why is there something so " off " about christianity

So those of you who've seen my posts in the past will have noticed I had a strong evangelical stance over time and have been vocal about my Christian faith . It's crazy how much attitudes , and beliefs can change over a short time frame and I'm clearly no exception to that rule .

My biggest issues with the Christian faith current day is this . It is made very clear throughout scriptures that God is no respecter of persons , that the inhabitants of the earth are regarded as nothing , there are verses that talk about how God predestines to love some and hate others before they are even born. But then we hear of John 3:16 for God so loved the " world " that he gave his one and only Son that whosoever shall believe in him shall have everlasting life . But then belief is not just enough just a few books later and we will hear that if one isn't truly repentant and carries any of the sins of lying , sexual immorality , cowardliness , etc .. their portion will be in the lake of fire .
But this lake of fire wasn't talked about in the old testament ( at least not in those terms , not even close ) ....

So do you see my point .. even the most sincere genuine christians out there if they are honest and real enough will admit that either the bible is LITTERED with contradictions OR it is has been altered throughout history , mistranslated deliberately or purposefully .

I've felt at times indescribable peace and love that come from feeling like a loved , forgiven child of God . And I have a fondness and love for Jesus Christ in my heart . But I don't know what to do with that anymore , I don't even know what to believe anymore because im not so sure anymore it was a genuine peace. I'm tormented by the idea that a God who loves me will only love me if I abide in him and stay obedient though it all until the end .. and if I don't .. I get sentenced to an eternal doom of the likes so horrific one shudders just at the thought .

That is another contradiction .. because even the most terrible parent could never ever fathom sentencing their child to that fate ( regardless of how bad that child was ) eventually our conscious kicks in . So it begs the million dollar question . If our conscious ( which believers will say is God given ) tells us that would be wrong , why do we just accept that God can and will do that to any of his children without so much as even questioning that ? One word ... FEAR

And it's that very fear that keeps ALL religion fine tuned and spinning ...

I'm starting to believe the majority in the " know " who are in positions of religious authority don't even believe in the faith , but they know their flock does . And what better way to control the flock then through fear ?

The second I have started asking too many questions about the faith in the past was the second people avoided me , ostracized me and cast me aside .. I guess you can say I'm coming out of a fundamentalist school of thought and feel more lost then ever . ( I know there are so many of you out there too , and others who have similar themes echoing in their lives right now )

It's a scary time to live in the world right now . WW3 could erupt at any time , terrorist regimes want to convert all or die , disease is widespread etc ... and the hardest part I feel for us all I we all have a desire to know the truth , to experience happiness , peace and security . But it feels like we live in a world where that is not really being offered to us and so we search as a result


Every political , religious or social movement seems to try to offer answers or peace . But our world is so fu*ked up that even those movements by design pit us against one another. So I guess the big question is how do we find our peace in this world and how do we make a difference ?

I want to believe the answer truly is Jesus Christ , and I want to believe God will make it right in the end , but I just don't know anymore ...

And I don't know how to make sense of a book that tells me there will be family against family , war , wolves against sheep .. I don't understand the contradiction between our human nature and old testament commands of an eye for an eye ( warlike nature ) and Jesus 's command to love our enemies .

Religion has created enormous restlessness and confusion in my life because the answers that seem to be in the book go against so much that I feel , believe , sense ... how do we others who believe just have faith and never question the horrific parts of the bible ?

There are a whole lot of evil forces in many places with one job. To make you doubt the good lord and the righteousness of the lord.
If they can do that and succeed in keeping you deceived about God, then they win, and you eventually lose. God loses in that case as well, because he has lost a child to darkness. You hold the key to that not happening by restoring your faith about God, and to stop listening to the lies from the evil one.

All i can say is, dont be afraid not to belive, you may loose some relationships that wont accept you as a non beliver.
i have never been a beliver myself and i dont see that belivers have benefits over non belivers. if a person like jesus did exist its pure academic and only of historical interrest, what makes you a beliver is if you think that a person walking on water and turning water into wine is rational thinking. i have seen magicians in vegas do simular tricks without beliving that they had devine powers.
And then there is the muslims who apparently worship the same god as christians but the same god dont like christians and vice versa. if anything its a god who likes conflict among his creations.

I want nothing more then to restore that faith , and I don't want to be in darkness anymore . But if scripture holds true . God hardens some and destines them as objects of his wrath to show his glory . Even Judas had no free will., because Jesus said he had to fulfill prophecy . Am I right ? Or not .. please share your thoughts ..
Is calvinism all just a lie too?

a reply to: Curious69

That's my fear too . Is it a God who likes conflict among his creations ? It feels like all mankind of alotted into different culture , tribes , given different information that by design is meant to create war , conflict .. it's an impossible concept to accept but it's true and it's horrific . I don't want to believe God is the one behind it . I want to believe we all have free will and either choose good or evil . Not so accept not so sure anymore though .
Some strong points in your reply . But I do have to correct you . Muslims believe in Allah , Christians believe in Jesus Christ . They are very different God's

a reply to: freedom7

Stick with the gospels man...

