if any christian is actually interested in how many of us ex believers came to our conclusions here is a great place to start. it is a website that an ex fundamentalist christian uses to document his search for truth. http://www.geocities.com/questioningpage/index.html
http://www.geocities.com/questioningpage/Test1.html Are you a Humanist? There is an essential goodness to being a human being. By Merle Hertzler Years ago a battle raged in the church between the fundamentalists, who favored strict adherence to the Bible, and the modernists, who saw the Bible as a fallible book and used it as one of many sources. The modernists were open to humanist values, but fundamentalists went strictly from the Bible. Who won the battle? Interestingly, both sides have won. The core ideas of fundamentalism--such as inspiration of Bible, deity of Christ, heaven and hell--are alive and well, and accepted universally in the church. But when we come to our relationships, our values, and our view of ourselves, the opinions of the modern church are often closer to humanism than to fundamentalism. How can this be? How can people believe the Bible as God's word and still accept humanism? I think that many Christians are largely unfamiliar with what the Bible actually teaches. I think if they would take the time to read it, they would find the Bible is quite different from what they are hearing. But that is another story. Someday I may write about the differences between the Bible teaching and the modern, humanist views in the church. For this exercise, we will simply contrast the views of humanism and fundamentalism in key areas of living. This will give my readers a chance to look at the two views, and see where they fit in. I have found that there is a broad range of views within Christianity. A preliminary version of this test was presented in the Christian Forum for public comment. You can see those comments there. You will see that there was a broad range of scores, as Christians differ greatly on these points. The criteria are derived from chapter 12 of Deadly Doctrine, by Wendell Watters. Directions: In each category below, select the sentence that best summarizes your views. Every time you select the first answer, give yourself 2 points. If you select the second answer you get 0 points. If you can't decide, or if your views are in the middle, you can give yourself 1 point for that category. Have fun! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Eternity a. Rather than looking for a future life, this present life should be lived to the fullest. b. This life's main concern is with those things that affect our eternal state after death. 2. Basis of Morality a. Human reason is the only meaningful basis for determining moral behavior. b. Moral behavior is determined primarily by following the rules made by God. 3. Science a. The scientific approach enables us to gain knowledge in all areas of life. b. The scientific approach is fine, but if it differs with the Bible, science is wrong. 4. Enjoyment a. Guilt-free pleasure is the raw material of sound personality growth. b. One should take up his cross and deny himself. Earthly pleasure is not that important. 5. Feelings a. Feelings are natural. Behavior can be wrong, but feelings are neither right nor wrong. b. Certain feelings, such as anger or sexual desire, can be sinful, and must be stopped. 6. Sexual Equality a. The sexes are to be treated equally. b. Women are to have different roles from men, and they should not be leaders of men. 7. Religious Tolerance a. I am tolerant of other religions, and recognize that good people sometimes differ greatly on religion. b. My religion is right. Those who have another religion are evil. 8. Self Esteem a. It is good to like yourself and to see yourself as a worthwhile individual. b. We should abase ourselves and see ourselves as worthless without God's salvation and help. 9. Nature of Humans a. There is an essential goodness to being a human being. b. Human nature is evil. We cannot be good without God's help. 10. Uncertainty a. Life is filled with ambiguity and uncertainty, but we work together to make the most of it. b. God has perfect plans for our lives, and everything that happens to us is for a purpose. 11. Questioning a. We should be prepared to ask questions about everything, including our most cherished beliefs. b. Certain beliefs are to be accepted by faith without question. 12. Teaching Children a. Children should learn to think critically and to grow according to their own light. b. Children should be indoctrinated with the beliefs they must have. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In true magazine quiz format, I present the following unscientific scoring system for what it is worth: 17-24 Leaning toward humanism 8-16 Middle-of-the-road 0-7 Leaning toward fundamentalism --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The guy has a good writing style and Iâve read his site before. But, of course, the problem with it is that it only gives one side of the story. If you read his resurrection article, itâs really just a bunch of questions with no answers. Hereâs just a few comments: --He is skeptical of the Pentecost story and yet secular historians recognize that Christianity grew like wild fire until in the 3rd century at least a tenth of the entire Roman Empiore was Christian and maybe even a third. What's so hard about believing that a few thousand believers came in a day when clearly millions followed shortly thereafter. --He is skeptical of the miraculous even though some secular historians are will to admit that the miraculous was the "bread and butter" of the early Christian movement. --Consider the first apostles and Christian leaders. Peter: Thrown into Mamertine Prison in Rome for nine months and placed in a stock where he was tortured constantly. The stench in the below ground Mamertine from dead bodies and human waste was enough to kill many prisoners. All Peter had to do was recant and he would have been spare this unspeakable punishment. He was crucified upside down in AD 67. Andrew: Was tied to an X-shaped cross and hung there for two days before his death in AD 69. Doubting Thomas: Tortured and killed by Brahmins in Indea. Matthew: Beheaded for his faith in about AD 60. Philip: Martyred at the age of 87. The pagan priests crucified him upside down by piercing him through the thighs. He was then stoned as he hung there. Bartholomew: Arrested, beaten and crucified in about AD 68. Jude/Thaddeus: Martyred by a barrage of arrows near or on Mt. Ararat. James: Stoned to death. Simon: Sawn in two. John: The only apostle to die a natural death. Other Apostles Not of the Twelve: James, Brother of Jesus: Josephus says his death was by stoning. Matthias: He was stoned and beheaded. Mark: Dragged to pieces in Alexandria after speaking out against the local idol Serapis. Paul: Condemned by Nero in AD 66 and beheaded. Barnabas: Martyred by the Jews.
The lives of these men and their willingness to die answers all the resurrection questions for me. Common sense tells me that they had seen the miraculous in order to die for it. Remember all they had to do was recant in order to avoid all the gruesome deaths that they endured. But, clearly, they had seen so many miracles and signs that they could not help but continue even though they knew it would cost them their lives...
The problem with this quiz is that many Christians believe the Bible teaches both of your points. So you're forcing them to choose between two correct answers...
Is god really saying what I think he is? "And thou shalt eat it as barley cakes, and thou shalt bake it with dung that cometh out of man, in their sight. And the LORD said, Even thus shall the children of Israel eat their defiled bread among the Gentiles, whither I will drive them." (Ezekiel 4:12-13) Holy $hit cakes, Batman!