Questions for Christians

[Elgama]

OK I am going to borrow PrisonChaplain's idea - I have never thought of doing it before. I was brought up within Christianity (Anglican/Presbyterian background), but at 6 saw a picture of Jesus being baptised by John the Baptist and from then on I went in search of my baptism, it took 10 years and I went through a lot of Christian Groups (31 in total), I grew increasingly disillusioned at the lack of answers and the amount of confusion. At 15 I was torn I knew I wanted to enter into the service of my God, but I no longer wanted to be Christian, I was torn between just becoming a Nun, starting my own church, or becoming a Buddhist non of the options felt quite right - then I met the missionaries and got baptised 3 weeks later (would have been less but I had to attend a sacrament meeting and have an interview first lol) - I knew I was finally on my way home.

THE QUESTIONS - I know you will have answers like I do to PC's Questions for Mormons but none felt right to me:

1) Why does God no longer use prophets, will He ever use prophets?
2) Why are there so many different doctrines on baptism when Jesus taught it was essential and felt it was so important He set an example? - where is the ONE baptism spoken of in the bible?
3) Who gave you the authority to baptise? How did you know it came from Christ?
4) How do you know the Bible is the Word of the God?
5) What happens to those who are not baptised - because of age or not in a position to hear?
6) Why did God leave Adam and Eve with Satan when he knew they had no concept of Good and Evil?
7) Describe God, Father, Jesus and Holy Ghost what do each of them mean to you what is their function?
8) Why can women now speak in church and don't have to cover their heads (the latter is quite recent even as a child I know my elderly female relatives would not go to church without a hat)?
9) Who decided the Bible contents what was their authority? Why were books now found in the Dead Sea Scrolls and shown to be old left out? (at least Roman Catholics have a lot of them in their book to be read even if they are not seen as canon)
10) How free are your prayers? What form do they take?
11) If the God others worship isn't yours why doesn't yours answer my prayers, if He doesn't why should I believe in someone who has shown know care for my welfare over the God that has been in my life since I was a child and earned my trust and love over and over again?
12) What is the Word of God? to me the Bible and my heart say its Jesus ?
-Charley

[ztodd]

I'd be interested in knowing the answer to #4 from those who don't believe that we can trust our feelings.

[Abraham]

Here is one more for you list.

A) How do many Christian religions deny the resurrection of Christ the son of God? (You'd be shocked how many preach this.)

I'd like to go into the doctrine of the Trinity but I only have 100 pages here so I will refrain. Hee hee

Abraham

[prisonchaplain]

Originally Posted by Abraham

Here is one more for you list.

A) How do many Christian religions deny the resurrection of Christ the son of God? (You'd be shocked how many preach this.)

I'd like to go into the doctrine of the Trinity but I only have 100 pages here so I will refrain. Hee hee

Abraham

I promise to reply to the OP...but only have time for a drive-by, right now. Can you name names? I'm assuming you are referring to liberal churches that interpret the Bible as literature and mostly allegorically. Quite frankly, denying the resurrection is probably more heretical than denying the Trinity (from my perspective, anyway). Before I say more, I want to know who is saying this, so I understand where they are coming from.

P.S. Elgama--you might want to retitle the OP "Questions for Protestants or Evangelicals" etc., since you would consider yourself a Christian too. :-)

[Elgama]

Originally Posted by prisonchaplain

I promise to reply to the OP...but only have time for a drive-by, right now. Can you name names? I'm assuming you are referring to liberal churches that interpret the Bible as literature and mostly allegorically. Quite frankly, denying the resurrection is probably more heretical than denying the Trinity (from my perspective, anyway). Before I say more, I want to know who is saying this, so I understand where they are coming from.

P.S. Elgama--you might want to retitle the OP "Questions for Protestants or Evangelicals" etc., since you would consider yourself a Christian too. :-)

lol actually I know I am supposed to but I don't think of myself as anything other than a Latter Day Saint - I actually haven't called myself Christian in about 18 years when i was about 12 or 13 I started to say I was religious instead. I guess thats when my struggle began with Christianity and my few questions became many and very important - I don't know if it was just 4 churches in a week had refused to baptise me because I was too young.

