Why I am not a Christian...

There are no cultural obligations or required activities. According to scripture, one only need to confess belief in Jesus and believe that he arose from the dead and *BOOM*, you're in.

IF this was all there was I doubt the Prophets would have spent 1500 pages writing about stuff we need to do to be disciples. Anyone can confess belief. A Christian lives His beliefs. Its those who dont that cause problems for the faith.
 
Originally posted by Bullypulpit
There are many reasons, of which I will illustrate only a couple, but first, let us define what a Christian is.

Many claim to be "Christian", but what exactly does that label entail? There are, essentially, two factors involved. The first, of a dogmatic nature, is a belief in God and immortality. Failing to belive in these two things, I think, effectively bars one from Christian ranks. The second is a belief in Jesus, which effectively bars Muslims and Jews from the halls of Christendom.

I'm responding just a tad late, but here goes:

Your defiition of a Christian is decent. We (Christians) would define a Christian as one who believes that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and that He has died and was subsequently resurrected from the dead, and that through His death and resurrection, we humans can attain eternal life and communion with God.

As for a belief in religion, the only reason people accept the teachings of Christianity, or any other religion for that matter, are emotional, and rooted in fear. It is the terror of the unknown, in part, as well as the wish to ahve some sort of big brother to help one through all one's trails and tribulations. But fear is the root of it. Fear of the unkown, fear of the different, fear of death. Fear gives rise to cruelty, and it is no surprise then that religion and cruelty have gone hand in hand down through the centuries.

I don't know how you can determine any one person's motivations for believing in a particular religion, much less paint every Christian's motivation for believing as fear of death. Yes, some people believe in certain religions because of fear. My experience has been that once people gain a greater understanding of Christianity, their motivation transforms from fear (however much there may or may not have been) into love - love for God and love for other people.
As far as the historical cruelty of the church, or wars fought in Christ's name, I don't think one can justify them. That doesn't mean that all of Christianity is wrong, it means that those individual actions/events are wrong.

I don't fear the unkown. I don't fear that which is different. I don't fear death. These things simply are, and to fear them give rise to unwarranted anxietywhich leads one to flee to the vicarious comfort of religion. I grew up, and left childish things behind me, not the least of which was religion. It serves many well, giving them comfort in their daily lives. But too many others use it for their own ends, which have nothing to do with the ideals of their religion. Instead the gratification of their own egos is their goal. Just watch the televised rants of any religious zealot for the proof of that . [/B]

I don't condone anyone - regardless of religion - who uses their "faith" to feed their ego or greed. But again, to say, for example, that 'Because Jimmy Swaggart is a Christian, and Jimmy Swaggart is a hypocrite, all Christians are hypocrites' is false logic. You ought to examine what the religion says about itself.
 
Matthew 7:
21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
24 Therefore whosoever

It is about a relationship.....not religion.
 
I hate it when people bring up stuff like the Spanish Inquisition and witch trials and say they are not a Christian because of that (or they bring up all bad things done by people of all religions and say that's why they are not religious). I don't really see that as a valid reason and I find it to be insulting as well. They wouldn't like it if I lumped atheists together and compared them to Communists regimes which were officially atheist. That wouldn't be fair either.
 
Originally posted by gop_jeff
NewGuy,

You gotta start using a readable translation. Try the NIV for starters. Or try this link to search through 18 different translations.

:D

The KJ is the only legally public domain version, and there are differences in some later versions that would confuse the non-believers.

I try to stick to the av1611 where possible.

Sorry!
 
In regards to my earlier posts. The works of the prophets are things that God asks us to do, not things required. In my experience, those who truly do believe in Jesus grow a desire to do these things, so it's never really been a problem.

Oh, and as far as the KJV, check out what Jack Chick thinks about all other translations. From what I gather, all non-KJV versions, including the New KJV are corrupted, altered Bibles planted by the Vatican's Jesuit spies in order to corrupt all of us into their own form of Baal and Ra worship, or something like that.
 
Originally posted by Hobbit
In regards to my earlier posts. The works of the prophets are things that God asks us to do, not things required. In my experience, those who truly do believe in Jesus grow a desire to do these things, so it's never really been a problem.

Oh, and as far as the KJV, check out what Jack Chick thinks about all other translations. From what I gather, all non-KJV versions, including the New KJV are corrupted, altered Bibles planted by the Vatican's Jesuit spies in order to corrupt all of us into their own form of Baal and Ra worship, or something like that.

I will skip that. I have a rather detaled analysis of the versions and differences in my archives. Whatever HIS reasoning, I can tell you factually there ARE differences, and that most versions OTHER THAN the Authorized 1611 Version ARE different in a few places that are pretty important. They do not follow original manuscript. They follow collective opinion on how to apply catholic and changed doctrine. It gets ugly but I can get into it further if need be.
 
Originally posted by NewGuy
I will skip that. I have a rather detaled analysis of the versions and differences in my archives. Whatever HIS reasoning, I can tell you factually there ARE differences, and that most versions OTHER THAN the Authorized 1611 Version ARE different in a few places that are pretty important. They do not follow original manuscript. They follow collective opinion on how to apply catholic and changed doctrine. It gets ugly but I can get into it further if need be.

At the risk of getting into a debate on Bible translations in a thread entitled "Why I am Not a Christian," maybe we should discuss it elsewhere. I can tell that we have differing opinions on the subject.
 
No need. I've heard the arguement before and have no desire to hear it again. I know they're different, and I know the differences, and it's never bothered me. End of story.
 
Originally posted by Hobbit
No need. I've heard the arguement before and have no desire to hear it again. I know they're different, and I know the differences, and it's never bothered me. End of story.

No need to be defensive.
 
Since I've started a thread titled what I've learned from the bible, it's only fair I post the other side here. I am not a christian because I don't believe in god (tho I admit there is a possibility of a higher power/being). If I could make that leap of faith, I think even then I would not believe in god as described in the bible. We would seem to have some differences of opinion on several weighty matters even tho we agree on others. This is something I may have to answer for once I shuffle off this mortal coil, won't know till then. Here on earth I must answer to the one authority that has been with me from the moment of my birth and will be there until the moment of my death (and perhaps beyond), my conscience. I suppose I'm hoping that in the event of a post mortem judgement, the ruling will take into account how my conscience was formed and the reasons for any decisions I made which were contrary to the teachings of religion.

sidenote, having been raised catholic, I was forbidden to read the king james version of the bible, which, oddly, was the version my paternal grandmother gave several copies of to me for various presents (birthday, christmas, easter). Always struck me as odd. Anyhoo, interesting comments on the versions above prompted me to add this tidbit.
 

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