Am I not a true Christian because I don't believe everything in the Bible?

[IAmChaos]

I consider myself to be a free-thinking Christian because I don't believe everything in the Bible. For instance: I don't believe in Genesis...I believe God initiated evolution and everything from a molecular basis. I don't believe in Adam and Eve. I don't believe in Revelations. I don't believe in Noah's Ark (I think it's just an exaggerated story of something that did occur). I don't believe in institutional religion either (i.e. going to church every Sunday or confessing sins). And I don't believe in some parts of the Bible because I know it was written by Man and it was constructed by Man (some writings were even left out of the Bible). Man is flawed, so doesn't that mean the Bible is possibly flawed?

I do find solace in God. Christ is an important part of my life and I pray every night, but I'm just not a huge believer in everything the Bible says. Do any of you think like that? Do you know anyone who thinks like this?

Note: Don't attempt to push me over to one side or the other. Some people try and push me into not believing in God since I don't believe in a lot of traditional Christian doctrine, telling me I'm "almost there" in regards to freeing myself from religion. Others, however, try and make me believe Biblical and institutional teachings I just don't believe in.

 

[criticalcatalyst]

I've been quite the same for some time. But I always made one distinction:

To be Christian, you must believe that Jesus was the son of God, came to Earth to "testify to the truth," and died for our sins in order that we may enter heaven. If nothing else, this is the very basis of being Christian.

I think that God places truths in our hearts, and with peaceful communication with Him, He can help us to know those truths. I think the Bible, whether God-inspired or man-written, contains hearts and minds of people and a history in their view. Hearing the true voice of God, when you crack that Bible, you will know what is important that you need to know at what time.

I will give you this as one of my thoughts when studying science:

Energy and matter cannot be created nor destroyed.
Energy, when converted to another form, becomes a less usable form of energy.

By these laws of physics, the universe will eventually die as energy becomes less and less usable.

If energy cannot be created nor destroyed, and can only become less usable and not more usable, then where did this usable energy come from in the first place?

Thus, at the very least, I do believe in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth: Our universe.

Your walk with God is just that: your own. What you believe is between you and Him, and nobody else has a say.

I would not completely throw the Bible out, however. There are some very interesting things if you study not only it, but the history surrounding it, and it can give you a good idea of what life was once like, because it was written by man. Lamentations is Jeremiah's cry out to God (I believe, I seem to have misplaced my Bible in this moment), and our church is recently going over Habakkuk (not sure if I spelled that right) and how he formed his relationship not by blindly following, but by questioning God.

Something you might be interested in is this little book I found in a bookshop once. Not Christian, though it is a book with many quotes, some of them from the Bible. It's called The Book for the Advanced Soul, or something like that. Which... I seem to have misplaced as well.

Those like us can have a hard time feeling in place with "true" Christians, but there are some places that can do well. Personally, I think the best pastor/minister/religious leader is not the one who answers a question with "because that's what the Bible says," very simply. I think the best is one who is willing to say, "That's a good question. Let's find out."

I'm very fortunate that I have a pastor that only two weeks ago stood before us and said, "Question God!"

On a note for the institutional: I don't know about church every Sunday, but I like the definition of church as when people gather in the name of the Lord... Or something like that. But I don't think going to church for the sake of going to church because you should is really what is intended. I don't think anything done in religion should be to do something because you have to, but because you are drawn to it or you want to. I have no real desire to simply "go to church." I am now a regular church attender, but not because I decided I needed to go to church, but because I found one that I enjoy and can look forward to returning to.

Sorry. That's the end of my rambling. I'll return to my cookies now. Have a nice day!

 

[emptywun]

Just stopped by looking for a question......got one? Oh, do I know people who pick and choose what they like out of the Bible? Sure, lots of people do that. I'll just say that Jesus came around and had ample opportunity to "fix" the Old Testament if it was wrong, but He didn't. Not even Genesis. I'll leave you to wonder why.