-Charley

[Andrew777]

Denying the resurrection is way more heretical then believing in the trinity for sure! Think it would be certain Anglicans he's thinking about, maybe the United Church, I really can't think of a lot of them that do.

#13) Why do many Christians believe that there denomination is the only one that will save them from an eternal hell, when it's said in scriptures that there are many rooms in the Father's mansion?

#14) How is the belief that the majority of the Earth's population is going to suffer in an eternal hell reconciled with a belief in a loving God?

#15) Who is it Jesus prays too through out the Gospel when he prays to his Father if he is God himself?

#16) Why does Jesus teach us to also pray to the Father and not to him?

#17) Why are we told by many of the apostles to pray to the Father in Jesus' name if Jesus is the same God, why is he needed as in intermediary or high priest if they are one and the same?

#18) If the Bible is the innerant word of God and all that is needed why does every denomination ignore biblical commands that are not in their doctrine and beliefs?

[JustMiss]

10) How free are your prayers? What form do they take?

Hi Elgama, can you expand a little more on what you are asking here? I'm not sure I understand what your question.
Thanks!

[Elgama]

Originally Posted by JustMiss

Hi Elgama, can you expand a little more on what you are asking here? I'm not sure I understand what your question.
Thanks!

basically how do you pray and what does it mean to you, would you classify as an answer to prayer? - I find when I do teachings with the missionaries that Christian's seem to be the most likely religion to have trouble with the idea of just saying a prayer that begins Dear Father in Heaven, Ending it in the name of Jesus Christ Amen and having a fairly free conversation inbetween - and I know some of the denominations I went to had set ideas as to what consitituted an answer to prayer or had set prayers.

-Charley

[prisonchaplain]

Originally Posted by Elgama

O
1) Why does God no longer use prophets, will He ever use prophets?

The gift of prophecy is for today. However, as we see it demonstrated in the New Testament--mostly in Corinthians, the prophetic word is for the particular congregation (or ward). Also, there are tests for a prophecy, indicating that it is subject to Scripture and established Apostles' teachings. BTW, I've actually experienced offering a prophetic word.

2) Why are there so many different doctrines on baptism when Jesus taught it was essential and felt it was so important He set an example? - where is the ONE baptism spoken of in the bible?

The one baptism is into Christ. Ironically, Jesus received the baptism of John--one of repentence--not the baptism we practice now, demonstrating the death burial and resurrection of Christ, and of ourselves.

3) Who gave you the authority to baptise? How did you know it came from Christ?

I'm sure you are familiar with "the priesthood of all believers." Essentially, the church universal is a royal priesthood, a holy nation. Within the Christian community, some are called by God to lead as overseers. The current leadership confirms what God has already done through the calling, by a process called ordination. Most churches leave it to the leaders, overseers to officiate baptisms.

4) How do you know the Bible is the Word of the God?

Through a combination of information and the confirmation of the Holy Spirit. Information meaning, the facts surrounding the Bible--that it took 1400 years to make, another 200 years to canonize, that its 40 authors, from three language groups and varied backgrounds could produce a unified message explaining God's love for his creation--is indeed a miracle. Then of course, the church did indeed uphold it, and reject so many others...and that process has stood firm for 1700 years. Finally, yes, much like the Moroni promise, the Holy Spirit confirms to me that I am delving into holy word, when I read, study, and meditate on it.

5) What happens to those who are not baptised - because of age or not in a position to hear?

My church accepts the "age of accountability," doctrine--that Christ's sacrifice was for all those below the age of understanding and accountability. As for those who never heard the good news, I leave that into God's hands. He is fair, just, merciful, and yet in Romans 1, hints that we do all have some witness, even through creation itself. I gladly let him be the ultimate Judge.

6) Why did God leave Adam and Eve with Satan when he knew they had no concept of Good and Evil?

Based upon God's response to the sin of Adam and Eve, I'm convinced they were not innocent. They new what was right, and that what Satan told them was contrary. Further, I'd suggest that when Satan told them they would be like God, he was leading them to rebel--to attempt to sever God's control over them. After all, if they would become like God, why would they need God? Their lack of knowledge about evil should not be construed to mean that they were totally ignorant or foolish.

7) Describe God, Father, Jesus and Holy Ghost what do each of them mean to you what is their function?

