I need advice ...?

Question

I consider myself a Christian. I have accepted Jesus as my savior. I attend church, I try to help and love others. However, there are things in the Bible that I simply can't accept. I don't believe that the earth was created in 7 days, I don't have any hatred or disdain for gay people, and I don't feel that everything that is laid out in the book of Revelation will come to pass in the way that everyone else believes it will. I have been praying about all this and I don't have a clear answer. Is it wrong for me to feel this way and question?

Answer 1

Is it wrong to question... absolutely not.

You don't need advice - you need encouragement.

You're on the right path when you're asking questions and taking steps to arrive at a sensible set of truths to believe. I suspect that you also disbelieve several of the stories in the old testament books of the Bible... like Jonah living in the stomach of a whale. If so, good thinking on your part - stories like that are simply ridiculous.

I suspect you're on your way to becoming a seeker of "the real truth" over "the dogmatic version of the truth" and that you'll eventually abandon your attachments to any Christian church groups... Religion is a tough row to hoe. Wanting fellowship with others should not mean having to give in to their ideological shortcomings... you don't have to believe as the groups do... you can find your fellowship through companions outside of these groups and continue to seek the truth as you seem to be already courageous enough to be doing on your own. Good for you.

"Yes" it's not only OK for you to question these things, it's darn-tootin' ideal for you to do so...

[][][] r u randy? [][][]
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POST SCRIPT to Gina M : Look up the word "redundant" you are apparently as ignorant of its meaning as you are of the basic truths of living.
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Answer 2

It is never wrong to question, on the contrary, we need to ask about mysterious things we r not so sure about to gain more trust of our belief, I am a christian too and me also have so many things that are not clear, one good advice i think , is do not take the bible word by word..but take the stories as templates of things happened , of course this is not applicable for everything..but for example, the 7 days issue, the bible never said that those 7 days were the days we know, but a simplification of the phases earth was developed by, the book of revelations is also a metaphor of the ending days, what is described is not an exact description, it will not happen this way..
on the other hand even the bible requests us to love all the people including gays, murderers, thieves, and all sinners, all people, when u say that u have no hatred against them then i can say this is a true christian..live your life as our lord taught us..and keep praying and reading the bible, slowly everything will b clear..may u b blessed..

Answer 3

You are not in the wrong for doubting! I admire you for admitting that you are doubting. We have to think of the Bible and how it was written a long time ago. The sayings deal with stuff that took place then. If they would have described the modern world, no one would have understood it. As for the 7 days thing: Who really knows what a day is to God, maybe a day is a thousand years! Relating to gay people: The bible says to hate the sin not the sinner. We should treat them as normal human beings, because thats what they are. They arent any different than anyone else. And prayer was the right choice , I would keep praying and remember to keep an open mind and a sincere heart.

Answer 4

If you are uncomfortable with something, no it is not wrong to question. The fact that you are praying about it is very good though. Our Creator knows what is right, what is best for us, and he WANTS us to be clear on things. You have the right attitude. Continue praying, but make sure you are ready to accept the answers.

Side point....the Bible does not really teach the earth was created in 7 literal days. True science agrees with true religion.

So don't question the Bible...question what some so called Christians teach the Bible says. You might find there is a difference...

Keep on praying, and keep on looking for the true answers :-)

Answer 5

sweetheart, you are doing a great job! praying is the key here and you are already on top of that.

there will be things that you just cant explain. the human mind cant even begin to understand what God's endless power can accomplish. for God to create the world in 7 days would be easy. im sure you have seen the little things that God does every single day. then how can you wonder about his power?

you shouldnt have a hatred of disdain for gay people. gay people are no different than any other sinners in this world. all of whom Jesus always showed endless love and compassion for.

the book of Revelation tells of what will come. everyone is entitled to their own opinion and views. take what you can from it and in time all will see how close their beliefs were.

be sure to never question God. instead try to ask for guidance and knowledge in the areas that you wish to learn more about. when you question God you open up that door of disbelief for the devil to enter. there is never a need to question God. He loves you and will always want the best for you. just keep praying and he will hear you. he will answer your prayers.

you are more than welcome to send me an email anytime with any questions you may ever have.
God bless

Answer 6

Questions are good. Blind faith is insane imho. You won't find answers that way and you'll grow old and bitter waiting for word from "above".
I know divination is frowned on, but perhaps your priest can help divine some answer for you, such as perhaps someone you know has had a dream and received an answer for you. This is widely accepted as alright in most protestant denominations.

In the end, you'll need to decide if you want to believe in a god and if so, which god, and whether you can live with reading words and hearing and feeling nothing from a god. Also, don't be a doormat for anyone.

If it brings you comfort to not think too much or too deeply about your faith, then please ignore my answer. But you seem very bright and curious and it won't be long before you outgrow your christian faith. I wish you the very best on your journey.

