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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forumsroamer65
(36,745 posts)You are either one or the other.
Yes, if there is a hell, you people will go to it for supporting a rapist who also imprisons children.
Gore1FL
(21,132 posts)There isn't a purity test beyond that or no one would be a Christian.
Bernardo de La Paz
(49,002 posts)Karadeniz
(22,528 posts)To prove their faith in him. So...a Christian has to try to love friends and enemies alike. Many Christians want to focus on faith alone, but that comports in no way with the knowledge contained in the parables, which I doubt anyone understands. Faith+ works!
Gore1FL
(21,132 posts)Lutherans believe in justification by faith alone. Are Lutherans not allowed to call themselves Christians?
wnylib
(21,482 posts)Lutherans do believe in justfication by faith. But that does not exclude them from practicing their faith in how they live, what they do, and what they don't do. For Lutherans, works follow faith. You don't have one without the other. See my above quote from Matthew.
Gore1FL
(21,132 posts)It's not a yardstick others get to apply their own values to. That's one of the main weaknesses of religion in general.
wnylib
(21,482 posts)Lutherans.
There are numerous denominations in Christianity. Each focuses on its own interpretation of the faith. But a few basic tenets apply to Christianity in general, e.g. belief in Jesus and following his teachings.
I don't buy into the notion that there are no definitions.
That applies to any group. There are different views among Democrats. And yet there are a few things basic to being a Democrat that define us. One is an emphasis on equal rights, which is not to say that no other party recognizes human rights. But we do focus on them more. Another focus has traditionally been labor, although we slacked off on that for a while. And even moderate Dems are more progressive than Republicans.
Gore1FL
(21,132 posts)Regardless, there is no credible authority on what a Christian is or isn't.
wnylib
(21,482 posts)you must follow his teachings. Not perfectly, of course, since no one is perfect. But to the best of your ability. And admit it when you fall short.
Trump does not even pretend to try living up to the teachings.
"You will know them by their fruits."
Matthew 7:16
Gore1FL
(21,132 posts)Take as little or as much as you want. You can justify slavery, killing, looting, raping, and general destruction in the name of Jesus. We have had the wars to prove it.
BrightKnight
(3,567 posts)Last edited Wed Jun 3, 2020, 04:39 AM - Edit history (1)
People do these things but it is not justified in scripture. Jesus very clear about that.
wnylib
(21,482 posts)Gore1FL
(21,132 posts)I submit this further goes to prove my point.
BrightKnight
(3,567 posts)Can be done in more than one way. IMO the Catholic approach of being in a state of grace is not that different from the Methodist continuing to perfection. I also think that the Lutheran approach is beautiful. Faith and forgiveness frees you to serve your neighbor.
All of these done well can make good fruit.
The Church fragmented after the reformation but the differences are usually not that great. You would need a degree in theology to fully understand what scripture says and the differences by denomination.
Trying to reduce it to a 1 liner is not going to work.
The prosperity gospel theology that Trump associated with is not really based in scripture.
.
wnylib
(21,482 posts)himself with any theological approach. He is greedy for wealth, without any religious affiliation that I can see.
I've been exposed to many versions of Christianity through family, friends, and neighbors -- Catholic, Methodist, Amish, Baptist, Quaker, Jehovah's Witness, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Christian Scientist, and prosperity theology (which I found repugnant). Also to Unitarian Universalists, Judaism, and Islam.
I minored in anthropology and took courses in tribal religions of Asia, Africa, and the Americas, as well as a history of Western relgion (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam). But there is still much that I don't know about various theologies.
Religions interest me because of what they reveal about a society's values and perspective on life. They combine philosophy, literature, and psychology, and express them in stories, music, art, and social structure.
MontanaMama
(23,319 posts)Barack Obama is black.
do I need this?
BootinUp
(47,157 posts)Just the opinion of another whitey.
MontanaMama
(23,319 posts)lindysalsagal
(20,692 posts)BootinUp
(47,157 posts)They are real good communicators and thinkers.
Docreed2003
(16,862 posts)Screw those hypocritical bastards
Mariana
(14,857 posts)wnylib
(21,482 posts)a communist, and a Nazi.
They threw anything at him that they considered negative. In their minds, he embodied all things negative, all at once, even when they were contradictory to each other.
Devilsun
(200 posts)DanieRains
(4,619 posts)He just works for him.
niyad
(113,327 posts)Grokenstein
(5,723 posts)"Are you for the principles weve always stood for or are you a Republican? You cant be both."
Read the whole thing.
https://upload.democraticunderground.com/100210966846
wnylib
(21,482 posts)certainot
(9,090 posts)and pretend to be evangelicals
not_the_one
(2,227 posts)And for them the ends justify the means.
They know exactly that the turd IS a turd. But apparently Jesus Christ is now the lord and saviour of President PussyGrabber, and they are just fine with that.
They want that final orgasm that is the rapture. They think he will help bring that to fruition.
The reality will be that Jesus will deny them thrice before the dawn.
Sad, all their hate and vitriol because of sex, and their desire to make man superior to woman.
The real surprise will be when they die, and nothing. Nada. They blink into nothing.
Meanwhile, WE have to deal with these raving lunatics.
wnylib
(21,482 posts)Can't really register in a mind or spirit that isn't there. So they can die with their beliefs intact and unchallenged.
Crunchy Frog
(26,587 posts)They obviously worship the Anti-Christ.
Cha
(297,275 posts)betsuni
(25,537 posts)greyl
(22,990 posts)BrightKnight
(3,567 posts)Buckeye_Democrat
(14,855 posts)From his movie, The Mist: