/christian/ - Christian Discussion and Fellowship

Wait, what's the first question?

>>637092

nothing, nevermind

>>637090

If you're saved, you're always saved.

Ignore everyone and read the KJV Bible and do what it says OP.

Are you doomed? Well, why would you be? Are you outside of Christ's flock? Odds certainly aren't good for you if you persist to remain outside the Church. Are you unrepentant? I don't think you are, since you made this thread.

What religious tradition were you born into? Catholic? If so, I believe that if you accept Christianity again, you can confess and receive communion immediately. But since you're not at this point yet, it may be a good idea to look and see what the Orthodox and the Protestants have to offer as well.

If you want a book about our understanding of God, you can read Met. Kallistos Ware's "The Orthodox Way." Its table of contents is:

>Prologue: Signposts on the Way

>1: God as Mystery

>2: God as Trinity

>3: God as Creator

>4: God as Man

>5: God as Spirit

>6: God as Prayer

>Epilogue: God as Eternity

>>637096

Op, do you have any hobbies, do you workout?

>>637090

OP, I felt led to share this with you. Remember God made you and knew who you were, even before you were born. Don't let the lies of the devil and the hatred of this world get to you. God loves you.

https://www.trunews.com/stream/glenn-greenstein-and-then-came-life-part-1

>>637193

Yes. I play the piano and guitar. I do things in digital audio workstations. I draw sometimes. I code in HTML, CSS, and C.

The closest thing I do to working out is running for a few miles on my road 1-3 times a week. >>637175

Yes, I was born into Catholicism. My mom is still religious, but my dad hasn't been since the last of his family died. Thank you for linking me to the book

>>637211

Thank you for saying that, and thank you for linking that. I feel like I need to tell you that I've never "lived the gay lifestyle", I've never been to a nightclub, I've never dated anyone, and I've never told my parents, so it is a little hard to relate to the things talked about in the video.

>>637222

I apologize for making assumptions like that, forgive me brother, I guess the point was no matter how socially ostracized you feel, God will always reach out to you. I sometimes get that feeling that I am a little too weird, but then I remember God is my Creator, what do I have to be ashamed for? Remember that man lived that lifestyle during the 80s when it was extremely taboo, and look where he is now by God's Grace. Don't give up, persist, seek and you will find. I will pray for you.

>>637090

Well anon thats a post with a lot of stuff. So I'll just comment on it as I go along.

>I am a disgusting degenerate in every way imaginable.

From some of the other posts I've read in this thread it doesn't sound like it. You have some vices, but so do the rest of us.

>I am a fag, a huge pussy, and I wanted to a girl at one point.

Well I don't imagine you have to much control over the first two, I doubt you're choosing to have same-sex attraction, and I doubt you want to be a pussy. As for the girl thing, it sounds like you've gotten over that currently.

>I was born into religion and I mostly viewed it as a chore, something boring that I had to do every sunday otherwise I would go to hell.

Now do you mind telling us a bit about your knowledge of theology? A lot of the time I notice people have issues coming to know God simply due to never being taught about God. Despite the fact they come from a Catholic family. Do you know Christ is God? Do you know what the Trinity is? That Christ is present in the eucharist that people partake in every week? Did your family participate in communion every week? Did your family have a prayer life outside of Church? These sort of things, I think with a bit more background we might be able to help out more.

>The only way I make decisions is based on what others think, or I assume the worst about what I think.

Understandable, a lot of people are like this. And its a shame that you feel that way. A note for the future, if possible try not to think about what others think. But what God thinks, you are His beloved son regardless of what you do, and He wants whats best for you.

>I don't know whether or no to believe in god. There seems to be so many contradictory view points on what god is and I have a lot of trouble believing any of them.

Like I said earlier, more understanding of your knowledge of theology etc. Will help us here, what view points seem to be the biggest issue for you? Evolution? Big Bang? God Himself?

>The other question I have is: am I doomed?

Finally Anon, the fact that you're posting this today shows that you're not doomed. It could be God calling you to come to know Him.

>>637236

I don't have a very solid grasp on theology partially because I never learned that much about it, and partially because I don't remember the bits that I did learn very well. I know what the trinity is, and I did my first communion but that's about it. When I was younger I tried to read my families old bible from 1897 and I had no idea what I was reading. The main problem I have is that there are so many different denominations of Christianity and other religions that claim that their practices and beliefs are 100% correct. How I am supposed to know what is actually true if they all claim to be true?

