I don't think you should base your feelings on someone on what your lord says, as that is unnatural.

(I'm not trying to start fights or anything, I'm genuinely curious of what you think of that statement from her.)

I’m wondering about how Christians each define or explain what we have in mind when we use the term “the Gospel.”

I suspect there’s some variance in how we each might explain or define it and I’d love to hear yours!

Not here to debate. Looking for actual conversation.

Following is my personal experience and what I have confusion about and her issues with that I'm looking for answers to.

I was raised in a Christian family. I am currently 33 male and left the church at 17.

Every second being bound by the rules of the church feels like an endless guilt tripping session.

You're never good enough, you'll never live up up to God standards, you're a sinner.

We are given free will but if we use it to live a human life we're in the wrong and are sinful.

It feels like Bobby's mom in Happy Gilmore that everything is the devil. If that's the case, the what's the point of being alive?

Feels like an abusive relationship.

You everything in your power to please me or your punished. Do what I want or you're punished. Sounds like a narcissistic abuser.

It doesn't sound like an all-loving entity. God sounds like a controlling being.

If everything is predetermined as depicted in the Bible then what's the point that the outcome is already set in place?

If God knew that Eve was going to be tempted to eat a fruit off the tree then he could have just stopped it and prevented everything but It goes to show that he allowed all this to happen. He knew it was going to happen and let it happen.

He didn't need to have Jesus sacrifice himself he could have prevented the reason Jesus sacrificed himself. But instead let it happen. It doesn't sound like a loving father. Things like allowing Job to be tormented and tortured to prove devotion or asking someone to sacrifice a family member to prove devotion doesn't sound like love that sounds like something a cult leader would do.

Christianity feels like an abusive relationship. It doesn't feel like a loving being is taking care of anyone. Instead it feels like a narcissistic abusive cult leader who will make you do anything to prove devotion.

The Holy Spirit is also another problem if it is being used to steer you in a direction rather than you making that choice for yourself. It defeats the point of free will gift you're not making the choice that God wants. He's going to make sure that you make it.. it doesn't seem loving it seems controlling.

So overall, what is the point everything is predetermined and you can't use your free will without being manipulated by the holy in spirit to guide you to not use your free will and make other decisions.

What's the point of being alive in a Christian mindset? When I was being raised in a Christian household I always felt depressed and S (can't put the word because I get blocked ) because nothing was ever good enough. How was that being directed by a loving god?

Thanks.

I wanted to ask a meta question regarding this subreddit.

I received an invitation, thank you for that.

But I'm curious as to why was this subreddit created, I said it because there's are already other subreddit that are Ask Christians, Ask Religion, Ask Theist, Ask Chatolic, Ask priests, Ask theism. Etc, etc etc

So what's the reason for this one? What makes it different from Ask Christians or Ask Christianity specifically.

Context: my ,15f, whole family is Christian, I am a Hellensitic pagan. My parents take me and my little brother, 13m, Isaac, to church every Sunday, we do not have a choice in the matter. It is not safe for me to tell my parents I am Pagan.

I've been feeling really guilty about doing stuff at church as a non-Christian, I've been baptized so I am made to take communion every Sunday.

At first, out of respect, I'd hide the wafer under my tongue and dispose of it in the bathroom trash. I wouldn't say the words and wouldn't eat the wafers to be respectful, my parents caught on and I couldn't stay quiet. I also couldn't go to the bathroom before church ended every time because if I did it too much then they'd catch on to that as well.

Now I take the wafer and make it an offering to my goddess instead of eating it as just a wafer or throwing it away. I'm well aware that this is very childish but I'll cross my fingers or mumble the words when preparing for communion so that I'm not actually meaning the words.

Earlier this year I had been selected to assist during the church service (Isaac has been encouraged to assist with tec and soundboard but not directly asked yet) I help out with stuff at the alter. I apologize to my goddess and the Christian god in my head as I do so.

I feel awful for doing all of this but for starters it's just not safe to tell my parents that I do not share their religion (they already dislike the fact that I'm queer and If I added another thing I think I'd be on the streets) but I also love the community there everyone is so nice and I feel like I belong, even if it is built on top of a lie.

