Originally posted by Bosse de NageNational census reports, I suppose.
Yes. How do they go about counting how many of them there are? Baptism certificates? Census reports? I want to know if I'm on the list or not.
Although the Catholic Church does compile its own statistics - presumably a combination of baptisms, funerals and parish registrations.
Originally posted by lucifershammerI'd wager that the number of practising Christians was significantly lower. I was confirmed in church, so I might well count as Christian!
National census reports, I suppose. Although the Catholic Church does compile its own statistics - presumably a combination of baptisms, funerals and parish registrations.
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Originally posted by sonhouseActually, Jesus was born of Mary through the Virgin Birth. The Immaculate Conception refers to the conception of Mary herself - I strongly doubt your Methodist church would teach it.
But I could not stand the Jesus born of mary through the immaculate conception bla bla bla crap every single sunday.
Perhaps you didn't learn as much about Christianity as you thought you did.
Originally posted by sonhouseThe concept of original sin as you have described it is utterly vile and repulsive and ugly but it's not Christianity I recognise as valid in any shape or form. Do you ever wonder whether this is what Christianity REALLY says? Have you considered the idea that God himself finds this concept infinitely more vile than you do because it is tragic missrepresentation of the tenderness and infinite value he feels for all of us. Infact I would go as far as to suggest that the reason you find it so vile is because God put a sense of the beauty and precioussness of human beings in your soul in the first place.
What do you think?
There are a lot but here is one that sticks in my craw:
Original Sin. Now there is a nice lovely concept only a true forgiving god would have invented, eh.
Hey Kid, I am your father, yea do I verily say unto you, thou art vile from thy very birth. Thou must accept the lord jesus christ as your personal savior or thou be damned to bur ...[text shortened]... ble kids get that rot at a very young age and no wonder they fall into the trap of christianity.
"The God I believe in is not the God you don't believe in" CS LEWIS
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Originally posted by lucifershammerPerhaps you should avoid such insufferable snotnosery; while technically you are correct, his context showed he was referring to Jesus' conception. You can't expect everyone on Planet Earth to make the hair splitting distinctions that the RCC does. Also if you want to be hypertechnical, if he was referring to THE Immaculate Conception he would have capitalized it, so he must not have been. Correct? Since Jesus was conceived without Original Sin his was an "immaculate conception" as well.
Actually, Jesus was born of Mary through the Virgin Birth. The Immaculate Conception refers to the conception of Mary herself - I strongly doubt your Methodist church would teach it.
Perhaps you didn't learn as much about Christianity as you thought you did.
Originally posted by no1marauderYou're not stalking LH, are you marauder ?
Perhaps you should avoid such insufferable snotnosery; while technically you are correct, his context showed he was referring to Jesus' conception. You can't expect everyone on Planet Earth to make the hair splitting distinctions that the RCC does. Also if you want to be hypertechnical, if he was referring to THE Immaculate Conception he would have capit ...[text shortened]... ? Since Jesus was conceived without Original Sin his was an "immaculate conception" as well.
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Originally posted by ivanhoeNo, he wasn't as my post points out. As sonhouse didn't use capital letters to refer to "The Immaculate Conception" and since Jesus' conception was just as much an "immaculate conception" as Mary's, it's quite possible that a Protestant pastor MIGHT use that term in referring to Jesus' birth. Not all of them adhere to the nitpicking distinctions favored by LH and the RCC.
LH was simply correct. You are simply whining ....
And "whining" is an asinine term to use to refer to my post. The tone of LH's post was insulting and demeaning; the fact that he avoids certain more direct terminology than others do does not make it less so.
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Originally posted by no1marauderAre you rebuking LH for being insulting and demeaning ? Is this really coming from you, loudmouth ?
No, he wasn't as my post points out. As sonhouse didn't use capital letters to refer to "The Immaculate Conception" and since Jesus' conception was just as much an "immaculate conception" as Mary's, it's quite possible that a Protestant pastor MIGHT use that term in referring to Jesus' birth. Not all of them adhere to the nitpicking distinctions favored he avoids certain more direct terminology than others do does not make it less so.
Marauder: " .... the fact that he avoids certain more direct terminology than others ... "
Are you referring to yourself here ? Really, marauder ......