feel free to check my post history for details but ive been spending lots of time forcibly exposing myself to christians of all stripes and creeds so i can be doubly sure that it isnt what i want and while i find nonevangelical explanations fascinating and enlightening i still dont think i can stay any longer
watching christians respond to current events has started to seal my conviction
is there anyone here that can give me a reason to stay or maybe just talk to me?
id been eyeballing the episcopal church because i like their liberalness and high church style (which ive never seen before) but i would just be lying to myself with a more palatable version of an ideology i still cant subscribe to
as time goes on even the basic tenants (the existence of forever, good being separable from bad) don't feel like they match up with my reality
i wonder if my problems are just evangelical or with the religion entirely
i feel as though "God" has abandoned me
I don't want to sound morbid and say, "THANK YOU COVID-19" but it's just SO weird how my Bipolar Disorder has been acting up recently, and my belief in God and Christ and Christianity is in full force
I probably sound crazy, but I don't care. I am back in full gear as a Christian warrior, and I'm gonna kick this COVID thing in the butt. Praying nonstop. And helping everyone I know I need
Amen.
I grew up going to Christian church but as I moved into my teenage years I began to question the faith. I didn’t understand the horrendous world around me and how it could possibly be allowed. I didn’t understand the hate and strict rules that many believe we must adhere to in fear of going to Hell. I finally began to write the entire thing off. I wanted no part in it. However, as I continued through life I still feel it. That something is there. And I’m not sure how to define it. But I want to try to figure it out more.
I do believe that there is a celestial being. I just do not believe there to be such hate in it.
When I speak of hate I mean towards the LGBTQ community, those who wear makeup or have tattoos, those who do not automatically “respect” their elders regardless of who they are or what they’ve done. These are just a few examples I can come with in a few seconds.
My Partner grew up in a family who never even spoke of religion or God in general. He’s simply never been exposed. However as I’ve told him stories about the Bible and God he’s become more interested in learning about it. He asks me questions every once in a while and we enjoy talking about it.
Today we drove past a couple churches and it sparked a conversation that kind of shocked me. He told me that he’s been listening to Christian radio lately and has been considering maybe going to church sometime and exploring God.
However, while listening to this station a couple times a pastor would come on and speak hate towards LGBTQ and other community’s. This to him has been a huge turn off towards the whole thing.
So the both of us are kind of on the same page. We want to explore Faith, we want to find something that is accepting of all humans regardless of sexuality (because in the end it’s the soul that matters), what a person wears clothes wise or makeup, does for a living, etc. all that should matter is what kind of person you are and your willingness to build a relationship with God. Because he is Love after all.
So, r/religion, what have you for us two confused souls? Where should we start? I would love for my partner and I to explore this together in a loving and accepting environment that encourages questions and learning.
Sorry if the logline is bad I don't think I'm very good at it. I'd love to hear feedback about it because I've had the idea for quite some time but I'm pretty sure others would think I'm weird for having the idea.
The more bible verses I'm handed, the less spiritual I feel.
I used to have a high view of scripture, and felt like I had an answer for most things when I was a Christian. After I questioned it's fallibility, authority, and authenticity, much of the intellectual part of my faith came crashing down.
However, I now see that you don't have to have textual criticism to see something's not quite right.
I like this blog article about some of those more "obvious" observations about the religion and how it plays out in people.
A few resonated with me. I wonder why I hadn't stopped to consider these more in my reformed past.
What do you guys think? In your reformed days, would any of these ideas have landed with you?
I don’t know much about it besides what a few google searches told me. The archbishop said it was a group of men who had different encounters or interactions with Jesus and their goal was to agree upon how to describe Jesus.
However, the google tells me it’s just a translation of the Bible from Hebrew to Greek.
Why would he base his faith on a translation of the Bible? Does he have what the Septuagint is all wrong, or am I misunderstanding what google is saying?
Any help would be greatly appreciated :)
Unless someone is a first or second generation immigrant in this country, if you hear someone say, "Religion is just an out-dated concept." or, "Since religious people cause a lot of problems in the world, religion is obviously the main issue.", they are really talking about the Abrahamic faiths of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. They aren't talking about Buddhism, Hinduism, Sikhism, Jainism, or Zoroastrianism because........
They don't know shit about any other religion.
If you live in the United States of America, your culture, language, and history was created from Christian theology. The myths of this faith are so far embedded into who you are, you don't even realize it. It's not a bad thing, just the way it is. Like Louis CK said, just think about why the year is 2017.
What I'm concerned with is when people in the United States, use the word "religion", to refer to all organized religion they infer a lot of theological truths about other "religions" they don't know anything about.
Take Hinduism for example. Most American's perspective of Hinduism is that it is polytheistic, or that there are many gods who rule the universe. Differing from this, is the monotheistic view of the Christians, who believe that there is only one, supreme god.
However, in Hinduism, they place less emphasis on the historical and scientific facts surrounding their mythology. These gods are more like metaphors, or symbols for aspects of a singular reality called Brahman. In other words, all the gods in the hindu pantheon and all of the universe, including human beings are bite-sized manifestation of one being. In Christianity, God and creation are completely separate things, i.e. God created the universe like a potter with his clay. In Hinduism, God IS the universe. Hard to reconcile these ideas with the word "god", when they mean completely different things.
Why is this a problem?
This is a problem, because when people in the United States read about an aspect of another religion, they subconsciously project their Christian theology, in which the truths of these spiritual traditions become bastardized and watered down. It completely misses the point. >woman_eating_kale_saying_namaste.png
I have a friend who always says, "Religion is lame, and outdated. We're evolving past that. I practice meditation, and yoga. Do you want to borrow my Deepak Chopra book? I believe that the universe is all love and I can get what I want from the univers
... keep reading on reddit ➡Hey all, I'll try to keep this simple.
Raised in a secular environment.
Found God through occult practices, study, meditation, personal experience.
Recently began attending church.
I believe that the guidelines of this church offer the best way for human beings to live together on earth. I love church. I feel the spirit. I'm reading and learning a lot, I feel "cleaner", calmer, clearer. It's great. The rituals are great.
I can't turn away. There is truth in it that I want to embody and inhabit.
However. I am having a difficult time accepting the idea of being a sheep within a flock. I realized just today that my perspective is deemed sinful; in fact, this perspective is similar to what is believed to have been the cause of Lucifer being cast down.
I need to learn more. I need to figure out how to reconcile this perspective with continuing my path towards the Church. I feel like a literal wolf (or goat, I guess) in sheep's clothing when speaking with fellow parishioners.
I can easily accept all of the teachings of the church. I feel there is great value in practicing humility. I want to be baptized. I want the human experience of faith formation and acceptance. However...it almost feels to me like the Church and it's perspective on God creates a sort of dome around the world, and we are not to go beyond this Godly dome. I want the beyond, or at least the freedom to move towards it.
Reading recommendations? Personal experiences? I know very little. Thank you.
Serving money includes wanting to create a socialist system to give it away.
Traditional religions reward charity, or helping those temporarily in need, but do not command us to perpetual charity, because this merely creates parasites.
