I want to believe in god and Jesus without religion?

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Belief that Jesus existed does not make you a Christian, since many believe he existed, but only as a man and not the Christ.

However, please look at the definition of a Christian:

The Merriam Webster definition of a Christian:
“one who professes belief in the teachings of Jesus Christ”

The Cambridge definition of a Christian: “someone who believes in and follows the teachings of Jesus Christ”

So, if you believe that Jesus existed, and that he was the Christ, you therefore believe that his teachings are sound and correct (even if you aren’t to follow rules set by organised religion, instead looking to the bible to see what Jesus himself said), then you can be called a Christian. To be a Christian only requires belief in and acceptance of the Christ, hence the name, a follower of Christ.

Some Churches will accept other Churches as true Christians but then set down a list of requirements to be classified as a Christian, however these are found nowhere in the bible, so it is merely their opinion. Personally I believe this opinion to be flawed.

Alternatively, other denominations will say that any other denomination are not true Christians, that only they themselves are true Christians. They would still call a Catholic a Christian, because they follow Jesus, but they wouldn’t believe that the Catholic is on the right path.

People can be Christians without being true Christians. They can follow Jesus as the Christ, hence be called Christians, but it doesn’t mean they have the correct path and are true Christians, unless you believe that all paths lead to God.

This confusion mainly arises when certain Churches say that all Christians will be saved, but then disqualify some denominations which have varying beliefs to their own, but are now in a muddle because they said that “all Christians will be saved” not “all true Christians will be saved”, hence are now unable to call those denominations ‘Christians’ even while they believe in both Jesus and God, and follow what the bible teaches.

No.

You become a Christian when you're born again of the spirit.

Reply 21

kittencat1503

Original post by It's****ingWOODY

If there was any actual proof of which religion is the "one and only true" religion then everyone would be following it. Just choosing to believe in God and trying your absolute best to be a good person gives you as much of a chance at entering whatever afterlife thingy it is you believe in, than any organised religion, because again, they can't all be right.

Not necessarily.

As for general religion, including evolution, many believe only because their parents taught it to them, and it’s easier to follow the trend then not. Or, they can’t be bothered to look into it and do some research themselves. Or, they may find a religion which suits them, rather than looking to see which religion is true.

More specifically, if you are looking into Christian denominations, the bible actually says that people would be on the wrong road. Since Satan “blinds the minds of the unbelievers”, this would explain why people who aren’t genuinely looking for the right answer don’t find it. This is much like the accounts of how many people dismissed Jesus’ teachings in the 1st February, because they didn’t have an open heart.

Matthew 7:22, 23:
“Many will say to me in that day: ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and expel demons in your name, and perform many powerful works in your name?’ And then I will declare to them: ‘I never knew you! Get away from me, you workers of lawlessness!”

In Jesus’ name suggests that these people were actually following Jesus, many people, but they were not on the right path.

In addition, Matthew 7:13, 14:
“Go in through the narrow gate, because broad is the gate and spacious is the road leading off into destruction, and many are going in through it; whereas narrow is the gate and cramped the road leading off into life, and few are finding it.“

Many many people are on the wrong road. According to this verse, very few are on the correct path. This could be one way to narrow down the denominations of Christianity, since if the journey is easy, or if there are many people part of it, then it can’t be the “narrow...and cramped road”.

Verse 16 tells us how to recognise which way is right.
“By their fruits you will recognize them”. The primary fruit being love, as mentioned in my earlier post, but there are other markers that we can look for.

In any case, I do think that what you said is very good advice, especially if done with an open heart. If you truly want to be good and wish to find the right way, whatever it may be, in opposed to what suits you, then God has the power to direct you to this path. We cannot do anymore than our best, and nothing more is expected of us by God.

Reply 22

kittencat1503

Original post by trapking

No.

You become a Christian when you're born again of the spirit.

Please explain which part of my reply you disagree with, and give evidence for your view.

Reply 23

trapking

Original post by kittencat1503

Please explain which part of my reply you disagree with, and give evidence for your view.

All of it was wrong.

Seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness and all will be added. Read the book of John.

Reply 24

parmezanne

Volunteer Team

That's how I feel, and what I believe. Faith is totally up to you, and no mortal who is equal to you, can tell you any different.

You believe however you want.

Reply 25

glowing_starfish

Original post by Joleee

Jesus wasn't a Christian nor was he a Catholic. wasn't even a thing when he was walking the planet, yet somehow i think he had a personal relationship with God.

.. Jesus was a Jew.. it even said it on a sign on the cross he was crucified.

Also he was God’s incarnation- therefore he was fully divine as well as fully human at the time.

