Are there any religious dopers among us who have certain beliefs that are considered false by their faith of choice? This isn’t meant to be a debate on whether or not said person’s beliefs are right or not. I’m just curious as to what those beliefs are. Also, perhaps, why do you hold that/those belief(s)?
I’ll go first… I’m a non-denominational Christian who believes that the righteous, regardless of faith, or lack of it, will be with God. Speaking as a Westerner, my part of the world is too secular for many to pick up scripture. Also, the atrocities committed by others in the name of God are too great for many to consider being religious, and I can’t blame them.
Hmm, I tend to agree with you. I’m a fairly traditional, conservative Christian in many respects but I have a big problem with this whole Hell for unbelievers concept.
I also believe in Purgatory, although as an Anglican (nominally) I’m not supposed to.
I have more and more of a problem with all organized religion. It all seems like arrogant posturing to me. I tend to believe things I have learned myself, rather than things that have been told to me. I welcome correction, though.
I also subscribe to this particular doctrine (and members of my family, at least the ones I’ve queried on this subject). I suspect most reasonable Christians subscribe to some form of this belief, though I don’t know if any Christian sect has it spelled out.
I also suspect that most Jews will also be with G-d (possibly all, depending upon how one interprets scriptures on this subject). A lot of things done to the Jews in the name of “Christianity” certainly don’t look like the acts of people who love G-d. I know I wouldn’t believe that a G-d who loved would send a bunch of people to kill me or convert me to some religion that clearly ignored many of his teachings. There are a few passages in the Christian (New) Testament that seem to indicate that the Jews were not lost, but that if all the Jews converted immediately, it would close the door to any gentiles reconciling with G-d. After all, he chose them first.
Once I tried to explain my beliefs to a Conservative Jewish friend, and he declared that I was really a Reform Jew and didn’t know it!
The Doctrine of Universal Salvation has been around a while now … perfectly legitimate position for any Christian to hold. Just because a few loudmouthed Evangelicals tell you only the Elect can be saved, doesn’t make it standard Christian doctrine.
Karma - and consequently, reincarnation.
Marriage should be available for all couples, regardless of the number of penises (penii?) involved.
Pro-choice - a woman should decide what happens in her body.
God isn’t male (or female for that matter)
Oh and I own stock in Disney. I’m such a bad baptist.
I’ll bet you look other Baptists in the eye at the liquor store, too.
Seriously, when did the baptist faith, which was founded on freedom of choice and coming to God on your own accord, become so… you know?
Liberal Protestant Christian here, so i can get away with a lot. Some of my more particular heresies include:
-Universal salvation for all good folks (that is, folks who follow the general directives of Christ, love thy neighbor and all, whether or not they actrually believe in Him. God is so infinite and incomprehensible that most religions are in some respect correct, anyway.
-Purgatory, or some other system of post-mortem atonement is a good idea, but I’m not quite I believe it.
-The Trinity is a bunch of mystical gobbdlegook invented to interest Pagans during the early church. There is no meaningful division between Father and Holy Ghost, and it was only useful to speak of a distinct Son when Jesus physically walked the Earth.
-There is no Devil, or any other malignant spiritual force. Misfortune is the side effects of sheer randomness, or else God’s ineffible plan. Evil is the invention of mankind. Angels are God’s robots, and have no free will of their own.
-Jesus was divine, but I have my doubts as to whether he was born that way, or became divine through some later spiritual experience. basically I’m wondering how Christ-like can I, or anyone not born to a virgin under prophgetic conditions, be. Jesus’ death was not strictly necessary, but symbolic of God’s solidarity with mankind (He’s willing to die too), and His triumph over death.
My opinion on the nature of the Trinity was officially condemned as heresy in the third century AD. It is called Modal Monarchianism, and consists of the belief that the three Persons of the Trinity are different phases or aspects of God’s activity.
I might be upset if I could figure out how it differs from orthodoxy. As it is, it is no more than a naughty thrill to realize that people (Sabellius for instance) were excommunicated for this.
