Apologies to BK. You were right about gay marriages.

[giblets]

Also Ben, I've seen you claim that people whose opinions on Christianity are different from yours aren't Christian. But what about this?

38"Teacher," said John, "we saw a man driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us."

39"Do not stop him," Jesus said. "No one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, 40for whoever is not against us is for us. 41I tell you the truth, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to Christ will certainly not lose his reward.

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/...09&version=NIV

It doesn't seem like Christ would have a problem with other denominations.

[Ben Kenobi]

Ephesians 5:22, the other half of it, covers this question.

Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior.

Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.

There's one Christ, and Christ is the head of his church. There's just one body, not many bodies. One Church and one Head, who is Christ.

Christ isn't a bigamist.

I've seen you claim that people whose opinions on Christianity are different from yours aren't Christian.

Depends on the disagreement. Straybow and I disagree on many points, and he's still a Christian in my mind. He's in no way a Catholic.

I have a real problem with people who endorse gay marriage, and want to teach children about gay marriage, and who still call themselves Christian. Homosexuality is sinful, and scripture is very clear about this. There are many areas of legitimate disagreement between Christians, but this is not one of them.

[giblets]

It sounds like Jesus was saying that anyone who does good works in his name will be rewarded. So then how are other denominations invalid?

[giblets]

Homosexuality is sinful, and scripture is very clear about this. There are many areas of legitimate disagreement between Christians, but this is not one of them.

lol wut

[Asher]

Homosexuality is sinful, and scripture is very clear about this.

I thought the scripture was clear about sodomy, not homosexuality.

There are many areas of legitimate disagreement between Christians, but this is not one of them.

Uh, yeah, it is.

[Hauldren Collider]

lol wut

the bible is pretty clear about homosexuality in my opinion. I think Ben is probably right here. But that's just another reason that I'm an atheist.

[MrFun]

I have a real problem with people who endorse gay marriage, and want to teach children about gay marriage, and who still call themselves Christian. Homosexuality is sinful, and scripture is very clear about this. There are many areas of legitimate disagreement between Christians, but this is not one of them.

So now you're given the divine authority to decide for all Christian leaders of all denominations as to what are legitimate disagreements.

Episcopalian leaders who support ordaining gays and lesbians as clergy would strongly disagree with you. Not to mention Christians who belong to Metropolitan Community Churches around the world. Not to mention Catholic clergy who disagree with the Vatican's official stance in regard to homosexuality.

[giblets]

the bible is pretty clear about homosexuality in my opinion. I think Ben is probably right here. But that's just another reason that I'm an atheist.

It may seem clear if you read a version of the Bible that says that, but with the new testament it's generally not clear if the original Greek was condemning homosexuality.

http://www.religioustolerance.org/hom_bibl.htm

Although "homosexual" is a very common translation, it is almost certain to be inaccurate:

If Paul wanted to refer to homosexual behavior, he would have used the word "paiderasste." That was the standard Greek term at the time for sexual behavior between males.

The second term is "arsenokoitai" in Greek. The exact meaning of this word is lost. It seems to have been a term created by Paul for this verse. "Arsen" means "man" in Greek. So there is no way that "arsenokoitai" could refer to both male and female homosexuals. It seems that the translators gave in to the temptation to widen Paul's condemnation to include lesbians as well as gay males.

http://www.religioustolerance.org/hom_bibc1.htm

No one actually knows for certain what "arsenokoitai" meant.

[Jon Miller]

Everyone sins. That is why we need the Savior. We are forgiven and are children of God despite having sinned.

Homosexual activity is a sin for some people (or perhaps it is that homosexuality is the result of sin as Paul says), but also lying is a sin.

In fact, the Bible is a lot more clear about liars than it is about those who engage in homosexuality.

And some people do go on about marriage being sacred/etc, but the heterosexual community assuredly hasn't treated it so (very often). And it seems from what Christ said that there won't be marriage in heaven (although obvious some disagree).

Jon

[Imran Siddiqui]

The Scripture only mentions homosexuality like 6 times. Mostly in the Old Testament (Leviticus twice) and then Paul mentions it in his letters. Jesus Christ never refers to homosexuality. He talks about men and woman because that was Jewish marriage at the time, as Jesus speaks in parables to the people because they do not fully understand, He also spoke to the disciples in ways they could understand (without completely blowing their minds - it's like when you bring a new Christian into the faith; you don't tell them everything at once because it would be too much for them, but reveal things as they grow in the faith).

It's why the Holy Spirit was sent to us, so that God's Living Word could be further revealed as we, humanity, are ready for it. In the same way that the Holy Spirit revealed to us that slavery was against God's will, It comes to us on all manner of things.

[Hauldren Collider]

I've read more old testament than new testament, so perhaps my view is skewed. They are rather different, aren't they? That's always been one of the stranger aspects of Christianity in my opinion.

NB: I'm not trying to put down anyone's religion.

[MrFun]

The Scripture only mentions homosexuality like 6 times. Mostly in the Old Testament (Leviticus twice) and then Paul mentions it in his letters. Jesus Christ never refers to homosexuality. He talks about men and woman because that was Jewish marriage at the time, as Jesus speaks in parables to the people because they do not fully understand, He also spoke to the disciples in ways they could understand (without completely blowing their minds - it's like when you bring a new Christian into the faith; you don't tell them everything at once because it would be too much for them, but reveal things as they grow in the faith).

It's why the Holy Spirit was sent to us, so that God's Living Word could be further revealed as we, humanity, are ready for it. In the same way that the Holy Spirit revealed to us that slavery was against God's will, It comes to us on all manner of things.

Imran
Ben Kenobi

[Asher]

I've read more old testament than new testament, so perhaps my view is skewed. They are rather different, aren't they? That's always been one of the stranger aspects of Christianity in my opinion.

NB: I'm not trying to put down anyone's religion.

Aren't you Jewish?

[Hauldren Collider]

Aren't you Jewish?

No.

My father is Jewish. My mother is Catholic. Your mother has to be Jewish for you to be Jewish. I was theoretically raised Catholic but I declined to get confirmation. We practice some Jewish traditions however.

[Jon Miller]

I've read more old testament than new testament, so perhaps my view is skewed. They are rather different, aren't they? That's always been one of the stranger aspects of Christianity in my opinion.

I am not surprised, Kuci seems to be more interested in Jewish things too.

I think the issue, for many Jews and many Christians, is that they don't really want to know who God is. They pick some small subset of the Bible and base everything on that.

Really, one should include God's relationship with man throughout the Bible.

I don't agree with those who say that Hindu/Buddist/etc should be included too. They should from man's side, yeah, but they paint a very different picture of God.

The Christian picture is a bit different, but the NT shows how they relate (which makes sense, since for the NT writers, Judaism was the religious history/etc).

A lot of the difference between Christianity and Judaism is the interpretation of those 2000+ years later, not in the character of God and His actions.

Jon Miller