What do Christians really believe?

Question

I consider myself Christian, but I would like to know, what do you believe about the Character of GOD? Is he a spirt? How come we call Christ and God one person. When Christ prayed to God when he was on the earth, was he praying to himself?
Why when he was baptized did God speak and the Holy Ghost desend like a dove. To me it seems like there are three separate people. Three people in one is just confusing to me.

Also, in my mind I would like to believe that God looks like a man, someone I can speak to not some undescribable spirit. My pastors and other church leaders have never been able to explain these concepts, and I have received varying answers.

What do you think?

The only unconfusing answer I received was from the Mormon guy.

Nicene Creed
"and sitteth on the right hand of the Father."

Regarding the three in one concept.
How can Christ sit on the right hand of the Father if he is the Father? This does not make sense. Some of you are trying to explain it just like my pastors etc. your confusing me.

Answer 1

I am sure that many people will take issue with this statement, but it is my belief. I did not write these words, but still believe them.

"The true doctrine of the Godhead was lost in the apostasy that followed the Savior's mortal ministry and the deaths of His Apostles. This doctrine began to be restored when 14-year-old Joseph Smith received his First Vision (see Joseph Smith—History 1:17). From the Prophet's account of the First Vision and from his other teachings, we know that the members of the Godhead are three separate beings. The Father and the Son have tangible bodies of flesh and bones, and the Holy Ghost is a personage of spirit (see D&C 130:22).

Although the members of the Godhead are distinct beings with distinct roles, they are one in purpose and doctrine. They are perfectly united in bringing to pass Heavenly Father's divine plan of salvation. "

Answer 2

Before creation there was only God. God was The Father, Son and Holy Spirit and they are one God. God said Let us create man inour image. God made Adam from the dust (flesh) and breathed into him a spirit and the two became a living soul. this was the image of God as animals were mere flesh and do perish with their flesh but man is more than simple flesh he has a spirit but you are yet one man. God teachs in the bible that the first will be last and the last will be first .. if you examine your creation you will see that first came the flesh and then the spirit and the spirit is tho rule over the flesh. It is the flesh of a man that is tempted as Eve was tempted by the devil. Wehn Christ the son became a man to save mankind form sin and death eh was God int eh flesh and was in submission to the Father in ehaven as Christ was flesh eh would be in submission to the spirit as this is the order of God.

Answer 3

God, God is my creator. God is the overall being that is seen as three personalities or phases. There is the Father. This is the phase that takes care of me. The Father is the one that oversees his creation.

Then there is Jesus, the son. Jesus is the phase that came to our land, earth, to be and live among us. He met people, became their friends and then died to pay the price that humans had to pay in order to undo what Adam and Eve did when they went against God's will.

The Spirit is a bit of a difficult idea to grasp but to me it is that part of God that I can breath in and it becomes a part of my being, a part of my body. It is as if it is the air/oxygen that keeps my body functioning.

I look at it as if God is water, H2O. He is always water but he is seen in three forms at any given time. There is a solid = ice. There is a liquid = water. There is a gas = vapor. No matter what the form it is always H2O.

Without water ..... we die.

Kev

Answer 4

Simple answer, codified by the Church in 325 A.D. in the town of Nicea:

I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made.

Who, for us men for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again, with glory, to judge the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.

And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life; who proceeds from the Father and the Son; who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; who spoke by the prophets.

And I believe one holy catholic and apostolic Church. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; and I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

Answer 5

As a Christian I find comfort and solace in the historic, creeds and confessions of the faith. When one is troubled look to the basics of your faith and belief.

Apostles Creed:

I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
the Creator of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord:

Who was conceived of the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.

He descended into hell.

The third day He arose again from the dead.

He ascended into heaven
and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty,
whence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and life everlasting.

Amen.

Nicene Creed:

We believe in one God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, Very God of Very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father by whom all things were made; who for us men, and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary, and was made man, and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate. He suffered and was buried, and the third day he rose again according to the Scriptures, and ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of the Father. And he shall come again with glory to judge both the quick and the dead, whose kingdom shall have no end.

