Am I Close?

[SaberOfGod]

I've recently become an active member in my church. Nothing wrong with that, of course. Now, my reason for posting here is that often the conversation gets into, let's say 'pretty deep territory'. This has prompted me to write a summation of my beliefs of Christianity so that the members of these forums can offer their opinions or correct anything that I may have misinterpreted. I am 25 years of age if that helps at all. Any responses will be appreciated.
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The Christian believes that there is God, good, and Satan, bad. These are the two polar opposites on an axis of morality. Man falls somewhere between these two extremes, the position depending on the decency of his character. As man we are unable to inhabit the utmost end of either side of this axis. By necessity we remain in the 'grey area', for if we were to reach either of the ends where God or Devil are denoted we become one with these points as the absoluteness of these two transcend duality. Even the apotheosis of the saints falls short of being congruent or equal to God.

If one goes a little further it becomes apparent that God is not a single entity, but is in essence three. This three-fold view of God is known as the Holy Trinity. This Trinity consists of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Now it must be understood that these three aspects are not really partitioned beings, rather they are three different states of a singular being. The best way to describe this is using the analogy of water. Water exists as solid, liquid and gas. Each of these three phases has different properties, but ultimately they are all water.

The Father is the creative aspect. He is the Creator of the universe and all that sits within it. The Son is the redemption of humanity. It is through Him that one is given the opportunity of providence. The Holy Ghost is the resurrection of the spirit. It is the agent that is at work when one gives up his sinful, godless existence and has his soul transformed or resurrected in divinity. Death is no longer viewed as an end but as a glorious and heavenly beginning.

To have Christ in one's heart means that all doubt is extirpated from one's soul. Death is not to be feared because of the assurance of Heaven, and as death is the unconditional consequence of all life, there is nothing then that should ripple the calmness of man's spirit.

[JoeyKnothead]

The Salem Witch Trials, Crusades, etc., were caused by a misunderstanding and/or exaggeration of Christianity. Not true Christianity.

I tell ya, that's one heck of a belief system. Can't blame it for anything bad, hafta give it credit for all the good. How can anyone argue with that?
He did what? He ain't a true Christian, how dare you blame that on his subjective interpretation of a contradictory source of information!
He did what? Now that's a fine, upstanding Christian feller there! Make it known throughout the lands just what a great source of solid, objective, just really all great and wonderful source of information we got here!

(edited for clarity)

[Skyler]

The Salem Witch Trials, Crusades, etc., were caused by a misunderstanding and/or exaggeration of Christianity. Not true Christianity.

I tell ya, that's one heck of a belief system. Can't blame it for anything bad, hafta give it credit for all the good. How can anyone argue with that?
He did what? He ain't a true Christian, how dare you blame that on his subjective interpretation of a contradictory source of information!
He did what? Now that's a fine, upstanding Christian feller there! Make it known throughout the lands just what a great source of solid, objective, just really all great and wonderful source of information we got here!

(edited for clarity)

Isn't it odd that all bachelors are unmarried?

[Goat]

The Salem Witch Trials, Crusades, etc., were caused by a misunderstanding and/or exaggeration of Christianity. Not true Christianity.

I tell ya, that's one heck of a belief system. Can't blame it for anything bad, hafta give it credit for all the good. How can anyone argue with that?
He did what? He ain't a true Christian, how dare you blame that on his subjective interpretation of a contradictory source of information!
He did what? Now that's a fine, upstanding Christian feller there! Make it known throughout the lands just what a great source of solid, objective, just really all great and wonderful source of information we got here!

(edited for clarity)

Isn't it odd that all bachelors are unmarried?

Isn't that a false analogy, since Christianity is more than one partial phrase taken out of context in one book. There is also

"suffer not a witch to live' and 'Bring me my enemies before me and slay them" We must not forget those.

[Skyler]

The Salem Witch Trials, Crusades, etc., were caused by a misunderstanding and/or exaggeration of Christianity. Not true Christianity.

I tell ya, that's one heck of a belief system. Can't blame it for anything bad, hafta give it credit for all the good. How can anyone argue with that?
He did what? He ain't a true Christian, how dare you blame that on his subjective interpretation of a contradictory source of information!
He did what? Now that's a fine, upstanding Christian feller there! Make it known throughout the lands just what a great source of solid, objective, just really all great and wonderful source of information we got here!

(edited for clarity)

Isn't it odd that all bachelors are unmarried?

Isn't that a false analogy, since Christianity is more than one partial phrase taken out of context in one book. There is also

"suffer not a witch to live' and 'Bring me my enemies before me and slay them" We must not forget those.

My point was that because Christianity is supposed to be based on God's perfect will, it is therefore perfectly good. Since joey's moral standards are largely drawn from a society which has been heavily impacted by Christianity, it should come as no surprise that his concept of "good" is aligned with what Christianity considers "good".

