No, they don’t. They believe that the Torah was for Jews only (the chosen people), and that Jesus came to Earth to offer the possibility of salvation to everyone else. One of the most common scripture passages you will hear in any Baptist church is John 3:16:
*For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. *
It continues:
For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.
You may notice two things about those passages: First they’re all inclusive. They state that Jesus came for everyone, and that the whole world can be saved through him.
Second, notice that there’s no mention of Hell. The opposite of being saved is simply to perish. It could have said, “Whoever believes in Him shall not burn in the fires of damnation, but have everlasting life.” Or some such. But it doesn’t.
If anything, this sentiment is stronger in Baptists than in other sects of Christianity, because its origin is after all from John… the Baptist.
This book provides a biblical, systematic, and practical theology of hell. The contributors to this volume unite in affirming the historic Christian doctrine regarding the final destiny of the unsaved: They will suffer everlasting conscious punishment away from the joyous presence of God.
[/QUOTE]
Because, well, thats the only one I find with that title - I can’t find your ‘author’ either.
I agree with the latter part of your views, but certainly not the first; the Christians I know believe the bible was written for them. In fact I just finished that arguement with a group of them on Theologyweb.com in the unorthodox section. They claimed that to me for months, you can go there and ask them for yourself. They believe it.
It wasn’t a single church. I attended baptist churches in many places. They were almost indistinguishable from each other. I had Baptist family members and acquaintances from across North America who visited and attended church services, and they all felt perfectly comfortable. No culture shock at all.
What’s your evidence? You claim to know what goes on in the congregation. Where did you attend? What’s your sample size?
There is no question that there are some churches around that preach a lot of hellfire and damnation. There are also Christian churches that have their congregations flop around and speak in tongues. There is a huge variety of Christian worship in the world. I have attended services in Catholic churches, orthodox churches, Mennonite churches, and generic Baptist churches. I have absolutely no idea where you get these ideas about secret ideas known only to congregations and all that. I’ve never seen any of it.
Actually, I can think of one form of sermon that seems heavier on the judgmental stuff and the fire-and-brimstone variety of sermon: Televangelism. And they probably do that to amp up the drama and build ratings. Perhaps you get your ideas about Christianity from TV?
I liked doing it. I went wherever I was at, in whatever city. I used to speak at many churches in Kalamazoo and Detroit, a few in Atlanta. In the Baptist church, its common to do what we called " Church Fellowship", where you go to many different churches and worship with them. I started disagreeing with baptist doctrine and started looking for other churches to attend. I went to hundreds of churches back then, 7 Day Adventist, Catholic, Worldwide Church of God, Jehovahs Witnesses, just trying to find something I could agree with.
Well I can’t give you a website or a book, because they don’t do it that way, church culture is often only spoken. Like their view of a " Bible Code", some of them think even the bible is in a code that only they can see. Many of them believe that " Jesus is God", but won’t state that in their doctrines. They believe " The Kingdom of God is within them", but won’t write that in their church doctrines.
You got your nerve, telling me what I am, and I am not; you don’t define me.
Christians believe that Jesus is God, I do not
They believe Lucifer is satan, I do not
That churches should not be taxed, I believe they should be
They believe in giving 10% of their income to the church, I do not
They believe in eternal punishment, I do not
They believe in limited salvation, I do not, I believe we all will be saved
They believe that Adam " Fell", I do not
They believe in the Trinity, I do not
They believe in speaking in tongues, I do not
They believe that God speaks to humans now, I do not.
Would you like me to keep showing you why I am not what you said I am?
We really prefer that you do not attempt this–to the extent that most forms of “handling” problems are prohibited outside The BBQ Pit.
If one believes that another poster has attacked in a manner that violates the rules, the only responses that are permitted are:
to Report the action to the staff, clicking the triangular icon at the top right corner of each post;
to ignore the action;
or
to respond in a pacific manner that cannot possibly be construed as inflaming the situation.
Any other action is liable to bring down official sanctions.
The problem with “handling” angry situations on the internet is that there is no method for either combatant to actually “win” and force his or her opponent to surrender. Therefore all such actions are nothing more than incipient flame wars.
You misunderstand me. I handle it by ignoring it. I don’t like reporting people who call me names or insult me, I prefer to ignore it. Are you suggesting that I am breaking the rules by ignoring it?Thats how I handle it. I did not mean attacking people or anything like that.
It’s not inside information at all. It’s easy to find stuff about Bible codes or people stating that Jesus is God. Practically every U.S. church larger than a store front has a website explaining its beliefs. This is why you should start posting cites (or doing research). This information is so basic it’s hard to believe you don’t know it’s online.