Interesting, especially to read the thoughts and intents of one who professes to believe in Christ.
I am surprised, to say the least, that the writer did not seem to emphasize the REVEALED basis and nature of the Christianity of the Bible. Rather, the writer emphasized the practices and the meditative aspects of religion.
In truth, the God of the Bible exists apart from the universe He created. This is in deep contrast to the god of eastern and tribal religion, who is included in the universe.
In Christianity, the God Who created us has to reveal Himself to us in order for us to know Who He is. Granted, we can know THAT He is via the wonders of creation itself; but to know WHO He is, more or less precisely, we need for Him to tell us.
That is what He has done. And this revelation is remarkable in that it shows Him to love us and desire to dwell among us, and to have intimacy with us. He wants to take us to be with Him throughout eternity.
The Gospel is that, despite out sin problem, He, the righteous Son of God, wants to take our sin upon Himself in exchange for putting His righteousness upon us — the most asymmetrical deal of all time.
I am astonished that none of this seemed to make it into this article. And I apologize if what I have written seems too critical, obtuse or uncaring.
That description of Hong Xiuquan, leader of the Taiping Rebellion, perhaps the second bloodies human conflict after WWII, was about as bad as describing Hitler’s commentaries on art as a way of describing his impact on the world.
Seriously, the Taiping Rebellion had almost 10 million combatants and an estimated 20-30 million dead. Mostly with swords, pikes, axes, and a few primitive cannon. It was said that after one of its great battles, there were so many dead people and horses that someone could walk over five square miles and never step on dirt or rock because of the bodies.
And it all began when missionaries gave an otherwise ordinary religious tract to a guy who was both insane and astoundingly charismatic. That and two of the four generals he chose happened to be competent.
Most Americans are unfamiliar with Taiping, because it overlapped the US Civil War.
I forgot to add, Taiping is a main reason the Chinese government is still afraid of Christianity.
bump for later
Posting more ChiCom propaganda,I see.
Then the author, who is himself preaching and asking for my attention, would likely object to Jesus and His early disciples also.
In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, (Matthew 3:1)
From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. (Matthew 4:17)
And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. (Matthew 9:35)
And they departed, and went through the towns, preaching the gospel, and healing every where. (Luke 9:6)
Search: preaching Results from the search `preaching'. Matthew 3:1 Matthew 4:17 Matthew 4:23 Matthew 9:35 Matthew 10:7 Matthew 10:27 Matthew 11:1 Matthew 11:5 Matthew 12:41 Matthew 24:14 Matthew 26:13 Mark 1:4 Mark 1:7 Mark 1:14 Mark 1:38 Mark 1:39 Mark 2:2 Mark 3:14 Mark 6:12 Mark 14:9 Mark 16:15 Mark 16:20 Luke 3:3 Luke 3:18 Luke 4:18 Luke 4:19 Luke 4:43 Luke 4:44 Luke 7:22 Luke 8:1 Luke 9:2 Luke 9:6 Luke 9:60 Luke 11:32 Luke 16:16 Luke 20:1 Luke 24:47 Acts 3:20 Acts 4:2 Acts 5:42 Acts 8:4 Acts 8:5 Acts 8:12 Acts 8:25 Acts 8:35 Acts 8:40 Acts 9:20 Acts 9:27 Acts 10:36 Acts 10:37 Acts 10:42 Acts 11:19 Acts 11:20 Acts 13:5 Acts 13:24 Acts 13:38 Acts 13:42 Acts 14:7 Acts 14:15 Acts 14:21 Acts 14:25 Acts 15:21 Acts 15:35 Acts 15:36 Acts 16:6 Acts 16:10 Acts 17:3 Acts 17:13 Acts 17:18 Acts 20:7 Acts 20:9 Acts 20:25 Acts 28:31 Romans 1:15 Romans 10:8 Romans 10:15 Romans 15:19 Romans 15:20 Romans 16:25 1 Corinthians 1:17 1 Corinthians 1:18 1 Corinthians 1:21 1 Corinthians 1:23 1 Corinthians 2:4 1 Corinthians 9:14 1 Corinthians 9:16 1 Corinthians 9:18 1 Corinthians 9:27 1 Corinthians 15:1 1 Corinthians 15:2 1 Corinthians 15:11 1 Corinthians 15:12 1 Corinthians 15:14 2 Corinthians 1:19 2 Corinthians 2:12 2 Corinthians 4:5 2 Corinthians 10:14 2 Corinthians 10:16 2 Corinthians 11:4 2 Corinthians 11:7 Galatians 1:8 Galatians 1:9 Galatians 1:11 Galatians 1:16 Galatians 2:2 Galatians 3:8 Galatians 4:13 Galatians 5:11 Ephesians 2:17 Ephesians 3:8 Philippians 1:15 Philippians 1:16 Philippians 1:18 Colossians 1:23 Colossians 1:28 1 Thessalonians 2:9 1 Timothy 3:16 2 Timothy 4:2 2 Timothy 4:17 Titus 1:3 Hebrews 4:2 Hebrews 4:6 1 Peter 1:12 1 Peter 1:25 1 Peter 3:19 1 Peter 4:6 Revelation 14:6
They see the Bible as their only source of truth and believe every word of it, with no room for interpretation.
"Only source of truth" would refer to sure public Divine revelation, not mathematics, and believe every word of it is what the NT Christians did, in its genres, while "no room for interpretation" is impossible, within a limited scope and depth, and what the cynic likely means is that of no room for unwarranted liberal interpretation that would enable him to dispense with teaching that is contrary to his chosen morality and theology, which is the real reason he looks for reasons to justify his rejection of the Lord Jesus. To his own sad damnation, which is not an interpretation.
Change merely one word and we can have another almost identical thread: What about Christianity in America?