#Denominationalism

[adventism-atheism-orthodoxy-me]

This Verse Secretly Undermines All of Christianity...

I just saw this and thought I would process it on my own.

This YouTuber doesn't sound like he's explored much beyond mainstream Western Christianity. He makes the bold statement that EVERY Christian sect finds indispensable the idea that Christ died on the Cross "for our sins". Period.

For the longest time I found that challenging too. He goes on to talk about many of the same things I've asked, "Why couldn't God just forgive us outright? Why must he go through a generational pageant to do something the God of the Universe could have done of his own accord in the first place?"

You can say this is a dumb question. I've been told this many times.

Yet I have never been the only one asking this.

Many, if not all Atheists ask this question. Frankly, many "Christian" answers sound a little unhinged.

Now, I don't think that his examples necessarily contradict the prevailing point of view though. All anyone has to do is look at the banking industry to see that credit on future earnings is a valid payment method. Now it's true that modern banking, and especially credit, wasn't developed until the European Jews, unable to make a living any other way, started lending during the medieval period. Jesuits came up with the idea of insurance, which didn't technically fall under the prohibition against usury. And with ongoing innovation, modern financial markets developed.

None of these, of course, would have been understood by the local people of Jesus' time and place.

What was understood was life and death.

And this is where I found my peace.

Sins can easily be forgiven, but sickness and eventual death? That's a whole other nut to crack. Now, to be clear, unfortunately even the most traditional Christian communities have started to obsess about how SIN must be atoned!

But there is a strain in the oldest Christian traditions that it wasn't primarily sin that was destroyed on the cross, but rather death, disease, corruption (of which sin is a derivation to be sure, but not the point).

Now it's easy to look around and say - "Look! it didn't work." I myself have had to say good bye to both my parents over the last several months.

However, there is a resurrection that is promised. And if Christ has done what he said he did, then there WILL be a general resurrection.

The key is to be prepared for that resurrection. Now we could go on about which denomination is best prepared, but I have little faith in denominationalism. I think it's a means to conquer and divide the faithful, pitting follower against follower. Soon the God who's being worshiped isn't the most High God, but the Deceiver who encourages us all to call each other heretics. I do not think most "Christians" are Christian, but rather following their own wisdom (1 Timothy 6:3-5, 2 Thessalonians 2:11, Matthew 7:13-14, Matthew 24:11).

Now I may be a false teacher myself for thinking such a thing and putting it out there, but I have faith that God will know his own. And while he loves the rest, and has given them life, that life will be so much less for the fact that they reject what he's given them.

I find the idea of a river of fire helpful - Moses and the Glory of God (Exodus 33:20-23), speaks to the idea that to human senses, God is Fire. The Story of the Three Holy Youths (Daniel 3) has also been seen as an illustration of man abiding in the presence of fire, as a proxy for God, unharmed. Pentecost is God's fire experienced by the faithful after his resurrection. How will Gods fire be experienced by the unfaithful?

I have no idea, but I doubt that it will be pleasant (Luke 16:19-31).

In short, I feel this video failed to land it's point. There's enough diversity in Christianity to survive this argument, though I do not think that most modern Christians are open to my resolution.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have mercy upon me, a sinner.

[bills-bible-basics]

Denominationalism Graphic 09 #Christian #BibleStudy #Jesus "Man Worship - Personality Cult Worship" KJV Bible Verse List: https://www.billkochman.com/VerseLists/verse263.html "Avoid Arguing" KJV Bible Verse List: https://www.billkochman.com/VerseLists/verse002.html Article: "Should Christians Engage in Doctrinal Debates?": https://www.billkochman.com/Articles/Doctrinal-Debate-01.html "Doctrinal and Spiritual Unity" KJV Bible Verse List: https://www.billkochman.com/VerseLists/verse013.html "One Blood Through Faith in Christ" KJV Bible Verse List: https://www.billkochman.com/VerseLists/verse550.html "One Body But Many Members" KJV Bible Verse List: https://www.billkochman.com/VerseLists/verse369.html "Broken Down the Middle Wall of Partition" KJV Bible Verse List: https://www.billkochman.com/VerseLists/verse463.html "Spirit of Truth" KJV Bible Verse List: https://www.billkochman.com/VerseLists/verse294.html "Led by the Spirit in Our Understanding" KJV Bible Verse List: https://www.billkochman.com/VerseLists/verse479.html "Taught by No Man" KJV Bible Verse List: https://www.billkochman.com/VerseLists/verse465.html "Taught by Revelation of the Holy Spirit" KJV Bible Verse List: https://www.billkochman.com/VerseLists/verse319.html Article: "Humility in Our Understanding of God's Word": https://www.billkochman.com/Articles/Humility-in-Our-Understanding-01.html Article: "Exposing the Tactics of the Enemy!": https://www.billkochman.com/Articles/expose-1.html "False Doctrine" KJV Bible Verse List: https://www.billkochman.com/VerseLists/verse016.html Article: "Elijah: Where Are the True Prophets of God?": https://www.billkochman.com/Articles/elijah-1.html Article: "Mary Worship, Christianity and Roman Catholicism": https://www.billkochman.com/Articles/marywor1.html Article: "Where Are the First Century Churches?": https://www.billkochman.com/Articles/frstcen1.html "Our True Spiritual Temple" KJV Bible Verse List: https://www.billkochman.com/VerseLists/verse056.html https://www.billkochman.com/Blog/index.php/denominationalism-graphic-09/?Denominationalism%20Graphic%2009

