is Christianity a force for good?

[DAV007]

As they say, the most difficult thing to believe about Christianity is Christians.
But then again, Christians are no different to non Christians, they are 'fallen/sinful/do and desire to do wrong', live in a fallen world and are tempted by the same desires and pitfalls of the flesh and the world around them.
From my understanding, becoming a Christian never exempted you from these things, far from it.
Your priorities change.

Of course, not all Christians are the same.
IMO its a fair analysis to say the current mainstream Christianity of Catholicism and the CofE in the UK is NOT easily identifiable of the early Christians in the new testament portion of the bible.
Jesus had no time for rituals, robes and pomp - he had nothing but distain for it. He talks far more of the poor and the spiritual health of individuals and nations.
Of course there are some streams of Christians who are more alike to the early church in the Bible, but as usual they care not for political influence or social recognition thus the image of Christianity expressed in he UK is far from the original church.

Christianity is a radical belief, that changes peoples entire lives that they are prepared to risk them to sacrifice them to share the good news with others.
It is fully transforming, demanding everything, with believers willing to lose their own lives and identity to gain it in God.
It is not for pew fillers, sermon samplers, part timers, sunday attendee's who pick up God on a Sunday morning and put him back in a box the second they leave church until next Sunday comes around.


Its a big debate.

IS Christianity a force for Good.
Yes, when its not diluted.

I could go on...

[Less]

Originally Posted by DAV007

I could go on...

And on, and on, and on, and...

[Margaret Pilkington]

You can be Christian without being evangelical.....without putting your belief in other peoples faces. Being Christian can be a private thing between you and your God....you do not need vast buildings or special places to carry out your devotions......you can pray anywhere......and on any day!
Some people are offensive in their trumpeting of their faith(and these are not just Christians)......they make me wonder if the trumpeting of their faith is more important than the faith itself.

[Barrie Yates]

Originally Posted by DAV007

I could go on...

You do

[Eric]

Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington

You can be Christian without being evangelical.....without putting your belief in other peoples faces. Being Christian can be a private thing between you and your God....you do not need vast buildings or special places to carry out your devotions......you can pray anywhere......and on any day!
Some people are offensive in their trumpeting of their faith(and these are not just Christians)......they make me wonder if the trumpeting of their faith is more important than the faith itself.

Matthew 18:20.

[Eric]

When considering how the "Church" distorts Christianity, I sometimes consider the ironies. This one in particular, given the current Pope:

Basilica of San Francesco d'Assisi - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is what the Church considers a fitting memorial for a man who gave up wealth, embraced poverty, and preached in the streets.

[Less]

Originally Posted by Eric

Matthew 18:20.

Thank's for the results, so, Matthew lost by two points to ,
did the match have any send off's? Did it go into extra time? No use just giving us the final score, we need to know the action.

[Eric]

Originally Posted by Less

Thank's for the results, so, Matthew lost by two points to ,
did the match have any send off's? Did it go into extra time? No use just giving us the final score, we need to know the action.

It's a sign of the times ... short forms ... and I'm getting with it ... If you are interested in more details jfgi.

[kestrelx]

Originally Posted by Restless

And of course the shelving is made from the bones of sacrificed virgins

It's OK to joke - but doesn't it bother you that millions of pages of ancient texts are sitting below the Vatican and we probably will never know what they contain, in our life time!?

[cashman]

Why should it bother anyone? won't make a blind bit of difference to my life.

[kestrelx]

Originally Posted by cashman

Why should it bother anyone? won't make a blind bit of difference to my life.

Course it should - as we have all been brainwashed by the Christians; for a start if there was a Jesus he wasn't born on Christmas day, the fact we are all celebrating this festival is a form of conditioning. So it is directly making a difference to your life - because of Christmas.

Some of these documents may have information that completely proves Jesus was not born on this day. Or in fact did not exist at all.

[Restless]

Originally Posted by kestrelx

It's OK to joke - but

It's OK to believe conspiracy theories - but its not OK to expect everybody to believe them.

[cashman]

Originally Posted by kestrelx

Course it should - as we have all been brainwashed by the Christians; for a start if there was a Jesus he wasn't born on Christmas day, the fact we are all celebrating this festival is a form of conditioning. So it is directly making a difference to your life - because of Christmas.

Some of these documents may have information that completely proves Jesus was not born on this day. Or in fact did not exist at all.

So what fact or fiction, couldn't care less.

[Gordon Booth]

Originally Posted by kestrelx

Some of these documents may have information that completely proves Jesus was not born on this day. Or in fact did not exist at all.

As you're obviously not a Christian what does it matter?

Celebrate it as the pagan festival for the Winter Solstice-paint your woad on, set your mother-in-law on fire and dance round her.

Probably more fun than a traditional Christmas. She always drank all the sherry.

[jaysay]

Originally Posted by Restless

It's OK to believe conspiracy theories - but its not OK to expect everybody to believe them.

Its probably the norm in cloud cuckoo land where he hails from Restless, conspiracy theorist are us