Born Again Christians

[Zucchini]

Oh great, rational thought it bad Too many unreconcilable problems with religion As to why you can't have a relationship witha born again? Something in their mind just snaps when they feel the need to add "born again" to their religion.

 

[UG]

BooberFete;

Speaking from experience, Atheists don't think the Universe is a mistake, we think the Mistake is the Original Presumption of the theists.

Atheists don't have beliefs of the 'true means' of our origin, we have provisional theories. The fact that our theories change means that your Original Presumption still has not been corroborated by examination by non-believers.

That means your beliefs follow from your own motivations, not Nature's. Atheists know more about Nature than believers ever imagined.

 

[UG]

BooberFete;

<...Many people are entirely too dependent on logic, evidence, and reasoning...>

Yeah, they should trust in the Tooth Fairy as the source of all enlightnement.

Right.

Science's stressing of logic, evidence and reasoning arose from the obvious need (to some, anyway) to move beyond the historical dependence on what makes you feel good in order to find what is actually Nature's character.

 

[qacwac]

to all: I am sorry for the bad experiences you all have had with those proclaiming to be Christians. However not I nor anyone else can make people quit calling themselves &quot;Christains&quot;. Instead of thinking bad of Christians I would urge you to see what the Bible says about Christians and then determine whether that person is a true Christian or not.

I am curious what the difference between &quot;born again Christian&quot; and Christain is? John 3:3 &quot;Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.&quot; That is what Jesus said. Every true Christian has been born again. (I suppose it is possible for them to not know this terminology) That does not mean I went through some physical rebirth but spiritual rebirth. So it is impossible to be a Christain and not be born again. Now with this I do believe that there are many who claim Christianity and are not saved and there are many who claim to &quot;be born again&quot; and are not saved and there are many who claim both and are not saved.

Some of you all say that you were raised Christian. Christianity is a work in the heart. You cannot be raised it. I was raised IN a Christian home. An actual good one. This did not, does not, and never will make me a Christian. My parents took me to church (not the best churches though) and lived according to the word of God (not perfectly, no one does). Perhaps this is what some of you had. For me, this made Christianity more appealing because I saw my neighbors on drugs and cussing and running around with no purpose and I also saw in contrast what my parents had and still have. Now if this is what you all were talking about then okay but if not then you were not raised in a Christian home. Going to church does not constitute a Christian home. It constitutes a church going home. A Christian home is (as the above mentioned states) one where the members are Christians, i.e. born again, disciples of Christ, obedient to His commands,

My faith is based on the gift of God. &quot;For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.&quot; Ephesians 2:8,9

That is why I am no better than anyone else. God has shown mercy on me apart from anything I had, am currently, or will ever do.

to Napalm381: There is the fact that Jesus, God the Son, was taught and believed the OT. So I have no trouble at all accepting the same thing that Jesus did during His human life. This may mean nothing to you but it's huge to me.

Many have a knowledge of God and Christ and are monotheistic, this is not salvation. This is the same thing that the demons possess. (James 2:19 &quot;You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that--and shudder.&quot

to Total Reflected Power: being born again is when God shows saving faith and grace to someone through Jesus Christ His Son and makes the individual a &quot;new creature&quot; 2 Corinthians 5:17 Before this I sought my own glory, and did not love God. (&quot;For this is the love of God that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.&quot; 1 John 5:3) Yes, I proclaim it to the best of my ability in my words and deeds. Yes, again. I believe all that the Bible affirms is the inspired word of God, innerant, and sufficient. Adam and Eve lived.

Sorry this is so unorganized.

Well that is my understanding with the light that I have been given.

 

[~zonker~]

About relationships (the original question)

I think it dosen't matter too much if both people have religious tolerance, respecting the other persons beliefs. If you can have an open honest discussion about your beliefs without starting a fight then chances are good that it will not be a problem.

I too, find what many organized religions claim as the truth to be contradictory with what I read in the Bible. Even worse, I find that a majority of the people attending a given church do not 'live' the faith and message they hear on Sunday. They wind up God on Sunday. Sorry, just my observations....

 

[~zonker~]

UG...

there you go, acting like Jesus again

How well do you understand nature? Can you tell when the next earthquake will be? How about the next hurricane? Can you tell when your dog is going to take a dump? I think we're all fairlt uninformed, no matter how smart we think we are.

 

[UG]

My sense of the matter is that those who publicly speak of their personnal relationship to 'god' have not found it, since they still search for the community's corroboration of its existence.

Oxymoron: Public personal relationship.

Who's confused?

 

[UG]

<...How well do you understand nature?...>

Only as well as Nature, as revealed by Einstein and Heisenberg, permits.

 

[~zonker~]

UG...

yes there are many who are still seeking that relationship but claim more than they have experienced. I find that there are many who are sincere and have experienced a true revelation of the devine. If you assume all who testify of their experience as insincere or confused, well there is a term for that .... prejudice. Perhaps you are so certain that your view is the only view that is possible, the arrogant lack of tolerance is a better term? Maybe you should change your signature...

