Does the christian church (priest) teach people about god, and being a good individual?

Question

Or does god teach people to be moral?

This is an extension of my previous question. I believe that a person can learn the concept about being a good person by their faith, however, does it actually just come down to what these people learn in their churches?

Many claim that they have a direct relationship with god, but the concept or being has never been proven. So, people do not have conversations with him. They pray with no answers.

I prayed extensively as a child, no answers in any form. No being talking to me, no events.

Answer 1

Churches CAN teach a form of morality, but they are not necessary for that purpose. We learn acceptable behavior simply by growing up in our society. Parents/church have the greatest influence early on, and peers have the greatest influence from roughly puberty on.

Answer 2

I think both God and the churches guide people. This is true in all recognized religions.

The personal relationship is a result of faith. The belief is based on whether you accept religious texts. In Christianity, the concept has been proven, literally! Conception of Christ.If you believe it, then your teaching and faith and learning reinforce your belief.

GI believe God answers every prayer, just not always with the answer we want. We have to trust that if He made us, He knows what is best for us.

Prayer has power, but not in the way most people think.Prayer, whatever kind it is, helps us.

Answer 3

Churches can teach people how to act morally, but mostly they teach people how to conform. I believe that, unless raised in a hostile environment, everyone has a sense of altruism and a sense of self-preservation. The task of life is to find out how to get these senses to cooperate. Whether God gives us these ideas or not, I don't know. But when churches teach hate and intolerance of other people, they are not teaching morality. We may disagree over ideas and behavior, but all people have a right to live in peace and equality.

Even if God does not exist, prayer has a purpose. It sets up a concentration, a meditation and an echo in the world that leads to resolution. Don't expect word answers or obvious solutions. Like anything else, prayer takes effort and the answer may not be what you expect.

Answer 4

I cannot speak for all churches, but in mine the pastor teaches about God and what God expects from us. It is then upon us to take those teachings, evaluate them in light of Scripture to make sure the pastor is speaking the truth, and if he is to follow his teachings. Not because its what the pastor said, but because the pastor correctly passed on what God says.

I think you are asking a few questions here, so let me try to answer the rest of it.

I think it is entirely possible to learn only the moral codes of the faith and not have a relationship with God. These people are generally reffered to as believing in "works-righteousness".

It is also possible to have a relationship with God and not always follow His moral code. Humans are, by our nature, totally depraved and corrupted by sin. As such we are not able to follow God's moral code completely, thus our need for a savior.

As for proving the concept of God, I think what you are asking is how do we know we are in a relationship with God. Being a spiritual being and not a physical one, there is no voice to listen to or hand to hold. However, I would submit to you that you can see the evidence of the relationship by means of indirect observation. Just as we can tell the existence of distant planets by their gravitational effect on light from nearby stars, so we can see the effect of a relationship with God by the way a person leads their life.

Finally, I would submit to you that God answers all prayers. It just happens that sometime the answer is "no" or "not yet". Prayer is not just us asking God to give us goodies or change something about our circumstances. Prayer is about changing us, making us more into the people God would have us be.

I hope that answers all your questions.

Answer 5

for one we christians have a (pastor) not a (priest). Priest is for catholics.
We are taught to live by God's standards from the Bible and that is to be a good person, moral, and to follow God's laws. No to your next question about learning it all from our churches. It comes down to our own personal growth with God and what God teaches us from "his" word and promises.

We pray with no answers? You should try praying sometime, I have had many prayers answered. God answers them in God's time and in God's way not ours. I know I can tell you all this but you will believe what you want to anyways so God Bless you and I hope you someday find your own "direct" relationship with God.

Answer 6

1. I think people who do not have a true relationship with God tend to think that Christians are brainwashed in a church and believe whatever someone tells you. That is not true for a real Christian or a good Christian. The growth of our faith comes through our use of faith and by our expanding knowledge of the Bible. Church just helps some to understand and apply the Bible. If I lived in the middle of the wilderness where there was no church, I would be just as much a Christian as I am now. Some truths are revealed to me through the word of a pastor (not a priest) or teacher that has already learned some insight to scripture. Just as a math teacher does not make the rules of mathmatics, they just help you to understand how to use them.

