My mother introduced myself and my sisters and brothers to Jesus when we were little, she is the most amazing woman of God that I have ever met. I cannot remember her complaining about anything, in times when most people would, she would just praise God and thank him for his goodness. She would always have devotions with all five of us everyday. She literally did what Proverbs 22: 6 says. For this I will always be eternally grateful to her. Nowadays if you even mention the name of Jesus people a lot of times have such a violent and enraged reaction to his name. I know why, but I want others to explain why they personally may have such a negative reaction toward him?

I believe this is caused by spiritual warfare.  The devil is fighting hard to keep people from hearing the truth about Jesus because if they heard and understood, they would repent and be saved.  Because man is born sinful, we do not naturally want to repent and submit our will to God, that is what Jesus is calling us to do, so until God changes a person and opens their eyes to His goodness and love, they will remain deceived and resist. 

The encouraging thing is that often those who have the most argumentative and adamantly opposed to Christ are actually the ones God is working in and eventually they will see the truth and be saved.

Maybe they've had bad experiences with people trying to force them to believe in him?



Ha ha love that saying.


Also note there are idiots who think god should step in at every freaking opportunity. They "don't believe" because "god lets children die and horrible things happen". This is my response to those people (actual response):

Alundra (11:53pm Wed, Sep 24, 2014)

Omg seriously every time that argument pops up I have to slap myself in the face.

Heard of FREE WILL? It's that gift god gave us because we're his children, that's his gift. That he doesn't control us, that he lets us live our lives as we please. He's given us rules he would like us to follow and he's asked us to behave and if we mess up to try to fix it and he will forgive us. This style of parenting is called guiding your children to do right and I believe it's the best method.

THAT is the reason bad shit happens, because everyone is free to do what ever the hell they want and god can't interfere because that would make his gift void. If we all chose to do the right thing this wouldn't be a goddamn issue but everyone's obsessed with money/power etc or they just don't believe in god that they pick and choose to do the wrong things repeatedly instead of doing the right things like they've been asked.

So ANYONE who does wrong is the reason the world is full of shit, NOT god.   

I think that there are several answers to why this is happening in today's world. I was also raised with a wonderful Christian mother, and the things that she taught me about Jesus were about love and caring for his people. It was  inspiring. I looked forward to His return, and there being peace on this earth.
However, this is not how many people are taught about Christianity. Many christians, even the religious leaders , focus more on obaying the Bible,  or you will go to hell, than they do  on the idea that if you love Jesus, you will go to Heaven. If what people here about Christianity, is that it is a religion that condemns people to burn in a fire forever; why would anyone want to be a part of that ? ?

I also tink that the world is changing, and being specifically changed, to turn against Christianity. I remember reading that Christians would be hated, and since all I saw were kind souls that wanted to help other  people when they could, it didn't make any sense to me.
But now, there is a whole different picture presented, not just of Christianity, but of religion in general.
We see religious people killing other people  because they believe differently. We see abortion clinics being burned, we hear about believers that think they should handle venoous snakes, even if  people get killed doing it.  And we are shown Christians abusing their families, all in the name of God.
Even if this is not how most Christians actually are; it is becoming the perception all over the world.

writeaway07 (04:47pm Fri, Nov 21, 2014)

Nowadays if you even mention the name of Jesus people a lot of times have such a violent and enraged reaction to his name. I know why, but I want others to explain why they personally may have such a negative reaction toward him?

Personally, my own family just wasn't as good about it as yours. My sister was an immensely toxic presence, and refused to recognize the harm she was causing because she could change the subject to Jesus and how people should learn to "forgive." (She kept using that word...I can't help but feel that it didn't mean what she thought it meant, which was, "Don't draw attention to the damage that I have done. Ever. At all.")

On a more general level, while the sentiment I usually get about that is, "Don't punish the religion for the behavior of the followers!" I've just come to the opinion that the faith is its people. I've come to understand that my sister perhaps has a personality disorder, and her interpretation of Jesus isn't the only one (or, depending on who I ask, the right one)... but rather than solve the problem of my personal association to the word, I find another reason to be averse to it, which is: the assertion that Jesus and the associated belief system is a superior monolithic belief system to absolutely any and all other perspectives.

So, considering how other belief systems are in turn considered through the lens of this particular belief system, does frequently take a turn for the offensive. The age of the witch hunts and inquisition might be over, so it's not quite on-the-offense offensive (although I side-eye Christians that I've met who consider the curbing of religious violence as a bad thing) but the principle of personal sovereignty being evil and automatically arrogant, of gender discrimination being a holy edict, scientific progress being judged as heresy, and more reasons that I consider completely valid (but then, of course, I would) being dismissed as conveniently self-serving of some circular definition of sin--just gets me to "Nope!" right out of church. (It appears that "nope" is a verb now and for some reason associated with octopi.)

Which is not to say that everything Jesus stands for and has been represented as is the worst thing in the world. It's not, a lot of it is (if I may have the temerity to opine) quite beautiful, wise, and profoundly fulfilling. But that's not what you were asking, so I won't get off-topic with that.

Unfortunately churches in America are full of people who do not have a holistic understanding of scripture or anything close to an accurate understanding of the character of God and Jesus as made known through the Bible.  That is one reason you get people who think you just have to acknowledge the existence of God and Jesus and you are fine to live however you want, and you also get the "Bible thumpers" who seem to think it is their responsibility to convert people.

Both are sorely mistaken because what the Bible really teaches is that there is only one way to heaven, and that is to repent of your sins and accept Jesus as your savior and then to share the gospel with others, not forcing it on them, just telling them.  It is God's job to do the rest.  There is absolutely no need to ever be pushy in sharing the gospel.  Jesus was never pushy, He simply preached the message and those who God was calling came, and those who did not want it did not come.

HA HA HA HA

Guys. Jesus was fucking baddass. I love Jesus. You all have everything he said wrong.

Firstly, the turn the other cheek stuff was defiance. So was the if someone asks you to walk a mile walk 2. It's all about standing up for yourself and your rights in a way that is not aggressive. Rebellion, defiance, retaliation!

Quote from Matthew 5:38-42

“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39 But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. 40 If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. 41 And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. 42 Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.”

Firstly, if you are slapped and turn your cheek, the person who slapped you is being challenged. On one hand he is being offered a cheek to slap and refusing to do so makes him look weak and if he actually backhands him with the other hand he is declaring him an equal. Your forcing your master to back off.

Better explanations:

Quote

irst, "when someone strikes you on your right cheek, turn the other one to him as well." As Wink says, a right-handed blow in a right-handed world would land on the left cheek! (To strike the right cheek with a fist would require the left hand, but the left hand was only used for unclean work; you could be punished for using your left hand.) So the only way to strike someone's right cheek with your right hand would have been with the back of the hand, which means Jesus is describing an insult not a fistfight. He's talking about the violent humiliation of a slaveowner or Roman soldier toward the oppressed people of Galilee, an unequal relationship in which violent retaliation would invite retribution. Turning the other cheek in the face of such humiliation would stop the oppressor and assert one's dignity, equality and humanity. It would put the oppressed on equal footing and as Wink explains, say, "I deny you the power to humiliate me. I am a human being just like you." As Gandhi said, "The first principle of nonviolent action is non-cooperation with humiliation."

http://ncronline.org/blogs/road-peace/offer-no-violent-resistance-sermon-mount-part-3
http://www.cpt.org/files/BN%20-%20Jesus'%20Third%20Way.pdf

To give another man all of your clothes makes them look awful, and it is illegal to look upon naked people.

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"If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic," Jesus says next, "hand him your cloak as well." In Jesus' time, as in ours, the poor were forever in debt. People wore outer and inner garments, but as Wink writes, they were hauled into court and sued even for the clothes off their back. Only the poorest, those Jesus addressed, would have nothing but an outer garment to give as a loan. So when they demand your outer garment, he says, give them your inner garment as well.


