Hi,
I was lurking around and I found this thread and thought that, as a Christian, I might be able to shed some light on a few things. I haven't read all the threads, so I'll just respond to the ones that stuck out.
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Originally Posted by Cyborg Ninja
I am a secular woman and I adhere to the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. Does this seem unusual? I believe that my views would be the same even if Jesus never existed. I was raised in a secular household, so Christian views weren't pushed on me in any way, though I have studied the religion off and on since I was 11. There are many figures in history that are similar to Jesus: Gandhi, Buddha, etc. Basically, those people who put others above themselves. It is an admirable trait and a very rare one at that.
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The difference between Jesus and saints like Gandhi is that Jesus claimed to be God. I don't really know much about the other religions, but from what I do know, there were only two other historical "saint" figures who claimed to be God: Krishna and Buddha; Krishna explicitly and Buddha implicitly. And, if you believe the reports, the three religious figures usually featured in Near Death Experiences are Jesus, Buddha and Krishna.
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Originally Posted by Cyborg Ninja
I do consider myself a secular humanist today, in case anyone's curious. It's funny how so many conservatives act like Humanism is Satanism somehow... but that's for another topic.
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Christianity isn't opposed to the values of Humanism, but to the humanists' idea that these values can be brought to life by the means of human will. In Christianity we see everything good coming by God's will.
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Originally Posted by abaya
The thing that I can't get about Christianity is that basically, unless you're explicitly Christian (e.g. have done the salvation prayer, asked Jesus for forgiveness, yadda yadda), YOU ARE GOING TO HELL. No two ways around it. I have never been able to forgive Christianity for this fact, I suppose. Even if you are the most tolerant, open-minded Christian in the world, as long as you know that I have NOT said the salvation prayer, you are going to believe (at some gut level) that I am going to hell. I find that extremely disturbing, now that I have left the fold. What a way to live and interact with your fellow man!
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I don't really see that as something supported by the Bible. I think you're misunderstanding the whole Heaven/Hell concept. Here's my take:
Hell
is death. If you look to the ancient religions (ie. Greek/Roman Paganism, Judaism) there was no concept of Heaven
or Hell, it was just unconditional Hell. And Hell (Sheol, Hades) wasn't really a place of torture, just a dark, shadowy existence. Hell
is death, and life was of course preferable.
And still in Christianity there is no Heaven
or Hell when our bodies shut down and we die, however there is has another level of life to consider: the spiritual life. God told Adam and Eve that they would die when they would die as soon as they ate from the Tree of Wisdom, but didn't they live for much, much longer? biologically they did, but spiritually they died on the spot. In a sense, they were were in Hell because Hell
is death.
And, here's the beauty of Christ's message:
I am the Son of God, I am God, and I share in the Eternal Life. I am the Light that shines within mankind, the light can save you from the dark, shadowy existence of Hell. If you believe in my name, you will not only receive the life lost (because I will be born within you) but you will be called a Sons of God and become rightful heirs to God's Kingdom of Heaven.
That's basically the whole message of Christianity right there: Christ can be born within you. It's explained many ways - "born again", "born from above", "resurrected", "the second coming", "awakening" (it might not even be too much of a stretch to say "enlightenment" like the Buddhists, knowing that Christ is the Light) - but the message remains the same.