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!

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_5ad4f7b3e4b077c89ceb9774/amp

Please take this seriously OP.

(It’s a study reflecting the link between religious intolerance and suicide in teens)

It’s not policing thoughts, OP had done something - come online and clearly espoused their belief that homosexuality is a sin.

Anyone who does that adds to the misery in the world. It’s wrong.

The OP was asked what her views were. Was it not you who asked? Should she have lied? Whoever it was who asked knew what the answer would be. Seems bizarre to then say that the answer they knew they'd get 'adds to the cruelty and misery in the world'. Maybe don't ask the question if that's your view.

It’s bizarre that people who think that being gay is a sin should be labling ANYONE else intolerant.

I shall leave this now, because I’m a lone voice in the wilderness. But at least if this thread is read by anyone it could damage my dissent is there to support them.

OP you can insult me all you like. I'm interested to know where you think I have insulted you.

at least if this thread is read by anyone it could damage my dissent is there to support them.

Is personal responsibility not a thing anymore? Are they somehow forced to read the thread?

Perhaps not entering a thread by an evangelical Christian and then acting shocked by the very commonly held views of someone with that belief system they espouse would be better.

I don't read threads I know will upset me, unless I think I can handle the upset. Why is that an unreasonable thing to expect of others?

I’m a lone voice in the wilderness

AtrociousCircumstance you are not. Thank you for speaking out on this important matter. x

Who gets to decide what is and isn't to be taken literally in the bible?

If it's up to the individual interpretation please explain the reasoning behind that

I found the book of The Shack really very gripping - it led me to understand (as an atheist with little idea of the Trinity) what the three actually represented! I still struggle with the representation of forgiveness though - my major fault is the inability to forgive anyone anything!! The film was a bit Hollywood, but I did enjoy it in a Sunday afternoon soppy film way!

Pamsterwheel No one person gets to decide which parts should be taken literally and which shouldn't. It's down to each individual Christian what they think. The Bible tells us we should use discernment and listen carefully to what others say, and decide which interpretation fits best with what God / Jesus has said. It particularly warns about not following other people blindly.

So, how do we decide? Well, some parts of the Bible are clearly poetry and should be read as such (Psalms, Song of Solomon etc). Others use allegorical language, and speak in metaphors which cannot be taken totally literally. This is less clear cut. I would say the creation story in Genesis is an allegory; others would take it more literally.

And the Bible has to be broadly consistent with itself. There's a great danger in taking quotations out of context. Difficult passages in particular have to be read in the context of the surrounding passages, and indeed other books in the Bible.

In the end, the better you know the Bible, the more confident you become in interpreting it. But there's always something new to learn, and certainly my views have changed over the years (mostly on fairly minor issues though).

I haven't RTHT so this may have already been asked.

So you think belief in Jesus is enough, not how you behave? S it isn't necessary to behave in a "Christian" manner? Or presumably follow his teachings?

I find that utterly bizarre. If I've got that right.

Obviously sometimes people who have appeared to be Christians lose their faith or walk away from it. The argument then would be that they will either come back later in their life, or that they weren't really converted in the first place.

I was a very committed, evangelical Christian for many years. I truly believed in Christ as my Lord and Saviour and it makes me pretty angry to be told that I wasn't really converted in the first place. I can also say with a fair degree of certainty that I won't go back to being a Christian because being an atheist is something I came to after a lot of consideration and actually a lot of prayer! I lost my faith, not because of one thing, but because of a slow, dawning realisation that it wasn't true. But don't try and tell me that a) I didn't think it was true at one point in my life or b) I don't know my real mind at the moment.

Reallybadidea I'm definitely not saying that you don't know your own mind, or that you didn't sincerely believe at the time. That's why I rather hedged the question and said "the argument is...". My son is in just the same position as you. He sincerely believed until his mid twenties, and is now firmly atheist. I don't think he has been in any way hypocritical.

The fact is that we can never be sure where any one (apart from ourselves) stands before God. I have no idea what will happen to you in the rest of your life. It's an area where we just can't know if anyone else was ever converted, or what might change in the future. Only God knows your heart, and everyone else's.

I'm telling you what the Calvinist position is (though I think from your original question you know what Calvinism says on the subject - you just don't like it, and that's fair enough). No one is saying you have to agree with it.

I find the “well you were never saved at all” thing sad too and disagree, although for different reasons from the PP. The bible says “none shall pluck them from his hand” - once you’re saved you’re always saved.

It was me who asked Insieme, not reallybadidea.

I get the Calvinist approach, but I don’t agree with it 😊 I thought you’d said previously you were similar to Calvinist but not (me too, I’m non denominational and would call myself evangelical too.) so was interested in your thoughts 😊

OP, why do you believe Jesus wanted Nobody to have sex outside of marriage?

Starbucks In one sense, yes, belief is enough, but trusting in Jesus for forgiveness also involves resolving not to continue leading the sinful life we did before. So it's not just a case of saying, yes, I trust you Jesus, now go away and leave me to do what I want.

So once you've made the decision to trust in Jesus, you then try to follow what he taught and his example, while recognising it's not going to be easy and we will all fail and sin again. But Jesus died for all our sins, including the future ones.

If someone said they had turned to Jesus but there was no difference in how they lived, then that might make me concerned about how genuine they were being.

I'm sorry I got the two questions muddled, Flaminghaggis.

Great thread insieme. Most of your views overlap quite closely with mine.

One way to look at the direction in the Bible is that some was appropriate for that time and cultural context and some was eternal. By the way, the big about women not being heard in church is suspect. It's not present in some early texts, so it may have been added later.

Thanks for the really thoughtful and patient thread @Insieme. I became a Christian as an adult, though none of my family believe. It's great to see the deep and considered faith you have, I hope I am making steps to be more like that myself.

Listentweettweettweet you asked why Jesus didn't want people to have sex outside marriage.

The bible says about marriage that one man and one woman commit to each other and become 'one flesh'. That's not a bond that is easily broken once it's made. So by sticking to the same partner / spouse for life, you gain a deep understanding of and loyalty to that one person.

People who break that bond and have sex with other people outside their marriage, usually end up causing pain to their spouse and children, and quite possibly to themselves. We're designed to have one partner at a time. A glance at the Relationships board shows the pain that results from people breaking that marriage bond.

As for people who are not married at all, they sometimes ask why they can't sleep with anyone they want, as they are free. But if they sleep with someone, they are forming that 'one flesh' bond with someone they haven't committed themselves to in marriage. If you're not sure enough yet that this is the person you want to marry, then you're not yet committed enough to sleep with them. And if you ARE committed enough, then get married!

I'm really enjoying seeing the contributions of other Christians and hearing that you're finding it encouraging or helpful.

Apologies if this has already been addressed but this seems like a bit of a cop out

"The main thing I want people to know, I suppose, is that Christianity is not about being good or doing things to earn your place in heaven. You don't have to do that, and you couldn't succeed anyway. It's about admitting you can't live perfectly, and letting Jesus pay the price for what you've done wrong."

So you can commit any sin and it let Jesus pay the price? How about rapists and murderers. Can they just convert to Christianity and earn their place in heaven. It seems that you are saying you do t have to live a good life, you just have believe in god to let Jesus take the flack.

I apologise if this seems flippant but where is the incentive to lead a good life?