Religion Christians of the forum - what do you think is the true essence of being a Christian?

As I said people here just shitting on Christians, bitter ass people man. Yeah we get it you don't like the religion that's cool but there are a lot of good people that are christians and to sit here and shit all over it with your ignorant post is dismissive

 

I was and am. Apologies if my attempt at humor offended you. And my implication was not that you personally were anti-Mexican, just that I have heard so many American self-styled Christians be in favor of deportations and Trump's wall.

Let me refine my question. Does being a Christian mean that one should look to the words of Jesus first and foremost or is it just the entire New Testament? Or can you in fact be a Christian with fairly scant knowledge of the Bible?

I ask because I can imagine that Jesus himself might disagree with some of the things that Paul (for example) says. For an analogy: Marx famously quipped about some Marxists that he was glad he wasn't one.

 

? I genuinely think that's a harmless comment. Obviously it's a joke, right? The implication is that he married someone from a neighboring country JUST to honor "love thy neighbor", which is ridiculous.

Not saying it's a GREAT joke, but it's a HARMLESS one. Is this the political correctness I keep hearing about?

 

What about the Christian ones?

 

That's interesting. Why do you think there's a natural overlap? Because aren't the original Christians pretty damn radical?

 

If you're saying 72 virgins would not be physically satisfying then we have to agree to disagree.

 

Truthishly, I could make a mere 36 work.

 

yet you forget....they will remain virgins and constantly complain they need new things....this goes unnoticed by most death dance fundamentalist bombers

 

you own a sweatshop?

 

Knowing what Jesus did for you on the cross is the basics of the Gospel and where you should look. If you ask for forgiveness of your sins and believe that Jesus is your savior and Lord, you are a Christian. You can be a Christian without actually knowing the rest of the Bible. Reading the Bible, believing everything that it contains, and building your relationship with Jesus would be a "next step" (running the race / sanctification).

 

@Rastapopoulos you are asking good questions. Keep asking!

Revelation 3:20English Standard Version (ESV)
20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.

Matthew 7:7-12English Standard Version (ESV)
7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.

 

You know, I did not want to even read this thread. The usual responses from those that refuse God just make me sad. Then, here I find BFW nailing it. Well stated, Brother.

 

Thanks, I will!

So, here's what I found when briefly looking at the major religions. There are versions of each of them that are institutionalized. Obvious example, the Catholic Church. That is, there's a hierarchy, and knowledge is disseminated from above, through a sort of bureaucracy. Then there are the "mystics" who bypass the bureaucracy and claim a direct line to God. Now this sounds a bit like Protestantism, but there are still experts and guides under Protestantism, and a knowledge of the holy texts is a sign of expertise. No, what I mean is like someone like Joan of Arc, who claims to speak directly to God, despite being illiterate. (The version of this in Islam is Sufism, and there are also Jewish mystics, and in Hinduism you have Gurus, as opposed to the traditional Brahmins.) This branch of the religions makes the Church branch very nervous, as you can imagine, because it questions their authority (witness the number of Sufi saints who have been burnt. Literally). Now, modern evangelical Christianity seems to tend this way. But how does this help with morals and living your life? Unless you can get God on the line literally any moment you like, how do you know what to think about (say) giving your money to the poor? Or whether to get involved in politics? Here's where it seems to me that, if you really are a Christian rather than say a believer in the God of Abraham in general, you would turn to the words of Christ. In some Bibles they're literally in a different color so they leap out at you. And again, it does seem to me that most of what he says is hard to reconcile with what a lot of fundamentalist "Christians" say. Is this acknowledged and dealt with? Or is it glossed over? Similarly, the stuff about homosexuality is either in the Old Testament (Leviticus) or in some of the things Paul says, and I think of Paul as an unreliable witness to Jesus's thought, because he never met him.

Is the line Jesus=God, so therefore whatever God says, Jesus thinks, and we can find what God says by looking anywhere in the Bible, including the OT?

 

Additional question: Jesus is the Son of Man. If that's not the same as the Son of God, what does it mean?

 

Let me answer this question first. The term "Son of Man" is used to show that Jesus, although being 100% God was also 100% human. This is important, as it shows Jesus took on all the same aspects and became a human just like us. He was able to live perfectly, without sin, which he had to do for his sacrifice on the cross to be worthy.

That is a short, to the point answer. I never went to seminary, so if any other brothers out there who may have a more in depth theological answer, please chime in.