I'm an evangelical Christian - ask me anything

[Insieme]

I'm happy to answer questions, though I'm not interested if people just come on to be insulting.

I can only give my views and talk about what I believe - evangelicalism covers a broad spectrum of beliefs and I can only speak for myself.

Ask away!

Which parts do you disagree with the pope on - genuine question not goady

Lookmorecloselier God has been around for eternity, so 2000 years is not very long!

The question of how can a good God allow suffering has been around forever, and I don't suppose any answer I give will be better than the ones other people have come up with.

But I can make two points: God made us free. We have choices. We often choose to do things that hurt other people. Most famines are man-made. Wars and murders come out of the hatred people feel for each other. God has told us that illness and decay and aging and death come from our 'sinful nature'. They are not our fault individually, but are due to humanity's sin.

And secondly, most Christians struggle with this too. We want God to be good in the sense of kind and cuddly, but actually he's good in the sense of just and holy. I lost a friend to a horrible death recently. Of course I have questions, and I struggle. But she had faith and hope, and she died content, in a way. The alternative was for her to die the same painful death, but with no hope at all. I'm glad she had her faith.

How did you become a Christian? And what impact has it had on your life?

Golden As mothers! Usually mothers who've been let down by men. A close church-friend is the single mother of 3 small children. She is widely admired for coping as well as she does (I think I've put that badly - I wouldn't want to patronise her).

Churches (good churches) can be a great support to single parents. We have a single dad of 2 boys too. If you've found a church to be judgemental or uncaring, I'm sorry. Don't assume we're all that bad, please!

What do you believe about the second coming?

Do you believe in supernatural healing and do you have any personal experience of it?

Do you really think it's OK to make jesus pay the price though? I don't think a just God could forgive someone who would be willing to let someone else die in agony for their sins so that they did not have to take responsibility for them. Seems like an odd behaviour to reward.

So you have stated you see homosexuality as a sin. You have to know that this makes you a bigot.

How do you balance the idea of spreading misery (perpetuating discrimination against gay people) with supposedly being ethical/moral?

Golden it depends what you expect to happen if you ask Jesus into your life. In my experience, and that of other Christians I know, there are no blinding lights or transformed circumstances. All we have is an assurance written in the Bible, that God loves us and forgives us. That doesn't always translate to FEELING forgiven, or sudden joy, or whatever.

Generally once people find other Christians, and learn a little more about God, and what trying to live as a Christian is like, they find they feel more confident in God's love and forgiveness and they begin to 'blossom' in their faith, for want of a better word. It can take time.

And God doesn't promise us a charmed life. Life will not suddenly get easier.

Annandale not really. The Lord's Prayer, I suppose, but I mostly pray ex tempore (in my own words).

I don't have a problem believing in original sin. A baby looks perfect and innocent, but although we try to teach our children to tell the truth and do as they are told, they do tend to go their own way and test the boundaries. We don't teach them to be naughty. They do that themselves.

At times I have wondered about eternal life. What will we do all day?! But of course there won't be time there as we know it. And there are all those questions I want to ask God...

*God sets a standard for moral behaviour. Use the 10 commandments as an example. Everyone without exception, has failed to keep that perfect standard. Everyone has spoken in anger, or lied, or thought something unfair about another person. We've all failed.

God is perfect and just. He looks at what we've done wrong and has to punish us for it in some way. *

But I can make two points: God made us free. We have choices

How do you reconcile these two statements?

What was your own experience of becoming a Christian? Was it a gradual thing? Or did it happen due to an event/instant feeling?

Parsley I mostly disagree with the pope on two things.

Firstly, Jesus's death was enough to pay for our sins. We don't need to do anything else to be saved except believe in him. So I think 'resacrificing' him at mass is wrong, and people shouldn't feel obliged to attend church or do good deeds in order to get God's favour.

Secondly, we don't need priests to forgive us on God's behalf. So I don't agree with confessing to priests and them forgiving you.

Atrocious circumstance. It makes me a person with an opinion that you disagree with.

How I BEHAVE towards homosexual people is what does or does not make me a bigot. You don't know me.

You think it’s a sin. Anyone perpetuating that idea is a bigot.

Chronicallyexhausted and missrabbit. My non-Christian parents sent me to Sunday school, mostly to get some peace and quiet on a Sunday morning, I suspect. Around the age of 14 I joined the church youth group and we did some low key bible study. Eventually I found I was convinced (somewhat unwillingly) that Jesus was real and I needed forgiving. I think I was about 16 at the time. It was gradual, not a sudden conversion.

I didn't really sort out how it all fits together (my 'worldview') till I went to university and did a lot of research and debating.

It's affected my life in lots of ways: the man I married, the job I chose to do, the way I spend my time, the choices we have made about how ambitious to be, all sorts of stuff. But mostly how I try to treat people - as I would like to be treated, or better. Not sure I always succeed.

Amazinggrace16. I believe it will happen! God has told us relatively little in the bible about what will happen, which is why Christians have so many different views.

It'll be overwhelming, unmistakeable, and sudden. Beyond that, it's speculation.

Agabimou I believe God can heal people if he chooses. But he usually chooses to do this via medical means. I wouldn't completely discount supernatural healing but I have never seen it and the examples I've heard of have tended to be unconvincing.

I also think it can be used by irresponsible people to put pressure on sick people. "If you only believed more strongly, you'd be healed". In other words, it's your fault if you're not healed.

I think God is more likely to heal our hearts than our bodies. He's interested in our maturity and growth, rather than in curing our arthritis.

I have a chronic pain condition. God has not healed me. I trust that he has good reasons. I've learned a lot and grown in faith. Maybe that's what pain is for.

Racecardriver Jesus chose to pay the price. God didn't force him. As I said earlier, we want God to be 'good' in the sense of fluffy and kind and tolerant. Actually he's good in the sense of holy and right and just. And we're not as comfortable with that.

Thanks for answering in part. I'd also like to know your thoughts on my question about evil and hell, which he himself must have created when he created everything else and also he sent the devil there. I find it nonsensical.

Also the question regarding of part of it is disproved, for example the creation story, timeline and order of events, which is really the key to the story, surely everything else is brought into question.

So are you really an evangelical Christian if you don't evangelise?

Regarding free will, how does that fit into god's plan of which we are all a part of?

Atrocious who is being intolerant?

I have explained why and how I make every effort to behave lovingly and non-judgementally with everyone I meet. Perhaps I don't always succeed, but I do try.

I hold an opinion you disagree with.

You have, without knowing me or my circumstances or behaviour, decided I'm a bigot. I'm going to turn that back on you and say you have judged me in an intolerant way. Maybe you are the bigot?

Have you read Sapiens ? One if the most interesting parts was the belief that humans had to belief in Something ( like God Allah Ganesh etc) which essentially was a fairy story to act as a panacea to their existence in life. Its a thoughtful read

OP I am sure you are lovely to people, and I don’t know you. But even just writing on here, on this public forum, that you think homosexuality is a sin, you have given someone somewhere the excuse they need to act with hate. They will nod at your words and see them as justification of their discrimination.

Also gay people struggling with their sexuality - young people - could read them, and be filled with fear and shame.

If you have Netflix check out Hannah Gadsby’s ‘Nanette’. She speaks so movingly about the self-loathing that religious notions of homosexuality as sin caused in her. Please consider this.

I will always be intolerant of racism, sexism and discrimination about sexuality. That is part of my ethical standpoint.