Reply 26

glowing_starfish

Original post by Benjiboy018

Hey I’m 19, and I’m going through a crisis of faith at the moment. I was raised Catholic but never ever believed in it or thought of it. I’ve always believed in god however I don’t believe in organised religion. I want to have a personal relationship with god and Christ without labelling myself as a Christian. Is this possible?

Any advice?

I think it’s possible and I know loads of people who don’t conform to a religion.

Reply 27

kittencat1503

Original post by trapking

All of it was wrong.

Seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness and all will be added. Read the book of John.

Once again, I’d ask that you give evidence to back up your view, if you are to say that my view is incorrect when I gave evidence for it.

Reply 28

Compost

Original post by kittencat1503

In addition, Matthew 7:13, 14:
“Go in through the narrow gate, because broad is the gate and spacious is the road leading off into destruction, and many are going in through it; whereas narrow is the gate and cramped the road leading off into life, and few are finding it.“

Many many people are on the wrong road. According to this verse, very few are on the correct path. This could be one way to narrow down the denominations of Christianity, since if the journey is easy, or if there are many people part of it, then it can’t be the “narrow...and cramped road”.

Who's to say that any denomination is on the right path? Being part of an organised religion may not necessary at all. There are certainly a lot of things various denominations have advocated the years that appear contrary to the bible.

Reply 29

kittencat1503

Original post by Compost

I definitely agree with your last point. I would go as far as to say that every denomination, other than the ‘true’ one, is advocating contradictions, it’s just that some denominations are more obvious than others. In addition, often organised religion lets people down, such as telling them that ‘God took their child to be in heaven’, which is not in the bible, and causes people to loose faith in all organised religion. However, this doesn’t mean that all organised religions will be the same.

This is why I would look at all of them, and eliminate any which contradict bible truths. If you eliminate all of them, then perhaps no organised religion is correct, however it must be done with an open heart.

If you look at my other replies, explained why I believe organised religion is necessary, or at least how to tell whether it is needed or not.

If you could let me know which part of my answer you disagree with, and why, perhaps I could explain the reasoning behind it.

Reply 30

username5173262

I don't think organised religion is necessary at all, especially in today's world - people are becoming more and more individualistic and "pick your own beliefs" when it comes to religion, and rightly so. Lot's of people are moving away from the ceremony and collectiveness of religion and more towards individualistic and 'on the go' faith. Also lot's of mixing, which if done correctly can be a great thing.
I think that organised religion can bring great community and peace, but depending on their principals and the context geopolitically. It also alienates those who don't fit in either by choice or by accident which is a major reason people are moving toward their own beliefs.

Reply 31

Compost

Original post by kittencat1503

What do you think is the 'true' one?

Why would comforting people with the thought their child will be in heaven be letting them down and why would it casue them to lsoe faith in organsied religion?

I don't think there's a single Christian denomination that sticks to the bible. Have you read A year of living biblically? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Year_of_Living_Biblically

Reply 32

kittencat1503

Original post by Compost

Personally, I believe that Jehovah’s Witnesses have the correct idea, because they are the only denomination which could answer all of my questions in a satisfying way. Not just, ‘because the bible said so’, or ‘that’s the way it is’. To me, they made logical sense, and encourage you to research yourself. Once I looked more into their beliefs and not just conceptions of them, I decided they followed the bible with accuracy, whereas none of the others did in my opinion. Others may come to different conclusion and I respect them for that, for doing research themselves and questioning, not just believing blindly, which I greatly encourage.

Apologies, it would seem you misunderstood me. While saying “your child is in heaven” would be comforting, what I actually said that they say is “God took your child to be in heaven”, meaning, good killed your child. The phrase they often use is “God wanted another flower in heaven”. In essence, they are saying that God killed their child, took him/ear away from them, just because he wanted a flower. Personally, I do not agree with telling people this at all, because I don’t think a kind and loving God would murder innocent children and cause people’s suffering like that. In addition, this teaching is not found in the bible, so I don’t understand where this tradition comes from.
(As for loosing faith in organised religion, well for the reasons you mentioned. Teachings that aren’t part of the bible, making them believe in a distant, cold, or cruel God which of course you wouldn’t want to believe in and doesn’t make sense, not getting proper answers to their questions).
One example is a Baptist friend I have. When I asked a little deeper into her faith, I discovered that they believe that if an innocent baby dies before it can be baptised, it will burn in Hell forever. It’s bad enough for the parents as it is, and now they hear that their baby will be tortured for eternity by God, for doing nothing, and that God killed the baby before it was baptised in the first place. I feel sad for people who live in terror of Hell, when in actual fact I don’t believe that to be a biblical teaching (for which I have proof).

