It was satirical, fool.
All of this dogmatic, denominational, my belief or you’re going to hell attitude is exactly the reason why I do not follow any organized Christian denomination. Church denominations are contrivances of man and in every case man imposes their interpretation of what the true word of God is and how we must interpret the Gospels to attain salvation. The extremes and the intolerance of men have brought about the inquisition of both the Catholic church and the Protestant inquisitions, witch burnings where men determined who was a witch regardless of any previous piety and without any real proof. It has given us the flagellants, the persecution of Jews who poisoned the wells to cause the plague, the Millerites who went up to the mountain, several times, to await the second coming and countless other examples of man’s interpretation of God’s word or the meaning of the Gospels.
Do I believe in God, absolutely.
Do I believe in Christ, absolutely.
Do I believe in the lessons of the Gospels, Yes.
Do I believe that the old testament is the literal word of god and the only truth, absolutely NOT. It was passed on by word of mouth by man, written and rewritten by man, interpreted by many men and that goes on into the present.
Which of the denominations do I take as being the “true” meaning of God’s word? Yours, my neighbor’s? If I choose my neighbor’s then you might tell me that I am going to hell. If I choose yours then my neighbor might tell me I am going to hell.
I have had that happen, any number of times. Who are you to tell me, or anyone that your set of beliefs about God, Christ, the gospels, is the only true way to believe. I recall that some passage admonishes us that no man knows the mind of God and I certainly don’t believe that God talks directly to any fallable man, regardless of their piety.
Are you free to believe and worship as you please? Why, yes you are and you have that privilege in this country because of the freedoms given to us in the Constitution; for now. Those freedoms can be taken away from us by dictators and some of us because of our religious prejudices against other denominations failed to take any actions to vote for someone who would not be removing our freedoms. That is absurd, shows no regard for defending the Constitution and is sinful in that you as a man have decided to judge another’s religious beliefs and actions or proclaiming that they are not “true” Christians. It is not your place to make that judgement; that belongs to God alone.
By the way, it was the democrat dirt machine that early on started hammering away at the Romney-Mormon-cult theme. Interesting to see that so many Constitution loving conservatives fell into that trap. Then again, you and your denominations were already in that mindset, now weren’t you.
Rant away until judgement day if you like and ponder how God will judge your self-righteous beliefs and actions on that day.
Further discussion is like arguing with my dog about his peeing on the carpet. The dog’s mind is set and all the dog hears is blah blah blah spot blah blah. I’ve already wasted enough time and it won’t change the fact that some will potentially throw away their religious and other freedoms on the basis of their religious denominational prejudices. Good luck with that.
You keep alluding to these, but never come right out and say what you are thinking.
I cannot comment rationally on some vague claims.
Give us a concrete example; would you please?
(Thanx for the clarification)
All of this dogmatic, denominational, my belief or you’re going to hell attitude is exactly the reason why I do not follow any organized Christian denomination. Church denominations are contrivances of man and in every case man imposes their interpretation of what the true word of God is and how we must interpret the Gospels to attain salvation.
But ya need to understand that 99.999% of intercommunication 'tween varied denominational Christians that I've seen has no references to judgment & hell-fire, as if we could predict who would wind up there, anyway.
For instance, I don't know if you will wind up there, and wouldn't try to be predictive of that -- one way or the other.
But note above you called me "fool"...And I note you said you believe in Jesus...Well, do you believe what Jesus said about calling others "fool":
Jesus (not me saying anything predictive about you): But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell. (Jesus, Matthew 5:22)
So, are we as Christians then supposed to encourage people to go merrily along toward any cliff awaiting us? Or are we to pass on warnings from Jesus Himself?
Which is more 'loving' -- to watch people stumble toward cliffs, or to warn?
But the Body of Christ is not.
And we don't expect them all to look alike anymore than we expect kneecaps to look like shoulders, or feet to operate like hands.
...in every case man imposes their interpretation of what the true word of God is and how we must interpret the Gospels to attain salvation.
Let's just say there were 300 larger denominations in America (and a lot more small splinters)...
It seems to me that you are advocating that instead of, oh, say, THOUSANDS of people banding around a representation of the Body of Christ, that everybody just do that on their own...and that we have as many interpretations of the true word of God and how we must interpret the Gospels as there are people...Is that a fair assessment?
Are you recommending single-person denominations, or am I misreading you on that?
And would you be against single-person denominations, thereby making the "splintering" much, much worse than it already is?
And aren't you thereby contributing to this single-person splintering by being an example for others to follow this radical individualism?
What if the eye said to a toe, "We have no need of you?"
Don't we need you integrated into the Body of Christ, and vice versa?
(And so your "answer" to this historical trail of intolerance is to be intolerant toward both the Catholic and Protestant church...and reject them both? How are you somehow "turning the tide" toward tolerance, if you're intolerant toward them both?)
If you chose your neighbor's daughter, somebody might eventually tell you that you chose the wife-from-hell; or, perhaps, somebody else might counter you chose the heaven-sent wife.
So what?
You fish or cut bait.
You don't wait forever, wonderin' which woman might be for you...only to be spouseless as you head to the grave.
That's what commitment is all about.
Be selective. Be discerning. Be choosy. But don't pass on 100% of the women.
Same thing denominationally. The Bible says to "test all things"; "test all spirits"; and to "hold fast to that which is good." Be selective. Be noble (Acts 17:11). Be discerning. Be choosy. But don't bypass 100% of all churches.
That is what true spiritual nobility is all about.
Now, why does the Bible say that the Bereans were more "noble" than the Thessalonians?
11 Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. (Acts 17:11)
You see, the Bereans didn't take Paul only at his word; they searched the "scriptures" -- the Old Testament for them -- to see if it reinforced/matched his teachings. They tested any new revelations by existing ones.
Now why do we know that truth exists as proclaimed by the church universal? Because ...the church of the living God, [is] the pillar and foundation of the truth. (Apostle Paul, 1 Timothy 3:15)
We know God speaks thru the church, even proclaiming truth to the forces of darkness who left heaven: His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, 11 according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Ephesians 3:10-11)
I recall that some passage admonishes us that no man knows the mind of God and I certainly don’t believe that God talks directly to any fallable man, regardless of their piety.
Well, you have cited a passage that does stress that only the Holy Spirit knows the divine Mind...
...But the Bible doesn't stop there, because it then says that same Holy Spirit indwells His body-and-blood church:
...as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived”— the things God has prepared for those who love him— 10 these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. 13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. 14 The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. 15 The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, 16 for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (1 Corinthians 2:9-16)