Christians don't really think for themselves, despite what they say

[webmdave]

By Bill J

 

The problem with Christians is that they are not taught to look at the Bible critically. They are taught to believe it without doubt, usually from an early age. To most of them, it is inerrant and inspired by the Holy Spirit, so it has to be correct. When I took bible classes in Bible College we always looked at the difficult passages with faith. The kind of faith that believes there is an explanation for why something seemed contrary. The professors always gave some reason for why God had the Israelites kill children or commit genocide. They would explain why God doesn't answer every prayer, even when we follow the Bible literally, like bringing the elders of the church to pray for the sick. Aren't the sick supposed to be healed if the elders pray for them? Only if they are true elders, right, whatever.

 

Their explanations seemed plausible to us because we believed the Bible came from God and God must have had a good reason, right? Weren't we taught that God¡¦s ways are above our ways and we can not possibly fathom why God does or did stuff like that, or why He doesn't answer every prayer? My apologetic courses were similar. They never taught you to think for yourself. Seminary was different. At least they didn't try to explain away the difficult passages. They made you talk about it, but they didn't teach you to question your belief in God. They just taught you to modify your belief. Seminary is where I learned that we didn't really know who wrote most of the Old and New Testament, we learned that the Gospels were written decades after Christ¡¦s death and so on. My seminary had at least 40 different denominations so there were a lot of disagreements and debates. It was unity in action. Boy am I glad Christians have the truth and they all agree on what it is.

 

Most fundies see a site like this as an attack on God. They are committed to proving that they love God and that their faith is real and accurate. This makes them feel good about themselves and re-enforces their beliefs.

 

When a Christian gets on this site, to argue about why they really know the true and loving God, it¡¦s hard to know what type of Christian you are dealing with, because there are so many different denominations and theologies among Christians. Most evangelicals don¡¦t even understand the other non-evangelical denominations. They only know enough to write them off, as if they are some lesser form of Christianity. They usually believe that they, the true Christians, have it right. Feeling right about their belief unfortunately gives way to feeding the ego. If you believe that you have the real truth, what does that do to you?

 

It ought to make you sell everything you have and live your last breath serving God. It ought to scare the hell out of you because all your friends and family might go into the fire forever while you lay about praising God for eternity. It ought to make you see how selfish your life is if you don¡¦t do everything you can to insert the Gospel into your daily life and share the good news with everyone. It ought to make you give to the poor and open your home to anyone who needs it. It ought to make you turn the other cheek and offer the coat on your back to your enemy or a stranger. It ought to make you meek, slow to anger and thoughtful. It ought to make you treat your neighbor just the way you want to be treated. It ought to make you love, yes, actually love your enemy as well as your neighbor. It ought to make you rejoice when you experience trials and tribulation. But it doesn't, does it?

 

So what's up with that? Well, that is the cognitive dissonance Christians try to explain away inside themselves. This is what makes them creatures of hypocrisy and self deception. This is what makes them believe they can keep living a nominal Christian life without really being a "sold out Jesus Freak." This is the point where the Christian says, "I am under grace, because we are all human and God sent his Son to pay for our sins." This literally means, I can not really live up to the teachings of Jesus on a daily basis, but I've got a way out. It¡¦s called forgiveness. I can just keep on living as I please and ask God to keep on forgiving me. Never mind about the Holy Spirit who is supposed to indwell every true Christian and give them the power to overcome sin and serve God. Aren't we supposed to know them by their works? This is the point where false guilt and continued repentance comes in. Some Christians compartmentalize their Christian life (this usually happens after 40). Some always feel like they don¡¦t measure up so they ask God to forgive them on a daily basis. And some don't give a rat's ass as long as they believe the right doctrine and keep doing what their church tells them.

 

Boy am I glad I grew up and started thinking for myself.

 

To monitor comments posted to this topic, use .

 

http://exchristian.net/exchristian/2007/07...-think-for.html

[Vigile]

Very nice Bill.

 

If you guys haven't checked the comments on the blog yet, you gotta check out this gem:

 

Bill, you are right, if someone is a christian they DO live like Christ. If they have Christ living within them they DO have the power to overcome sin and error in their lives. If they are a christian they ARE long suffering, peaceful, meek, thoughtful, loving of their enemies, etc. Indeed if they truely are a christian they will feel great remorse when they aren't kind, or meek, or loving, or thoughtful, or Christ like.

 

 

In my 25 years as a xian, and in my years of world travel since, I have met exactly 0 xians who met this description.

[Eccles]

The worst example of these Christians are those still left in the "Holy" Roman Catholic Church. They are NOT allowed to think. They are NOT allowed to question. If they do question they have sinned. Brains must be checked at the door of the church every Sunday.

[Toxic]

It ought to make you sell everything you have and live your last breath serving God. It ought to scare the hell out of you because all your friends and family might go into the fire forever while you lay about praising God for eternity. It ought to make you see how selfish your life is if you don¡¦t do everything you can to insert the Gospel into your daily life and share the good news with everyone. It ought to make you give to the poor and open your home to anyone who needs it. It ought to make you turn the other cheek and offer the coat on your back to your enemy or a stranger. It ought to make you meek, slow to anger and thoughtful. It ought to make you treat your neighbor just the way you want to be treated. It ought to make you love, yes, actually love your enemy as well as your neighbor. It ought to make you rejoice when you experience trials and tribulation.

 

Funny how all the people telling me to go to church and read the bible never actually do any of these things either.

[Luke Wolf]

I have seen many Christians who claim they are the ones practicing freethinking. Such a shame they are so naive.

[Grandpa Harley]

when does naivety become idiocy?

[Lycorth]

Even the good friends I have in my life, who happen to be Xian, fit the bill of not thinking for themselves when it comes to their religion. Despite the intelligence they display in all other areas of life, they suspend that intelligence when religion comes to mind. They accept wholesale their sect's teachings and never question them.

 

Though I know that they'd all reject Xianity completely if they were to scrutinize it honestly. Most humans would, or at least I'd like to think.

 

The worst example of these Christians are those still left in the "Holy" Roman Catholic Church. They are NOT allowed to think. They are NOT allowed to question. If they do question they have sinned. Brains must be checked at the door of the church every Sunday.

 

Then again, that's a facet of pretty much every traditional sect. No matter how different from the other sects they claim to be, they're all the same

[Sceadugenga]

The worst example of these Christians are those still left in the "Holy" Roman Catholic Church. They are NOT allowed to think. They are NOT allowed to question. If they do question they have sinned. Brains must be checked at the door of the church every Sunday.

 

Heh... I can tell someone has never had to discuss theology or spirituality with a Jesuit...

[Grandpa Harley]

I'm not sure many Jesuits would be classed as Christian in any recognisable sense... They seem to be pretty much unitarian... I know Benny the P isn't keen on many of them and he seems scared of them (Back when he was just plain old Cardinal Ratslinger he waited for Fr. DeMello do die before he dared denounce him has heretic...)