Don't worry about the rest... Including others of "the faith"

You will be cast aside IF you don't fall in line with their beliefs... that's just how religion works

Make your own peace with God... because HE is not found in any book

Though his words can be found IF you know where to look

Much love

originally posted by: freedom7

So do you see my point .. even the most sincere genuine christians out there if they are honest and real enough will admit that either the bible is LITTERED with contradictions OR it is has been altered throughout history , mistranslated deliberately or purposefully .

There's a lot in your post--too much to respond to, so I'll confine myself to just a couple of points. You've hit on a good point. The Bible IS littered with contradictions. Anyone who is not a Christian and has read it can see that clearly. The problem here is that Christians of faith who believe the Bible is the "Word of God" are faced with these contradictions and feel the pain.

The Solution: The Bible is not the "Word of God." It's a book written by many people over time. Just look at the four Gospels. They tell different stories. They contradict each other. They were written by four (or more) different people at different times. God didn't do it.

I'm starting to believe the majority in the " know " who are in positions of religious authority don't even believe in the faith , but they know their flock does . And what better way to control the flock then through fear ?

You're almost right. If you hang out in seminaries in any but the most fundamental Christian sects with people who have studied the Bible relentlessly over a lifetime, you will find that the general consensus is that Jesus was a very charismatic man with a message. Period.

Now, what if the graduates of these seminaries, beginning preachers, were to go out and be called to a congregation, and they got up in front of the people and said, "Guess what, guys. Jesus was a charismatic man with a message. No miracles. No ascension to heaven. Those are just fanciful stories. Many of them are nice stories, but they amount to mythology."

Wouldn't go over too well, would it? So the majority of them use the stories as metaphor and suggest, in all their homilies, that the point is to live a good and faithful and moral life. That's the point and that's what they talk about and even when they cite one of those mythological stories, it's to make a point about today. It's not so much an attempt to control the "flock" by fear as it is to accept the fact that the flock is unschooled about the finer academic points and would prefer not to be told they actually believe in Santa Clause.

What if you assume that Yeshua is not the only person sent to earth to guide humanity?

Maybe if you read another spiritual text you might find information there that might complement the knowledge you have so that Yeshuas teachings make more sense.

Have you ever tested other spiritual tool than reading?

Laying of hand, Meditation, audio induced increased awareness, astral projection (have not gotten this to work yet but some souls have it naturally) .

What if being a good person is all that matter to Yeshua or any Blessed ONES and all Atheists and other religions are proving themselves by their fruits.

originally posted by: freedom7
a reply to: Curious69
I want to believe we all have free will and either choose good or evil . Not so accept not so sure anymore though.

God gave you free will to be able to decide its beingness (you believe or do not believe in a higher being that created you). What It has discovered is this; that so many do not believe it exists or is of criminal intent or is a neglectful parent. The Absolute is disheartened by its own creations disbelief.

a reply to: freedom7

Dear Freedom - hold onto your faith. Just remember the woman who touched the hem of Jesus' robe as he walked by and she was instantly healed.

That little bit of faith is what I hold onto when my days seem overwhelming or like I'm not good enough. That's the voice of doubt - don't give it life. If that woman's little bit of faith was enough to heal her then my faith in believing in Jesus and God is enough to make everything alright. I can only do so much with my human heart and brain and the rest is my faith which is believing/trusting in one mightier than me. One day I will have my answer and if it means having a life lived in love and worshipping Jesus then I have only gained instead of lost anything. And others around me will have gained for the love that I act upon with Jesus in mind. It's all about trust my friend. (I do it out of love for Jesus but even if you are not feeling that love then just hang onto that .5% of faith. Meanwhile tell that doubt to take a hike. It works).

And keep in mind when God looks at us he sees the perfection of Jesus covering us. We're already there with God, we just have to physically catch up when our time is up.

Thanks for all the replies . Lots of tough dilemmas to face ahead . I've considered that Yeshua isn't the only one sent to guide us towards truth . I've been heavily involved with the new age movement . I guess where I always come back to that crossroads is realizing that Jesus' s words cannot just be taken lightly . He was either the one true Way, truth and life , he was insane , or he was lying .. there's not many more options ..

When I look around a the world and I see biblical prophecy unfolding and a hatred for anything relayed to Yeshua , it becomes Harder and harder to ignore it . If history has shown me anything it's that often the truth is hated , and the messengers of that truth are silenced , imprisoned , killed etc ...

Saddest part is even though I know all of this , the biblical content is so heavy and so overwhelming in its warnings , it's easier to just ignore it all and go on focusing on other things that bring me happiness .
But the guilt kicks in and I don't even know why I should feel guilty for wanting to be positive and wanting to feel happy . There's something about the bibles stories and prophecies that don't allow one to feel happy .
It's the same reason few christians like talking about the book of revelation. How can one every generate a sense of peace and joy when they read the belief in the reality that God has predestined some of our close family members and friends to a place of eternal torment ?
It's statements like those that make me just want to focus only on happy things in life and not focus on religion period

Thanks for those kind words man . I really hope you're right . I recently came out of a fundamentalist camp ( borderline cult ) and they told me I wasn't saved .( I believed for so long I was ). They kicked me out , and told me I'm lukewarm so God was going to spit me out of his mouth .
I've had this belief since that I'm some kind of freak , child of the devil , unclean , unsaved etc ... and now I live with the tormenting belief I'm going to go to hell .
I know this is some dark stuff , but I've held this all in for so long .. never felt more lost . I just wish I could wake up from the nightmare to a world where there was peace for us all .

