Friend is questioning my Christianity?

Question

I am Roman Catholic. I go to Church every Sunday and of course believe in God, Christ and the Holy Spirit. I don't believe however in the Bible taken literally. I don't believe Mary was a virgin, or that Jesus turned water to wine or multiplied fish and bread, that the world flooded and noah built an arc with 2 of every animal etc. I am a scientist. Everything I have learned in life goes against the belief that these things could have happened. He says that this makes me unchristian and that I am in fact an agnostic. I think that is ridiculous. Who is right in your opinion? Him, or me?

Answer 1

The only one you have to answer to is God. If in your soul you feel that you are in the right place in your view of the Bible then be with that. Holy spirit will be your guide and be your teacher. Please remember that only is the student ready the teacher will appear. Be bless

Answer 2

It does not surprise me that you have trouble accepting the Bible as literal. The Catholic church has been doing this for years. They do not encourage their members to study the whole Bible. I personally do not believe the Bible teaches the doctrine of original sin. Ezekiel says the Father shall not bear the iniquity of the son neither shall the son bear the iniquity of the father. The prophets foretold that Jesus would be born of a virgin. So if Jesus was not born of a virgin then He was not the Messiah.
A former atheist, John Clayton discovered that true science and the Bible compliment each other. Go to www.doesgodexist.com and check out his background. Let me encourage you to really get your Bible out and find out what it does teach. You will be surprised how many times it conflicts with the practices of the Catholic church.

Contact me at [e-mail] and I will be glad to help you improve your knowledge of the scriptures. As for name calling. It really doesn't matter what name you are called at this point. A Christian is a disciple or follower and believer of Christ. So in order to determine whether or not you are a Christian, study Jesus and His apostles teachings and make sure you are following Him. Start with looking at what Jesus taught about salvation and baptism. Take a look at what method of baptism was used in the Bible. Then compare that method with the one used by the Catholic church. If they don't agree, chances are the Catholic method is not what God wants. May God Bless your search for the Truth

Answer 3

You are still a Christian if you believe in Jesus Christ as your savior. If you don't believe Mary was a virgin, or some of the other miracles, you do not believe in the same things a Catholic believes. Catholics have faith in things that take great faith. Maybe the kind of faith you have not found yet. Most Christian religions require faith to some extent. If you don't have faith in the least that Jesus Christ rose from the dead you probably don't wish to be a Christian at this time in your life. Going to Church on Sunday for you must be kind of like being a Yankee Fan, but going to Boston to watch a baseball game every week. It just doesn't make alot of sense.

Answer 4

I think you're both wrong. Accepting Christ, part of the Trinity, as your Lord and Savior makes you a Christian unless you quit or fall deep into carnality (sinning while 'saved')

but really, certain beliefs of yours would invalidate you. like the virgin birth. one of the points of Jesus being God is that your bloodline carried from your father, unless there is a mutation, and so Jesus' father could not be a man. Blood also has a spiritual significance or atonement through sacrifice, and so, perfect blood, God's blood, had to be shed. if it came from a human, it was not perfect.

science that contradicts God is incorrect in my opinion. personally, I believe in Noah's ark, simply because it is plausible and of course, I don't see God as a liar. many of the animals you see now were descendants of the animals on the ark, and likely micro-evolution had some play.

so say if Noah had 2 smilodons, which were smaller than most of the big cats, then that could explain the many breeds of panthera and felidae through micro-evolution: they are still in the same general family, as they can interbreed and so basically the same animal. the elephant and mammoth could be different breeds of the same animal. etc. also take into consideration that many species have become extinct and at what precice time is uncertain, so in theory, the dinosaurs may have died out a century or two before Noah, though they are mentioned in Job, a book earlier written than Genesis.

the ark was of course large, so if you have the basic animals of the taxonomies, they could all fit.

I don't think either of you is perfect in wisdom. I leave that up to God. but really, it's illogical to think that the Bible is all metaphors. it seems illiogical for a metaphor to be worshiped or to be continued over the course of approximately 1600 years for that matter.

Answer 5

So, you believe in God, but that he can't or doesn't do anything? There is a God, but no miracles? There is a God, but no creation?

I would begin to wonder what the point was in believing in such a God...

I hold a couple degrees in science, and find no conflict between science, logic, and the scriptures. I have a God who is big enough that he does things that are beyond "science".

As a "scientist", you should realize that God turns water into wine every day. He just usually using a longer process that involves drawing the water through a grape vine. On that one occasion he bypassed it.

As a "scientist", you should realize that God multiples fish and bread everyday. He usually uses procreation for the fish, and pollination for the grain to make bread. On those occasions in the scriptures, he bypassed it.

I have witnessed too many miracles over the years to not believe. I have seen healings, miracle food, finances produced, even the dead raised. Because I serve a God who is able to do those things.

If you are not sure that your God can. you may want to get to know him a little better. He is good things waiting for you.

Answer 6

As the bible is a collection of stories agreed on by a pope several hundred years after the fact i think it's perfectly reasonable not to take it word for word. As an agnostic I don't believe a lot of it, but it's whatever floats your boat. I think your friend is wrong, and you are quite right and the church could do with a lot more people like you

Answer 7

I see your point because I think almost like you, with the difference that I don't believe in the trinity. I believe in God the Father as the one true God; I believe in Jesus, but I dont believe Jesus is God; and I believe in the Holy Spirit as being part of the one true God, but not God himself. So, for this reason, I dont go to church, but I've experience people calling me everything but believer, and I cannot care less. I have to please God and only God, not any mortal sinner human being like me.

Answer 8

He is narrow-minded and immature. It might make you more non-denominational than Roman Catholic, but compared to an atheist, you're pretty damn Christian to me.

However, in religion, there can be no "right" opinion.

Some of the other answerers brought up a good point - if you can't believe in all that other stuff, how can you believe in God or Jesus as your "lord and savior"? That doesn't really make sense.

Sounds like you are actually a theist.

Answer 9

If you don't believe Mary was a virgin, you cannot be Christian. The sin nature was passed down seminally through Adam. Without the "Immaculate Conception" as your church calls it, Christ would have sin credited to His account and the whole Gospel would be rendered meaningless. I don't even think you can be Catholic if your belief system contains a fallacy such as this.

Answer 10

You are not a Roman Catholic... your own words are against the teaching of that cult... congratulations you are free... RC teaching is not Christian... If you should ever hear God's call to come to Him ... answer... you will learn The Truth.... if you would like to check out The True Christian Faith, you may try my website... if you have a question you may contact me from the site.... http://mikesfaith.com