2. Why does everyone think that being a Christian is to "be a good person"? The outward reflection of a person of faith will reveal the essence of Christianity. We strive first to love God with all of our hearts, our minds, and our stregth, and secondly love one another more than ourselves. Christianity is the realization that life is not just here and now. There is more to us than mortal flesh. The whole concept of a "good person" can only be defined by the individual judging that person. I eat hamburger nearly every day. I am sure to a Hindu, I am not a good person. If anyone ever told you that Chrisitanity is all about being a "good person" they would be wrong, that's just the side effect of the faith.

3. I pray all the time for things and I, just like many others struggling with faith, have wondered why God does not just show me a sign or just talk to me so I can know that I am on the right path. I have decided that he does this in order that we might have faith in him. If God started talking to everyone to answer their prayers, it would not be faith, it would be knowldege. Jesus, after his ressurection told his disciples, "You believe because you have seen these things with your own eyes. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe." God does answer prayer, but what are you praying for? God has a plan and he uses all things for his plan, including bad situations and results of sin. I don't beleive he causes them, but he will use them for his purpose to bring his children closer to him. You may have gone through something that you prayed about with no response, but God used that situation to make you a better person and in some way not known by us, to further his Kingdom.

4. A relationship is defined in Webster's New World Dictionary as a connection as in thought or meaning" or the connection between or among persons, nations etc. Say you had a grandfather that you had never seen. You wrote him letters every day. He never wrote back in a letter, but you wrote a letter asking for his help because you did not have enough money to pay a bill. He didn't call or write to tell you what he was going to do, he just payed the bill for you. Does that make him any less real? The Bible says that God works in mysterious ways and the fact is if God is who Christians think he is, we could not begin to understand him or why he works the way he does. That does not mean that God is your own personal butler who gets you whatever you ask for. If your purpose and desires in prayer are not aligned with the will or purpose of God, he will not grant your petitiion.

One of the most famous prayers of the bible was not answered. Jesus prayed to God under so much stress that he sweat blood and asked God to "let this cup pass from me!", but then he said, "But not my will, but yours be done." Then, they captured him, beat him until you would not recongnize him as human, and nailed him to a cross to die. Do you think your prayer was more ernest and sincere than that one?

As far as answered prayers, my wife was headed back from a conference recently out of town with a group of women from our town. One of the women got a phone call that her husband had fallen off of a horse and was being flown to a hospital in Kansas City. He could not feel anything from his neck down or remember what happened. The women stopped the car they were riding in and prayed for the other woman's husband. A couple of hours later when they got home, we recieved a phone call that he was released from the hospital with nothing but a knot on his head. You can write something like that off however you think it happened. Maybe it was just a fluke, or a misunderstanding, but how many times can you hear a story like that before you start to wonder if prayer does work?

Answer 7

The Word of God teaches about God and Jesus, and how the only way to get into Heaven is to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, and take up your cross and follow Him.

Faith without works is dead.

Morality is doing God's Will.

God doesn't acknowledge the prayers of those who have not accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior, unless it is a prayer accepting Jesus.

Answer 8

Its no longer approximately whether or no longer they're going to show you how to marry in a church yet its the ceremony itself, its all approximately you marrying in beforre god and so on. this is the ceremony and that i doubt that the priest will take those words out. additionally in case you think of it truly is going to invalidate your vows by potential of asserting them to god, does it invalidate your marriage because of the fact it develop into finished contained in the homestead of god? the two way its contradictive, dont marry in gods homestead in case you dont have faith in God. a usual ceremony will incorporate readings from the bible and different issues appropriate to God and that i doub very plenty they're going to substitute that.

Answer 9

When is the last time you prayed and did not receive an answer?

Answer 10

God answers all prayers. But He does it on his own time and under His own terms. Sometimes He says yes - sometimes He says no.