Am I a Christian if I have faith in God and believe that Jesus died for our sins and try to follow in the Lord's footsteps every day BUT I think the Bible is irrelevant human propaganda and doesn't matter as long as I operate in such a matter that strengthens my connection with God every day (me and God directly, no pope, no hierarchy, fuck that shit)
Currently I would identify as nondenominational, maybe a Christian universalist but I really don't understand theology all that much.
Am I like a Protestant on crack or steroids? I'm just curious as to how we are certain that the Bible is the literal word of God and not just written by some people who wanted to control the masses in the early days of Christianity. I know that scripture and stuff has always been needed to keep people in line but humans have progressed enough to where I'm capable of being good on my own. >fedoras not welcome to my thread
why exactly do you believe the overall narrative of the Bible if you wholey reject the text itself?
Nicholas Sanchez
If you disregard the Bible as an authority on anything then there's no reason to raise jesus above any other heresiarch who was executed in the roman empire.
Carter Gomez
>Not believing in the Bible >Protestant
If anything you're a Catholic on steroids
Levi Wood
How could you even believe in Christ and God without the Bible? I understand your point about trying to control the masses, and there are arguments among historians about the validity, revision, dates, etc. However, the whole belief in Jesus and that he died for your sins is directly from the bible. Do you just pick and choose what to believe?
Adrian Young
If I say I believe in the chair I'm sitting in, then I go and write a novel on the chair, I can still worship the chair without believing in the stuff I wrote about it
Just as I can still believe in Jesus Christ without requiring some sort of book, it's not like he wrote the Bible
Kevin Nguyen
I used to think similarly but realised that the central tenets of theology which I was basing my beliefs on (heaven and hell, redemption, Jesus is God), all came from the Bible, which I was reluctant to accept whole heartedly as the literal Word of God. In the end I think you have to decide between accepting Christianity fully (both faith and the Bible), or rejecting it outright. The middle ground is confusing, leads nowhere and is ultimately only self serving.
Nolan Sullivan
Cause he wants to emulate Jordan Peterson
William Harris
No, you're a Peterson suckoff, heretic, and general disgusting humanist. >muh certainty You aren't Christian > I know that scripture and stuff has always been needed to keep people in line but humans have progressed enough to where I'm capable of being good on my own. You absolutely are not Christian.
Alexander Sanchez
>Do you just pick and choose what to believe? Essentially yes. As long as I'm acting morally. The problem is there's no way to gauge morality without the Bible so I'm sort of in a pickle. I might pick up some form of protestantism, idk, I'd have to read the Bible first. Might just create my own.
Logan Gonzalez
Never watched that dude before, couldn't stand his voice and clicked off five minutes in. Does he actually say something similar?
Jason Torres
>Doesn't believe in the bible >Hasn't read the bible
Juan Sanders
Thank you. This makes sense. I'm going to accept it fully.
Carson Gomez
Christ is more significant than a chair you fucking retard, The Bible lays out Hell, heavan, and the fucking baseline for Christianity, to deny the bible is to deny christianity, because as i'm aware the Bible and a few roman documents are the only proof Jesus even existed.
Brandon Ross
>I don't believe in the bible >I haven't read it tho What the fuck is wrong with you
Connor Ward
It's called a metaphor dummy I'm going to
Evan Cruz
Don't mistake only a few sources as not being enough evidence. There is plenty of evidence from multiple unbiased sources that confirm the existence of a populist Rabbi named Yeshua who was crucified by the Roman Prefect Pontius Pilot. The historicity of Jesus is almost universally accepted among reputable historians.
Colton Allen
I'm sorry, did you ever meet Jesus Christ? Did you see him perform his miracles? Did you have visions where he came to you and affirmed his existence? No? Then what fucking reason do you have for believing he was the son of God if you don't believe in the Bible?
Jaxson Parker
That's why it's a belief silly, there's no rhyme or reason to it but it's what I believe. I don't have to give you an explanation.
Owen Lopez
Stop bullying us pls. We believe the bible.
Lucas Perry
>claims to know Jesus >doesn't trust the most reliable information we have about His ministry
This is textbook gnostic doublethink.
Gavin Cooper
Yeah, but then that would mean that if OP discredits the bible as a valid source, then jesus was just that, a populist rabbi who was executed.
Benjamin Parker
Fucking die
Jayden Jackson
not really. if you really pushed him on the question he'd say he's an atheist without using that word.
Gavin Anderson
you're the one who made a thread to discuss your beliefs.
Joshua Miller
Shoot yourself. I'm not going to explain why you should do it but please do it, don't think just do it.
Caleb Harris
I too came to a similar revelation. I think the Old testament and most of the new testament with the exclusion of the Gospel is NOT divinely inspired and was written by (perhaps wise) sages. All that matters is that you believe that Jesus is the Son of God, according to the big man himself.
