Is anyone overwhelmed by Christian messages?

[redhot1]

I feel like I get overwhelmed sometimes by Christian influence and messages. I feel more agnostic. I don't really want to believe all the time, but the influence of religion is too overpowering and I get stress from it.

I also have that common fear of hell. I don't obsess about it all the time, but I'm still not thoroughly convinced that it doesn't exist. All the bible prophecies coming out now about the apocalypse trigger me also. I don't really look much forward to Jesus' return immediately. Why can't he spare us 50 more years on earth, at least?  Why does Christianity dare think we are all born to be selfish? I feel like God is "talking" to me about predictions that I don't want to hear lately.

[AnneK]

The big problem with religion is the people who believe it.  Accept that all religion is delusion and you'll be able to ignore that nonsense.  However, that still leaves the problem of the religious who feel they have a right or duty to impose their beliefs on you.  The more you're able to ignore them, the better.  Don't forget, the whole concept of "hell" is a religious construction that has no basis in reality, but is a means of control.

[MarvalAlice]

I also have that common fear of hell. I don't obsess about it all the time, but I'm still not thoroughly convinced that it doesn't exist.

Thanks for posting this instead of just stewing! If it makes you feel better, the concepts behind hell have been seriously exaggerated over time. the bible itself when talking about the fate of the dead is usually very poetic with it's use of metaphor, but here are some scripture that I personally find more hopeful;

Acts 24:15 says that "there is to be a resurrection of the righteous and the unrighteous." this is important because God isn't looking for an excuse to get rid  of anyone, but that he's looking for any excuse to save people.

Psalm 146:4 says that "on the day of a person's death his thoughts perish" not happy though, but it's hardly eternal torment, and in fact what scriptures do talk about fiery death will often talk about how "it had never come to Gods mind."

anyway I hope you take this in the spirit it was intended, not to stress you out more but hopefully ease your nerves a little. also whether there's life after death or not, we all derp up and are only doing the best we can. anyone who judges someone else for how they get by is doing something worse then anything you're doing


edited because I'm fowl mouthed xD

[cheryl reeves]

The resurrection of the just and unjust doesn't mean everyone is saved. The unjust perish while the just has eternal life. I follow the bible not religon for religon is man's control over their congregations and I know the bible better then any preacher that's for sure.

[AnneK]

No, I just ignore them for the nonsense they are.

[Lady Sarah]

Both Christian, as well as Atheist messages can be disturbing, depending on the spin of the author(s). People have the right to believe whatever they want to, and many attempt to force those beliefs down the throats of everyone else. Radical extremism of any religious sect can be detrimental to civilized society, as history has demonstrated multitudes of times.

[MarvalAlice]

The resurrection of the just and unjust doesn't mean everyone is saved. The unjust perish while the just has eternal life. I follow the bible not religon for religon is man's control over their congregations and I know the bible better then any preacher that's for sure.

I get what you're saying, I'm just trying to be positive you know?

[RobynD]

I encourage you to look at more "liberal" Christian doctrines that questions not only literal translations of scripture but also, but the existence of a literal hell itself. There are a lot of passages that talk about things like Gehenna (the garbage valley outside Jerusalem and it really was on fire all the time), the concept of Hades introduced from Romanism, and whether hell itself is both metaphorical and describes a life not lived in the love of God as a life that is truly hellish.

Would a compassionate God condemn anyone to an eternity of suffering for a series of choices made in less than 100 years? Valid question. God loves everyone and wants everyone to come to him and not perish. Does God actually get what he wants? If not, than why given the fact he is omnipotent? Is Christ the ultimate payment for a sinful humanity and does everyone benefit from his sacrifice? Is the story of the Garden literal or metaphorical?

Religion is designed to be divisive because when you have an us vs. them it makes controlling people potentially easier. Is faith in the one God really that way?

Many also believe in annihilationism where the gift of eternal life is truly a gift. All others are destroyed as several scriptures say. That seems logically a lot more loving then even the Dante's version of Hell.

[IdontEven]

I went to a funeral today, and there were a lot of songs, prayers, and speechifying involving the cross and crucifixion. Now, I understand what Christians believe about all that stuff, but the more time I spend outside that faith the more sickening the messaging and such becomes. And it is completely pervasive where I live.

Like, I'm sorry, but such a heavy focus on torture devices and martyrdom is just not a healthy mindset, in my opinion. If someone gets something out of Christianity, through belief or simply community or whatever else they may find in it, then I'm really glad. Whatever floats your spiritual boat, knowhatimean?

But it'd be nice to not have to sit through 20 minutes of such disturbing messaging and imagery when I'm trying to say goodbye to someone.

[Tammy Jade]

Look, I was raised going to church every week. I married the ministers daughter.. I got very heavily involved with the church because of this.

What I took away from it all was this:
Being a minister is a job like any other and every minister will put there own personal values into there sermons.

A lot of people go to church simply for the social aspect

A lot of Christians don't practice what they preach

But most of all, religion is what you make of it, and really you should have your own interpretations, opinions and you don't have to believe it in exactly the same way as the person next to you.

