to think many politicians who claim to be Christians and who say this is a Christian country really aren't Christians and would criticise the teachings of Jesus

No idea why you felt the need to say this. Where do I make a spiritual truth claim?

I know this is a common comment, but I personally see it as reflecting a deep cultural, unconscious anti-semitism.

For someone who claims to value being non-judgmental and acceptance and tolerance, you might want to reflect on how it comes across to Jewish people to hear people from Christian traditions speak about some of their Holy Books and God in this way, especially as the comparison is clearly meant to show the superiority of the Christian God and texts to Jewish ones.

They connected the story well, that's not a novel concept and doesn't make anything absolutely 'true'.

Living a life based on what some or all of what the bible says cannot be anything but hypocritical.

It’s not about the word count. The belief in a coming Messiah is a clear in the OT and JC is the fulfillment of that promise for Christians. The NT is littered with references to this to back up this claim and therefore JC’s authority. This was a foundational understanding of JC for the early followers of Christ. Your claim that JC ‘did not appear much in the OT’ is a clear indicator that you do not understand this, because you are trying to minimize this connection, that early Christians sought to bring forefront.

aith a lot but multiple posts show they’re hypocrites with very little compassion or tolerance for anyone. They’re anti abortion, life starts at conception people, but no shits given on threads about a very young child in a bad situation. A few years earlier they’d have been doing all they could to make the mother keep the child whilst in the womb, but now he’s here aged 4 needing help, they couldn’t give a fuck. It makes me sick.

I was brought up in Christian community, the people sure didn’t show many Christian values day to day. They were Christian on Sunday mornings, not the rest of the week. In that community there was probably a handful that consistently displayed Christian behaviour and I respected them for that.

In Christianity abortion is sinful because all the teaching is that life is a gift from God. He gives life he takes life. One of the commandment tells you not to kill. It's part of bigger picture and way of life, marriage, children and faith that God help you through.

Everything is based on the premise that you have faith and that whatever bad thing happens to you or you do with your hands God will help you through. If you have that level of faith, the solution would not be abortion.

And to you point about children who are then born and have terrible lives. Your assertion that Christians don't care is just not true. In this country alone, the church has helped millions of families through the centuries with education and health. Of course some Christian's are hypocritics but this is not how Christians built their countries. They built institutions to fight for the rights of the poor. We have had people of faith, artists, writers, lay people and even politicians fight for Christian values.It's always easy to forget this.

Christianity is not a secular moral code, as you seem to believe it is. It’s a religious doctrine whose core defining concept is salvation through Christ. The comforting thing for ( Protestant at least) Christians is that you are saved regardless of your deeds. You are saved by belief.

The character of Christ is not the meek and mild one people like you often want to portray. He is a complicate character. He was aggressive and attacking to those he did not agree with, calling them names. Which sounds pretty judgmental to me ( as indeed do you to those you dislike, such as Farage. You do understand that being non-judgmental means being non-judgemental to people you DON’T hold in high regard? After all, everyone in the planet can be non-judgmental to those they are sympathetic to. The challenge is being non-judgmental to those one is NOT sympathetic too. That story in the Bible about removing the plank from your own eye before criticising the mote in others? That applies to you, right now.)

Jesus also compared a gentile woman who asked to hear his teachings to a dog, to which she replied, ‘ even a dog can eat scraps from the table’.

I was also somewhat astonished to hear you stare that JC does not appear in the OT! The entire thing about JC to Christian’s is that he is the fulfillment of the prophecy of the Messiah in the OT. For Christians, that is where he gets his spiritual authority from. It is an astonishing ignorance of Christianity to not realise this. The difference between Jews and Christians is that Jews believe the Messiah is still to come and Christians believe he has come.

And that line about treating your neighbour as yourself, is JC condensing the laws of the OT, not adding something new on top.

I'm too tired to know if you're pulling me up or agreeing, sorry.
I'll be back later to see how thread progresses.

Lots of men, and women,

Hang on - there are women in the bible ?

That's what the men wrote in the book, yes. Lots of men, and women, have written lots of interesting things in books, that doesn't make it truth.

Happy bunny 😀

That's your Christianity. (Which has no qualms about immediately calling people who don't believe it "sinners". Talk about othering).

There will be other Christians who have a different view.

I did say it was a historical text, thus, it should be respected like all other historical texts.
It should not be used as a rule book for life.
Better?

It is, that is core to Christianity. God loves you, Jesus came to save you but it's only through him and his teachings.

Hang on ! There are some great stories in the Bible. It is an historical document after all.

Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater.

And I like parables. The one about the virgins and the tin openers especially.

I thought that "Love thy neighbour", "Do unto others what you would have them do to you" were pretty high up in the teachings of Jesus.

Remember the context though. And if you're unsure, then I am sure someone will explain it to you - possibly by example (looks at various churches around the world).

The only reason politicians can't be more cynical in their use of religion, is the priests got there first.

Yes, they can be ignored. The whole book can be ignored. It's just another several times altered historical text, there's nothing special about it.

With all due respect, the thread is about xtianity, so thus we can discuss it's shortcomings.

I am not a Christian. I was brought up on Bible stories, ,lessons from the Bible - as many people in the UK were.

Well, you'd think. Repeated surveys show that not much sticks - just look at the fuss over the Lyles tin recently. I know for a fact that story was told to us at school - if not primary then middle school.

Christianity, at its core, is not about being good, but about being saved, Being saved through faith in Christ. The Church of England core message is ‘by faith alone’. It actually is about salvation through faith, not deeds

That's your take. It clearly isn't everyones.

Harry Hill knows how to sort this, I believe ...