Ok, so this is probably the wrong place to ask this. I should probably go to a Christian forum. But I'm already here, and it's something I've wondered for a while, so I figured I'd give it a try.
What do non-fundamentalist Christians actually believe?
Before you answer, let me clarify the question a little. When I say "non-fundamentalist", I'm ruling out those who believe the Bible is literally true from cover to cover. That hopefully rules out the young Earth creationists and science deniers, among others. But according to polls, those literalists are less than half of all Christians, so I'm trying to understand the other half better. I'm also not talking about the "not really religious" types who haven't thought about it at all.
It's the devout Christians who don't believe that the Bible is literal truth who I don't understand. Do they believe that any of the Bible is true? Is there a consensus on which parts are true? For the parts that aren't literal truth, are they all parables that are meant to teach, or do they believe that some of it is outdated and no longer relevant?
And I know they're not all the same - I'm sure there will be different answers for each group. ie Liberal Catholics won't believe the same thing as Protestants, etc. And even within a group, I'm sure there's disagreements. I'm looking for the big picture answers here.
It just seems to me that most arguments against Christianity by atheists are based on shooting down Biblical ideas, but not all Christians really believe the whole thing, anyway. I'm just trying to better understand the majority of Christians
What do non-fundamentalist Christians actually believe?
Before you answer, let me clarify the question a little. When I say "non-fundamentalist", I'm ruling out those who believe the Bible is literally true from cover to cover. That hopefully rules out the young Earth creationists and science deniers, among others. But according to polls, those literalists are less than half of all Christians, so I'm trying to understand the other half better. I'm also not talking about the "not really religious" types who haven't thought about it at all.
It's the devout Christians who don't believe that the Bible is literal truth who I don't understand. Do they believe that any of the Bible is true? Is there a consensus on which parts are true? For the parts that aren't literal truth, are they all parables that are meant to teach, or do they believe that some of it is outdated and no longer relevant?
And I know they're not all the same - I'm sure there will be different answers for each group. ie Liberal Catholics won't believe the same thing as Protestants, etc. And even within a group, I'm sure there's disagreements. I'm looking for the big picture answers here.
It just seems to me that most arguments against Christianity by atheists are based on shooting down Biblical ideas, but not all Christians really believe the whole thing, anyway. I'm just trying to better understand the majority of Christians
That's MISTER Godless Vegetarian Tree Hugging Hippie Liberal to you.
