Hey All

An update.

Been doing lots of reading (Bible and other stuff).

My head is so full of contradictions and questions at the moment, I'm trying to let the ideas settle until I can frame them to discuss.

Ollie, thanks for asking after me.

I'm still praying although with so many questions in my head, it doesn't feel like it used to.

Happy New Year everyone.

Alice
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Thanks again for all your replies and advice.

Tom, thank you for allowing me to stay. I promise that it's not my intention to cause disruption in any way. If my questions are upseting or you view them as disruptive or evil, just say and I promise I'll look elsewhere for answers.

In the meantime, I'm going to do some reading (and some praying) and I'll post my thoughts once I gather them.

Thank you all.

Alice

I don't know what a troll is but it is certainly not my intention to disrupt anything or anyone.

I am in a situation where I have had certain things pointed out to me that have made me question my faith. I have come here seeking answers to resolve this struggle.

All you are telling me is not to ask the questions.

I'm truly sorry if I've caused offence in any way. I mean no disruption. It is precisely for fear of this reaction that I have not approached the Pastor at my church.

Tom, Do you want me to stop posting on the site?

Alice

I find it hard to accept that God would create a world where the evidence didn't match his word. If he did that, He would be deliberately fooling us and a kind God wouldn't do that.

If this is all just the work of Satan, why does God let Satan turn people away from the right way. Doesn't God want us to be saved? Does God have the power to create us in such a way that we would choose him rather than Satan?

I am very troubled by things I have read on the internet today.

I wish so much that I could just go back to how I was before, but I need answers to my questions.

In terms of looking, exploring, and trying various things, the devil would love for you to do that. The devil would tell you to try it all, that the Bible is a lie, your parents lied to you, etc. The devil wants you to do dope, alcohol, sex outside the bonds of Holy marriage, find reasons to put your Bible away, and many other things. In fact, the devil would love for you to explore satanism and the occult. If you do, you will get burned. All of the things in this paragraph are evil, and there are many more things of the world that are evil. Surely you don't think that any Christian is going to tell you that God thinks it's OK to go try all of these things, do you? If someone tells you to go try these things and explore these evil things of the world, they are not Christians, rather they work for the devil. You thinking about exploring the things of this world is the devil working in your mind. The devil just loves, "If it's fun or feels good, do it!"

OK, now you have the perspective of an old Christian who many would call a fundamentalist. No, you should never question God, His Word, or His Promises. You should study them and try to understand them, but first you should accept Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Saviour. Instead, are you here to learn about homosexuals and evolution? You can learn about that type of evil just about anywhere, and we don't teach evil here. Would you like to know about Jesus Christ?

Tom

Tom, thank you for the reply

I do want to know about Jesus Christ. I do accept Him as my saviour, I just want to know how to reconcile the fact that there is strong evidence against the claims of the Bible with my belief. Simply not looking at the evidence wont make it go away. I'd just be kidding myself. I can't believe that is what God would want.

I am not interested in doing evil things but the quest for truth through a careful considered and reasoned approach can't be evil surely? Is that what Christianity teaches us?

Now the "no" comes... Be mindful of the fact that Christianity is based on the idea of believing in something without having the proof right in front of you. This is called Faith. Faith is such a strong part of the Christian system of beliefs, we someimes referrers to it as “the Faith.”

I'm not saying that I need proof. I am happy to believe many things without proof. Just evidence that anyone would agree supports my belief. If the evidence disagrees with something in which you have faith, can't it mean your faith is wrong?

After all millions of muslims have faith in their beliefs (so much that many are prepared to die for them). I believe that their beliefs are wrong but they would say they have faith too. They would also say that the word of the Koran is supported by historical evidence.
We can't both be right. Why is our faith truer than theirs.
Sorry to post difficult questions but I don't know where else to go at the moment.

