A Plea for Understanding

[firstfloor]

After Einstein there is no special reference frame, likewise there is no special religion. Most people’s religious beliefs are a matter of no more than latitude and longitude. If you want to understand the world as it is you will have to read and understand science. Too much of religious thinking is old, tired, confusing, tattered and wrong.

[firstfloor]

Hello Shane,
Great question.
The abundant errors in Christianity all flow from a misunderstanding of Genesis Chapters 2 and 3 because they have emphasised disobedience but missed the necessity of it.
God deliberately tests Adam with the choice of the two trees. His question to Adam is whether he is mature enough to challenge his father and go into the world alone. The challenge does have consequences, as it must. At the end of the story, Adam has achieved godlike maturity and his Father proudly gives his parting gift. Adam did not fall. The whole of Christianity is based on a failed hypothesis, hence the muddle that you referred to.

[Soyeong]

This is my first post here, and I am just going to throw my main objection to Christianity out there. This is really a call for understanding, though.

Welcome!

If there really is a "truth" to reality, how is man supposed to sort through the plethora of religious/philosophical information, find the reliable stuff, and develop a worldview that has no serious objections?

What makes Christianity stand out is that it stands or falls of its historical claims. No other religion has anywhere near the historical evidence that Christianity has.

History's brightest disagree on why humans are here. How can this not mean that we'll never know the truth? How does it not mean that there isn't a truth?

When two very intelligent people disagree on a great number of things, a good starting point is to look at which things they agree on and build from there.

If the same Holy Spirit instructs believers on the true meanings of scripture, why are there so many sincere Christians with different interpretations of how to gain salvation (the most important thing that could possibly be known)?

Thank you for your time,
Shane

Learning the meaning of Scripture takes time and effort to study it. While a new Christians can easily learn the basics, there is depth to the Bible that can take a lifetime to learn.

[MaxVel]

This is my first post here, and I am just going to throw my main objection to Christianity out there. This is really a call for understanding, though.

If there really is a "truth" to reality, how is man supposed to sort through the plethora of religious/philosophical information, find the reliable stuff, and develop a worldview that has no serious objections? History's brightest disagree on why humans are here. How can this not mean that we'll never know the truth? How does it not mean that there isn't a truth?

(A) Disagreement on something doesn't mean that there is no truth of the matter.

(B) I suggest looking at something like James Sire's writings on worldviews ('The Universe Next Door'); or Glen Miller's Christian Think Tank website. What worldview is most internally consistent; most realistically liveable; and best explains the most observable facts (No worldview does all of these perfectly, IMHO, so it's a question of which covers the most the best.)

If the same Holy Spirit instructs believers on the true meanings of scripture, why are there so many sincere Christians with different interpretations of how to gain salvation (the most important thing that could possibly be known)?

Thank you for your time,
Shane

(1) It's possible that not every (self-declared) Christian is listening obediently to the Holy Spirit all of the time. Hence they may differ.

(2) I think the vast majority of Christians agree substantially on the basics of salvation. Perhaps the differences are mostly about peripheral issues...?

(3) From your personal reading of the Bible, how does one 'get saved'?

[37818]

This is my first post here, and I am just going to throw my main objection to Christianity out there. This is really a call for understanding, though.

Hi Shane,

If there really is a "truth" to reality, how is man supposed to sort through the plethora of religious/philosophical information, find the reliable stuff, and develop a worldview that has no serious objections?

Actually the Christian world view as proven cultural advantages.

History's brightest disagree on why humans are here. How can this not mean that we'll never know the truth?

Men can be wrong and more often than not are. God cannot be wrong. Christianity from Judaism is an historical faith. Our years being called A.D. Anno Domini meaning "year of our Lord." And B.C., Before Christ. Even after replacement of A.D. with C.E. Current Era and B.C. with B.C.E. Before Current Era. The calendar years such as 2014 stays the same.

How does it not mean that there isn't a truth?

On the contrary there is a truth about it. There are disagreements on it.

If the same Holy Spirit instructs believers on the true meanings of scripture, why are there so many sincere Christians with different interpretations of how to gain salvation (the most important thing that could possibly be known)?

Christians should agree. Genuine Christian do in fact agree on essentials of the faith. And the secondary issues in that those disagreements are not matters of being genuine Christian.

The Apostle Paul wrote on this issue to the Corinthian church, "Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. . . ." -- Corinthians 1:10.

Do you have a specific question or objection of note?

[Darth Executor]

This is my first post here, and I am just going to throw my main objection to Christianity out there. This is really a call for understanding, though.

If there really is a "truth" to reality, how is man supposed to sort through the plethora of religious/philosophical information, find the reliable stuff, and develop a worldview that has no serious objections?

There is no worldview that has no serious objections. That's where some humility (the real kind, not the public spectacle kind) helps.

History's brightest disagree on why humans are here. How can this not mean that we'll never know the truth?

A handful of people still disagree on whether the earth is flat. Does that mean we'll never know the truth in that regard?

How does it not mean that there isn't a truth?

Objective truth is not dependent on opinion.

If the same Holy Spirit instructs believers on the true meanings of scripture,

The Holy Spirit doesn't instruct believers on the true meaning of scripture. God also does not usually shoot telepathic messages into people's brains or talk to them while they're doing the dishes. This confusion arises because a lot of Christians confuse their own voice with the voice of God.

why are there so many sincere Christians with different interpretations of how to gain salvation (the most important thing that could possibly be known)?

Humans are not purely, or even primarily rational creatures, nor do we all have access to the same data or even the same senses. Different interpretations are bound to arise on pretty much everything.

There's no need to panic about not being able to know or be sure about everything. None of us do. Best you can do is do the best you can.

[Shaney777]

This is my first post here, and I am just going to throw my main objection to Christianity out there. This is really a call for understanding, though.

If there really is a "truth" to reality, how is man supposed to sort through the plethora of religious/philosophical information, find the reliable stuff, and develop a worldview that has no serious objections? History's brightest disagree on why humans are here. How can this not mean that we'll never know the truth? How does it not mean that there isn't a truth?

If the same Holy Spirit instructs believers on the true meanings of scripture, why are there so many sincere Christians with different interpretations of how to gain salvation (the most important thing that could possibly be known)?

Thank you for your time,
Shane