(April 17, 2014 at 1:49 pm)Confused Ape Wrote: Christians still believe that God speaks to people. There are dozens of articles about it on the internet. Here are 3 examples.
About Com - How to Hear from God - Hearing God's Voice
How Can I Hear God Speaking to Me?
God Talks To You
Larger point: Christianity is so widespread and diverse, having been a synchratic faith to begin with (it was born borrowing from here and a bit there, and...) that any statement beginning with "Christians believe..." is certain to invite a response from a self-described "Christian" who rejects that idea.
I mean, there are even self-described "atheist Christians".
Yes, "atheist Christians."
Really, I've actually known a few.
No, I don't get it either but there you go.
Once I posted a video on the one-question challenge for Christians asking "why does blood sacrifice make anything better?" I was asking about the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross and what, if anything, does that have to do with my sins or making everything I've done wrong OK? It seems a barbaric throwback to when humans made blood sacrifices to the gods to appease the wrath of the gods.
I thought surely Christians all have that in common: the belief that Jesus died for our sins.
Guess what? I got a response video from an Eastern Orthodox Christian who claims that Eastern Orthodoxy rejects the idea of the atonement sacrifice of Jesus. What's he doing on the cross then? I never got an answer aside from a snippy "do your own research!"
Really, shouldn't be surprising since Christianity itself was born as a diverse collection of faiths. In fact, the doctrinal differences between the different early "Christianities" were mind-boggling. Some believed in many gods. Some believed in rejecting the OT and all things Jewish. Some believed Paul was a heretic. Some believed that Jesus was a higher god, an angel, a mortal prophet, and an illusion.
Today, everyone creates their own Christianity to suit their liking. If they bother to read the Bible at all, and many don't, they will cherry pick and obtusely interpret the individual verses they like to confirm when they already believe. The Jesus they revere is born of their own individual imagination and is often a glorified self-reflection.
I'm not criticizing the author of the OP. I completely understand what you mean to say, that you are thinking specifically about the fundies, but just be prepared whenever you talk about "why do Christians think..." that you'll surely encounter an indignant Christian who'll tell you that they're not True Christians ™.
