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OK, so I have a lot of different questions I've run into recently that I need Christian/Bible based answers on. In no particular order, here they are:
1.) Why do some groups of Christians I meet say that if you decide to get your body cremated rather than buried, you will go to hell even if you were a Christian in life? I don't think there is truth in this doctrine, but apparently some people believe it. Partly because they associate fire with hell, and partly because they think destroying the body after death is violating it and hence a sin. In the same way, believers of this doctrine believe that having your body destroyed after death might make it "hard to resurrect." I think this doctrine is silly and stupid because nothing is hard for Jesus, but I have run into people who believe it, and I just want to make sure I'm right, because my whole family has elected cremation as our funeral ceremony.
2.) Is the Christian group known as the "Campbellites" (they call their denomination the Church of Christ) a cult? I have a friend who is in the Church of Christ, and he believes that anyone who identifies with any other denomination is going to hell because they do not identify officially with what he believes is the one, true "Church of Christ." He keeps telling me that I need to "Stop being a baptist, and become a real Christian" and that "anyone identifying themselves with a denomination of Christianity is not a Christian and is not saved, only those who are in the Church of Christ." I find this attitude very cultish, but when I try to tell him this, he says "there is only one true Church of Christ. Denominations are the Church of Man, and all people in them belong, therefore, to the devil. Christ is not divided is he?" I however, believe that as long as you acknowledge Jesus as Savior and Lord, repenting of your sin, you will be saved regardless of denomination. What are your thoughts on this so called only "Church of Christ" and it's super exclusive ways?
3.) We are free to read and interpret the Bible. But when does interpretation go too far? I'm not talking about making omissions or additions to the scripture here, I'm talking about interpreting what's already there as it is. As a protestant, I believe that it is the right of every person to read and interpret the Bible as logic and reason, led by the power of the Holy Spirit, would lead. This was a key concept in the Protestant reformation, after all, and stands in stark contrast to the Medieval Catholic church of Luther's time, which kept the Bible chained to the church pulpit and didn't allow anyone to read it, much less have their own understanding of what it said. That was the Catholic Church's power-bargaining chip over the Medieval world, after all. Ignorance over spiritual matters kept them in a seat of influence. But ignorance over Scripture can also come as a result of too loose of an interpretation. Where do we draw the line? Too rigid of an interpretation usually suggests tampering by corrupting powers, but too loose of an interpretation usually invites damnation.
4.) Was the wine that Jesus made at the wedding at Cana in Galilee alcoholic or just grape juice, as some suggest? The context would seem to suggest it was fairly alcoholic, since the scripture says that the master of the party commented on how it was the best wine brought out last. As the tradition in the time was to begin with the best wine, wait till the guests got tipsy, then bring out the lesser seeing as now they wouldn't notice it since they were buzzed - the wine that Jesus made must have been fairly strong stuff since it beat the earliest batch. If this is true, however, that opens the door for a whole new discussion on Christians and alcohol use (not that I'm condoning drunkenness here). If the wine was much closer to grape juice however, what proof is there of this, and why is it hinted in the Bible context that Jesus' wine was extremely strong stuff?
And that's it. Feel free to answer any one of my concerns or all of them as you see fit with Bible knowledge. But I just want to be sure I have all answers on these things, as they have all come up with me recently in my life.
1.) Why do some groups of Christians I meet say that if you decide to get your body cremated rather than buried, you will go to hell even if you were a Christian in life? I don't think there is truth in this doctrine, but apparently some people believe it. Partly because they associate fire with hell, and partly because they think destroying the body after death is violating it and hence a sin. In the same way, believers of this doctrine believe that having your body destroyed after death might make it "hard to resurrect." I think this doctrine is silly and stupid because nothing is hard for Jesus, but I have run into people who believe it, and I just want to make sure I'm right, because my whole family has elected cremation as our funeral ceremony.
2.) Is the Christian group known as the "Campbellites" (they call their denomination the Church of Christ) a cult? I have a friend who is in the Church of Christ, and he believes that anyone who identifies with any other denomination is going to hell because they do not identify officially with what he believes is the one, true "Church of Christ." He keeps telling me that I need to "Stop being a baptist, and become a real Christian" and that "anyone identifying themselves with a denomination of Christianity is not a Christian and is not saved, only those who are in the Church of Christ." I find this attitude very cultish, but when I try to tell him this, he says "there is only one true Church of Christ. Denominations are the Church of Man, and all people in them belong, therefore, to the devil. Christ is not divided is he?" I however, believe that as long as you acknowledge Jesus as Savior and Lord, repenting of your sin, you will be saved regardless of denomination. What are your thoughts on this so called only "Church of Christ" and it's super exclusive ways?
3.) We are free to read and interpret the Bible. But when does interpretation go too far? I'm not talking about making omissions or additions to the scripture here, I'm talking about interpreting what's already there as it is. As a protestant, I believe that it is the right of every person to read and interpret the Bible as logic and reason, led by the power of the Holy Spirit, would lead. This was a key concept in the Protestant reformation, after all, and stands in stark contrast to the Medieval Catholic church of Luther's time, which kept the Bible chained to the church pulpit and didn't allow anyone to read it, much less have their own understanding of what it said. That was the Catholic Church's power-bargaining chip over the Medieval world, after all. Ignorance over spiritual matters kept them in a seat of influence. But ignorance over Scripture can also come as a result of too loose of an interpretation. Where do we draw the line? Too rigid of an interpretation usually suggests tampering by corrupting powers, but too loose of an interpretation usually invites damnation.
4.) Was the wine that Jesus made at the wedding at Cana in Galilee alcoholic or just grape juice, as some suggest? The context would seem to suggest it was fairly alcoholic, since the scripture says that the master of the party commented on how it was the best wine brought out last. As the tradition in the time was to begin with the best wine, wait till the guests got tipsy, then bring out the lesser seeing as now they wouldn't notice it since they were buzzed - the wine that Jesus made must have been fairly strong stuff since it beat the earliest batch. If this is true, however, that opens the door for a whole new discussion on Christians and alcohol use (not that I'm condoning drunkenness here). If the wine was much closer to grape juice however, what proof is there of this, and why is it hinted in the Bible context that Jesus' wine was extremely strong stuff?
And that's it. Feel free to answer any one of my concerns or all of them as you see fit with Bible knowledge. But I just want to be sure I have all answers on these things, as they have all come up with me recently in my life.
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