[superbdonutpoetry]

What are the World's Churches Teaching?

If Israel’s prophetic program is in effect today, along with signs and wonders, and people are being healed, both mentally and physically, why are the hospitals and mental institutions filled to capacity and why do we have physicians for every disease and ailment known to mankind? Are the hospitals and mental institutions full because people have little or no faith? If this is the case, then how…

[preacheroftruthblog]

It Never Was Your Grandfather's Church -- Patrick Swayne

Recently, a news article reported how a church that formerly identified as a “Church of Christ” abandoned this designation, adopting instead a generic name akin to the numerous evangelical community churches that dot the denominational landscape of the United States.1  With this change in branding came other changes to bring the church in line both with other aspects of the community church model…

[normfields]

The Postmodern Attack on Biblical Ethics

It is not possible to live the faithful Christian life while compromising with the Postmodern ideology. Postmodernism is explicitly opposed the biblical ethics. https://rumble.com/v3oclxg-the-postmodern-attack-on-biblical-ethics.html

[andrewpcannon]

Humility

Doctrine does not divide, pride does. Scripture speaks much to humility, and I fear we dislike humility so much that we mostly ignore what Scripture tells us about our own ambition. christoa.com

[justarandombrit]

Now I know How the Grunch Cribbed Christmas

[62-cents]

its not easy being a (culturally catholic but denominationally who knows) christian and having both of your favorite superhero characters be catholic men who beat people up but someone has to do it

[idylls-of-the-divine-romance]

Nonbelievers/Exchristians: Christianity is so stupid. You're telling me I can be a murderer or a r*pist but if I just *believe* then I can be saved? Give me a break.

Paul: Actually, anyone who practices sexual immorality (fornication, pornagraphy, rape, incest, adultery, etc) and/or perversion (trafficking, prostituting, molesting, and raping children and other weaker individuals), idolatry, thievery and/or fraudulence, covetousness and/or greed, uncontrolled binges and addictions, abuse (including verbal abuse and slander, as well as physical abuse brought on by drunkenness), orgies, extortion, impurity (thoughts that objectify others), debauchery (deeds that objectify others), witchcraft and/or manipulation (especially of others through drugs), hostility and hatred, senseless and contentious discord produced from quarreling, resentment, outbursts of rage, selfishness, sectarianism and denominationalism, murder, lawlessness and evildoing, rebellion, ungodliness, sin (moral failure to love God and Humanity), vicious inconsideration of sacredness, profane defilement of what is holy, patricide and matricide, kidnapping and trading slaves, deceitfulness, and perjury will not take part in the Kingdom of God and it's "riches".

Nonbelievers/Exchristians: Ewww noooo, Christians are so judgemental!!!1! You just want to control me.

