Can I be converted?

Question

I am a spiritual person. I have talked to alot of christians trying to convert me. I will never believe the bible. It has contradictions with in itself. And yes they may be small contradictions but if it were holy shouldn't it be contradiction free? And please don't say there are no condtradictions. There are and I don't have time or effort to list here. Ask people will point them out. Secondly there is rampant bigotry. Kepping slaves, women being inferior, killing people of other religions, etc. So I leave it up to all the christians out there to convince me and everyone else your god is the right god. Without using the bible. Also please don't just use jesus loves me, it's not very convining. I truly am willing to hear this and keep an open mind and heart.

Answer 1

I don't like people using the word 'convert' as something someone does to someone else. -You- convert, nobody converts you.

I am not Christian either, and for a lot of the same reasons you have. Christians sometimes don't understand that it's not for everyone.

But there is some good in Christianity. I have lots of Christian friends and some of them, I think they really 'get it'. And though I don't believe what they believe, I have learned a lot from them. In other words, its not all just about belief, there are some moral principles that would suit even those who don't believe.

To my way of thinking, it shouldn't be about -belief- anyway, it should be about principles, right and wrong, rules for living. You can learn about that stuff without belonging to a church, without just immediately believing whatever someone tells you you're supposed to believe. I don't think you -need- to be a Christian to believe in God or to have a relationship with him. It's between you and God.

You might check out the Unitarian Church. They are a church with no doctrine, just principles. Many of our American founding fathers were Unitarian--Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, etc.

And you might even look at the American Humanist Association and read the Humanist Manifesto (what humanists believe). They are not religious at all, but don't believe its necessary to have religion to have 'spiritual' values.

http://www.americanhumanist.org/humanism/manifesto1.php

Answer 2

Why do you want to be Christian? Do you have nothing better to do? Honest question - since you already claim not to believe in half of what they do.

If the bible holds no truths for you - then how do you plan on learning about Jesus?

The bible itself is written by human hands. Can you truly expect it not to have minor errors? Last time I checked, G-d didn't descend from on high and pen the thing himself.

Personally, I believe it is foolhardy to think that anything in the possession of humans is perfect. There is always going to be errors - despite the best efforts to keep it pure and exact.

There is also this belief that there is all sorts of horrid acts are commited by G-d contained the bible. That he just went aroung killing people with no reason and without mercy. Read why these acts against other cities happened. And then read the book of Jonah to see G-d's mercy.

Ruth is another book about outsiders finding grace from G-d. Which also discounts this whole women as inferior thing in the OT. If you would like to know what a woman, a righteous woman, was seen as read the last chapter in Proverbs. That will tell you the honor and the power that a woman possessed. In fact, women lost rights when Christianity came along.

Although slavery is allowed there are certain mandates that must be followed for slaves along with human rights and the chance for freedom.

Have you considered becoming a Righteous Gentile? It is belief in G-d without having to follow the Law or the New Testament. Just thought I'd ask.

Answer 3

As you said, it would take an awful lot of time and effort to answer a question this envolved on yahoo answers, however I will address parts, and recommend reading and viewing materials that should answer these questions to the fullest..Yes,there is slavery, bigotry, killing etc.as it is a story of human experiences and humans are sinful by nature. I just read Judges and I have to tell ya, I struggled with a lot of what I read. There's a lot of violence such as rape, murder and so forth.The moral to the story for me was that at a time when Israel had no king and judges ruled, the people did what was good in their own eyes. I think that new Christians would be best to stay in the New Testament till their foundations are strong before venturing on to the Od testament. As far as convincing you that you should believe the Bible , no one can do that but the Holy Spirit. I pray that He will draw you to the truth. There is a book that addresses the contradictions in the Bible among other topics that would be helpfull to you. It's written by a reporter whos wife became a believer (he was a sceptic), so he decided to do an investigation and recorded His findings. It's called The Case For Christ. I highly recommend it. I know you think you'll "never believe the Bible,"but you do owe it to yourself to be absolutely sure before you make such an eternal decision. Read the book. The research has been done for you, all you have to do is sit and read. I also recommend that you watch the dvd The Signature of God. God bless!!

Answer 4

The only thing "perfect" about The Bible is that it's the
one and only book in history of which not a single copy
has a typographical error.
But, despite the many contradictions in its contents, if
you are willing to look thoroughly enough, you'll find no
less--if not more--passages of logic.
I don't believe in God, either; although, because I don't
believe it's my right to tell anyone what they should or
should not believe, I don't think of myself as an atheist.
I'm an agnostic.
Besides, I've experienced what it's like to live life as
a Christian. (I opted, though, for a life of indifference
toward the question of God.) And, just like many other
questions that've been out there for "Lord only knows
how long," I can live with the question about God's
existence never being answered.
But, as for the question of whether or not you can be
converted? Absolutely. If you really set your mind to
it, if you really do want to understand how to believe
in "The Supreme Being," then you can. There's really
virtually nothing you can't do if you try. (But... unless
you're AT LEAST willing to try... absolutely not; never
in a million years.)

Answer 5

No, contrary to what others has said, I think you want to be convinced, but like many, you're conflicted between logic and faith. Logic tells you it can't be true and that by today's standards, women shouldn't be sold into slavery, for example. But others have experiences with Jesus that come from faith. Other have found happiness in faith, and perhaps you want that feeling too. I don't have the answer for you. I too am often conflicted in this way.
Remember that the bible was written by men... men who had a perspective that we can't possibly have given the time that has lapsed between their lives and ours. Men who may have had agendas and unique interpretations of the events that happened 2000 years ago. There are bound to be contradictions given this fact. If God himself wrote the bible and we were to find inconsistancies, then it would be a different story.

