Bible, who do you believe? In my hometown, depending on the type of church you go to...you will have so many differences of opinion from topics such as abortion, death penalty, war, Obama/Bush, "salvation," KJV/NIV, baptisms, how vocal you should be as a Christian, tattoos, alcohol, premarital sex, etc. How does a rational person decide what is "TRUTH?" Is it just what "feels" more right?
For instance, I think war is wrong and my comparative religions professor (who holds a doctorate in religion from a prestigious school) also has a hard time understanding why many in his congregation (he's a pastor) are so eager to go to war. Obviously, that is not very Christian to go kill other people. My congregation is Fundamentalist and they are similar to that one pastor who had 'prayed for Obama to no longer exist.' When I tell them things that my professor says...like he doesn't believe in "once saved, always saved" they say he must be a complete fraud or totally lost.
But, my professor is a genius whom I trust and he seems like the kindest man I ever met. Those in my church are always up there yelling like radicals and screaming "AMEN" when an evangelist is going crazy on stage. They are not very educated people and seem kind of creepy. How do I know which types of people to trust about Christianity? Should I trust the ones that seem the most "normal" and smart, or do the fanatics have an edge because well, they're "fanatics" and they devote every second of their day to the Lord (as opposed to living life like normal people)? I personally feel the more someone pushes a belief onto me - the less I trust it. I would much rather respect a pastor who tells me that he's fine with whatever I belief and he'll love me either way as a Christian...what do y'all think?
For instance, I think war is wrong and my comparative religions professor (who holds a doctorate in religion from a prestigious school) also has a hard time understanding why many in his congregation (he's a pastor) are so eager to go to war. Obviously, that is not very Christian to go kill other people. My congregation is Fundamentalist and they are similar to that one pastor who had 'prayed for Obama to no longer exist.' When I tell them things that my professor says...like he doesn't believe in "once saved, always saved" they say he must be a complete fraud or totally lost.
But, my professor is a genius whom I trust and he seems like the kindest man I ever met. Those in my church are always up there yelling like radicals and screaming "AMEN" when an evangelist is going crazy on stage. They are not very educated people and seem kind of creepy. How do I know which types of people to trust about Christianity? Should I trust the ones that seem the most "normal" and smart, or do the fanatics have an edge because well, they're "fanatics" and they devote every second of their day to the Lord (as opposed to living life like normal people)? I personally feel the more someone pushes a belief onto me - the less I trust it. I would much rather respect a pastor who tells me that he's fine with whatever I belief and he'll love me either way as a Christian...what do y'all think?