IronFist is definitely a good person to debate religion with. He isn\'t ignorant and has a way to support what he says
This statement I\'ll definitely agree with.
But I do know that joining Christ\'s church will make you happier. It will make everyone happier. I guess I know this because of the people I\'ve seen join the church, and they way it changed their lives for the better. I have seen their sorrow turn to joy
Ok, this statement...from what I gather from what you\'ve said, you\'ve only seen happiness occur in a person when someone joins your church. That\'s one way of becoming happy. I can say that I\'ve seen that myself, an example of a friend of my sister who rediscovered spirituality. I can tell that she\'s way happier now.
However, like I said, that\'s one way of becoming happy. There was a program on the Discovery Channel that shows these misfit, mischevious boys who could be on their way to juvenile hall. Their parents sent them to boot camp. For regular people, boot camp is a pretty harsh image. I thought that until I actually watched the program. Sure these kids have to wake up at 4 in the morning to do drill training and then get to class dead-tired at 7. Then they have synchronized lunch meals with a drill instructor in their face throughout the meal. And then more schooling before they can go back to the bunks to do homework. On top of the training and the schoolwork, they have to keep their beds clean, and they have to be well-groomed. They can\'t have contact with their parents except through letters. And when the programs were over and they got to see their parents for the first time since they got to boot camp, you can tell that those kids were happy and they admit it. Their parents even said that they\'re looking at a totally different kid and that their kid looks happy.
I myself have found happiness through meeting and getting to know Ryu. Comparing to before and after him, I can feel the difference in the way I view the myself, and the world. For myself and others like me who have found happiness in getting to know someone, why would we need to find further happiness when we\'re already in bliss?
their fears turn to anticipation,
I\'ll agree with you on the fact that church-life or spirituality can take away fear. I\'ll say that it\'s a medium to morph fear into anticipation. But why is there the phrase "God-fearing?" Human nature is to avoid being in fear, so why would a non-believer want to invite one type of fear into their lives? Fear is a state of mind. Example: some people are scared of the dark and some people aren\'t. Why is it that not everyone is scared of the dark? Why is it that not everyone isn\'t scared of the dark? Some people get over their fears. There\'s a program for people who are scared of creepy crawlies by exposing them to insects. After the exposure with bugs, those people now understand that there is nothing to be scared of. That their fear was only made up by their creative minds. So fear can be rid of by other mediums, other than having the belief in God.
their confusion turn to understanding.
What confusion? Some people are not confused about life or human existance. Unless you\'re referring to another type of confusion.
They would think they know where they came from, but they wouldn\'t really know for sure.
Can\'t this statement be applied to Christians too? Christianity is constantly being questioned by non-believers as other religions and sciences are constantly being questioned by Christians.
There is only one person that you can trust -- God himself. ...It is possible for every person on the earth to know that God exists, and to know that Christ died for our sins. And it is possible for every person to know which of the thousands of churches out there is the one true church of Christ. Unfortunately, most people will not take the effort to find out the truth.
How can a person know that God exists when the followers don\'t take the efforts in finding out the truth? And the perception of truth is different for everyone. Example 1: Ryu thinks that the two most popular gaming consoles are the PS2 and the GameCube. Other people on this forum would disagree. Example 2:Some people think that the reason why California suffered a power crisis last year was because some bozo at the energy plant wasn\'t distributing the energy equally throughout the state. Others think that it was caused by supporters of Bush who found a way to steal the power and give it to wealthy Texas oilers because California didn\'t vote for Bush. (there was a rise in income for those oilers shortly after the power crisis.) Example 3: Games should be blamed for school violence. Parents should be blamed for school violence.
Let\'s say someone really did find the truth of which church is the true church and proof was presented? What if that truth shows that a good majority of Christians were part of the wrong church? How do you think they would react? I would think there would be some skepticism even if there is proof.
And how can a person really trust God when his existance is questioned? And the only source a non-believer were to get information of his existance is through God\'s followers. And like you said,
You can\'t always trust what other people say, because obviously not everyone on this earth is right about where we came from.
It\'s more than just who they are, but why they are. What is the purpose of us being on this world?
The question of why we\'re here can be answered in other religions and sciences too. There are some beliefs that we are the children of a form of deity. Other beliefs say that we\'re just another part of nature and that through the belief of the gods we can be in balance with nature. In science, it is said that we exist because it\'s our natural instinct to survive and to procreate, therefore we are the fulfillment of our parents\' instinctive duties. Again, this bring us back around to the perception of truth. There are so many "truths" that there can\'t be a sure answer of which one is the "true truth."
And if there really is a God, why has he put us here? What does he want with us?
Do Christians know the answer to this? I hear that the only time they would find out the answer is when they\'re dead and meeting God himself. Isn\'t that a little late to find out this answer and revel in knowing it?
To non-believers, these thoughts probably never cross their minds.
But these thoughts have crossed a non-believer\'s mind at one point or another. In other religions, these questions are answered through explanations in their own faith. To athiests, there\'s a completely different answer.
That is why I feel that it is important for me to share my knowledge of Jesus Christ and his teachings to the world.
Why not just leave the non-believers to rot in hell? You\'re going to be saved, so is the rest of the truly faithful community. I mean, for the non-believers it\'s their loss, right? Like, too bad for them. (I\'m not intentially wording this to be mean. I meant to word this in an educational sense.
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Their salvation depends on it.
Define salvation. The definition, in a church-sense, that I was given was "to be saved from original sin."
I am not sure what you are talking about. If this practice is going on in my church, I haven\'t heard about it. Are you talking about the missionaries, or about just regular church members?
Yes, missionaries. Why at school? I thought that our government wants to separate the church and state.
And while my thinking process is just running amuck, why do Mormons send out only young men? The people who come to my school can\'t be much older than myself. And why don\'t women get sent out? Unless there are and I haven\'t seen any.
And another question on conversion. A non-believer is invited to a church party by a friend who attends the church. The non-believer attends the party, because he/she thought it would be nice to get to know a little more about his/her friend\'s personal life. So why is it that there are some Christians who find it necessary to insult the non-believer by asking "So what makes you happy in your direction-less life?" I thought the idea of converting someone is to show how wonderful a community the converter would be joining. This situation actually happened to my sister. IronFist, I don\'t really expect you to answer this. I know you can\'t speak for other people. I would like your input though.
there is one completely true church on the earth, and the rest of the churches are not true, and in turn, are not the church that Christ set up on this earth when he lived on this earth 2000 years ago
Historically, isn\'t the real church that follows Jesus is the Catholic church? It\'s the first of the Christian churches after Jesus\' death and some people (ie Martin Luther, Henry VIII) just so happened to have a problem with it the Catholic church and decided to change the way God is worshiped.
Ok, I think I\'ve asked enough questions to make the Pope\'s head spin! I\'m really sorry if some of the things that I\'ve written seem a little weird, hard to comprehend, or even attacking Christianity. Please note that I didn\'t intend to make it come out that way; I just want to expand my knowledge. Again, many thanks to IronFist for your patience and answers.
