And for the record, I do not believe in what I said in my last two post, but it is interesting how you basically condemn people who are not Christian, who have not been evangelized, yet when the tables are turned you get defensive. So now you are basically saying that it's the Protestants that have the Golden Ticket. I know that you will attempt to dispute this, but that is basically what you said. And the little face palm on #76 is exactly what people are thinking when they see many of your posts in here.

 

 

The only way to salvation is trusting in Jesus Christ. Catholics and Protestants agree on that.

 

John 14:6 New International Version (NIV)

 

6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

 

In post #76 I was challenging your assertion that only Catholics will get into Heaven. Preposterous. Anyone that has accepted Jesus Christ and truly repented will be in Heaven.

 

I have condemned no one. I have stated what the Bible clearly states. If you don't agree, that's fine.

 

Nice try on your part to backpedal on what you said by saying you don't believe what you posted.

The more some people repeat and digest these type of Biblical ideals, the more they drive it into their minds to the point they believe it without doubt or question to be the truth.

 

On the other hand, the more some others hear it after being raised repeatedly hearing it, but all along questioning it for any sense of realism, the more and more it sounds to be ever so evidently man made self serving ideals that in no way shape or form could possibly have been written by anyone who knows for sure if there's a deity, and what that deity requires of us. For humans to say it's the inspired word of God only opens up more questions for these types of people to ponder how the humans who said so know for sure.

 

What actually is the truth?

 

No one knows, however many are content with taking these words as being such without question, while to others they can't help but to question.

 

Why is this I wonder?

 

Some it seems are conditioned to believe what they are told without question, while others are conditioned to question what they are told without hesitation.

 

Why is this?

 

And plenty have been skeptical, came from a position of atheism, but after an investigation became believers. Just a couple of examples:

 

1. C.S. Lewis. Read his Surprised by Joy for an account of his faith journey.

 

2. Lee Strobel. Read his The Case for Christ or The Case for Faith or The Case for a Creator for his account. He was an atheist, with a law degree, working as a journalist and did an investigation and in the end converted to Christ. The point is, he knows how to ask questions and investigate something for the truth.

 

For one more atheist to Christian example...

 

3. Ravi Zacharias. Born in India, was an atheist, converted to Christ, and became one of Christianity's top apologists today. The account of his faith journey is called Walking from East to West: God in the Shadows. It is a fascinating read.

And plenty have been skeptical, came from a position of atheism, but after an investigation became believers. Just a couple of examples:

 

1. C.S. Lewis. Read his Surprised by Joy for an account of his faith journey.

 

2. Lee Strobel. Read his The Case for Christ or The Case for Faith or The Case for a Creator for his account. He was an atheist, with a law degree, working as a journalist and did an investigation and in the end converted to Christ. The point is, he knows how to ask questions and investigate something for the truth.

 

For one more atheist to Christian example...

 

3. Ravi Zacharias. Born in India, was an atheist, converted to Christ, and became one of Christianity's top apologists today. The account of his faith journey is called Walking from East to West: God in the Shadows. It is a fascinating read.

 

In post #47 I described where I am spiritually, and in it stated that I was not an Atheist just in case any have considered that I am by some of the things I have said throughout this thread.

 

You've provided here examples of Atheists who have questioned truth and have ultimately converted to being believers, and for their sake if it has given them a better sense of peace, who am I to question to that? Nor can I knock anyone who has a better sense of peace as being believers even if they've never questioned their faith. If it works for them that's wonderful.

 

You said in referring to Lee Strobel that "The point is, he knows how to ask questions and investigate something for the truth."

 

Is this then implying that he indeed has discovered the truth?

 

I've nothing personally against anyone who believes what they believe for it's completely understandable as humans that many of us have hopes that our lives our eternal, but I tend to be puzzled by those who express their beliefs to others as being the indisputable truth as if somehow they know it to be so.

And why isn't this thread in the religious forum?

If you would read the thread you would see its very controversial.....:banana:

In post #47 I described where I am spiritually, and in it stated that I was not an Atheist just in case any have considered that I am by some of the things I have said throughout this thread.

 

You've provided here examples of Atheists who have questioned truth and have ultimately converted to being believers, and for their sake if it has given them a better sense of peace, who am I to question to that? Nor can I knock anyone who has a better sense of peace as being believers even if they've never questioned their faith. If it works for them that's wonderful.

 

You said in referring to Lee Strobel that "The point is, he knows how to ask questions and investigate something for the truth."

 

Is this then implying that he indeed has discovered the truth?

 

I've nothing personally against anyone who believes what they believe for it's completely understandable as humans that many of us have hopes that our lives our eternal, but I tend to be puzzled by those who express their beliefs to others as being the indisputable truth as if somehow they know it to be so.

 

You are exploring the epistemology of religious belief. That topic could go pretty deep.

 

Yes, religious truth is something that Lee Strobel, and the others I mentioned, think can be discovered and known accurately (though not exhaustively). In broad terms, Christianity believes itself to be a revealed religion, that is, the God who created the universe has made Himself known to his creatures, especially to those created in His image. His self-revelation culminated in the incarnation of the Word, Jesus Christ. We are left an accurate account of His dealings with men. Christianity, and the Biblical Hebrew faith before it, are historical religions. In other words, they accurately reflect God's dealings with humankind in human history. They are not mythical accounts or just stories that teach a moral. That does not mean that the Bible is written to modern day standards of objective historical accounts, but that it reflects accurately what occurred and in many cases, provides accurate theological interpretation.

 

Using modern methods of historical investigation, many of the Bibles claims can be verified. One example of this is that the Bible mentions a people called the Hittites whose power rivaled the Egyptians. For many years, secular scholars said this people did not exist or if it did exist it certainly was no where comparable to the divided kingdom period of the Egyptians. Then in the late 19th century some tablets were discovered in modern day Turkey and as archeologist investigated the picture became clearer. The Hittite empire did exist just as the Bible indicated. There are many other stories like this. Biblical scholars can show the validity of the Gospel accounts, and other parts of Scripture using modern methods used to investigate historical claims. Lee Strobel gives one example of how to do that. Many books are written talking about this sort of thing.

 

So truth is important. This thread is basically about what if the Bible is true. If there was a thread that says what if the Bible is not true my response to that is that I would not be a Christian.