(March 20, 2014 at 2:16 pm)Fromper Wrote: What do non-fundamentalist Christians actually believe?
Well it's a slippery-slope. Noah's ark for instance - I've always believe (and still do, now with scientific certainty) that there is enough water in the world to cover the Earth. Not only have I believed that, just on principle, but I also do believe the earth had to be relatively flat compared to now at some point in the past, which precludes there from being any land masses. Anyway, they have found a huge reservoir of water deep in the earth's core that could fill the oceans at least 3 times over - so that vindicates the belief that there is indeed enough water in the Earth to completely cover the Earth.
Thing thing about Noah's ark though is that if it's not literal then why did a loving creator lead his followers to believe for millennia that it is literal? If it's not literal why does the New Testament trace Jesus's linage back through David and Noah to Adam? On the other hand the story is possible - but only if God intentionally misleads Noah into spending 100 years building an ark that is unnecessary for his survival and the survival of the regions animals if they all travel two days at the most on foot out of the future flood area. We know that the whole Earth has not been covered in water in humanity's lifetime, nor even in the time of the dinosaurs. You would have to go back billions of years to find the stage at which Earth was, or may have been, covered in water.
Now I cite Bible scholars as the authority on the Bible all the time. What I find interesting here is that many members think they are all biased by their religious beliefs - which is true don't get me wrong, but did you know a large number of Christian scholars do not believe in a supernatural resurrection for example? They're still Christians, they still believe in Christianity, but they believe that Jesus either died and was buried never to return, or that if he did leave the tomb alive that he was laid there alive (which is well possible given our modern understanding of mortality). So there are actually Christians with views well outside of orthodoxy, and those who are top scholars.
For Religion & Health see:[/b][/size] Williams & Sternthal. (2007). Spirituality, religion and health: Evidence and research directions. Med. J. Aust., 186(10), S47-S50. -LINK
The WIN/Gallup End of Year Survey 2013 found the US was perceived to be the greatest threat to world peace by a huge margin, with 24% of respondents fearful of the US followed by: 8% for Pakistan, and 6% for China. This was followed by 5% each for: Afghanistan, Iran, Israel, North Korea. -LINK
"That's disgusting. There were clean athletes out there that have had their whole careers ruined by people like Lance Armstrong who just bended thoughts to fit their circumstances. He didn't look up cheating because he wanted to stop, he wanted to justify what he was doing and to keep that continuing on." - Nicole Cooke
The WIN/Gallup End of Year Survey 2013 found the US was perceived to be the greatest threat to world peace by a huge margin, with 24% of respondents fearful of the US followed by: 8% for Pakistan, and 6% for China. This was followed by 5% each for: Afghanistan, Iran, Israel, North Korea. -LINK
"That's disgusting. There were clean athletes out there that have had their whole careers ruined by people like Lance Armstrong who just bended thoughts to fit their circumstances. He didn't look up cheating because he wanted to stop, he wanted to justify what he was doing and to keep that continuing on." - Nicole Cooke
