PDBROYLES@OWUCOMCN (The Golden Rule: He who has all the Gold makes the rules.) (02/10/90)
>>I really wish that people would research their >>subject out before condemning something on blind faith. > >Like I implied above, real Christians don't have "blind" faith. I feel perfectly justified in saying that MAKS was acting on blind faith. Let me explain, he was taking something that he heard from the 700 Club and presenting it as fact without first having checked into the validity of those statements. If somebody wants to attack anothers religion, they have that right to do so, but I do ask that they know what they are talking about before doing so!!! MAKS criticism was biased, it only looked at the negative side of Hinduism, and it was uneducated (no attack meant on MAKS personally) but some of the things he presented in his criticism were flat out wrong or simply distorted. Had I turned in his message to any of my profs who know anything about Hinduism, I would have received an F (a D- if they were in a good mood.) That is what I meant by Blind faith here: the uneducated unchecked criticism of another based on hearsay (legal procedings would have dispelled MAKS testimony too as hearsay!) Like I said, that message and this one is not an attack on MAKS or his personal beliefs but rather an attempt to make you and him realize that not everything you hear or read, even from self proclaimed Christians, can be taken as truth---Especially in matters where they are bound to be biased (those of you who were back on last fall might remember when I disasembled Josh McDowell's book _Eveeidence that Demands a Verdict_ It might be a good place to begin ones research, but should not be taken as fact and definately should not be the end all to ones research.) >One thing >I know, that whereas I was born blind, now I see. God Himself has opened >my eyes of faith and I know Whom I have believed (2 Timothy 1:12). I side >with MAKS here. I know that he has seeing faith too. He knows the truth >of the Christian Bible. Anything that opposes it must, per se, be wrong. >We do not need to "research" other religions before we can pronounce them >false if they are clearly contrary to the Word of God revealed unto us >in the Christian Scriptures. I wish that I could say the same, but I can't. I've seen how Christianity works and I've seen how Hinduism and Buddhism work and they are not as far off as they might appear. And I do call it a blind faith that will not allow one to research another religion openly and unbiasedly---if Christianity is so correct then what have you to fear from exploring other religions? If Christianity, as understood today, were perfect then one should not worry about checking into another religion with an open mind, he'll always come back to Christianity! But when one says, Christianity is true, I need not look any further, then that is blind faith! That is a faith where "I am right, I know I am right, therefore nobody else can be right and therefore they must be wrong!" When one says that the Bible is one hundred percent correct as UNDERSTOOD TODAY by ME and MY PEERS, and uses this understandign to disprove other religions without checking them out first, then that is blind faith. When one goes no further than to say, I am correct because I am a Christian and you are wrong because you are not... >And what's more - we have the witness of >the Holy Spirit of God within us. That's why our faith is real and not >blind! And how do you know that other religions don't have the Holy Spirit in them? How do you know that it isn't "say Satan" who hasn't deceived you? Wouldn't that be the ULTIMATE irony, J C is the son of God, but the religion built up around him is in the control of Satan? Ooooh, I can really get burned for saying that, and I can see the Belief-L messages coming already, but the Christian CHURCH/RELIGION is anything but holy! How do you know that Satan didn't infiltrate the ecclesastical ranks a millenium ago---Oh yeah, I forgot, because God wouldn't allow that to happen--- Sounds like something the Pharasees would say about Jesus: "No, he couldn't be the Messiah, God wouldn't allow that to happen without telling us." Sounds like something one of Job's neighbors might have said, "No, God wouldn't allow something like that to happen unless you were really bad...."
D2MG@SDSUMUS (Kurt Evans) (02/11/90)
Sorry, Paul. I don't remember when you "disasembled <dissembled>
Josh McDowell's _Evidence that Demands a Verdict_." I remember you say-
ing something to the effect that no *real* history scholar would ever
turn out such an unprofessional work.
If you have something to say about the book, please do. I don't
consider slamming the book and pointing proudly at your history major
"dissembling."
For Jesus' glory,
KurtUK3W@DKAUNI2 (Matt Will<uk3w@dkauni2>) (02/13/90)
I think there is a basic problem here: Please note that Christianity is not equal to what some church might have commited in the past. We are only on the way, which is Jesus. Every one of us, every church is subject to making mistakes, even if they try their best. I disagree with a lot of what the Catholic church (and the Protestant also) has done in the past; I also disagree on some things taught by others, although I am Catholic and Protestant myself (yes, this IS possible). But I don't stress that, because it doesn't matter to me where you come from (I hate labels), only if you have Jesus or not. And it is not upon me to judge. God knows, and He will be the judge at the end of times. I believe that I have Jesus, but I am not superior to those who are not born-again Christians. I am just another human being, a slave of God, and I am thankful that he has forgiven me and accepted me the way I am. Praise be God! Matt