 

[BoberFett]

Ugh

<< Only as well as Nature, as revealed by Einstein and Heisenberg, permits >>

Almost, but not quite. It's only as well as your logic, evidence and reasoning will hold up. Anything beyond that is just a wild ass guess, and equally as asinine as any belief in the supernatural.

When I say that some people are too reliant upon those three things, I mean that some are so blinded by science that they refuse to even acknowledge that which they can't see or touch. There are phenomena which science has yet to explain that are too quickly written off by these &quot;pure scientists&quot; as mumbo jumbo. Unfortunately for them it doesn't make these phenomona disappear as they might like, since they only demonstrate the limits of current knowledge. It's just easier to call people names. If you can't beat 'em, ridicule 'em. That seems to be your motto, and it points to a severe insecurity in your own belief system.

 

[NikPreviousAcct]

oh god...



must.... resist...... MUST............

 

[qacwac]

I forgot to answer the question. As earlier stated the Bible forbids it. That's from the Christian point of view. (mine atleast, I assume it's possible to not believe this and be a true Christian)
Here is just something I would like to make known. You may not believe this but the reason Christians witness is out of love. It is because God commands me to and I do not desire to know that anyone is going to experience eternal punishment seperated from God. That's honestly the only reasons I ever say anything about Christianity. Love. I'm serious. Now if soemone I know asks me not to bring it up then I probably won't and I don't just go around telling everyone they are going to hell but the reason is love.

 

[SuperGroove]

I'm a born again Christian, in the respect that I reaffirmed my faith. I am less naive now, and am discovering what God wants me to do on my own, with out being force fed. I used to panic about gonig to hell, but now I feel like I know I'm going to go...I don't even worry about it. I haven't been to church in a year, and I'm not the least bit guilty. Church is fake anyways.

 

[pidge]

I think it common sense. You can not get married if your partner and you do not share the following three desires and beliefs:

1)Religion. Both couples must share the same religion if they are dedicated to it. Otherwise it can not work out. It doesn't matter if one person is a Born Again Christian or whatever religion they might be. Both couples need to be the same religion.

2)Children. Both couples must want to or not want to have kids. If one person really wants children and the other person doesn't, it will leave a big void which will really cause problems in the marriage.

3)Forgot what the third thing was.

 

[jhu]

boberfett, what do you refer to?

 

[UG]

~zonker~;

You may define it as prejudice, I define it as differentiation: what need for a private relationship to be made public if it isn't lacking in emotionally satisfying substance and so requires outside, public confirmation?

BooberFete;

<...I mean that some are so blinded by science that they refuse to even acknowledge that which they can't see or touch...>

You demonstrate your total lack of comprehension of Science as a process, and a philosophy.

 

[Regine]

Pidge,
I believe the third is sexual preference

As far as the whole religious debate - this physical anthropologist is gonna stay out of it

 

[BiggieN]

I'm a christian and i just feel the urge to say something now. church is not a requirement. you do not need to go to church to be a christian. you choose to go to church or not. being born again means that your old self has died and a new person is born. Faith is just whether or not you trust. some people lack trust others have more trust. as you progress as a christian you gain more and more trust just as you would with your real friends or coworkers/classmates/family. you progress as a christian by spending time with God. now i have seen some &quot;bad&quot; christians in my time. i have seen evangelists force the bible down people's throats. i have been on the other side. it disgusts me that these evangelists continually attack normal people with the bible and everything, UNTIL i heard this great story from my pastor.

This missionary/evangelist was in the subway trying to share with this mother and child. When the missionary was starting, the mother blurted out and screamed &quot;why do you Christians feel the need to force your beliefs on other people. noone wants to hear about your religion! Why can't you all just leave us alone?!? The missionary was stunned. She was scared. She never had someone scream and yell at her before. Then she had a thought. She asked the mother &quot;How would you feel if your son started calling me Mommy?&quot; The mother replied that she would not like it at all. in fact, she would be totally mad and angry if her child started calling someone else mommy. Then the missionary replied &quot;That's exactly why i have to share about Jesus with you. You are calling someone else Father when God is the true Father. i have to tell you the truth because you are not acknowledging the truth.

anyways, the story was a lot better when someone else was telling it and not me. i hope this helps someone out there.

 

[Moonbeam]

Things that go bump in the night.

 

[UG]

BiggieN;

<... it disgusts me that these evangelists continually attack normal people...>

Thank you for confirming that we normal people shouldn't have to listen to the Witnessing tendencies of non-normals.

 

[BiggieN]

funny how noone ever reads my whole statement...

 

[UG]

Funny, or telling?

 

[BiggieN]

and anyways..we aren't normal! WE ARE CHRISTIANS!

 

[jhu]

i'm a satanist. what's your point?

 

[UG]

Yep. You're either normal or abnormal.

A rose, by any other name...