 

[Genegee]

We can all believe what ever we want, free will. Have you ever tested one of you beliefs? You know to see if you are really correct in you thinking? Please do not think that l am trying to sway you one way or another. To be honest with you l could care less how or what you think. Moving on, have you ever heard of the Scopes Trail? How about the Monkey trail?.If you didn't then how can you make a right decision about evolution. Do you think that the trail was a ste up or an honest trail? There is only one way to find out and that is by doing the hard work. l will give you a very fast and brief of what happened. Scopes was sub teacher taught evolution in the class which was against the Tennessee law. year 1929. was arrested and was to pay a $200.00 fine. Went to court instead.. The ACLU advertised in the paper that they would pay all expense's if any City or town would take the case. Do you smell a set up. Clarence Darrow the highest paid lawyer in the United States takes the case William Jennings Bryant is going to defend the Bible. Darrow made Jennings look like a fool why because the bible was not written to cover every possibility to answer someones questions. If it was written to cover each and every possibility could imagine how huge the Bible would be? The trail was a show trail and people not realizing what l said in the sentence before this one.not only felt but knew Darrow was right..In the end scopes lost and paid the fine but the concept of evaluation took a giant step forward.. check it out or keep believing what you want to believe. l will close by telling you that Darwin was a agnostic. a non believer.

 

[Scourge]

No Christian believes everything in the Bible. They all have their own interpretations.

Do you believe that Jesus Christ is the divinely born savior of mankind? If yes, you are Christian. If the answer is anything else, you are not.

 

[IntrinsicRandomEvent]

You're actually like most Christians, most of them don't make a literal interpretation of the Bible, especially outside of the US. Most Catholic or Protestant priests will tell you that your take on Christianity is perfectly reasonable. In fact, the ones who take the Bible literally tend to be, well... psychos.

Your beliefs are your own, and don't have to be rationalised by the standards of anyone else. I feel that my own take on the Bible is perfectly reasonable - that it is little more than an historical document (albeit an important and influential one), containing stories written by people, relating to a religion which I do not subscribe to.

 

[NotaMember]

Good for you!
It sounds as if you think. Don't stop. A brain without motion is a dead blob of gray matter.

 

[Maverick]

Have a open mind always

 

[Julius]

I used to find solace in god as well, then they adjusted my meds.

 

[Esther]

No, you are just confused. Please find a good bible teaching church. Better to find out that you can indeed take God at His word than to be where you are at the moment. And I mean that in all friendship.

 

[CROSS]

You're still a Christian by all but the most narrow definitions of the word.

I'm probably going to get drowned in thumb downs for saying this, but IMO at least you're not the type of Christian who will conveniently ignore, distort or deny every single contradicting fact to the Bible no matter how well supported said fact is - now THOSE are the ones who make me roll my eyes.

Here's the definitions of Christian:

#1 - a religious person who believes Jesus is the Christ and who is a member of a Christian denomination

#2 - following the teachings or manifesting the qualities or spirit of Jesus Christ

#3 - A believer in Christianity

You probably fit well into #1, and fit at least partially into #2 and #3.

 

[shelbywintert]

nope; your not a christian

 

[Corey]

You are as Christian as a Scotsman that doesn't eat haggis is a Scotsman. That is to say, sure, you're a Christian. Your caveats don't seem like they make you not within the accepted understanding of what a Christian is.

 

[Ahmed]

then what do you believe in

 

[NinaaBaC]

You are not a true Christian if you have not accepted Jesus Christ as your Creator and Savior God. That is the main thing. You can foolishly believe human hypothesis over God's revelation to you but you can still be saved. But make no mistake about it:

God needs you for nothing. He offers you eternal life and you foolishly deny His Word. There is no shortcuts into spiritual maturity, give it time. God uses progressive revelation. Finite minds cannot totally comprehend with infinite God.

 

[deadman]

omg!!! you don't beat yourself with a hunter to free yourself from sins, don't even treat your wife like a third grade sex slave, don't even kill non believers!!!!!!!1
May god have mercy on you. You are not a true christian.

 

[holidaydetective]

Personally, I do believe the entire Bible to be true, but there are many people like you who are devout Christians but just don't take a lot of the Bible literally. I'm pretty sure there is no Bible verse that states "Thou shalt go to Hell if thou dost not believe everything written here." You believe in Jesus as your Lord and Savior, and that's sufficient for him, even if it's not sufficient for others. It's all about your personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
Sometimes, I think we get a little too caught up in details when it comes to religion.

 

[Chantal]

This isn't being a Christian. It's being a heretic making a new religion.

 

[WalksFarMan]

Yes Why would you believe anything written in the Big Book of Myths?

 

[theinnermonologue]

If you are saying that you read the bible and only accept those claims which make sense to you, them no I don't believe you are a true Christian. You are simply a normal person who weighs evidence and makes decisions based on your innate logical prowess.