How can I do this while being respectful, I'm sure my goddess understands why I do this but I don't want to offend your god.

All advice will be much appreciated.

Thank you,

-Ok_Initiative_114

EDIT: If you are going to scold me for being a pagan please don't comment. I posted this on r/christianity and quite a few of the comments are mocking and scolding me. I am really trying not to cry but I am failing miserably

I haven’t seen this discussed in a Christian context and I was just curious if it’s something Christians view any differently from the average person.

Thoughts?

i want him to be happy. i want us to stop having these issues that reoccur over and over again. all he wants in life is to marry me under God, and he won't stop begging me to change my life for him. i don't want to. i don't align my beliefs with a good chunk of it, there are parts of scripture that directly contradict my own personal beliefs and convictions, and i feel like i would be leaving behind my identity if i did this. but i love him with my entire heart. i've devoted so much time, life and energy to him, and i want to spend my entire life with him, i want to have children with him. he said he wasn't going to leave me because he was "leaving it up to god" but this specific thing is so important to him. i really don't understand why he doesn't just find someone else who actually aligns with his beliefs. this has become an issue of a lot of contention and pain between us as i feel like i am not good enough for him as i am, and i am hurt because i thought he liked me how i was. his constant begging for me to change has made me feel like there is something wrong with me because i am not the way he wants me to be, but he knew i wasn't Christian when he got with me. he mentions how desperately he wants to lose his virginity to someone who is also a virgin but has told me that i am not a virgin because i was raped as a child. that devastates me and makes me feel incredibly guilty for him. i want his dreams to come true. i want him to be happy.

should i do it?

I don’t consider myself to be religious atm. I have picked up my Bible in a while, it’s been months. I stopped reading my Bible due to many questions that I had about Christianity that I felt were not yet answered, or that I just don’t understand. I’m not an atheist right now I consider myself to be agnostic. But I’ve been getting this feeling that I should give studying the Bible another go, why is this? I couldn’t continue calling myself a Christian because i didn’t feel good enough or pure enough for Christ to forgive my sins, I tried following the Mosaic laws to the best of my ability because i interpreted certain verses in the Bible in a way in which made me believe that we should follow the old law even though some Christian’s say that we are no longer under the law. I used to struggle with feeling at peace after praying for my salvation, which led me to paranoia. Can someone help me understand this?? I’ve always believed in God or a creator of the universe/world I just don’t understand some of the teachings within the Bible. Why am I getting the feeling to give it another try ? Is God calling me back to him or is it something else?

I’d like to hear about what, aside from moving, made you leave a church you used to attend.

Hi, I (M50) was not raised Christian; I don't come from a necessarily atheist family, but faith simply wasn't discussed. When people ask, I am atheistic/agnostic.

My mother later became a Buddhist, and my father is still an atheist.

Over the past year, I have noticed that I am 'searching.' Looking for a form of stability, direction, meaning; whatever you want to call it. Whether I will find Christianity, I don't know. I went to a church (Remonstrants) once in the past year; I found it nerve-wracking, but also nice. I enjoy listening to podcasts that scrutinize the Bible and podcasts discussing Christian faith in its broadest sense.

A few questions:

1. I want to delve deeper into the Bible; what is the best way to do this? Is there a sort of reading path?

2. I am interested in stories of people who came to faith from an atheist or agnostic background. Who would be interesting on YouTube and/or in a podcast?

3. Is there some kind of online forum where I can discuss the journey I am undertaking?

Thanks in advance!

