Discussion on Religion - Where do you stand?

[TheLionPrince]

I am an evangelical Christian. I believe the Bible is the inspired and living word of God written by men across the span of thousands of years in which multiple prophecies were predicted hundreds of years before they actually happened and allusions and references to Jesus were made before he was even born. It carries multiple stories (i.e. the stories of Joseph and David), in which we take wisdom and inspiration and apply to our daily lives. I believe Jesus Christ is the only begotten son of God that died on the cross for the sins of humanity and resurrected after three days. Lastly, after this earthly life is over, I believe there is an afterlife and I will enter into heaven.

As for Catholics, the Roman Catholic Church added a lot of false teachings and doctrines to Christianity in the early centuries. One of them was the assumption of the Virgin Mary. While the Bible does speak of the assumption of Enoch and Elijah (and supposedly they will return back to Earth as two witnesses during the end times), the Virgin Mary is not mentioned to have been taken by God in the canonical scriptures. Pagan rituals were adopted and conformed into Christian traditions. The payment of indulgences (thankfully abolished) and praying to the Virgin Mary are a few of them. Nevertheless, Catholics seem to believe in the Gospel, but there are rituals and practices that I don't agree with.

[MalibuTrashDog]

[quote="TheLionPrince"]As for Catholics, the Roman Catholic Church added a lot of false teachings and doctrines to Christianity in the early centuries. One of them was the assumption of the Virgin Mary. While the Bible does speak of the assumption of Enoch and Elijah (and supposedly they will return back to Earth as two witnesses during the end times), the Virgin Mary is not mentioned to have been taken by God in the canonical scriptures. Pagan rituals were adopted and conformed into Christian traditions. The payment of indulgences (thankfully abolished) and praying to the Virgin Mary are a few of them. Nevertheless, Catholics seem to believe in the Gospel, but there are rituals and practices that I don't agree with.[/quote]

Actually a lot of this belief ruffles my fur and unfortunately I blame Catholics who don't know what they're doing that have propagated this misconception.

This here is what Catholicism consists of tbh:

[quote="The Nicene Creed"]
We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
Maker of all that is, seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made, consubstantial
of one Being with the Father.

Through him all things were made.

For us men and for our salvation
he came down from heaven:
and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate
he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary,
and was made man.

For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.

On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.

He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son.

With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified.

He has spoken through the Prophets.

We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.

We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.

We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. Amen.[/quote]

A lot of stuff has sadly been taken out of context over the years by parishioners who haven't actually studied their faith or the roots of their religion.

[TheLionPrince]

What particularly in my statement ruffles your feathers? I've read and studied European history. In order for Christianity to survive in a post-pagan Roman society, some pagan traditions were incorporated into the new faith especially with certain festivals and holidays. However, I may want to correct myself on a couple of points. First, one that concerns prayer to the Virgin Mary. Most Catholics may not pray to the Virgin Mary, but rather honor the Virgin Mary. And I must amend my statement that Catholics "seem" to believe in the Gospel; they do believe in the Gospel.

Please do not take it the wrong way. I don't mean to pass blind judgment on any religion, which is why I am taking a religions course to know more about three major religions: Islam, Judaism, and Christianity.

[MalibuTrashDog]

[quote="TheLionPrince"] First, one that concerns prayer to the Virgin Mary. Most Catholics may not pray to the Virgin Mary, but rather honor the Virgin Mary. And I must amend my statement that Catholics "seem" to believe in the Gospel; they do believe in the Gospel. [/quote]

It was those haha. You changed it so it's ok now

[Gaze]

---

[Azdgari]

[quote="MalibuTrashDog"]
This here is what Catholicism consists of tbh:

We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
Maker of all that is, seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made, consubstantial
of one Being with the Father.

Through him all things were made.

For us men and for our salvation
he came down from heaven:
and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate
he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary,
and was made man.

For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.

On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.

He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son.

With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified.

He has spoken through the Prophets.

We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.

We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.

We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. Amen.[/quote]
Although I do not practice and am rather agnostic, I was raised Episcopalian. I keep quite a bit of affection for the faith and community though (I'm deeply proud of the Episcopal church for long-held progressive views on civil rights and LGBTQ, among others) so it's interesting to see that we share the Nicene creed with our more 'intense' Catholic cousins.

[SlayerOfLight]

Seriously though, my whole life I've been tested by God with all sorts of trials and tribulations and he most likely expects me to just say ''yes and amen'' to everything. I think it's only fair if I finally put HIM on the test if he's really there for me or not.

[Carl]

[quote="SlayerOfLight"]Seriously though, my whole life I've been tested by God with all sorts of trials and tribulations and he most likely expects me to just say ''yes and amen'' to everything. I think it's only fair if I finally put HIM on the test if he's really there for me or not.[/quote]
Despite having never been a believer, I definitely understand where that sentiment is coming from. You may remember a time when I said similar way back in the day, in our earlier days on this forum...

Regardless, I hope that whatever conclusion you come to is one you can make peace with.

[it means no worries]

I don't mind if others around me are religious, so as long as they aren't preachy or violent

[SlayerOfLight]

[quote="Carl"][quote="SlayerOfLight"]Seriously though, my whole life I've been tested by God with all sorts of trials and tribulations and he most likely expects me to just say ''yes and amen'' to everything. I think it's only fair if I finally put HIM on the test if he's really there for me or not.[/quote]
Despite having never been a believer, I definitely understand where that sentiment is coming from. You may remember a time when I said similar way back in the day, in our earlier days on this forum...

Regardless, I hope that whatever conclusion you come to is one you can make peace with.[/quote]

Yea I didn't forget about that, I think I finaly understand now how you've been thinking that whole time. Perhaps it's still a bit early for me to draw a conclusion but I just don't see how to be optimistic when it comes to this stuff because I have every reason.