Christians jsut a little survey?

Question

Do you believe that you can have disagreements on topics such as evolution/intelligent design and still be a Christian if you believe Jesus is the way to salvation?

Or do you feel that you must take everything literally within the Bible to be truly saved?

This arose through a discussion I had over the weekend with a friend on differences in Christian sects.

Answer 1

I believe there are very few things you need to believe to be a Christian and that adding to it makes idols out of inconsequential doctrines. For example, the idea that the Bible is infallible and the only source for understanding God (Calvinism post-Calvin) and that if we don't believe this we can't be Christian. The Bible can be an idol.

Answer 2

In the beginning God created the heavens in the earth. Whether he literally created all things in seven days (intelligent design)or if a day is symbolic of another period of time(evolution) is not necessarily clear. The important thing is that we realize God is the creator. I believe that I can still be a Christian in spite of my beliefs on creation so long as I believe in and have accepted the gift of Jesus. The Bible is amazingly clear on that point the only way to be saved is through Jesus. However in other areas the Bible is much more symbolic and therefore needs to be read and interpreted accordingly .

Answer 3

I think that we cannot ignore the evidence. I do not believe it is part of Satan's evil plan to throw us off. Let's just face it, dinosaurs were here. Evolution is an ongoing process. I don't believe it exactly the way that Darwin put it but hey, that is my choice. The Bible we have today is what the old Roman Catholic Church decided we could have. Many things have been left out. There are hints of beasts and giants throughout the Bible. Everything has meaning and its meaning is not everything. I am still a Christian even though I don't believe the earth is only 6000 years old.

Answer 4

Yes, I believe you can have intelligent discussions on subjects as evolution, etc. and still be a Christian. However, I also believe that if you are truly a Christian, you would lean more to Creation than evolution. I honestly think that when the saved get to Heaven, we're all going to find out we didn't have it 100% right about everything.

Answer 5

There is one essential belief for a person to be a Christian and be truly saved: to trust Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sin. The Bible is the inspired word of God, but it must be read carefully for there is imagry and exaggeration in Scripture as literary form which must be interpreted as such. For instance, Psalms often talks about being protected under God's wings. That does not mean God has wings. It gives us a picture of His protection. Jesus said to pluck out your eye or cut off your arm rather than sin. He didn't literally mean to do that but said it that way to emphasize the importance of purity. There are many Christians who differ in many ways on how to worship and other issues, but the one thing we have in common is faith in Jesus.

Answer 6

There will always be disagreements whenever two human beings talk about an issue; that's normal, isn't it?

I think that, in order to be saved, a person must believe the Gospel in its entirety. How that impacts cults like the Jehovah's Witnesses, who reject the notion that Jesus is God, is not up to me to judge.

Answer 7

The fundamentalists do not have a monopoly on Heaven or on Gospel truth. I believe in God and Jesus and also subscribe to the theory of evolution and the big bang. I think science can explain just how God does create. In spiritual or progressive churches, there is a school of thought that believes religion and science will one day blend together and that will be the new religion. The progressive churches in America are attracting record numbers of members who are interested in a religion that uses logic and common sense. They have also attracted the most educated believers in our society.

Answer 8

I believe the Bible literally, but I know that isn't the path to salvation. Belief in Jesus Christ is the way to heaven, not belief in the Genesis account of creation.

I belong to an Assembly of God church (that may not be my church's doctrine, though)

Answer 9

The Bible says that "Abraham BELIEVED God, and that was counted as his righteousness."

The counter argument is that if you do NOT believe God, you can not be called righteous.

But if you do NOT believe God, who gets to be the "final judge" which parts of the Bible are correct?

If one group doesn't like Scripture "A", but they DO like Scripture "B"; but another group DOES like Scripture "A" but does NOT like Scripture "B", do we throw out both Scripture "A" AND "B", do we keep them both, or what?

If we were to get rid of every scripture that SOME body doesn't like, you won't have a Bible left; so it seems to me that when it comes to accepting the Bible, it's all or nothing!

But, as I already asked, who, exactly gets to be the final judge? Any volunteers willing to try to dethrone God and sit in His seat as the Judge? - Oh, wait - satan already tried that. And, yes - he's been trying to discredit God's Word since the very beginning when he convinced Eve that God didn't really mean what He said.

If anybody can come up with a sensible solution in how to decide which parts of God's Word to throw out, let me know. So far, it's a toss up who gets to try it.

Answer 10

I believe that everything should be taken literally in the bible and you should also accept Jesus into your heart to be truly saved.