But if a poor person was sued in court for his outer garment, and gave away his inner garment too, he would find himself naked before the court, which was not only taboo in Judaism, but criminal. But not for the poor person! In those days, it was illegal to look upon a naked person. Jesus' audience would immediately realize that the judge and the soldiers would have to arrest themselves for violating the law, and the poor person would go home free. Jesus teaches the oppressed not to be awed by power, but to respond creatively, disarm their opponents and nonviolently liberate themselves. Jesus offers, in Wink's words, "a practical, strategic measure for empowering the oppressed."

By walking an extra mile with a soldier you're going to get him into a WORLD of shit with his commanding officers. You're sticking it to him because he's not allowed to take his pack back with force, it has to be handed back voluntarily.

Quote

"Should anyone press you into service for one mile," Jesus says again, "go with him two miles." Roman soldiers forced the poor to carry their heavy packs for them. By law, however, the soldiers were not permitted to force the poor to walk more than one mile with their packs. These Galileans were totally oppressed and terrorized by these Roman occupiers (much like the Iraqi people today). Jesus shows them a way to nonviolently resist the soldiers. Go an extra mile, he says. His audience would understand that any soldier would be arrested for breaking the law and imprisoned. If everyone in Galilee did this, all Roman soldiers would be imprisoned. Jesus doesn't say: kill the Roman soldiers or fight them. He does not advocate sitting back and passively suffering their oppression. He teaches creative nonviolent resistance to transform the situation without violence. You are not helpless, he insists. Use creative nonviolent action to end oppression.

Seriously no one understands the bible so don't even go there. Also note it's been EDITED multiple times, especially against women! And also note too, that most American churches teach that god is VENGEFUL and ANGRY and FULL OF WRATH, NOT LOVE. Which I reckon is completely wrong.

I am not going to argue with you here, but I do want to say that your interpretation is in contradiction to the Bible's teaching.  Defiance is sinful, it is disrespecting the authorities God has allowed to be in place.  If the authority is being unfair or unjust, it is God who has allowed that to happen.

I can see that you do not really know the character of God, but you speak as one who is unwilling to surrender your will and let God teach you.  Until you are willing to do that, you will not see the truth, and there is no reason for me to dialogue with you because only God can open your heart to the truth, but God never forces anyone who does not want to see the truth.

DancingLady (12:34pm Wed, Nov 26, 2014)

I am not going to argue with you here, but I do want to say that your interpretation is in contradiction to the Bible's teaching.  Defiance is sinful, it is disrespecting the authorities God has allowed to be in place.  If the authority is being unfair or unjust, it is God who has allowed that to happen.

I can see that you do not really know the character of God, but you speak as one who is unwilling to surrender your will and let God teach you.  Until you are willing to do that, you will not see the truth, and there is no reason for me to dialogue with you because only God can open your heart to the truth, but God never forces anyone who does not want to see the truth.

I would LOVE for you to argue with me, this is the debates board and I'm not going to inflict some awful punishment on you (I promise) just because we argue or disagree .

Jesus taught people to stand up for themselves, to retaliate in a peaceful way. The bible says it's there to be rebuked (subject to harsh criticism and questioning based on interpretations):

2 Timothy 3:16-17 ESV: All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.

2 Timothy 4:2 ESV: Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.

I know I go over the top but really he does call people to rebel. He walks into a church and flips tables over on people! If that's not rebellion and defiance I do not know what is.

Matthew 21:12 And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves. 13 And He said to them, "It is written, 'MY HOUSE SHALL BE CALLED A HOUSE OF PRAYER'; but you are making it a ROBBERS' DEN."…

I love Jesus so much. Seriously, he was the most incredible person. I love and admire him, I wish I could understand his teachings as I would in complete context (being there). If I could meet anyone from history it would be him.


Also, please note the bible also says that those who help people come back from sin and lead sinners to the light will have all of their sins forgiven etc etc, so by not arguing with me and trying to help me find the light you're not doing your Christian duty . <3