Answer 7

Whether you are a true believer or not has to do with whether yopu have believed and trusted in the person and the work of Jesus Christ. As far as the 7 days are concerned, there are old earth creationist and young earth creationist. The young earth creationists believe that the earth was created in 6 days and that it is less than 10,000 years old( see http://www.answersingenesis.org/ and http://www.icr.org/). The old earth creationists believe the earth is billions of years old(see http://www.reasons.org/index.shtml). Both of those camps consist of devoutly committed christians. Christians don't hate gays. But God says that homosexuality is wrong(leviticus 18:22). But the bible says to hate the sin and love the sinner. That lifestyle will cut your life in half. The average homosexual lives to be 41 years old. The average american lives to be 74.
You say that homosexuals do not choose to be so. Where's the proof of that?
I assume you're saying that homosexuality is in the genes. There's never been one iota of proof of that(at least that I've seen). They've done identity twin studies since the 1950's. One study in Australia has almost 15,000 identical twins they've studied. Everytime identical twins are born they follow them up until they are adults to see if one of them becomes gay. If homosexuality is in the genes then whenever one is gay then the other should be gay 100% of the time(since identical twins have identical genes). The studies have shown the opposite. Whenever one is gay, at least 70% of the time the other is heterosexual. On the 15,000 twin study I think the results were when one is gay the other is heterosexual 78% of the time. Also, in this day and age, everyone seems to believe in evolution. Evolution is fueled by natural selection(survival of the fittest). Another way to describe natural selection is just to say that whatever species is best adapted to pass on it's genes will survive. The species that are least able to pass on their genes will go extinct. By that theory, homosexuals should have gone extinct long ago since they don't have natural kids of their own and therefore don't pass on their genes. But it doesn't matter anyhow because I've already shown you that it isn't in the genes. Make sure you're not getting your scientific evidence for homosexuality from hollywood.
As far as the book of revelation is concerned. Whether you believe in the book of revelation doesn't determine whether you are a true christian or not. The book of revelation concerns the terrible times that are going to come upon this earth in the last days, which I believe is right around the corner. Whether you believe it or not is besides the point. It's going to happen.
You need to ask yourself whether you believe the bible is the revelation from God. If you don't believe that then why do you even want to call yourself a christian. Everything we know about christianity is from the bible. If the bible is not true then christianity is not true. Why bother with it.
A lot of people have a hard time with the Genesis account of the origin of everything. Yet they believe in evolution. Do you really believe that dumb mud could somehow bootstrap itself into intelligence over billions of years simply by random chance luck?
In your brain there are 100 billion neurons. Each one of those neurons(remember, there's 100 billion of them) is connected to 1000 other neurons. That comes out to 100 trillion connections in your brain. These connections send electronic signals(and you can measure the electricity) from one place to another. If part of the brain is damaged and you lose some function that is controlled by that part of the brain, the brain can actually re-wire itself and let other neurons in the undamaged part of the brain take over so that you can get back that function. That's only the connections in the brain, not the rest of the body.
Our bodies also have tons of information in the DNA. You have enough information in your DNA to fill encyclopedia sized books stacked from here to the moon and back 500 times. Do you really think that came about by just random chance........kind of like a monkey typing out the works of Shakespear just by randomly plucking away at the keys?

You need to step back and look at the big picture of what is being claimed by evolution, namely, that the unbelieveable complexity of the human brain(not to mention the rest of the body) is nothing more than re-arranged pond scum. It’s pond scum from the original prebiotic soup re-arranged over billions of years into 100 trillion connections in the brain by luck…..just random chance.

Answer 8

Honey, it's called being a Christian with an open-mind. There's nothing wrong with that. And you're not the only one who feels this way.

My mom is the exact same way and has trouble finding people she can talk to about this. She can't openly tell her very Christian friends that she believes in reincarnation, or that most people don't go to hell.

But that changed when I took her to a Unitarian Universalism church and she found friendship with people who understand her.

They except everyone, and they don't try to convert. They have respect for everyones beliefs and try to accommodate them. I suggest you find a local U.U. church and try it out.

I provided some links for you.

Answer 9

Do you believe that the bible is the infallible word of God? God breathed? If so (and it is), have Faith. Believe the Whole Bible, not just some of it. If you have bible studies at your church, or classes or home groups offered by your church, I'd highly recommend that you attend and study the bible, not just read it. Scripture also tells us that when we pray, if we ask for wisdom, He will give it to us. I'd also recommend to you that before you begin reading and studying the bible, pray and ask the Lord to use the Holy Spirit to open your eyes and reveal things to you.
God Bless you!

Answer 10

It's certainly not wrong for you to question.

Despite what some will say, there is not just one way of reading the bible (the one which includes having to accept every detail absolutely and at face value).

Jesus did not say "Come to me all you who have got your theology absolutely correct."

That the bible records people's understanding and faith in God without necessarily being a perfect account of reality is a valid position to hold.

Personally, being in a position not dissimilar to yours eventually led me to atheism, but I know other people who arrived at different conclusions, and I can respect them without agreeing with them.