As far as your point goes, those scriptures are civil laws set down specifically for the nation of Israel at the time when it was a theocracy. They express God's standards, and He commands his subjects to carry out his sentences for Him. Nowadays, God no longer "runs" a theocracy, so these laws, while expressive of his Will and therefore applicable in personal life, are not to be "carried out" in the sense that they were to be carried out for the theocratic Israel.

[Goat]

The Salem Witch Trials, Crusades, etc., were caused by a misunderstanding and/or exaggeration of Christianity. Not true Christianity.

I tell ya, that's one heck of a belief system. Can't blame it for anything bad, hafta give it credit for all the good. How can anyone argue with that?
He did what? He ain't a true Christian, how dare you blame that on his subjective interpretation of a contradictory source of information!
He did what? Now that's a fine, upstanding Christian feller there! Make it known throughout the lands just what a great source of solid, objective, just really all great and wonderful source of information we got here!

(edited for clarity)

Isn't it odd that all bachelors are unmarried?

Isn't that a false analogy, since Christianity is more than one partial phrase taken out of context in one book. There is also

"suffer not a witch to live' and 'Bring me my enemies before me and slay them" We must not forget those.

My point was that because Christianity is supposed to be based on God's perfect will, it is therefore perfectly good. Since joey's moral standards are largely drawn from a society which has been heavily impacted by Christianity, it should come as no surprise that his concept of "good" is aligned with what Christianity considers "good".

As far as your point goes, those scriptures are civil laws set down specifically for the nation of Israel at the time when it was a theocracy. They express God's standards, and He commands his subjects to carry out his sentences for Him. Nowadays, God no longer "runs" a theocracy, so these laws, while expressive of his Will and therefore applicable in personal life, are not to be "carried out" in the sense that they were to be carried out for the theocratic Israel.

Considering that one quotes was from the NEW testament, I think you should reevaluate your claims.

[jmac2112]

Yes, second quote is from the Parable of the Talents in Luke's gospel (Luke 19:12-28). I hardly think you can claim that Jesus is teaching us in this parable that we should kill people. Or perhaps He was pondering giving up the whole "Messiah" thing in order to go into the cut-throat world of banking?

[JoeyKnothead]

From Post 11 Page 2

The Salem Witch Trials, Crusades, etc., were caused by a misunderstanding and/or exaggeration of Christianity. Not true Christianity.

I tell ya, that's one heck of a belief system. Can't blame it for anything bad, hafta give it credit for all the good. How can anyone argue with that?
He did what? He ain't a true Christian, how dare you blame that on his subjective interpretation of a contradictory source of information!
He did what? Now that's a fine, upstanding Christian feller there! Make it known throughout the lands just what a great source of solid, objective, just really all great and wonderful source of information we got here!

>Post 12 Page 2<
Isn't it odd that all bachelors are unmarried?

Huh? My point was that every time someone does something bad in the name of God, others are quick to say "no true Christian", yet they fail to realise the person was acting on what they thought the god wanted. Of course it's easy to say "God is only good" but when we look at the practices, we see quite a different story.
I see some Christians are very quick to dismiss the harm caused in the name of their religion, and only want to speak about the good. I find this a distortion of how the religion works.
While its a great and wonderful thing to think of a god that would only want 'good' this can't be shown to apply to all his adherents. Where this god would allow his adherents to commit atrocities in his name then I think it reasonable to place a proportionate amount of responsibility on this god.
For me this is proof that the god in question is merely a construct of human imagination.
We see countless times in a given religious text where the god would do, or would have done, many heinous acts, but these horrors are only considered good, because "my God can't possibly want something bad to happen". It is a sort of lying to oneself in order to continue a belief that has so many contradictions and inconsistencies.
I plead with the reader to not accept the argument that a given god only wants good. Look at the horrors this god commits himself, or has others commit in his name. Look at these horrors and then ask yourself, "Don't this God so often act like humans?" When you've answered this, I think you'll find that gods are human constructs.
From Post 14 Page 2

(my underlining)
My point was that because Christianity is supposed to be based on God's perfect will, it is therefore perfectly good. Since joey's moral standards are largely drawn from a society which has been heavily impacted by Christianity, it should come as no surprise that his concept of "good" is aligned with what Christianity considers "good".

I note the influence of Christianity, but I caution against perceiving my position as based (my term) on Christianity. I note where some would commit atrocities in the name of Christianity, but consider these acts God's will, and therefore a good thing.
Where developing societies institute moral standards, I do not give credit to a religion or a god for such. These are only teaching tools to help explain the moral position.

Supposed to is one thing, ends up as is another.