I have not, but I’ll definitely have a look.
May I ask, have you ever looked deeper into the Jehovah Witness faith? Personally, I couldn’t find any area which they aren’t biblically accurate. I understand this is a much lager discussion, and at face value it doesn’t seem like they are biblically accurate (since they don’t believe in the Trinity, and other teachings and traditions, like other Christians do), however I have come to realise that actually, it is the other denominations which don’t follow the bible (and when you try to ask them, the Priests/Pastors say that “God works in mysterious ways”, “we do not know”, or “because that’s how it’s done”).

Edit:
I looked up the link briefly. I shall have a deeper look later. However in the summery, I already noted a flaw. Here is a quote from the summery:

“He even attempts to stone an adulterer and to offer animal sacrifice”

This is the Law Covenant. Paul said that this was “nailed to the stake” when Jesus died, as in, with Jesus’ new teachings and principles, we no longer needed the Law Covenant. The Law was created to govern a literal nation. It was secular laws, as well as spiritual. In addition, times were different then. God is not harsh, and he understands humans and their weaknesses. For example, while not intending to have divorce, he allowed a divorce in Israel under some circumstances because the people wanted this, but when Jesus came he got rid of this and returned to his original purpose. This is also why he allowed slavery, but made sure the conditions of slaves were much better than all the surrounding nations. People complain about wanting to have their own way of doing things, then also attack the bible on the occasion that God allowed them to have their own way out of understanding.

But these things are behind us. This man was attempting to follow the Law Covenant, when he should have been following Jesus’ principles and teachings, if you are to use him as an example.

(edited 3 years ago)

Reply 33

Compost

Original post by kittencat1503

May I ask, have you ever looked deeper into the Jehovah Witness faith? Personally, I couldn’t find any area which they aren’t biblically accurate. I understand this is a much lager discussion, and at face value it doesn’t seem like they are biblically accurate (since they don’t believe in the Trinity, and other teachings and traditions, like other Christians do), however I have come to realise that actually, it is the other denominations which don’t follow the bible (and when you try to ask them, the Priests/Pastors say that “God works in mysterious ways”, “we do not know”, or “because that’s how it’s done”).

I can't remember ever finding the existence of an interested, benevolent god at all plausible and none of the justifications I've heard, whether they come from Jehovah's witnesses, protestants, Roman catholics or muslims, make it seem any more likely so I'll give that a miss.

Reply 34

Picnic1

The physical act of going in to a church building, where there is a 'church' (the congregation) is pretty important to Western religions, I'd say, because it is seen as a fortress against what, in some previous centuries, was sometimes an otherwise nasty, brutish, and short life. The church or cathedral, no matter how grand, is often regarded as a 'work in progress'. Whether this is genuine humbleness that it is the people that matter or partly a moneymaking endeavour (sometimes a bit of both), the building is nevetheless a reflection of the skills of builders and craftspeople. Admiring a great cathedral is a way of humbling yourself at the feet of other people's skills and that itself is a lesson for Christian life- to be humble, to do work for other people, to be part of a community because no man or woman, no matter how great they regard themselves to be or others regard them to be, could possibly come close to creating a cathedral all on their own.

Why not go to a Church of England church instead? If you live in England or can visit it.

(edited 3 years ago)

Reply 35

It's****ingWOODY

Original post by kittencat1503

You're essentially saying, Christianity is the true religion, the proof is in the verses. This is exactly what I'm debating - no matter what the religion, it's simply impossible to prove that everything in the book is the actual word of God. Every religion claims this. Every religion claims that their religion is the right way and the rest are wrong. They can't all be right, and we can't prove which, if any, of them are right. That's why many religions, including Christianity, refer to themselves as having "faith".

Reply 36

kittencat1503

Original post by It's****ingWOODY

I wouldn’t say that “the bible is right because the bible says so”, in fact it annoys me when people use this. I also wouldn’t say “the proof is in the verses”, rather I would show what I believe to be solid proof, if you were meaning to say this and nothing else.

Personally, I believe I have evidence as to why Christianity is correct, however this isn’t what the thread is about, as the thread starter already believes in Jesus, so I did not include it. However, if you’d like me to Dm you further, I can, or if you started another thread in the debate forum.

I disagree that we cannot prove which one is right, however I do agree that God wouldn’t appear before us, because then there would be nothing to do on our part, so I do agree in part with you.

I agree about the ‘faith’, but the same does apply to evolution, or any other theory or belief, I simply think some have a much higher probability than others, and personally I have “faith” that my denomination is the right one, because I have researched and been convinced. However I understand that other people may come to other conclusions, which I respect.

In this reply which you quoted, I was simply giving a few reasons as to why people may disagree on what the “right” path is and there still be one clear path, rather than trying to prove that the path I’m on is “right”.