"Tom, Moslems believe in the same God that Christians and Jews do."
Christine, there are many who would agree with you, but I for one will have to abstain. I do not believe the Muslim world worships the same God as I. For me to prove that would be next to impossible because it is a matter of perception. If I asked you, do you believe that Mormons are Christian, you would probably say yes. However, I do not know the God they worship! Their concept of God and Jesus is so far removed from that of the Bible. (I'm talking about their official doctrine, not what the average Mormon may tell you.)
"After all, everyone in these movements is a Christian."
Just as the Mormons go, so do white supremacists and the like. They are not Christians. Just because someone claims to be Christian doesn't make it so.
"just as the radical conservative Christians (reflect) almost nothing of real Christian values."
I must ask you who you believe are the radical conservative Christians? Please state well-known figures, beliefs, and/or doctrines. (FYI, Jesus was considered radical in His day also.)
Also Christine, your logic is confused. On the one hand you state that every belief system has no basis in (ordinary) reality, but is valid for that person solely on the basis that they believe it to be true, making it (their belief system) for them reality. Then you contradict yourself when you say that the Jihad is not a religious group, which they clearly are. I suppose you may not know the meaning of the word religion. They may not be true Muslims according to Muslim tradition, but they sure would pass as a religious group!
Christine, you asked me in one of your earlier posts (https://www.siliconinvestor.com/readmsg.aspx?msgid=4357645) if I believed that my religious beliefs were the only valid beliefs. In my response I didn't answer that question directly, so I will do so here. Politically, no. In reality, yes! Since I believe that Jesus is God, and that the Bible is the Word of God. And Jesus states in the Bible that He is The Way, The Truth, and The Life and no one comes to the Father but through Him, then yes I believe He is the only valid way for mankind to be saved.
Now I realize you don't believe you're lost and are in need of salvation. However, just because you believe that does not make it so. Let me give you an analogy that I cannot take full credit for. Let us for just this moment, say that you are God. How would you communicate to your creation? I can hear you now, "I would send many persons to them in my name and show them how to live." But then you see that your creation is in utter chaos, they follow false teachers and prophets, they do not even believe in you but worship false gods. So you devise a plan to show your "lost" creation who you really are! And there will be no denying that it is true because, YOU WILL BECOME ONE OF THEM.
Christine, if you were sitting in front of a table that was full of ants, and you wanted to communicate with them, you could scream and holler until you were blue in the face. But, until you became one of them you would not be able to get through to them.
Christine, God became man in the form of Jesus of Nazareth so that He may communicate with us. And here is His message, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not condemned; he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. John 3:16-18 RSV
Christine, if you are open-minded, I implore you to read the gospel of John. In fact, we can do it together and I will try to answer any and all of your questions. What do you say?
Prayerfully yours,
Tom |