And we believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life, who proceedeth from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified, who spoke by the prophets. And we believe one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins. And we look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

Answer 6

For one answer it says that Christ is the Word and is God.

Yet secondly he was raised from the dead by God.

It is something you just have to accept. That is, Trinity.
Our minds are to finite to understand it. We just have to accept the fact that Jesus can be both the Son of God and yet God.

The song puts it best. We will understand it better by and by.

Answer 7

We believe that Jesus died for our sins, and that those who truly believe will have an everlasting life in heaven prasing the Father forever.
Unlike other religion who thinks that Jesus hasn't come yet. If he didn't come, how was the bible written, and where did the names of the apostles come from. I don't care what anyone say, cause i strongly BELIEVE.

Answer 8

Are you a saint, being sanctified and carrying the cross daily?

What are your fruits? Christ said by their fruits you will know me.

Answer 9

The Christian concept of the Trinity once seemed strange, perhaps even contrived, to me. How could something be three things that are one and one thing that is three? But the Trinity made sense to me once I came to believe in God, to recognize Him in Jesus Christ and to know the part of Him within me. My understanding of the Trinity, and belief in its truth, grew as I came to see that the universe itself reflects the three-in-one nature of the God who created it.
Water as solid, liquid and vaporMatter
Matter has three states, solid, liquid and gaseous. Each element is a single element, but it takes on different forms or manifestations under different conditions.
Three primary colors give white lightLight
Any color of light can be formed from the three primary colors. Light that appears as white, the purest of all, does not exist by itself but is the equal combination of red, green and blue light, and is a manifestation of three colors in one.
Three dimensions in spaceSpace
The space of our universe has three dimensions. You cannot define a point in space without using three dimensions, and yet that point is one.
Time in past, present and futureTime
Time in our universe has three dimensions that are found in past, present and future, yet it is a single continuum and only exists in the present.
Three primary forces of natureForces
There are three physical forces known to control all interactions in matter: gravitational, electromagnetic and nuclear. The Unified Field Theory seeks to identify one set of laws that describes all these forces as different manifestations of one force.
Atoms
The atom defines the most basic unit of every chemical element in the universe. The word atom comes from the Greek word for "indivisible," yet while it represents the purest essence of one element, the atom has three facets, with the positively charged proton and neutral neutron at its core, and the negatively charged electron outside the core that balances its electric charge and interacts with other elements.
Trisecting a line as the basis for design in creationLife
The physical design of the human body, and that of many other life forms, is based on a relationship known as the Divine Proportion, or Golden Section. This proportion is based on trisecting a line such that the ratio of the small piece to the large piece is the same as the ratio of the large piece to the entire line. It is also found by solving an equation with three terms, x3 - x2 - x1 = 0.
Nature of man
The nature of man is expressed as mind, body and spirit, analogous to, and in the image of, the triune nature of God. It's interesting to note that Genesis relates man being made by "us" in "our" image when referring to God, indicating the plurality in His nature.
Life on Earth
Life on Earth inhabits three domains, the sea, the land and the air.
Holy Trinity
Following the three-in-one nature that is found throughout creation, we find the three-in-one nature of the One God manifested in the Holy Trinity, with each Being revealing a different aspect of our God and Creator to us:
The Father, the part of God that is transcendent, infinite and beyond our understanding,
The Son, Jesus Christ, the part of God that is immanent and appeared to us in the way that we could best know Him, in human form. He was both "Son of God," an expression of God as contained in human form, and at the same time "Son of Man," the ultimate expression of who we can be in our most divine form.
The Holy Spirit, the part of God that lives in the heart and soul of each of us, acting as our Counselor for those who believe and listen to His voice within us.

Answer 10

Since there are over 1,000 different Christian denominations, there are over 1,000 different Christian beliefs.