Although I am technically a neo-pagan, I believe that Christianity has a place in my spirituality. I choose to include The Blessed Virgin in my patheon as one expression of the Great Goddess acting in the world.
Although some Pagans feel the same way I do (about Mary), Christianity is a bit of a taboo among us, since it’s seen as being so legalistic and patriarchical. Some pagans even see Christianity as the oppostie of Paganism, and would blow their tops if they saw me praying the rosary.
Actually that’s pretty much the orthodox view throughout Christendom, so you’re not a heretic on this point. It’s the folks who believe God is actually male who have a problem (except when specifically referring to Christ’s incarnation).
As for me, I don’t believe that homosexual sex is okay nor should sexually active gays be made a Bishop. That makes me simultaneously a bad Episcopalian but a mainstream Anglican.
I live in Anderson, IN, USA, where the annual convention brings a couple thousand Church of God people every year. I asked my bartender if business picks up during COGger week. “Oh, sure,” he said, “They come in here, eat, drink, and laugh, but they don’t feel good about it.” The signs outside the town’s two breast bars say, “Welcome Church of God.”
I fall into the even more heretical liberal Unitarian Christian crowd. Nice to meetcha!
Ditto.
I haven’t quite figured out the afterlife yet…I’ll get back to you on that one.
Hence the label Unitarian.
Ditto again.
For me, the divinity of Jesus while he was on earth is a sticking point. Maybe I’ve been reading too much Crossan and Borg lately, but I find Jesus more relevant and compelling knowing that he was a human just like the rest of us, yet he was able to have an extraordinary experiential relationship with God. I believe that he was probably the most perfect and God-like human to have ever existed because of that relationship, and he is the only human that I would ever willingly call my Lord.
Maybe this wouldn’t be considered a “false” belief, but …
Quite a few of my church friends (including my pastor) disagree with me on the concept of eternal salvation. I believe once you’re saved, that’s IT and you can never do anything to become un-saved. They believe you can backslide enough to end up in hell even after accepting Jesus.
God will change the mind of whoever’s wrong. It’s not a theory I care to personally test either way but I don’t see how anyone can hear about Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross and believe for one second that THEY have anything to do with their own salvation, other than believing and accepting that sacrifice.
Belief about knowing you’re saved notwithstanding, I agree;) My only caveat would be that if you go from believing you’re saved to being an atheist, that might present a problem:D
This is dangerously skirting the line where it ought to be in GD, and my response is as well, so I guess we’re both guilty;) I was taught (and it sometimes is almost enough to bring me back) that Jesus died for, among other things, me personally. IOW, because of me (and several billion other people, to be VERY sure), Jesus did the deed, so to speak. So from that angle (though at this point we’re most likely treading GD waters) it’s possible to believe such.
I don’t have a cite, nor do I know specifically where to go for one on this, but IIRC the relevant OT word(s) for God do not have gender ascribed to them. It’s a post-Biblical notion that really doesn’t make a lot of sense, since you’re describing a being that is, by its very nature, non-corporeal. Furthermore, gender is a biological concept, and the existence of a deity is a theological concept disconnected (in this particular instance) from that biological concept. When Christian writings and art began to be more commonplace, however, the fact that “Deus” (Latin word for God) is male helped to cement the notion that God is a male being. I believe the Greek word is Theos, though I’m not certain on that nor do I specifically remember if the relevant word is masculine. Art of the time is also patriarchal, and considering the general patriarchical hierarchy present in the early church (and later on), and in addition the notion of God the Father, and it’s no shock that most Christians are taught that God is male, nor are the masculine references any more shocking.
I’m Baptist Union of Western Canada. Not exactly S.B.!
Where I differ is on homosexuality. It’s hardly ever brought up, true, but the general idea is that it’s wrong. I’m more in the “born that way, not a choice” camp. I’m for Gay marriage.
That’s about it. The church I belong to isn’t terribly sticky about most things. We wear jeans to services, have no coffee/alcohol ban and have even been known to dance.