Answer 6

Most of the slave abolitionists were Christians as a quick history lesson. The Bible is history and fact so it left all the bad stuff in there too so you can see that a sinner on the cross next to Jesus can be saved too.
* Recent Discovery worth your notice.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/07/11/ntablet111.xml

Now if you want to actually learn about Christianity try reading:

Lee Stroebel's Case for Christ and Case for Faith
C.S. Lewis's Mere Christianity
Henry Drummond's Greatest thing in the world.

It is your choice whether to look at the evidence and it is you that will have to give an account of yourself someday!

"There is no incompatibility between science and religion... Science shows that God exists." - Prof. D. Barton, Nobel Prize Chemistry

Now for your comments: First... the Bible says that ALL are sinners and have fallen short and that ONLY by the salvation offered by Jesus can they be saved. If you want to measure something by its failures then Benjamin Frankin was a failure he failed over 75 times to create the light bulb.

If you want to see what Christianity can do look at Compassion, World Vision, Mother Theresa's order, hundreds of orphanages, hospitals etc. etc.

John Newton was a slave captain and worse before he was saved and eventually wrote "Amazing Grace"... You know the one that starts "Amazing Grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me....

I am not what I ought to be;
I am not what I would like to be;
I am not what I hope to be.
But I am not what I once was,
and by the grace of God, I am what I am.
John Newton

Answer 7

No human can convert you. Conversion, salvation, justification, sanctification are all works of God. Unfortunately, you appear to have not been well taught in the Scriptures. Since you reject the Scriptures, the word of God, the very Scriptures that Jesus taught from, then you reject the way of salvation, which is through Christ alone. The hard truth is, right now, you are spiritually dead. You may consider yourself a "spiritual" person, but, the truth is, Hell is a very spiritual place, it is full of spirits, so that is a rather meaningless tag. Only God, through the Holy Spirit, can awaken you from your dead state. I could preach to you 24/7, but if you are not of the elect, the ecclesia, the out called ones, you will remain dead, I cannot argue you, nor convince you into the kingdom. It is God's choice who is saved, and who isn't. You can throw up all the smoke screens you wish (contradictions in the Scriptures which have been dealt with many times over, real people in the Bible doing bad things), but the bottom line is, unless God changes your stony heart to a heart of flesh, and opens your eyes and ears, you will remain in your sin and face eternal judgment. I don't sugar coat anything, I simply tell it as the Scriptures teach it.
I hope you are one of the elect, for your sake.

Answer 8

To answer your question, yes, you CAN be converted....but only if you are willing to be.
Try to think of it this way: God wants to have a relationship with us, just like we have relationships with other people, only better!
The thing to remember is, He has given us FREE WILL to choose whether or not to enter into that relationship. Can you be close friends with someone you know nothing about? That's all He wants.
Don't base your opinion on other Christians; They are not any different than anyone else! As humans, we all have a tendency to be selfish, greedy & all kinds of other ugly qualities. Just because we're "Christian" doesn't mean we're not prone to our human tendencies. We ALL fail in many ways every day.
Fortunately for us, God, since He is holy (whether you believe it or not) gave us the choice to either get to know Him or to
reject Him. If you loved something, would YOU want it to be forced into loving you? He doesn't either.
It doesn't matter how long anyone has been a Christian, we still make mistakes, and act just like we did before we came to know the Lord. And...being a Christian doesn't give us permission, or righteousness to keep on doing wrong. It's not a permit! But it DOES give us assurance that we can and WILL be forgiven, no matter what we've done.
You're always going to run into someone claiming to be Christian, and you'll hear them running someone else down, or lying, or whatever. So just remember that we're not exempt from being human. God is looking past our "human-ness" and went so far as to send His own son to pay for OUR sins, so that we can have a relationship with Him. The good news is that God wants you just like you are...you don't need to change anything in order to meet His approval!
The way to get to know Him? Yes, it's through the Bible.
Try not to judge it till you've studied it some. It will become clear in time.
I hope this helps, and that you will truly seek the one true God!

-phifty

Answer 9

First, the God of the Bible is the only God.

Second, the Bible does not contradict itself - what appears as contradiction is often something taken out of context or word interpretation/definition (such as jealousy vs. envy).

Third, slavery is not always what we picture slavery in our culture.

Fourth, it was not a matter of killing of other religions, but annihilating of perpetually violent and cruel peoples. Some made our modern terrorist groups seem nice.

Fifth, women are not inferior. We are reminded by our scriptures that man was created first but that man now is born of woman. In the Church, there is government order, but that has nothing to do with superiority of male over female.

Finally, bigotry is not so rampant as you say. I know of many churches who are multi-cultural, including my own. Bigotry does not count when it comes down to maintaining Biblical standard within the church. Although, outside of the church should be more a matter of outreach and not slamming people for their lifestyle - there are individuals and congregations I would certainly accuse of bigotry because of their actions. But, by and large, bigotry is not rampant by any means.

Answer 10

you've answered your own question.
it doesn't sound like you'll ever want to be converted. the seed has been planted, but because it is not being watered or fed...either by you or other christians in your life...it will not grow. you are pushing it away rather than embracing the simple fact that God loves you and has a plan for your life. If you accept the bible to be the real inspired Word of God then you have at least made a small step. If you only choose to see all the negatives of the religion and look past the one solid positive...that God sent His son, Jesus to come to the earth just to die for each and every one of us...then you have denied the faith and therefore will not enter the kingdom of God. We cannot win you over. Jesus paid the price...he is the gift...you just have to accept it.

blessings.