I guess that what is happening to me at the moment is that I am wanting to look beyond the Bible for evidence that what it says is true. Does God not want us to explore the world? I am a bit afraid that the evidence out there might contradict the word of the Bible but surely to not look at it is not honest?

I want to know the truth and I'm hoping that someone will tell me that that's ok with God. As much as I love reading Gods word I don't feel happy with not being allowed to examine the evidence for other views. I'm hoping that I'll find that the evidence points to my faith being correct, but surely God gave us minds for a reason.

Am I being a bad Christian if I examine the claims of other beliefs?
Surely God wants me to KNOW the truth rather than just believe it because I'm told to...

Timothy, thank you very much for the link. That site looks interesting. I shall study what it says.

On the subject of homosexuality, if we are not to take the old testament to be literally true, how do we know that being gay really is a sin? Sorry to push this point, but I have a couple of gay friends who are really decent people.(One is actually a Christian, although not at my church)

I intend to speak to someone I know at church about all this stuff.
I don't think that Jon is telling me not to believe. He just seems so convinced about his views and it all made so much sense when he was talking. Is there a good book on evolution you could recommend that really gives the facts?

If evolution is true and the world is older than the Bible says, how do I reconcile that with my faith?

Jon says that faith alone is not a good enough reason to believe things, but I want to believe so much.

Thank you for the verses about slavery. I feel much better about that now. You are all so kind.

God bless you.

 
ps one other thing:
I have always been taught that homosexuality is a sin and is wrong. Jon was suggesting that this is an unfair prejudice against gay people. I don't like the thought of treating anyone unfairly, but surely a sin is a sin? Where in the Bible does it say that you can't be gay? It isn't one of the commandments is it?

The verses that disturbed me were in Leviticus and Exodus.

They seem to suggest that it's ok to have slaves.
There was one that said that if a man beats his slave and the slave dies, then the man must be punished unless the slave dies after a couple of days, in which case it's ok.

Also, Jon showed me a verse in Exodus that says a man who works on the sabbath must be executed.

Jon has said that I'm free to make up my own mind about what to believe but that I should have all the facts. I don't know where to look for explanations.

I think maybe I will ask Pastor George but I'm afraid that he will tell me not to speak to Jon who is a good friend and has been very good to me.

Have any of you read the verses I mentioned? What do you think?

Thank you all again. I'm so glad to have found the support and love of people on this site. I will challenge Jon to explain himself and point out his errors if I can.

To all who have replied, you are in my prayers.

Alice

I have been studying my Bible but I'm worried by what I've been shown.

Verses about slavery and murdering people for working on the sabbath. My mother never told me about this.
Neither did George (our pastor)


Also, Jon told me that there is proof that the world is older than the bible says.

I am very confused and upset.

Thank you all for your kind replies.
I would find it very hard not to talk to Jon (my friend) again as he is a very good friend and assures me that he's not trying to talk me out of my faith, but is just being honest.

I have always tried to live my life through the word of Christ and The Bible but Jon showed me verses in Exodus and Leviticus that upset me very much about slavery and some other strange rules.

Does God really want us not to question? Did he not give us mind that we could use to find truth around us? I feel that if I don't look for truth, then I'm just kidding myself and not being honest.

I have tried to ignore these thoughts but they wont go away.

Also, I'm frightened to speak to Pastor about this as I don't want him to think I am bad.

Can I go to Hell for questioning The Bible?

Please help!

I am have reached a point in my life where I am beginning to question my faith and I don't know what to do.

A friend of mine (who is a good person but not a Christian) was explaining evolution and the big bang theory to me. He is very intelligent and has a Masters degree some area of science(I dont know exactly what). It seemed that every question I asked him, he had an answer and it all seemed to make so much sense at the time.

He said things about the Bible not being proved and pointed out passages that I haven't seen before that disturbed me.

I came away feeling very lost and confused and though I've prayed for answers, none have come.

What can I do to resolve this? I feel like my brain and my heart are not speaking to each other.