Hello, I am a Christian

[ShadowWolf1986]

Hello,

I am a Christian, and I think I could benefit from discussing matters of spirituality, religion, and theology with Atheists. I am 27 years old, married, have two children, I am an Iraq veteran, currently in the Army Reserve, I go to school full-time, and I attend church regularly. Just to clarify my Christian identity, I am not a Catholic or a Protestant, I am an Apostolic Christian. Wikipedia has a great article on "Oneness Pentecostalism," which is another term one could use for the type of Christianity I identify with.

In brief, Apostolic Christianity is the "first Church," even before the Catholics, we believe in One God and not a Trinity, we believe that the salvation plan includes repentance, baptism in the name of Jesus Christ, and being filled with the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues. This puts us at great odds with the rest of the Christian world.

I would like to put a question to the Atheists here. I am a Christian, so does that make me stupid or intelligent? You are an Atheist, so does that make you stupid or intelligent?

Thank you,
Shadow

[Psykhronic]

Welcome Shadow.
Being a Christian or an Atheist makes one neither automatically stupid nor intelligent, and I'd like to think there are more options than that - it's a bit of a false dilemma, no?

[Ben Davis]

Hi from the UK!

I am a Christian, so does that make me stupid or intelligent? You are an Atheist, so does that make you stupid or intelligent?

What Psykhronic said. There are studies which try to show correlations between religiosity and intelligence but they're group samples therefore can't be applied automatically to individuals.

Also, if you don't believe in the Trinity (i.e. you don't believe that Jesus and the Holy Spirit are God), what exactly is it that you believe about Jesus and the Holy Spirit? Is there some sort of polytheism at work?

[ShadowWolf1986]

Welcome Shadow.
Being a Christian or an Atheist makes one neither automatically stupid nor intelligent, and I'd like to think there are more options than that - it's a bit of a false dilemma, no?

I was reading through another thread here where Atheists were assuming a Christian, who they did not meet, was an "ignoramus."

I suppose I should have asked, is a Christian ignorant of the bigger spiritual, religious, theological picture, or are they ignorant for believing such a picture exists? Are Atheists ignorant of such a picture, or intelligent because they deny its existence?

I hope I am not breaking a forum rule by asking these things here.

[Angrboda]

Welcome Shadow.
Being a Christian or an Atheist makes one neither automatically stupid nor intelligent, and I'd like to think there are more options than that - it's a bit of a false dilemma, no?

I was reading through another thread here where Atheists were assuming a Christian, who they did not meet, was an "ignoramus."

I suppose I should have asked, is a Christian ignorant of the bigger spiritual, religious, theological picture, or are they ignorant for believing such a picture exists? Are Atheists ignorant of such a picture, or intelligent because they deny its existence?

I hope I am not breaking a forum rule by asking these things here.

The purpose of threads in the Introduction section of the forum is to allow a nice friendly meet n' greet. If you're going to ask such questions, where violence is likely to ensue, it's best to create a separate thread in another section of the forum, where guns, knives and weapons of mass destruction are permitted. Here we're supposed to check our weapons at the door.

Oh, and, "Howdy."

[Psykhronic]

Ahh don't worry, mods move around posts if they're in the wrong place but I'm pretty sure this is fine. But to make things easier for them, best to listen to apo :3

And as for your questions - I couldn't tell ya. Beliefs/disbeliefs are not the sole indicators of intellect or ignorance or anything on/related to that spectrum.

Also - could you link where you found atheists calling a christian an ignoramus? No, I am not doubting it's here I just wanna see the context

[ShadowWolf1986]

Also, if you don't believe in the Trinity (i.e. you don't believe that Jesus and the Holy Spirit are God), what exactly is it that you believe about Jesus and the Holy Spirit? Is there some sort of polytheism at work?

The Trinity is a man-made doctrine that can be traced back to Tertullian almost two centuries after the New Testament was written. The "Catholics" (they weren't called that at the time) canonized this doctrine at the Council of Nicaea.

I will summarize what we believe about Jesus and the Holy Spirit without quoting Scriptures, but I can show you the specific ones if you would like to know where we get this from. The Jews were commanded to say, repeat often, and teach their children the "Shema," which stated that the Lord God is one Lord. Throughout the Bible the Lord has indicated that He is alone, and there is no one beside Him. In the New Testament God created a body for Himself, and inhabited it fully. That body was called by His revealed name (His name was kept secret from man up until that point), which was Jesus. The man Jesus followed the will of God of His own volition, and sacrificed Himself for the sins of all mankind. In doing so He received the title of Lord, and was even granted the power to sit on the throne of God itself. Throughout the entire Bible there is no indication of three Gods, or three separate entities within God, there is simply God and the body He inhabits, which we call Jesus. The Holy Spirit is simply another title for God. He is Holy and He is a Spirit, therefore He is called the Holy Spirit.

Does that make sense?

[Psykhronic]

Oh dear, Shadow you misplaced/forgot a quote tag thus your post is invisible - it happens to us all.

[Dragonetti]

Glad to see another vet join the forums. Enjoy the discussions and life.

Drag

[LastPoet]

Shadow

Enjoy the forum.