Why do christians think they know EVERYTHING??!!?

Question

And on top of that want to drag the entire rest of the world down with them!!!! And why do you give such horrible advice???

Hasnt anyone noticed what a big chunk of the people on yahoo answers are extremely conservative christians? Hence, this question. It was made in a moment of anger for the kind of answers I have been getting lately.

Answer 1

I don't claim to know everything. Are you talking about knowing everything where the bible is concerned? Because if you are, I don't claim to know that either. But I do believe in God! I don't feel like I drag anyone down. A person has the right to speak, just as a person has the right not to listen. I'm not giving you advice, just my opinion. It's called freedom of speech.

Answer 2

Well, nobody has asked me everything yet, so I can't tell you that I know everything. I am doing pretty good so far.

I do not want to or have I attempted to drag the entire world down with me.** The world is doing that very well without my help.

**Actually, until I read your question I did not know that I was down here! Does that mean you are up there?

As regards the horrible advice, remember dear --Tomorrow is another day! If that is not horrible it is at least mundane. Have a good day.

Answer 3

We don't know everything. Nobody does.

We know things about life and what God expects out of us, but that is included in one book. You don't have to read it, but that's where all the good stuff is at.

We don't give horrible advice, we just take the road that is straight in order to follow God's plan for us.

He loves us all and loves you as well. Don't be bitter or nasty about this. You can grow into a great person and leader if you focus your energy and anger into a positive purpose.

God bless you.

Answer 4

I am a Christian, and I don't think I know everything.

I don't know the mind of God, just for example.

Moreover, I seek not to drag the rest of the world down. I seek to pull the rest of the world up.

As far as giving horrible advice, you need to be more specific.

Answer 5

I think we give advice that you may not like to hear. that doesn't make it wrong. We want to lift you and the rest of the world up to heaven, not down.

Why do we seem to know so much? Partly because we are taught to accept advice from others who have been there before. There is great wisdom in the bible.

Answer 6

I think they think the Bible is the book of everything and God is the answer to everything. Their book has everything, what they think is right, what's wrong, how the world came to be, when the world ends, who they should bother, how other people should act toward them, and what they should say to others. It's ridiculous. They should try questioning life by themselves instead looking to the Bible for answers. And parents shouldn't tell their kids to ask Jesus for forgiveness instead of learning from your actions and mistakes. Yeah I agree. Their advice for EVERY SINGLE THING is "Ask God" or "Pray to Jesus and he will lead you" or "Accept Jesus as your Saviour". It's so annoying. Don't they have any real advice that anybody can use?

Answer 7

There are some subtleties at work here that seem to be escaping most people. They have to do with the nature of 'belief'.

A rational person might say "I believe in the Big Bang." A religious person might say "I believe in creation, as described in Genesis." But these statements are not even remotely similar, with respect to what is meant by the word 'believe'.

For the rational person, the statement of 'belief' in the Big Bang means that they understand that the concept provides a scientifically and mathematically consistent explanation, congruent with the evidence, which accounts for the evolution of the universe from a fraction of a second after the initiating event, up until the present. When the 'inflationary model' came to the fore, rational people said "Well, good... that clears up a few questions and makes things even more coherent." NOBODY threw up their arms and wailed "Oh, no... oh, no... ain't so... ain't so... the Big Bang is the inerrant truth... not this ridiculous, atheistic 'inflationary' model."

See... when we say "I believe in the Big Bang", we don't really mean the same thing as the religious person means when he says "I believe in creation, as described in Genesis," or "I believe in God." Our 'belief' in the Big Bang (or anything else) isn't really a 'belief'... it is more properly a 'paradigm'... a useful way of looking at something, or thinking about something. If additional information is uncovered that adds to the conceptual model, that is a good thing... not a disaster. If part of the conceptual model is discovered to be incorrect, and must be tossed in the trash and replaced with something completely different... that is also a good thing... not the end of the world as we know it. And often, no matter how highly confident we may be of the accuracy or completeness of a particular paradigm, we may have reason to apply a DIFFERENT paradigm to the same thing; for example, we might want to contemplate the potential implications of a major change in a physics theory from the perspective of the Tao, the Gaia hypothesis, or ecological homeostasis. We KNOW that all theories are approximations... and that is OK. We KNOW that we don't know all the answers... and that is OK. There is nothing wrong with saying "We don't know... yet; but we're working on it."

But these modes of thinking, perceiving, contemplating and understanding are utterly alien to the 'religious' mind. For the religious mind, a 'belief' is not a paradigm... not a useful way of thinking about something... it is an internalized conviction that one knows the absolute 'truth' pertaining to some aspect of existence and/or fundamental reality. 'Beliefs' are a key component filter of the religious person's 'self-description'... a part of what DEFINES them as a person... the very thing that creates their world-view... their 'subjective reality'. Any attack on one of these internalized 'beliefs' is interpreted as a vital threat... an attack upon the 'self-description'... and attack on their subjective reality.

And here is the key difference: When there is a change in one of the paradigms dealing with a scientific concept, or a new insight into the workings of the universe, it constitutes an interesting new piece of knowledge and understanding. However, if some new piece of information (a feature of the universe, for example) seems to threaten a tenet of Christianity, everybody goes to battle stations, goes into 'damage control' mode... for fear that the whole edifice will come crashing down. And, ultimately, it will.

So, when a fundie disparages evolution, for example, it really has nothing to do with a genuine, intellectual dispute regarding scientific details... they are generally scientifically illiterate, anyway. Any 'scientific' arguments that they present are inevitably not even understood... they are just lifted from the pre-packaged lies and misrepresentations that are found on dozens of 'Liars for Jesus' (LFJ) web sites, and parroted. They are in a battle. They are trying to sink science before science sinks them. They are desperate... and science is (mostly, and unfortunately) oblivious to the fact that they are even in a fight, and that somebody is trying to sink them. They are just blithely bopping along, doing what science does... figuring out how nature works.

No... none of this has anything to do with a mere disagreement pertaining to evidence and understanding. It has to do with minds that deal with fundamental issues in an entirely different way. It has to do with a flexible, open-minded, intellectually honest curiosity about the universe contending with a rigid, unyielding world-view that depends from a certainty that their delusional faith-based 'beliefs' represent the absolute 'truth' of reality.

We might as well be talking to an alien species, from a distant planet.

When the religious enter a forum like this one, they are (generally) NOT seeking new information which might allow them to QUESTION their beliefs more effectively, or might put their beliefs at risk... they are seeking VALIDATION... of their beliefs, and hence, their self-description.

Answer 8

It is obvious to me you are in the wrong group here. This is Religion and Spirituality section.
Here we Christians have the answers. Generally the advice is good and correct.

Try a different section!

Answer 9

I am a Christian. and I do not know everything. I am still learning
only been a Christian for 3 months. so I have a lot to learn. sorry if my advice was horrible. I will try harder next time.

Answer 10

They don't think they know everything....they just think that the bible is everything and should be to everyone. Their advice is bible based as well. As for trying to drag others down...well misery loves company and the fearful want to be in the majority...so to convert you or I would make them feel better. However not all xtians are that way.