07-13-2003, 06:31 PM
Dear Muslims,
Last week I came to this forum for the express intent of learning about Islam. Right now I'm happy as a Catholic and I don't feel as if I will convert - but I still wish to understand your religion, learn about the Qur'an, and know who the Prophet Muhammed was.
As I have perused the various topics here I have come across posts by fellow Christians that have left me feeling ashamed. I want to apologize for some of these posts and ask you all to please not judge all Christians through this narrow lens.
Though I believe my faith is of God I must deal with and accept the fact that Christianity has been shattered into tens of thousands of bickering denominations, each with it's own interpretation of key passages in scripture, each with its own idea of "truth", and most pointing fingers at every other denomination saying, "You are wrong and going to hell - and we are right!!!!"
Even the so-called "nondenominationals" are a denomination. If they or anyone trace their teachings and interpretations it will eventually be found that they adhere to the teachings of [i:da3e41f4a7]some[/i:da3e41f4a7] denomination that they had split away from at some point in history.
To understand some of the conflicting issues it's best to realize that almost all Christians today follow the teachings and traditions of Martin Luther - weather they want to admit it or not. Martin Luther removed 7 books from the Bible in order to promote his teachings (so they have a changed Bible) and he added things to the Bible in order to force God's Word to say what he wanted it to say.
(For example He added "only by faith" to Romans 3:28 in order to prove his teaching that we are saved by faith alone. "We hold that the human will be justified without the works of the law but only by faith.")
These same people will assert the opposite: that the Catholic Church added books to the Bible. But history proves this to be false.
Almost all Christians adhere to non-biblical teachings even as they thump their Bibles and say, "Tell me where X is found in the Bible!" This can cause a lot of confusion for new Christians and non-Christians. Here are a few:
Where does the Bible teach about how to have a wedding? A funeral?
Where are "sinner's prayers" and "alter calls" found in the Bible?
They teach that everything must be found in the Bible and that the Bible is the sole rule of authority - even though the Bible doesn't teach this anywhere.
They ignore the direct command of scripture to "stand firm and hold fast to the traditions..." (2Thess. 2:15) claiming that tradition is "unbiblical".
They teach that we are saved by faith [/i]alone even though the Bible says otherwise: "See how a person is justified by works and not by faith alone: (James 2:24)
So when people come onto this forum and promote that they have the truth and the proper interpretation of what the Bible means, take everything with a grain of salt. The church down the street from theirs is teaching an entirely different thing. It's sad but true: christianity can be terribly confusing. There are so many different interpretations of our Bible. Key verses are twisted to suit each "denomination's" personal ideas but no one will admit to this. The only reason I noticed is because I was an non-Christian outsider attempting to learn about Christianity and I was not raised to think in one set way. I was "outside the box".
You are often being presented with the dogmas of one narrow slice from a huge pie. Please don't think of all Christians believing in these same things that are taught/promoted here.
I apologize for the attacks against Islam.
-Michelle
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