I agree with a post above about the more liberal doctrine, after reading the bible from back to front on more then one occasion I realised that it's all about interpretation and who really knows which group got it right.


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[Innowave]

I don't know if anyone else can relate, but the parts from the Bible that affect me the most are the scary parts. If there is an afterlife, it's worse than just dying because of the prospect of suffering in hell forever.

[cheryl reeves]

The problem with the bible it's a book of roots and promises to Israel the family of Abraham,Isaac and Jacob and we outsiders try to make a religon of it. When actually the bible shows us a way of life if we obey from the heart level and not that we are forced to serve. This is why we have freewill we can choose to serve the God of Abraham or we can serve Moloch the gods of the nations.

[RavenMoon]

I'm agnostic (which actually means the answer is unknowable). I ponder reality and our Universe, but I don't worry about it. I don't believe in an afterlife, but I also don't think we are totally gone either. Reincarnation seems plausible based on the evidence.

Since I was a young child I have rejected religion. It never made any sense and seems to cause too many problems, way more than it fixes. It actually fixes nothing. Besides wars and hatred, you have people worrying about who they can love and what they can think. It's brainwashing and based in fear that a loving god would punish you. Yet the same god allows millions of people die every year.

Just be a good person. Try to help other living things and be good to the planet. Don't kill any living things!

And ignore the Bible and other holy books. They just were written by people. Maybe they had good intentions, but as with religious people today, they mostly want to control people and hold back progress. It's all a bunch of fairy tales really.


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[RavenMoon]

The problem with the bible it's a book of roots and promises to Israel the family of Abraham,Isaac and Jacob and we outsiders try to make a religon of it. When actually the bible shows us a way of life if we obey from the heart level and not that we are forced to serve. This is why we have freewill we can choose to serve the God of Abraham or we can serve Moloch the gods of the nations.

It's actually a collection of books. The church decided which ones they wanted to include. They removed some and heavily edited others. None were written in the time of the events they are writing about.

Also there is no historical evidence that the Jesus written about ever lived. But he seems to be based on one or two people from that time. He was chosen by the church and basically they fabricated a composite person. 


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[cheryl reeves]

It's actually a collection of books. The church decided which ones they wanted to include. They removed some and heavily edited others. None were written in the time of the events they are writing about.

Also there is no historical evidence that the Jesus written about ever lived. But he seems to be based on one or two people from that time. He was chosen by the church and basically they fabricated a composite person. 


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That's because his name isn't Jesus,the current form of Jesus has only been in use since 1826. His name is Yehoshua son of Yosef/Joshua son of Joseph. The Constantine council decided to use a pagan name in place of the true messiah to entice more pagans into the church, Just like the pagan festivals instituted n y Rome to entice pagans and to cater to pagans. Those collections of books were all written by the house of Israel. Like I said the bible is a message to the house of Israel that was made into a religon.

[Deborah]

Jesus is simply the angicanized pronunciation of the Greek, IESOUS (Ιεσους).  It was spelled that way in the New Testament, written in Greek, and pre-dated Constantine by over 250 years.


Conform and be dull. —James Frank Dobie, The Voice of the Coyote

[cheryl reeves]

Jesus is simply the angicanized pronunciation of the Greek, IESOUS (Ιεσους).  It was spelled that way in the New Testament, written in Greek, and pre-dated Constantine by over 250 years.


Conform and be dull. —James Frank Dobie, The Voice of the Coyote

Ieosus is Joshua in Latin,Iesus is where they created the name of Jesus by dropping a O. His actual English name is Joshua.

[cheryl reeves]

I'm a bible scholar and teacher of you are wondering.

[Deborah]

In the Latin Vulgate the name is spelled Jesum.  In the Greek NT it is Ἰησοῦς.  Neither is pronounced as Yeshua.  This is not a conspiracy.  Word pronunciation changes as it moves from one language to another.


Conform and be dull. —James Frank Dobie, The Voice of the Coyote

[cheryl reeves]

In the Latin Vulgate the name is spelled Jesum.  In the Greek NT it is Ἰησοῦς.  Neither is pronounced as Yeshua.  This is not a conspiracy.  Word pronunciation changes as it moves from one language to another.


Conform and be dull. —James Frank Dobie, The Voice of the Coyote

Its spelled iesus in my Latin vulgate and Ieosus is Joshua,my old English kjv makes the correction from Jesus to Joshua..Yehoshua is Joshua in every language on this planet with different variations of spelling. I have made a enemy of Christian preachers for they admit to teaching a fake savour for a paycheck for teaching the true savour would not be worthwhile for it leads on to poverty...I know that's why I live on the fringes of society and not welcome in any church outside of a messianic one and still probably be showed the door for the truth doesn't sell but a lie is profit ask Joel olsteen or Joyce Myer or Benny hinn all selling a fake savour for wealth. In a bible scholar and historian which means I done my homework...


P.S. I grew up a staunch Lutheran til I was showed the door.