Colton Brown
Explain the promise (and fulfilment) of the messiah then
Robert Phillips
Jesus didn't even fulfill most of those promises which is partly why he was killed.
You guys are misunderstanding OP. Since he is a retard and really bad at explaining himself, I'll do it for him in order to dispel all the confusion. OP is not saying he doesn't BELIEVE in the Bible, he is saying it is IRRELEVANT to his life. It's a source of information on Jesus and his ministry. He doesn't need to be acquainted with the text personally in order to follow Jesus' example since that kind of info is generally well known and can be gleaned from quotes and other sources like media. He doesn't need to study the Bible, he just needs to believe and be as Christ-like as possible. Just like I can believe the information in a phonebook is accurate without trying out every phone number to make sure. He gets the general idea wrt Christianity and what Jesus is about, so he feels that he does not need to personally study the Bible.
Zachary Perez
I'll just add the OP kind of has a valid point. Since for certain periods in history there was a greater degree of illiteracy than today, so many people who were religious tried to have faith and be Christ-like without reading the Bible, instead depending on what people told them Christ did and what he taught. They had a sense for what Christianity was about without breaking their head over the actual text
Elijah Wilson
If he loved Jesus with all his heart he would want to know everything about his ministry, and the "lore", for a lack of a better word, of the stuff that led up to his death and resurrection.
Eli Carter
He can just ask people about it. He doesn't need to read it himself.
Adam Ortiz
>Am I a Christian if I have faith in God and believe that Jesus died for our sins and try to follow in the Lord's footsteps every day BUT I think the Bible is irrelevant human propaganda
No. In fact, the question makes no sense in the first place because there is no "God" or "Jesus" in any Christian sense that hasn't been revealed in Scripture. What or who is God and/or Jesus? You don't know outside of revelation. You're just taking the expressions of people who have paid attention to revelation and picking and choosing which parts you want to believe. It's like saying that you believe that the United States has laws, but the First Amendment isn't one of them. That's not really something you get to decide. It exists outside of you.
>Am I like a Protestant on crack or steroids? Literally the opposite. The whole watchword of Protestantism is "sola scriptura." Without that "scriptura part," and without any sacred Tradition, really you're just saying "I'm makin' all this shit up because it's what I'd like to be true." That's just college freshmen's attempts at postmodernism.
Jose Edwards
If one wants to be Christ-like it is necessary to study the Bible in order to learn what Christ-likeness is.
Asher Russell
But the word of Christ is in the book...Are you baiting by any chance?
Caleb Young
No you can just ask people who have read it, or have studied it deeply. You can also familiarize yourself with some prominent quotes.
Grayson Ortiz
>there is no "God" or "Jesus" in any Christian sense that hasn't been revealed in Scripture God was revealed in the flesh and the Spirit not in the letter.
Aaron Wilson
A sincere believer thirsts for the source of God's word.
Matthew Cooper
God's Word is a person not a book. You have to get to know him in the flesh and Spirit.
Jace Gonzalez
If you loved that person you would study His words.
Carson Jackson
Some people have trouble with studies, it would only lead to further confusion.
Isaac Baker
>unbiased >sources Pick one, STEMsperg.
Joshua Harris
A perfect opportunity to ask the help of a more mature brother or sister and then the Counselor will handle it from there.
Juan Moore
Shut it hairtick
James Wright
That's might point, just depend on the knowledge and wisdom of superiors.
Evan Sanchez
my point*
Grayson Campbell
Bullshit. You just gave me a letter. Where'd you get it from?
>Boston University religion scholar Stephen Prothero argues that nondenominationalism hides the fundamental theological and spiritual issues that initially drove the division of Christianity into denominations behind a veneer of "Christian unity". He argues that nondenominationalism encourages a descent of Christianity—and indeed, all religions—into comfortable "general moralism" rather than being a focus for facing the complexities of churchgoers' culture and spirituality. Prothero further argues that it also encourages ignorance of the Scriptures, lowering the overall religious literacy while increasing the potential for inter-religious misunderstandings and conflict.
>Jonathan A. Mitchican, a traditionalist Anglican priest, has also argued that the term non-denominational is essentially misleading: "If an American church calls itself 'non-denominational,' nine times out of ten what that means is Baptist. Altar calls and appeals to personal conversion replace the sacraments as the means of grace. Baptism is a symbol of one's personal conversion, nothing more, and it is only appropriate for adults." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nondenominational_Christianity
Parker Young
>kind of info is generally well known and can be gleaned from quotes and other sources like media. Not in secular society it isn't. The common view of Jesus is that he was either some freedom-loving hippie who just wanted people to be nice to each other, or that he some sort of freedom-loving rugged individualist who'd be right at home in 18th century America.
>He doesn't need to study the Bible He needs to read the Bible and join the Catholic Church. He's currently headed straight for damnation.