Congrats my friend, you've taken the first step in seeking the truth, and that is questioning what you have been taught to believe in a world full of lies.

I went through the same process of losing my Christian faith, but I have come to know something even more beautiful because of that. My faith is stronger than ever before, just in a different way.

You're right, the fear of being damned for eternity is the only reason people hold on to their faith and never question what they believe.

Here's another kicker, and your mentioning of John 3:16 brought this to my attention. If God loves the world so much, then why do John and James say this:

James 4
4 You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.

1 John 2
15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them.

If God loves the world, then why can't we? Are we not supposed to try to follow his example in everything he does?

Don't let go of Jesus' words, they are the truth. Love is the way. Maybe you just have to look at Jesus in a different way than before.

Good luck to you on your journey my friend.

originally posted by: freedom7
a reply to: Curious69

That's my fear too . Is it a God who likes conflict among his creations ? It feels like all mankind of alotted into different culture , tribes , given different information that by design is meant to create war , conflict .. it's an impossible concept to accept but it's true and it's horrific . I don't want to believe God is the one behind it . I want to believe we all have free will and either choose good or evil . Not so accept not so sure anymore though .
Some strong points in your reply . But I do have to correct you . Muslims believe in Allah , Christians believe in Jesus Christ . They are very different God's

To my knowledge christians belive in jesus and a god "apparently jesus father" and disregarding the name of that god be that allah or whatever name the christians chose for "him" its one and the same deity, jews muslims and christians worship the same god just with different names for it. im not even sure that god applies as a name, its more like a description of something. the nordics had many gods the greeks had many goods and so on.
But more power to you for beginning to see through the wail of religion. afterall its a prison put on you by circumstances in your upbringing not your own drawn conclusion or revalation, you have been primed to be a beliver but the force of logic is groving stronger in you.

a reply to: freedom7

When I look around a the world and I see biblical prophecy unfolding and a hatred for anything relayed to Yeshua

Actually you'll find the hatred is rarely directed at him...

Its mostly directed towards the religion that came from the bible... and or those that claim to follow him

Even the most staunch atheist will usually openly admit Jesus was a pretty good guy

Said hatred has little to nothing to do with Jesus... Its comes from what the religion turns people into

I should also mention I'm seeing some therapists who've endured all this too and told me firsthand to not read the Bible period as it's more likely to really screw people up for good . Hopefully the answers come .. appreciate you all weighing in .

Good point . Look at the history of the church in the dark ages , all the horrible racism ,bigotry etc done in the name of the religion. You're right

a reply to: freedom7

The bible has some really great stuff in it, don't throw the baby out with the bath water. Find what you believe is true and go with that. The bible wouldn't be as popular as it is if it was all lies.

a reply to: freedom7

I have two things to say about your opening post...

First, I have dismissed the church and most of the bible for more than 40 years, and that was after being completely immersed in Christianity since birth (my grandfather was a preacher). And yet, I have come full circle on the issue of faith and belief. I once again understand that religions are a modifying influence on people (other than politicians). If we take only the most basic principle to heart, (the one about doing unto others as you would have them do unto you) already the world would be a safer place to grow up. Note: That idea is far older than Christianity, btw.

Secondly, I would suggest you read everything by Karen Armstrong, but in particular 2 books:

The Spiral Staircase: My Climb out of Darkness - Where she discusses her time as a nun and what drove her out of the convent and eventually the church itself.

-and-

Fields of Blood: Religion and the History of Violence - where she discusses the history of religions over 5,000 years and how it was never religion which was responsible for death and destruction. It was always those in places of power who were responsible and still are today. The PTB (royalty, presidents, dictators and politicians in general) wrap themselves up in the words and articles of religion to gain popularity with the people in the hopes of realizing their bloody dreams of war and conquest. This is the way it was when we were hunter/gatherer's and this is the way it is today, when instead of migrating herds and good hunting grounds, they want natural resources and more land.

Karen Armstrong wrote a lot of books, btw... and she is still writing. Another great book is 'A History of God: The 4,000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity and Islam'. I've read all of those mentioned and more. She never gave up her basic belief that religion serves as a positive influence in our personal lives, but she is adamant that it is often used for ignoble purposes.

Thanks for weighing in man . I know many like you and me who've had to transition into a newer way of life post fundamental religion .. I'm trying to piece together the whole truth . And I believe it's free from organized religion often too . I'd love to hear more about your transition . I'm researching so many stories of people who've found some kind of peace after all the brainwashing , cult like environments they were around etc