My Philosophy

Overview

I am a committed Christian who is accepting of others' beliefs and faith.

• I am ecumenical.
• I believe there is truth (as well as error) in all religions.
• I believe even the non-religious should be treated with respect, dignity, and love.

We must be tolerant of others' views, however, I am repulsed by the immoral mores and values of our modern society. For more: Vices | Tolerance

Featured article: My Visions and Ideas

Related article: Apostolic Reformation

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God . . .

I was once an athiest but I now believe in God.

Leo Tolstoy, in his book A Confession, tells the amazing story of his journey from being a committed atheist to believing in God. His feeling of despair in the face of the meaninglessness of life led him to God. If God can convert a hardened atheist He can convert anyone.

But not all will respond favoribly to God's promptings of the soul. Some will reject God and ultimately spend eternity in hell. I have no way of knowing who is in which category; I can only pray that God saves everyone.

God interacts with everyone throughout their lives and especially at the moment of death. I suspect there are many deathbed conversions we don't even know about because the person was unable to communicate their conversion to anyone.

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Christian . . .

The gospel message of Christianity offers the hope of eternal salvation for all humankind.

However, this gospel has been corrupted, twisted, added to, subtracted from, distorted, and used for political and personal gain throughout the centuries. Examples of false so-called gospel messages . . .

• Only Christians end up in heaven.
• Only members of my denomination are Christians.
• The word/faith, health/wealth teaching.
• You must speak in tongues to be filled with the Spirit.
• The Bible is the only teaching authority (Sola Scriptura).
• Works have no role in salvation (Sola Fide).
• That you are saved by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ at a moment of time during an altar call or by reciting the sinner's prayer.
• Once saved, always saved.
• My denomination is the true church.

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Ecumenical . . .

I am accepting of all Christian religions, denominations, and communities that (1) accept the Bible as inspired, inerrant, infallible; (2) accept the foundational doctrines expressed in the Nicene creed; and (3) reject the tenets of liberal Christianity (by liberal I mean rejection of the essential Christian doctrines). All these are true Christianity. All believing members of these groups who are faith-filled, virtuous, and holy are truly members of the body of Christ and fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. For more: One Church | I Believe

I am saddened by the anti-them mentality taught in many churches and believed by many Christians (and I am repentent that I used to share this mentality).

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Interfaith . . .

God shines His light on the world through all religions. But not all these teachings are true. Examples of untrue teachings:

• Reincarnation
• Spirit is good, the material world is bad.
• Jesus Christ was nothing more that a good man, a good teacher.
• The goal of life is for our soul to become absorbed into the One Mind (and we lose our identity in the process).
• The body is not part of who we are, we are pure spirit.
• There is no evil.
• The material world is merely an illusion, a dream.
• God is merely the sum total of all that is (pantheism, panentheism).
• God created the world but now remains aloof from it (Deism).
• Sickness, disease and death are illusions (Christian Science).
• We can become gods just as Jesus did (Mormonism).
• There are many avatars (incarnations of deity) other than Jesus (Hinduism).
• True religion is cultural, not spiritual.
• Connecting with the dark spirits is not a bad thing.
• All spiritual paths ultimately lead to the same goal.
• Sinful deeds have no effect on our eternal state.

God wishes to abundantly bless everyone and does so in all religions and spiritual systems. God desires the salvation of everyone and is forgiving and merciful.

God has interacted with all people throughout the ages and the various religions are the result of this interaction with God. However, the message is often distorted. Without the teaching authority of the Christian Church there is no way to know which teaching is true and which is false.

Article originally written Sept 3, 2009.

Statement of Faith | About the author

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