>>637242

>I don't have a very solid grasp on theology partially because I never learned that much about it, and partially because I don't remember the bits that I did learn very well.

Fair enough, a lot of people I talk to that were raised as Catholics weren't actually taught what we believe. Instead its more just 'do this, then that, bow here' without explanation.

>I know what the trinity is

Right, doing better than a lot of people then. Normally I have to start off telling people that Christ is God.

>When I was younger I tried to read my families old bible from 1897 and I had no idea what I was reading.

I'd recomend that you start off by reading the new testament. And as you get more knowledgeable to look back to the old testament and the like sometime.

>The main problem I have is that there are so many different denominations of Christianity and other religions that claim that their practices and beliefs are 100% correct.

Alright I see what you're getting at now.

>How I am supposed to know what is actually true if they all claim to be true?

Well I'll tell you what I did before I got baptized into the Church just about two years ago now. I had no knowledge of theology, Christianity or anything else for that matter.

Now I'm not going to tell you which Church is right. I feel the best thing for you is to do some research into the history of each denomination. Find out when they came about, why they came about, why they believe certain things. Try to read from unbiased sources, or from both perspectives. It can be a lot of work, I personally enjoyed it. But by doing it this way you should have no doubts.

For starters, try to find the similarities between all the Churches then the differences. And go from there. If you do decide to do this, I'd also suggest try praying. Try praying and calling the Holy Spirit to guide you to Him.

Sorry if this isn't quite the answer you're looking for. But its quite hard to try sum up all the denominations and differences in one post. And even if I did, people would call me out for being biased. Despite the fact I've done all this research from a non-biased agnostic view in the past.

Let me know if I can help you with any other questions or elaborate on my post or something anon. God bless.

>>637242

I'd like to point out that the Sunday service is supposed to be where we express our faith the best. It is, after all, when we reunite and worship God together, and for most Christians, when we offer up the Eucharist, which is the central and sole point of the liturgy.

If you go to different churches' Sunday services, you'll begin to understand their theology, since that is where it is concentrated the most. Pay attention to the hymns, to the prayers, to what the priest says, to how the congregation responds. Pay attention to your surroundings as well - if it is a Catholic or Orthodox church, there's going to be quite a few religious images that matter too.

At least look around to find a church you're comfortable with, and start attending it. Don't receive communion there if it's not Catholic. Begin to read the Bible too. You should read the 4 gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John) in priority - they're the core of our faith and the other Biblical texts ultimately interpret them.

If you have questions about what you read in the Bible, you can ask the priest/pastor at the church you've picked. Remember that it might give you a very one-sided perspective though. If it's a really big question, maybe you could ask priests from different confessions of faith to figure out who has the most satisfying interpretation.

Hello, I am back and I still feel the way I do. I feel like no matter how many unbiased sources I read on christianity, I will never be certain of God's existence. I feel like if there was a 100% solid argument for his existence, it would be famous by now and everyone would be Christian. I just find it very hard to believe.

I can't force myself to read the bible. I just can't. It feels like I'm just reading a really old book. I can't force myself to believe in what I'm reading. No matter how hard I try. Lately I have been feeling incredibly suicidal and I just wish I could believe

>>642436

I was like you and then the time came where I started to believe.

It will come to you too.

When we use the word "believe" its already in there: You can never "know", you can just believe.

But I prefer someone who knows that he just believes over someone who believes that he knows.

And even if you are not a believer yet, maybe you have hope. And that is already something.

Keep your hope up.

>>642440

If I am making such a huge commitment, but I will never know, what is stopping me from believing in any other religion?

>>642436

>I feel like if there was a 100% solid argument for his existence, it would be famous by now and everyone would be Christian.

You give way too much credit to the human race. Have you perhaps thought that people would rather believe that people would rather believe a comforting lie rather than a harsh truth? That's the spiritual conflict we all face, and why the world can never make us truly happy. Speaking from experience, most if not all of us have the moral guide in the back of their head telling them to act righteously and cast away pleasures of the flesh. This is why you see rich people who are depressed and spiritually empty. No quality of argument or even the physical appearence of God Himself would prevent hardened unbelievers because of the desire to avoid Him. Read Mere Christianity to help understand the situation we are all in. Then pray the Our Father (even if you don't feel anything) and start reading the NT with Mark or John. God bless, Anon, I'll keep praying for you.