I frankly hesitate to describe a hardlined delinneation, along the lines of a corporate organizational chart. We could say that the Father is Judge, and yet we know Christ will judge. The Father is the Creator, and yet all things were created by Jesus. Jesus sacrificed for our sins, and yet what greater sacrifice than a Father giving his Son?

But, I do pray to the Father. My authority is in Jesus' name, and his is my Savior and Redeemer. The Spirit guides, convicts, empowers me and moves my heart.

8) Why can women now speak in church and don't have to cover their heads (the latter is quite recent even as a child I know my elderly female relatives would not go to church without a hat)?

Jesus did so much to lift the status of women. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit was the ultimate equalizer: You menservants and maidservants will prophecy! ...There is no more male or female...we are all one in Christ.

And yet, sensitive to the mores of the time, Paul urged the women not to bring shame upon the church, by flaunting their freedom to dress and behave like 'street women.' Further, the controversy about women speaking in the church seems to be related to interruptions caused by women calling out to their husbands during the services (they sat by gender), asking for explanations about what the teacher had said.

9) Who decided the Bible contents what was their authority? Why were books now found in the Dead Sea Scrolls and shown to be old left out? (at least Roman Catholics have a lot of them in their book to be read even if they are not seen as canon)

[
The process of canonization was carried about by church leaders, ordained of God. Many of those rejected writings contained heretical teachings and fantastical miracles. The main books that the Catholics added were taken from the intertestamental period, were written by Jews, and yet even Jewish leadership never canonized them.

10) How free are your prayers? What form do they take?

Oh I love to pray...in the Spirit, and with understanding. I pray offerings of praise, words of thanksgiving, petitions for missionaries, for lost loved ones, for healings, for my family, for myself, seeking for direction and strength...etc. Of course, there are times when the church prays corporately too...uniting together, agree together on earth that it might be bound in heaven.

11) If the God others worship isn't yours why doesn't yours answer my prayers, if He doesn't why should I believe in someone who has shown know care for my welfare over the God that has been in my life since I was a child and earned my trust and love over and over again?

I don't fully understand this one. There is only one God. If you come to know you worship God in a way that is not in truth, then insist on sticking with it because it's comfortable and works for you, then you are not worshipping God in spirit or in truth. Why would God have to honor that? Cain did that.

12) What is the Word of God? to me the Bible and my heart say its Jesus ?

Yes, Jesus is the Word (logos) of God. The Bible is God's words...Jesus is God's word.

[prisonchaplain]

Originally Posted by Andrew777

#13) Why do many Christians believe that there denomination is the only one that will save them from an eternal hell, when it's said in scriptures that there are many rooms in the Father's mansion?

Actually, most Christians do not believe this. There is a saying that goes like this:

If a someone walks down the street and sees another church, you can tell what type of church s/he belongs to by his estimation of the other church.

a. If s/he says, "They're all doomed, because it isn't my church," s/he's in a cult.

b. If s/he says, "They're may be a few real Christians in that church," s/he's in a sect.

c. If s/he says, "Praise God for the good work my brothers and sisters are carrying on there," s/he's in a denomination.

#14) How is the belief that the majority of the Earth's population is going to suffer in an eternal hell reconciled with a belief in a loving God?

God is love, but He is also righteousness and justice. The miracle is not in the number of souls justly punished for their sin and rebellion, but the number of souls redeemed by Christ's mercy and shed-blood.

#15) Who is it Jesus prays too through out the Gospel when he prays to his Father if he is God himself?

The Son prays to his Father.

#16) Why does Jesus teach us to also pray to the Father and not to him?

Because it's his Dad's role to receive our prayers--in Jesus' name (and authority).

#17) Why are we told by many of the apostles to pray to the Father in Jesus' name if Jesus is the same God, why is he needed as in intermediary or high priest if they are one and the same?

Three persons, one God. Three-One. Tri-une. Tri-unity. There may be only one God, but there are three persons.

#18) If the Bible is the innerant word of God and all that is needed why does every denomination ignore biblical commands that are not in their doctrine and beliefs?

I'm guessing that the real question here is why there is not absolute agreement on every jot and tittle. The answer is that we are not yet exalted. But, spiritual optimist that I am, rather than becoming frustrated with the glass that's 10% unsettled (varying doctrinal opinions), I rejoice with the 90% unity that we have achieved.