In Reply to: but then... posted by porceleindoll on September 21, 2003 at 17:35:57:
PD,
Many people who were "raised as Christians" but switched to faiths that are in many cases diametrically opposed to Christianity were never truely Christians. I went to church with my parents every Sunday, and my grandfather was a Methodist minister, but I didn't know Jesus in any personal and supernatural way until years later.
Heck, I never even heard the simple message of salvation, or ever saw any altar-calls in all my years in the Methodist church. I say this not to slam that denomination, but to point out that many people give themselves the lable "Christian" but it is more of a cultural or class identity than a true belief and lifestyle.
When I was with the fam in Latin America, I met countless people who when asked if they knew Jesus Christ as their personal savior, would reply, "My grandfather was Catholic, my father was Catholic, so I am Catholic!" Never mind that the guy who claimed this was a pimp or drug dealer, and hadn't set foot in a Catholic church since he was a child!
Do you believe for a moment that so-called Catholics and Protestants killing each other in northern Ireland are really disciples of those two segments of Christianity? I don't, because the Bible tells me "By their fruits you shall know them."
PD, do you remember what Christ told his disciples about false Christians coming before him at judgement day? They will be saying, Lord, didn't we do great and mighty works in your name? Jesus said he would tell them, "Depart from me you workers of iniquity, I never knew you."
That's the difference between a person with a Christian label, and a true born-again disciple of Christ.
Now as to your acceptance of bits and pieces of various faiths:
Christianity is one of the few major faiths that claim to be the only path to God. I'm sure you know plenty of Bible verses which establish this doctrine, so I won't go into that.
Bhudism, Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, etc. have beliefs that are in total contradiction with each other. God is not the author of confusion. They cannot all be right.
If you have three teachers claiming that 2 + 2= three different answers, you wouldn't say, "Oh, they are all good answers." No, they may all be wrong, but they cannot all be correct. One may be correct, but not two or three.
Christ claimed to be the only path to salvation, and that he and God are one. Moslems say God has no son, and that Christ is only a phrophet. Can both beliefs be true? Of course not.
Alan