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Hi, brothers and sisters.  I'm a lamb newly returned to the flock after a long period of being a "prodigal son".  I find myself in a tough spot.  Having told those around me about my new devotion to the faith, inevitibly, someone has to attack me for it.
This godless person "explained" to me in very scholarly language the basis of Christianity in "human sacrifice, blood worship, and symbolic cannabalism".  (sorry to shock you--i'm quoting him as nearly as I can.)  The practical upshot of his "explanation" was that Christianity is a "deth-kult which glorifies gory murder and makes a fetish of a tool of execution"  (sorry--again, I'm quoting)
Naturally I was horrified and did my best to dispell these twisted notions.  I was not at all successful.  
Help me, please.  How can I refute these awful ideas?  

yours in Christ,
fiatlux.

I believe the most effective weapon with which to combat evil in our society as Christians is CHOICE—the opportunity and responsibility we have as Christians to choose good over evil. This is what we are called upon repeatedly in God’s Word to do, as is made clear in,
Joshua 24:14-24 Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD. And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD. And the people answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake the LORD, to serve other gods;  For the LORD our God, he it is that brought us up and our fathers out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and which did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way wherein we went, and among all the people through whom we passed:  And the LORD drave out from before us all the people, even the Amorites which dwelt in the land: therefore will we also serve the LORD; for he is our God.  And Joshua said unto the people, Ye cannot serve the LORD: for he is an holy God; he is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins.  If ye forsake the LORD, and serve strange gods, then he will turn and do you hurt, and consume you, after that he hath done you good.  And the people said unto Joshua, Nay; but we will serve the LORD.  And Joshua said unto the people, Ye are witnesses against yourselves that ye have chosen you the LORD, to serve him. And they said, We are witnesses.  Now therefore put away, said he , the strange gods which are among you, and incline your heart unto the LORD God of Israel.  And the people said unto Joshua, The LORD our God will we serve, and his voice will we obey.

I Kings 18 we have the challenge of the old prophet, Elijah, to the people of Israel, who were repeatedly falling into idolatry, when he said; "How long will you go limping between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal is God, follow him." In other words, you cannot have it both ways; you HAVE to choose.

Matthew 6:24 (the Sermon on the Mount) Jesus said to His hearers: "No man can serve two masters; either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other, You cannot serve both God and Mammon."

Witness to them, show them the bible and where we are today. Show them the Prophecies, where man is doomed with out Jesus. I will pray for you brother, that God shows you the right words to use.

Go in Peace with God.
DW

"How can I refute these awful ideas?"  

Study God's word and you will know.

Hi Fiatlux,

Depending on how attached this person is to their notions, you may very well not be able to dispel them. If this is the case, it may be time to follow our Lord's council in Matthew 10:14 -
If the person genuinely does want to try to understand why an otherwise intelligent and reasonable individual would buy into such "malarkey", then perhaps you have an opening. What my gut tells me is, don't try to convert them by the end of the conversation. I find that this shuts people right down. Instead, plant some ideas, and let God whisper to them. Be available to them as the seeds germinate, and as the questions that you have planted in their heads propagate themselves, for they may find themselves asking more fair, level-headed and sincere questions than they started with.

Here's an interesting track to try:

Ask them if they participated as a child in the bizarre and barbaric yearly ritual wherein a mythical creature would bring them gifts, after which time they would take an icon of that kind creature constructed from the fruit of an Amazonian tree and ritually bite it's head off, and devour it.

After all, many people grew up eating chocolate Easter bunnies on Easter morning...

In His love,

-Grace

==============================================Prayer, and lots of it.  Including prayers from other Christians as well.  It doesn't take a scholar to twist our doctrine and make it sound barbaric.  Read God's word every day.  Always pray that the Holy Spirit will help you understand His word for His name's sake.  Every time!  You must also have fellowship with other Christians.  This is very important as they can encourage you and pray for you as well.  Know that everytime you are persecuted or put to the test it is for God's glory and it pleases Him.  Try to please God in everything that you do.  And I do mean everything! :)  You will see and feel the blessings come upon you big time!  

Welcome to Christian's Unite fiatlux!! ;D


Put on the Whole Body Armor of Jesus Christ and He'll lead you through this sweetie!!!


Love Always,  \o/

MsGuidedAngel

Thank you, brothers and sisters, for your advice and godly encouragement.  My major problem is this:  this "swine from the devil's herd" is a former christian--and in fact was so deep in the church he studied for the priesthood.  He has a minimum of 17 years of serious Bible study.  No matter how I approach him he seems to have a Biblically (sp?) based answer for me which negates my argument.
I pray daily, both for his black soul and my edification in the service of our Lord.  I seek the fellowship of the brethren on all occassions.  Unfortuantely, this heathen seems to be blessed by the "Lord of Light" in his debates with me.  I find my faith being shaken and weakened by his diabolical retorts to self-evident propositions.  For example:  how do I refute his assertion that we "glorify a judicial murder by making the Roman tool of execution our primary sign?"  Not only does this kind of speech distress me and cause me to doubt, but it causes others around us to mock our Lord and Savior.  If anyone can give me the words to speak to him that would take the fangs from this obviously Satan-inspired idea I would be eternally grateful.  ( I might even ask our Lord Christ to slip you an extra crown when we all make it to glory. :))
I know the all-powerful, all-knowing God who maketh us to lie down in green pastures will send me the words...but in the meantime I could really use some Earthly help from the brethren.

Yours in Christ,
fiatlux.

I've said it once, I'll say it again: Nothing can come between Man and God quite like religion!

There are evidently some very deep wounds there, with this person. Even if you could successfully joust verbally with this person(and few people have the education and the tools to do so), I don't think that doing so would change things for them. They have been terribly hurt by buying into this religious stuff, and if I'm guessing correctly, they will not let you take them there again no matter what.

Is this someone that you have to have any kind of a relationship with? If not, I would leave them in God's hands if I were you. As others have said, pray for them, but don't engage them in debate. There is work there that only God can do, and with God, anything is possible!

God bless you,

-Grace