Quote Originally Posted by Philipvs Vallindervs Calicvla View Post
1. I vaguely recall this, I can't remember if he was a practicing homosexual. If he wasn't then he can't fairly be dissmissed.
2. I think most Christian would say it's only a pagan festival if you worship a pagan God. Trying to stop people enjoying themselves is impossible, all you do is make people miserable.
3. Total non-issue. There is a Church in Exeter, it has a cross on the front, tall narrow windows, a little bell and a banner proclaming, "Jesus Christ is Lord". I think it's the most pretensious building in the city, because it is deliberately ugly. It looks just enough like a Church to be recognised and is otherwise a brick blockhouse. Idolatry is in the eye, not the statue.
4. Completely normal for a Church which serves its comunity, the majority of people have neither the time nor skill-set for theology. I'm presuming you can recite the Shorter Catchism, which I presume you had to learn before Baptism. Expecting more than that from most people is unfair.
5. Matter of opinion.
6. Rhy, I hate to tell you this but the Orange Order provided at least tacit support for the Loyalist Militias. This isn't a religious issue, it's a sectarian one.
7. Sounds like the CofE. People should believe God loves them, and that he is Good and Just. Trying to get people to hate themselves just turns them away from God. I am a firm believer that if you make people feel safe and loved they open up and are willing to admit their own shortcomings.
1. He was a practicing homosexual, living with his 'partner'. But of course the church has got to be "relevant to modern society" and should "celebrate diversity".
2. It's not about having a problem with enjoying yourself, I just think that man-made traditions distract people from knowing God, we are even warned against observing days, and months, and years in Galatians 4:10. To an atheist, this just says, "hey look, Christianty is just another organised religion, doing funny ceremonies etc"... rooted in the customs of mankind and not the living God that is all around us, as we speak!
3. It's a serious issue, we are not supposed to make any image of God, since it will always be unbeffiting of his glory. So many people now ridicule religion because they think that to us God is just some old guy with a beard who lives in a cloud, who's fault is this? Granted, things like crosses are less serious, but they still distract people from the glory of God, which they would meditate upon far better without having to focus on worldy images. Of course, there's no need to make a church building ugly, but IMO it is best kept plain and simple.
4. I don't expect everyone to be experts, but I get the feeling they are truly clueless to doctrine. For example, my Gran who goes to another local Church of Scotland church, once said something about the minister giving out tickets to some 'inter-faith' lunch at a mosque, and I said this is disgraceful, and she said why, if Muslims do good works they get into heaven too... Who needs a saviour? It's like the church is just a social club to them, there's no zeal, no conviction.
5. Yeah but mine is right. Seriosuly though, not long ago this would have been unthinkable to anyone in the Kirk, it's not like its just me being annoying. The Kirk has fell to pieces in such a short space of time it's terrifying.
6. OK, to make this clear, I'm not a great fan of the Orange Order, there is a lot of stuff that goes on there which is plain nasty and often betrays the faith it supposedly upholds. But I think it is nice for a change to see some people caring about religion instead of mocking it... but now of course the Kirk has driven them away, talk about hypocrisy. What is really intolerant is when a local Catholic MP refuses to let the march go ahead because the area has a Catholic majority, freedom of speech anyone?
7. Of course I fully agree that God loves them, but that's only telling the fun part of the story. Surely you agree that to be a Christian you have to be born again (I don't like the term because of it's modern connotations, but...) and convicted of your sins. I have not once heard about this at a service. It's the gospel of God serving man we are spoon-fed. The irony is if they really served God for the sake of serving God, He would honour them, but people just don't seem to be in it for that anymore.