"The Kingdom of God is inside you and all about you, not in mansions of wood and stone. Split a piece of wood and I am there; lift a stone and you will find me."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stigmata_(film)
Or, paraphrasing Frank Zappa: A church is just a social club, you don't need them to be religious. (I'm sure someone will give the exact quote)
2006-09-02 12:32:55 · 25 answers · asked by Al 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
They are supposed to be so that you an have fellowship with likeminded people. But I have found they seem to be more about indoctrination of their beliefs and agendas.
2006-09-02 14:45:14 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Control? Only if you are living in the Dark Ages, or the Middle East which is the same thing. Since the Reformation 500 years ago people have choices, freedom, liberty, you can choose to do what you want with your own life. Unless you are living in a Middle Eastern country.
As far as going to church I don't know about where you live but we get together and PAAR-TEE!! We eat, we talk, we listen to music and mill around. Nobody controlling anybody anymore.
2006-09-02 19:42:50 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, churches bind people together and give them inspiring leadership - just think of the Spanish Inquisition, the warmongering Popes, the clerics who burnt and drowned so-called witches. And the Roman Catholic priest in the church at the end of my road who spitefully dealt with a parishioner who dared to question him on a community issue, by refusing to make an announcement in church about the death of her mother, with the result that very few people turned up to the funeral.
And that's just the Christian church. Don't get me started on the rest...
2006-09-02 19:55:20 · answer #3 · answered by Olivia 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Religions need people, the only way to get people to follow a belief system religiously is to get them to fellowship with each other and listen to the public speaker for the particular religion (priest, preacher, reverend, minister, etc...). So in order for this to happen the religion of course needs a meeting place, some would call it a church, temple, etc... So yeah I suppose a religion needs a church.
2006-09-02 19:42:03 · answer #4 · answered by asmul8ed 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
So you are a follower of Zappa-ism?
Christianity is all about relationships with God and His people. Churches originally were "house churches" like they have in China now a days because they are not allowed to meet together legally. Churches are places to meet with God's people in Worship and fellowship, learning(which many REALLY NEED) and service. It has also become a place where we can honor God through the decorative arts(my field of study) and express our love for God in the arts and architecture.
2006-09-02 19:40:09 · answer #5 · answered by Makemeaspark 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Church buildings did not come from Scriptural teaching, but really were built historically on the basis of the Jewish Synagogue. What God requires of Christians is assembling together for the purpose of building one another up and stimulating one another to live righteously. We need fellowship together so we have churches but the shade of a tree is all that is necessary in some cases to meet Biblical standards.
2006-09-02 19:40:26 · answer #6 · answered by oldguy63 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
depends on your religion, some religious buildings are more important in religions than others. Eastern religions as opposed to western tend to have a more inner-religious approach which is achieved through meditation to achieve the inner piece or the home as a focal point for a religion as life surrounds the home. Western religions tend to have more focus on their religious building as the have more sanctity and are also glorified money magnets (collections e.t.c) the western religions also have more assets and greater funds available with which to build religious buildings. Anyway you want to talk to GOD you apparently can do it anywhere anytime as he is always listening, whether you are speaking to the Brahman, Buddha, Allah or god.
2006-09-02 19:48:48 · answer #7 · answered by fizzycrystal 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The church is necessary...it allows Christian's to get together and edify one another in addition to worshiping God. Also, the church performs a collective function. In the new testament churches took care of widows and orphans in addition to worship. Read the new testament many of the books are open letters to churches, so they must have been established no too long after the crucifixion of Jesus. Church allows us to further our understanding of God's word. In other words...go to church tomorrow.
2006-09-02 19:43:18 · answer #8 · answered by smurf_reaper 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
God isn't counting our Sundays, I can tell you that! Why don't you check out Perry's coffee shop theology? His address is perry@coffeehousetheology.com Check him out, he has an approach on this line of questioning that will help you get it right. We don't need a building to worship God, we are the church, and we assemble together as we talk about Him with others, no matter where we are. God bless.
2006-09-02 19:40:34 · answer #9 · answered by Garnet 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Religion/faith doesn't need a church. I've seen people pray & worship in fields during harvest time. No church, no minister. Just the people.
A church is just a building to shelter the people when they gather together.
I'm an atheist .....but believers don't threaten or intimedate me. If it works for them....good.
2006-09-02 19:38:46 · answer #10 · answered by daljack -a girl 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋
I agree they are just a social club especially for people to meet future mates. The main problem is that they do try to control what you think and believe. There is no organization out there that has a perfect understating of scripture and most of them are so far off it is shameful.
2006-09-02 19:41:20 · answer #11 · answered by malisimo 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