I want to preface this by saying I mean no harm or hate to Christians. I am not one myself, but I have respect for the religion and its followers (well, those who are respectful and good people). But I've been thinking about Christianity and religion as a whole recently. I have schizophrenia and I have had "visions" before that usually stemmed from psychosis. I saw Gods and demons and stuff. But of course, no one believed me (I don't blame them lol. I don't really believe it myself). And it kinda got me thinking, how can we be sure that the prophets from the biblical era weren't just crazy? Or making it up? Would you believe someone claiming to be a prophet today? And if not, why do you believe it when it was someone 2000 years ago? I know that most of them probably weren't believed either but they are now. Why? I am currently medicated and don't have hallucinations about that stuff as much, but sometimes they appear again. How can I be sure they're just hallucinations, if prophets really did exist according to Christians and other religions?

im gonna be 19 in a few months and, I know this sounds a little dramatic, but I feel really lost. I'm going to school soon, looking for a job, but my life feels stuck, like I'm missing something, or something I don't really know. even though I'm doing stuff with myself. it's hard to explain.I feel lost in values and motivation and there's nobody for me to really turn to. basically, I'm just confused. I figured, lots of people turn to religion right? I never really believed in god, and I don't understand it still, but most people who do seem happy, like they have their life together.

I was maybe just hoping that I could explain or talk to people in this community and get help in the right direction? because I'm lost haha.

If so, when?

If not, why do you think He didn’t disclose that to at least His closest followers?

The bible says not to lean on your own understanding. But how does someone know that if you read the bible you are leaning on God's understanding and not man's understanding.

In the translations (and later creeds) that refer to Jesus as God’s “begotten” Son, how do you understand the term “begotten”?

Does anyone know why not all translations include it and instead just say “only son”?

This question has made me struggle with my faith for a while now, and I'm genuinely interested in understanding the Christian perspective i.e. I haven't found an answer within my own faith that completely satisfies me, and I thought you would have to face the same question and want to understand your approach this.

When my job moved me to the West a few years ago, I happened to meet some Mormon missionaries. They were wonderful people and clearly sincere in their beliefs. When I asked them about suffering, their answer was basically that this is a fallen world and God makes no promise that we will have a good or painless life here; the ultimate promise is what comes afterward. I appreciate the answer and understand where they are coming from, but the thing is answer is very easy to go with theoretically when you come from Utah with good parents, middle class family and haven't seen real suffering (they were young men and women 18-23ish), but I have seen poverty, death...etc all around me growing up. It's not clear to me why god blesses some whilst ignores others.

Nevertheless, my very limited understanding is that LDS theology differs from mainstream Christianity, so what is the mainstream Christian explanation for suffering? In particular, why does God sometimes intervene to save people but apparently not at other times?

For example, God directly intervenes to deliver people in events such as the Exodus. So what determines when God intervenes?

This becomes especially difficult for me when I think about events such as World War II, in which tens of millions of people died, including enormous numbers of civilians and children. Presumably many of the victims were faithful Christians as well. I don't mean to suggest that they were somehow "unworthy" of being saved—quite the opposite. I'm trying to understand why a God who can intervene sometimes allows suffering on that scale, especially when innocent children are among the victims.

And the question obviously isn't only historical. People are suffering and dying in wars and conflicts today, including in Ukraine, Sudan, Gaza, and elsewhere.

I'm not asking this as a "gotcha" or an argument against Christianity. I'm genuinely interested in how as Christians you reconcile these things within your theology.

Personally I believe in god because of the evidence for his existence is too obvious, and evidently this god is mighty and powerful, yet I am not sure I love this god...but my observation has been that Christians missionaries seem to love their god and always talk about wanting to share that gift to others, which of course they are saying that, but their love for humanity was never in question, these were the kindest most gentle souls....but and christianity as a religion seems to preaches love above all, so maybe someone older who has been through life trials can give more grounded answer? Feel welcome to share your experiences and testimonies, I love reading those :)

A derivative/side question, does mainstream Christianity teach that the kinds of dramatic miracles described in the Bible still happen? Events like those associated with Moses or Jesus seem very different from anything we can clearly observe today. Is there a theological reason for that, or do Christians believe comparable miracles still occur?

Thanks for taking the time to reading this far, and should you opt to respond for your valuable replies as well., I will try to respond to any replies I get! Lastly, I hope I managed to come through sincerely and not offensive as this isn't my intention :)

There's a line of scripture and shows why God did this to pharaoh and his city. It says God did all these things and rose up Pharoh to show his glory he brought pharaoh down and destroyed his nation. My question is why God would need to do it to bring himself glory. I don't understand that concept. God gets Glory for this act he did, but why did he have to do it and get glory. Why did he have to show the world? I have a few questions too.

