What "born-again Christian" doctrines do you have a hard time swallowing?

by booker-t 9 Replies latest jw friends

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  booker-t

  I am curious about this question because I always had the impression that Born-Again Christians believe everything the church teaches no matter what. Then I remember talking to a born-again friend of mine that was having a hard time with her pastor because he told her wearing "pants" and "jewelry" was a "sin" and she would go to hell for that. My friend said she loved the church that she started going to but she was not going to give up wearing pants or jewelry. This is the same dilema that I had as a JW I would not give up my Birthday parties even though the elders frowned upon it. One elder told me that I was in danger of being "publically reprooved" if I celebrated my birthday. Of course I DA'd myself and the funny thing is that now I don't celebrate my Birthday. I just did not want an elder telling me I could not celebrate it. Back to my original question What doctrines do Born-Agains have a hard time with? I know personally that I have a hard time with the "once saved always saved" doctrine that many of my Born-Again friends believe in. They feel that once you become saved you can commit all the Adultery, Fornication, cheating on your income taxes, etc; but you will still make it to heaven because you have accepted Jesus. What a joke.
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  Granny Linda

  I don't try to swallow any of them.

  gl
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  jgnat

  I got my bible study all in a stir when I suggested that not everybody is deserving of unconditional forgiveness. I used Hitler as an example. And I think I also publicly wished that Bin Laden die cowering in an imploded cave without food or water for three days. I was gently guided through the concept if forgiveness is conditional, we are taking the place of God, and Jesus' sacrifice loses power.

  Here are some additional thoughts that were sent my way.

  "Last night I saw a program about the parents of a murdered girl, returning to the place of her demise. They spoke on behalf of the 4 people convicted of killing their girl. These parents forgave, but they went much further then that. Actively seeking for the killers to be released, taking one of them into their home and life. Wow!!!!! Could you do that? Well, God did many times over. We put him on the cross. Everyday, we add more pain, more sin, more grief. But God is a great God!! He forgives us, he actively seeks to incorporate us into his family, and some day, he will take us into his home, wipe our tears, and say Welcome Home!
  
  Here is a quote I came across that I thought was a neat way to look at forgiveness."
  
  

  Forgiveness is the fragrance the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it. - Mark Twain

  Just to show that not all born-agains are brain dead. I don't think the whole short-skirt-long-skirt debate is a matter of doctrine, but local preference. Unfortunately, those from the pulpit can make it sound like gospel. Unlike the Jehovah's Witnesses, where not a single line of belief can be at variance, there are only a few core doctrines that regular Christians must follow, and they are all part of the Apostle's Creed.

  http://www.creeds.net/ancient/apostles.htm
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  darkuncle29

  These people are pretty wack-a-do. I have mostly dealt with Baptists, and that was as I was leaving our own cult. I credit them with helping me leave christianity entirely behind.
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  Cygnus

  Didn't Jesus say of Judas, Better had it have been had that man never been born?

  Personally, I get a little offended when people tell me I put Jesus on the cross.
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  NewLight2

  darkuncle,
  
  I'd be interested in hearing your story about the Baptists. Why not start a new thread about it.
  
  NewLight2
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  darkuncle29

  I don't really have the emotional oomph to write the Baptist story right now, but if you have experience with them we could compare notes. I was NOT studying with them or anything, just happened to encounter them in my life--friends, work. They tend to be nice people, but there are some individuals I met who are very mentally/emotionally ill.
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  gaiagirl

  Apparantly, many people like the "Left Behind" series of books. The whole "Rapture" thing seems rather unlikely to me, though.
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  Carmel

  Generally literalism shows its ugly face in things like literal resurrection, literal garden of eden, litteral original sin, literal personified evil, literal earthquakes, stars falling on earth, beasts with many heads and horns, literal god talking to ancients, bla bla bla....

  carmel
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  Cameron

  The Born Again Christians I have known all seem to 'love' the idea that God has arranged for people to be burned in a literal fire every day forever and ever. They have no interest in considering the possibility that the "lake of fire" mentioned in Revelation 20:15 may just be one of Revelation's many "signs and symbols" that, in this case, represents everlasting destruction. They are unable to consider even the possibility that everlasting death is an "everlasting punishment." There has never been anything I have ever said that has made a difference to any of the Born Again Christians I have known.

  Don