Are people really blinded by their churches?

Question

This right here is THE MOST ridiculous answer I have seen on this site. I was appalled. How can so many people just twist and convert everything to suit their beliefs? It's sick!

Question: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Al1u7fxDFzVK7jjbBBAcEgfsy6IX?qid=20060907191050AAnEuUL

Specific Answer: think that the bible is becoming more clearer as time passes on. People are more in dept to study God's word. After all, God did say, Be fruitful and multiply.

The bible IS NOT becoming more clearer, you cannot contort what it says by saying read between the lines, and that there are hidden meanings! Like about working on the sabbath day, you will be put to death? The bible is meant to be taken literally. It is just that the church, and kings, have changed the bible to suit their needs time and time again. You cannot say that the bible is becoming clearer. That is ludicrous.

As well people are not more in depth in studying their god's word, people were more faithful, at least the ones that were true to their religion, hundreds of years ago. There was not such thing as the media. the media is in everybody's lives who are subjected to it. Print, television, the internet, etc,......

It'syourspam: I was subjected to catholic teachings as a child. I'm not a stranger to it, don't be so quick to be biased just because I don't have "I love god" splatterd all over the page.

Answer 1

yes and their government and their schools, and the corporations. People have been decieved since the garden . so whats new. If you think you are not devieved think again.

Answer 2

I respectfully disagree with you.
Many old doctrines came about from the Catholic Church. They developed at a time when the bible was only available to a few very wealthy people. Of the few who could read, even fewer could read latin. This left the masses in ignorance of what the scriptures really meant. If they disagreed with what the local priest said, they would be made to feel that they were not only rebelling against the local church but against God himself. Today the bible is available in hundreds of languages and is sent to poor people all over the world.
Furthermore, many of the doctrines which persist today originally came from the Catholic Church. They do not have a biblical basis. When the protestant churches split away, most of them left for single issues. That is, they still kept most of the Catholic practices and teachings, only changing what they felt was necessary. So in reality many of them are still very much like the Catholic church. In the late 1800s, the restoration movement began. It was based on the idea that the scriptures were all that we needed to learn how to worship God and live in a way that pleases God. As one doctrine after another has been examined, many of them have been discarded. We still are not perfect by any means. But we are not in the dark ages either. We attempt to interpret scripture according to what the writer intended to communicate. Sometimes that is literal and sometimes it is symbolic. Sometimes it commands us now as it did then and other time it was only intended for a specific person at a specific time. So in many ways it is becoming much clearer.

Answer 3

Yes, people are blinded. My husband and I come from two very different backgrounds and we have learned from one another how blind we were to somethings the church was teaching us. We were both born to families that believe, my uncle is even a pastor of the church I attended and he left under the belief that the church was headed the wrong direction in terms of what it was teaching. This is very sad that these things happen and that people are blinded and follow a leader in the church as if he were Jesus. We are called to follow Jesus, NOT the person teaching us about Him.

I do believe though that the bible is not to be taken literally in most aspects because times do change. Cultures change, and that's a beautiful thing about God, he allows us to think, learn and even fall sometimes before we realize our mistake; and then he picks us back up and put's us on solid ground. When I read the bible, or listen to a sermon at church, I ask myself; "how does this affect me?" Is this something that is cultural and specific to the times of the bible, or is this a God thing and something that I need to take literally.
Some examples: ladies don't always cover their heads to pray these days, that is a cultural thing. Something that is a God thing though is the teaching of his ways (how he deals with people and their errors.) I love this about the bible. It's so complex in so many ways. It's not just a bunch of stories pushed together into many books, it's God-breathed material that causes us to think and explore Him more.

Answer 4

Are you familiar with the edict some priests passed on to their parishioners that going to other churches would send them to hell as surely as adultry would, because it was a form of adultry? The Church of course sees itself as the bride of christ, so the teaching is valid. However, how can one Church have that much power? Because few people actually read the important Books in the Bible. I tell everyone to read the Gospels because here is where we meet the Hero. Even the Anti-christ said the scripture was good for some things, but he had to, in order to get the power. In the OT the Psalms is the important book and perhaps Dueteromony. Exedus is a wonderful story as are so many. But that people claim to read nothing but and miss the importance is totally unreasonable. I also would like to disagree with your ludicrous statement, I have been a Bible student for 54 years and its a lot clearer to me today that when it was when I started. Can you tell?

Answer 5

Regarding the Sabbath day, the Apostle Paul said that this command did not apply under the New Testament anymore (Romans 14, Galatians 3).

Regarding its views on sex, the strict view that sex was for procreation only, and could not be enjoyed even in a marriage, was historically based on the teaching of Augustine of Hippo (Saint Augustine) -- not the Bible per se. Granted, the church probably softened its stand in light of cultural pressures, but it is note worthy that the ultra strict view was not Biblical in the first place.

Answer 6

Yes some people are blinded, muted and even made to be def by their churches. Sad really. As for twisting and converting to suit their beliefs, It has always been done. What is to be included and which words to be changed, all to gain acceptance and more followers. Then there is always the interpretation by the scribes.

Answer 7

I am a Christian but the answer is still YES

Look at Wacco ordeal

Ruby Ridge

Some even break off from ther church and make a knew religion if that what you call it.

Answer 8

some people are very, very blinded by their church.

i remember rev billy graham speaking in the 70's about what a wonderful gift God gave man and woman, when He gave us sex as a way to become one and enjoy each other.

the good reverend was thought to be heinous at that point for a good long while.

-eagle

Answer 9

Only stupid, weak, and naive people are blinded by thier curches. This in no way is slamming religion, as I am a religious person myself. But rather a person should choose a religion from a place of strength, and not weakness...

Answer 10

Id like to know why some Baptists and Catholics KNOW they are going to Heaven just because of the church they go to. I guess I'm going to hell although I do what is required of me... i know that Jesus is my savior and Lord.