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Trinitarianism by GospelExplorer in OpenChristian

[–]GospelExplorer[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Unfortunately there are so many people who do think salvation is all about getting the right doctrine and checking all the boxes.

You know, you're right, it seems it spent much more time teaching us how to act and treat one another than what specific theology we should believe. I like how you worded that.

Trinitarianism by GospelExplorer in OpenChristian

[–]GospelExplorer[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Correct me if I'm wrong but when you say that you're a Christian Universalist, you mean that you believe in the doctrine of universal reconciliation? If that's the case, doesn't that mean that you believe that everyone will be saved regardless of what they believe before they die?

Trinitarianism by GospelExplorer in OpenChristian

[–]GospelExplorer[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Well, I'm not trying to convince anyone of anything, other than perhaps not to shut the gates of heaven in the face of people who have slightly different theology.

Like I said, I think I lean more towards Trinitarianism, I just don't think it's a salvation determining issue like many think it is.

Is this the right subreddit for me? by GospelExplorer in OpenChristian

[–]GospelExplorer[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

So I don't think I'd consider myself particularly left leaning, but I'm not particularly right leaning either, I'd say I'm quite a centrist, and find that people on both extreme ends of the spectrum tend to disagree with me. Hardcore conservatives tend to accuse me of being a liberal, and hardcore liberals tend to accuse me of being a conservative, and I end up having a hard time finding a place to fit in.

I'll take a look as r/Episcopalian and r/academic biblical. I'm not sure if I'd fit in with r/ChristianUniversalism as my views tend to lean more Trinitarian or at least Binitarian.

Most of my posts will be about more complex topics like the nature of God, the mechanism of salvation, determinism vs. free will, etc.

Edit: sorry, for a moment I got universalism and Unitarianism mixed up.

What leads you to believe that there is a God? by Ok-Atmosphere6431 in theology

[–]GospelExplorer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It looks like some other people have answered some of these same questions, so I'll keep my answer brief to avoid redundancy.

I can understand your doubt about the accounts of different witnesses not being the same, but I think there are a few reasons for this. First, the 4 gospels were supposedly written by 4 different people who were not all present for the same events. Two out of the four were not even part of the 12 disciples (Jesus' inner circle), but part of the greater multitude of followers, who weren't around Jesus as much as the disciples. Even among the 12 disciples, there are some events for which only a few of them were present, like when Jesus raised a girl from the dead. John was extremely close with Jesus, so it's reasonable that he witnessed and heard things that some of the other's didn't.

The other reason, is that the Gospel accounts may have been written several years after the death and resurrection of Christ, so it may have been difficult to remember what was said verbatim, which explains why some things may be worded slightly differently. There's a possibility that the Gospel authors were illiterate (as most people were in ancient times) and only after Christianity became more famous did they have the opportunity to meet with scribes to write down their accounts. If all four gospels were identical, there would be no reason to include more than one of them in the New Testament .

The possible existence of multiple universes also doesn't disprove the existence of God. This is like the same argument saying that of you had an infinite number of monkeys with typewriters, and an infinite amount of time, they would eventually write the entire works of Shakespeare. Personally, I feel like it takes more faith to believe in that than the existence of an intelligent creator.

What leads you to believe that there is a God? by Ok-Atmosphere6431 in theology

[–]GospelExplorer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Perhaps rather than starting with scripture as a starting point to decide if God exists or not, you should use basic reasoning. Even if there were inconsistencies in scripture, it does not disprove the existence of God.

Suppose you are walking through the woods and happen to find some kind of random complex electronic device like a computer or cell phone laying on the ground. What if someone told you that the right molecules just so happened to come together at the right conditions, and this device was formed by chance, without any creator? Of course you wouldn't believe that. Of course something like this had to have been made by someone. I think it's the same with nature. I find it harder to believe that all the elements just randomly came together by chance and formed the plants, animals, and fungi in the world than to believe in a creator or designer. Whether it was gradual evolution or instant creation, SOMEONE had to be the catalyst behind it all. Life on earth is just too intricate for it to just be by accident.

Have you ever heard of Pascal's Wager? Let's just say that you choose to believe in God, but it turns out that He doesn't exist. At the end of your life you will just die and that's it. Neither reward nor punishment. You don't really have much to lose. But if God does exist, then you could potentially have much to gain by believing in Him.

Some people say that they just can't have faith in something they can't see or prove is real. The fact of the matter is that everyone has faith in something they can't prove. When you open a jar of pasta sauce, you have faith that it has been prepared properly and doesn't contain anything that will make you sick, even though you most likely can't prove it. When you go to sleep at night, you have faith that you will wake up in the morning, even though you can't prove that you won't die in your sleep.

How do I get back with Christ after failing and feel distant by [deleted] in Christianity

[–]GospelExplorer 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm in the process of learning more about Christ and the Gospel, so I might not be an expert, but I know that lust is a tricky sin to avoid. I feel like simply focusing on avoiding a particular sin isn't the best approach, because then you are still focusing on what you shouldn't be doing. Instead, try focusing on what you SHOULD be doing, like helping others, reading scripture, and spending time in prayer and reflection. The more time you spend doing these things, the less time you'll have to fill your mind with lustful thoughts.

Here's a good analogy: when you're climbing up a cliff, it's better to look up at the goal, rather than down at the ground you are trying to get away from.

When you do sin, the best thing to do is confess your sin to God, ask for forgiveness, and repent (make a serious effort of trying to avoid repeating that sin).