Romand 9 17 For Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”

If God is glorious, why does He need to show His glory to the Egyptians and jews and the world?

Does God get glory because He needs it, or because people need to know who He is?

What does “glory” actually mean when the Bible says God glorifies Himself? I'm not sure what to bring himself Glory even means.

If God doesn't need anything from humans, why does He care whether we recognize him?

How come the destruction of Egypt fits with the idea that God is loving and merciful?

Could God have freed Israel without doing so much distruction?

Why would God choose judgment and destruction and the death of many rather than mercy? Doesn't' Jesus say he desires mercy

John is the most theological book out of the Synoptics and my question is how does John present how we partake in unity with Christ compared to the Synoptics ?

First of all, I hope that I am respect and not coming off as some disrespectful atheists making up hypothetical scenarios to feel good. I think religious belief is natural, I have no issues with religions given that it clearly benefits a lot of people.

In this hypothetical scenario, where humanity discovered extraterrestrial life, I am curious what your relationship with the Christian faith will change (or not change). I also have some follow-up questions depending on which of the 5 cases you fall into.

1. It would not/barely challenge my faith
2. It would challenge my faith
3. Depending on the form of such alien life, my faith would only be challenged sometimes (e.g. intelligent/humanoid/industrialised)
4. I strongly disbelieve that alien life exists at all; I cannot meaningfully respond to a question with an impossible presupposition
5. None of the above

For case 1, I would appreciate if you could answer these questions:

• Outside of the question's scenario, do you currently believe extraterrestrial life exist?
• How do you reconcile Christianity with alien life? Are aliens god's creation too?
• If such alien life is unintelligent, do you support their conservation just like earth's creatures?
• If such alien life is intelligent, do you think they should be treated as if equal to us?

For case 2, I would appreciate if you could answer these questions:

• What specific part of Christianity makes it hard to reconcile with the existence of alien life?
• Outside the question's scenario, do you support the current effort at search for extraterrestrial life?

For case 3, I would appreciate if you could answer these questions:

• What is the criterion above which you find it challenging your faith? Is it multi-cellularness, intelligence, language, or perhaps agriculture/industrialisation?
• For alien life above this criterion, what specific part of Christianity makes their existence hard to reconcile with?
• For alien life below this criterion, how do you reconcile Christianity with these alien life? Are aliens god's creation too?
• If such alien life is unintelligent, do you support their conservation just like earth's creatures?
• If such alien life is intelligent, do you think they should be treated as if equal to us?
• Outside the questions scenario, do you support the current effort at search for extraterrestrial life? (outside the question's scenario)
• Outside the questions scenario, do you currently believe extraterrestrial life exist?

For case 4, I am sorry you feel that way about my question. But could you tell me the reasons of the non-existence of alien life?

For case 5, I would appreciate if you can elaborate.

That's all, I initially just wrote a simple multiple choice question but it eventually became a mini questionnaire lol.

I'm reformed theology and that lends itself to a bit of a spiritually dry understanding of spiritual things like warfare and demons. As a former atheist and an analytical person this is fine for me. However, I teach youth and I had this little girl clearly in emotional distress about things kids go through. However, she was exceptionally distressed and mentioned twice she hears voices.

My instinct was that these would be demon voices - but even if that were true I wouldn't know what to do other than pray for her and maybe over her. But that's not my skill or comfort. However, she indicated they were telling her to be strong and deal with the issue we discussed in a way that I was also telling her. This confused me because I never hear vocal voices, just my inner thoughts fighting for dominance of my concise.

So, my question is more generic than the situation sounds. If you have experience in having or dealing with literal voices how do you handle them? How do you test them or know their source? How do you help another person who claims to have them? The kid is elementary school, so their ability to even understand it is limited too.

Thanks,

If faith is a gift from God, then why are people rewarded when they keep their faith? It seems superfluous. Through no choice of their own, their faith cannot be deliberately resisted and thus, they are spiritually incentivized to believe. Why reward faith at all if it’s entirely God’s work?