re: The Discordance of Predominant Protestant Thought (for Agnostics).

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Is it just coincidence that the rise of Calvinism coincides with the decline in relevance of Christianity in our society?

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Not what I read. All are sinners until redeemed. The redeemed are a group chosen by the divine will of God. That is biblical truth.

Ephesians 1:11-12
In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.

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In short, the "once saved, always saved" notion and the Calvinist promotion of "God's elect" are protestant poison pills

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Since when are these absolute?
I never understood them to be from that perspective, that the commitment could be broken.

In Jesus's own words he said to cry out for him upon death.

Since theology should be about what God has made known and not begin with man’s view of what should or should not be, it is easy to grasp that the elect are saved by God’s grace and without any lost since Jesus said that of all the father gives him will come to him and he will lose none. And Hebrews tell us we have an anchor for the soul our great high priest who ever loves to make intercession for us.

Dump “once saved always saved” and call it what the reformers have always called it, perseverance of the saints.

Christianity has a storied past that has been messed with quite a lot
https://postimg.cc/rRcqLm4H

https://postimg.cc/xJL97HXH

Justification by Faith Alone (one of the Pillars of Protestantism) as preached by Martin Luther and protestant denominations has brought us to the age of Moral Relativism (MR). And as some have warned MR represents the most dangerous moral theology in existence today.

Under Moral Relativism there are no moral absolutes and NO boundaries. So Luther's catchy bumper sticker, "Sin greatly, believe mightily still" peddles a disordered moral theology that, in effect, disconnects the will from personal responsibility before God. After all, "Once Saved, Always Saved".

In walks, Sigmund Freud. Freud argues the chief cause of psychological problems afflicting mankind is caused by sexual repression. SO, you can be afflicted with psychosis, a neurosis, you can be a narcissist or bipolar personality. You can be afflicted with a character disorder(s). You can be bisexual, homosexual, transsexual, whatever. You can be a pervert who likes to fondle little girls. No problem. Thanks to our pal Martin Luther you are NOT a sinner. Ladies and Gentlemen, SIN has left the building. What a mess.

Ergo, confitemini ergo alterutrum peccata vestra et orate pro invicem, ut sanari

Being non-denominational in my Christian faith has been a blessing. I've attended Baptist churches, Pentecostal and Presbyterian, and eventually I found my own scriptural studies to be somewhat at odds with what their overall teachings are.

I do not believe the Word is allegorical. I believe the Bible was written and meant to be recorded as fact. Things like people preaching about Jonah and the "whale" always bothered me when the Bible states "great fish"- man has just decided it had to be a whale because a 'fish" made no sense to them. I believe that GOD specifically created that great fish just for Jonah's ordeal.

Things like that, I view as twisting the scripture to fit a view. Also, latching onto certain actions that result in Biblical salvation, yet ignoring that salvation can be both won and lost, Biblically, I find to be disingenuous.

It's not easy to be a believer and follow the path without straying. It was never meant to be easy. I don't belong to a church right now, though I wish I could find one to belong to. I just say that I belong to GOD, and I am a sinner that fails Him every day, but I still want to please Him in spite of all my shortcomings. I would probably go to hell right now if I perished at this moment, and I don't like that one bit. Wanting to please The Lord, and actually pleasing Him, are two very different things.

I have a few friends who are atheists. What I have learned about them, in particular, is that they're full of seething anger and hatred towards Christianity. Maybe some of you on the board are agnostic or atheists that take a more pragmatic or passive approach to religious views... but the atheists I know personally are outwardly and loudly anti-Christianity, and actually more open to beliefs of Satanism than the Gospel. They claim nonbelief of GOD or Satan, but fervently push the dogmatic views of Satanism.

I've found I can have productive religious discourse much easier with agnostics than I can with self-described "atheists".

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Being non-denominational in my Christian faith has been a blessing.

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I would probably go to hell right now if I perished at this moment, and I don't like that one bit.

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Seems incongruent. There are plenty of non denominational Churches around. Sounds like you need to sit down with a Pastor and help you sort through your issues.

If God is like the stuck up sorority chick picking popular friends and shunning the awkward, then I'll pass.

We all have an innate knowledge of right and wrong. All people. All cultures. Surprisingly consistent.

See C.S. Lewis for a fuller explanation.

We're supposed to love God right?

I get your drift but your off base.

Are not God's attributes described in the Bible?