General Discussion

Please, before anyone says that this topic has been done before, etc, this is a forum and the point of it is for discussion, not for me to click on a search engine and do research. 

I know there have been a lot of theological conversations on this site, but I have yet to get an answer to a question that has been bothering me for some time now.

What with the exciting experiment to find the Higs particle about to happen in Cern, then I thought there was no better time to ask this question.  You see, I was brought up in a catholic family, and went to a strict catholic school.  For all of the church's attempts to indoctrinate me, I always felt as though something was not right.  So even as a kid, the poor logic of the Christian faith did not add up to me.  As an adult I began to get interested in Cosmology, and I have always wondered what is out there, and if there is a higher power. 

Now please bear in mind that I have no agenda.  I can honestly say that I am envious of people who have religion in their lives.  It may be that they are misguided and deluded, but with this delusion they have the comfort of thinking that there is a God, and that when they die they will go to Heaven.  They seem happy and content, and I truly wish that I could believe in religion, but there are just so many inaccuracies.  The most glaring, and inaccurate piece of the Chrstian faith, is the actual 'keystone', that being The Bible.  It is because of this that I cannot accept the religion I was brought up in.

Now in this day and age I am aghast at the level of sub-standard intelligence in our society, where people can believe in the beliefs of Creationism.  People who really belive the world is only several thousand years old! 

I expect anyone who has any level of intelligence and understanding to accept that The Big Bang as it was coined, is now an excepted fact of scientific knowledge.  Yes it began as a theory, but no scientist worth his salt would denounce it today.

So the teachings of The Bible most be wrong.  There was no Adam and Eve.  There was no Noah and his arc.  In fact most of the Old Testament is inaccurate. 

My question is simple, and one I truly hope somebody can answer to my satisfaction.

If I do not believe in Adam and Eve, and I do not believe in a lot of the things in the Old Testament, can I still be a practicing Christian, and if I can, how so without me being a hypocrite?

Please do not take any offence from what I have written, as none is meant.  I respect everyone's right to believe in what they want.  My sole agenda is that I am at a point in my life when I am trying to make sense of life and everything to do with it.  I am currently an Agnostic, as I do not know what to believe!  Yes, I think there might be a God but I do not think that it is the same one as in The Bible.  Yes, I think there really was a man called Jesus Christ, and that he really did believe he was the Son of God, but no, I don't think he actually was.  I think that the Bible was written in a time when all of the things written in The Bible were easily accepted by people, as it pre-dates modern science and the level of man's understanding.  Now in more enlightened times, I cannot see how The Bible can be accepted as factual.

I know I have waffled on for a lot, and I am only really looking for an answer to that above question, without any side-tracking.  Please stick to the question posed.  The question being;

If I do not believe in Adam and Eve, and I do not believe in a lot of the things in the Old Testament, can I still be a practicing Christian, and if I can, how so without me being a hypocrite?

Thanks in advance for anyone who replies.

I think you probably could be.  You'd just have to be one of those Christians who doesn't interpret the Bible in a literal way.

But I can't give a long winded answer because although my parents were nominally Christians they never talked about it or went to church so I grew up in a religious vacuum.  I'm basically agnostic myself.

Originally posted by Majestico

My question is simple, and one I truly hope somebody can answer to my satisfaction.

If I do not believe in Adam and Eve, and I do not believe in a lot of the things in the Old Testament, can I still be a practicing Christian, and if I can, how so without me being a hypocrite?

Yes, you can be Christian, you just cannot be Jewish.

The Old Testament is out, the New Testament is in. Forget Adam and Eve, Noah, Moses, and the Ten Commandments, they're all horsepucky.

All you need to know is that Jesus died for your sins, and that you will be admitted to heaven based on belief, not actions.

I think you’re being too apologetic. Why are you so concerned about offending somebody with your beliefs? You make valid points and there are many other facts that contradict religions. Your points are all backed by science, physics, and logic.
 

Are the religious fundamentalist just as careful? The people who believe in deities have nothing but a book; written about unproven facts and events. Interpreted in many, many ways depending on their beliefs and agendas.
 

Now, I realize that there are going to be some drama queens that are going to believe this is addressed to them, it’s not. My opinions are a generalization of my experiences with religious people. I have a ton of comments from these people over the years, they are unbelievable (no pun intended). Saying things like, “There should be no books, only the bible, anything else is the devil tempting you.” Tempting me to do what? Think logically? I can’t even call my parents without it turning into a three hour conversation about “god” and that I shouldn’t worry about life’s problems because “Jesus will come and make things better.” Sorry, God, is going to have to sit this one out, I’m not going to miss out on a successful life because I think that it doesn’t matter anyways with the return of some magical wizard in outer space.
 

My opinion is that religion is a tool for control. They influence laws, how you live your life, what to eat, what to say, who to vote for, when you can leave your house, spend money on holidays, give money to churches which are given money and tax exemptions from Federal and state levels. They provoke war or at least violence on others different from themselves. They hold back sciences of medicine and technology. They dumb down their followers. They always feel the need to “convert” or “convince” others about their deity. Think about it, they want control over you.
 

Never apologize for who you are or your beliefs, as long as it doesn’t affect anyone else’s life. That goes for the new trend of apologizing for being white, but that’s a different topic.
 

"God gave us reason, not religion."

I got an idea.

Get in a quiet place, close your eyes and ask God to reveal himself to you.  No, I don't think the clouds will part and a finger from heaven will touch you, but you might just get some inner peace and an idea of what the difference between MAN's religion and a relationship with God is.

ALL religion is made by mere men.  worthless in every area.

Faith, relationship, love...these things matter much more.

I do believe in the big bang.  God said let there be light and "BANG" the universe started.

There are Christians, such as myself and many others, that take a more OLD earth view and it doesn't really contradict scripture if you take time to examine the words.

here's a link with some interesting articles...

http://www.reasons.org/   These folks have been around a long time.  Just about EVERY topic in there u can imagine, including the ones you asked about.

Ignore the supernatural stuff (to include all the afterlife nonsense), and all the stuff in the Bible to explain how the world came to be.

Understand that much of it is allegory, not to be taken literally.  This requires some examination, meditation, and thinking.

Concentrate on the teachings of the Torah and of Jesus, as you would those of the Buddah.

Concentrate on the teachings of how to interact with others and lead a righteous and happy life.

There's a lot of good stuff in there but it's drowned out by all the supernatural horseshit.

My professor once said that Earth was created by accident and so was religion. If certain things never happened then we would not be here right now, so it is hard to believe in something when the evidence is there. This is not a debate by me and to show all the evidence why we are here by accident because it would cause to many of you to . I believe in something like others but my supreme being doesn't exist in a Bible and has stupid stories. Think about the LHC Cern tests coming up, we can end all life on earth. The possibility is there.

I think we are all God because we can make life and take it. At anytime you can go up to someone and take their life, we can make life also at anytime but that takes 9 months to deliver the finished package. For me just thinking about that since I was taught religion when I was younger does not add up for me. But I still believe in a creator of something, just not some old book that says believe this and that. Besides the Bible was made I believe and my professor for a reason to keep people in line. So that people can be governed easier and make peaceful judgment calls.

We are advanced beings, we can think and talk, therefore; it is reasonable to suggest that we would look to reasons why we exist. I doubt other animals not human are praying and looking for why they exist. All I know is if you believe in something then do it, but don't let others say you can't unless you believe in a stories told by great authors of the Bible.

You can still keep your faith, just take out the nonesense and your fine.

If I offended anyone here please let me know so I can delete my message.