[caspercryptid]

Hey. Remember you can celebrate the holidays non religiously and non denominationally. Decide that December 26th is going to be the day you buy lots of reindeer statues on sale. Decide its going to be reindeer statue day. Do this every year. Or pick a movie you like, doesn't have to be seasonal but it could be winter themed, rewatch that every year. Make your favorite food with it. Invite friends who don't have stuff going on for the holidays. Cook for them. Get on itch.io to find a game to play w your friends or buy a board game. If you don't look forward to this time of year you can give yourself something to look forward to. You can establish your own traditions. You can do this any time. Make this time of year a time of year you look forward to by doing things you enjoy doing. I believe in u

[wild3rpeople]

🎉Well, it's a holly jolly, non-denominationally, good golly holiday time🎉

[bills-bible-basics]

Denominationalism Graphic 05 #Christian #BibleStudy #Jesus "Man Worship - Personality Cult Worship" KJV Bible Verse List: https://www.billkochman.com/VerseLists/verse263.html "Avoid Arguing" KJV Bible Verse List: https://www.billkochman.com/VerseLists/verse002.html Article: "Should Christians Engage in Doctrinal Debates?": https://www.billkochman.com/Articles/Doctrinal-Debate-01.html "Doctrinal and Spiritual Unity" KJV Bible Verse List: https://www.billkochman.com/VerseLists/verse013.html "One Blood Through Faith in Christ" KJV Bible Verse List: https://www.billkochman.com/VerseLists/verse550.html "One Body But Many Members" KJV Bible Verse List: https://www.billkochman.com/VerseLists/verse369.html "Broken Down the Middle Wall of Partition" KJV Bible Verse List: https://www.billkochman.com/VerseLists/verse463.html "Spirit of Truth" KJV Bible Verse List: https://www.billkochman.com/VerseLists/verse294.html "Led by the Spirit in Our Understanding" KJV Bible Verse List: https://www.billkochman.com/VerseLists/verse479.html "Taught by No Man" KJV Bible Verse List: https://www.billkochman.com/VerseLists/verse465.html "Taught by Revelation of the Holy Spirit" KJV Bible Verse List: https://www.billkochman.com/VerseLists/verse319.html Article: "Humility in Our Understanding of God's Word": https://www.billkochman.com/Articles/Humility-in-Our-Understanding-01.html Article: "Exposing the Tactics of the Enemy!": https://www.billkochman.com/Articles/expose-1.html "False Doctrine" KJV Bible Verse List: https://www.billkochman.com/VerseLists/verse016.html Article: "Elijah: Where Are the True Prophets of God?": https://www.billkochman.com/Articles/elijah-1.html Article: "Mary Worship, Christianity and Roman Catholicism": https://www.billkochman.com/Articles/marywor1.html Article: "Where Are the First Century Churches?": https://www.billkochman.com/Articles/frstcen1.html "Our True Spiritual Temple" KJV Bible Verse List: https://www.billkochman.com/VerseLists/verse056.html https://www.billkochman.com/Blog/index.php/denominationalism-graphic-05/?Denominationalism%20Graphic%2005

[superbdonutpoetry]

Religion is the Light of the god of this World

The reasons why I do not entertain nominal (denominational) Christianity and refuse to attend, or be a part of their assemblies: They take or profess to own what God gave solely to the nation of Israel, namely the Old and New Testaments. They ignorantly believe because Jesus died for their sins, they have to be grateful and repent of those very sins He died for simply because they put…

[themoleperson]

Cellar Symbolism in Arsenic and Old Lace (the play!!) (spoiler warning)

okay so. for context, i am playing Mortimer in my school's production of Arsenic and Old Lace, and while thinking about my blocking for the show, i realised a fun bit of potential symbolism. (spoiler warning for what's below this :3)

i'd also like to note that i make a lot of reference to "madness" within this little piece of writing. this is meant more to be in the literary sense than the psychological sense; after all, madness as a concept has some very ableist roots. however, it is the best word and the best frame of reference i can think of.

ALSO CW FOR POISON AND MURDER AND STUFF

(image credits: https://broadwayplayhome.com/shows/arsenic-and-old-lace.htm)

The Good Stuff

a little more context. this weird essay thing is not a replacement for seeing or reading the show. i do not explain the plot well. this is to serve a purpose. please read it (hopefully not the racist version) and/or watch the movie if it interests you :33

basically, if you're not familiar, this play follows dramatic critic Mortimer Brewster and his whacky family drama. his aunts (mother figures basically) kill old men and bury them in the cellar, his brother thinks he's Teddy Roosevelt, and his other brother is a murderer. there's a whole theme of madness throughout the play. the protagonist believes that his family is cursed with insanity, and as the play goes on, all the fun family hijinks have Mortimer feeling quite unwell and slightly insane. luckily, at the end of the play, he finds out he's a bastard and the day is saved, but i'd like to more deeply explore this theme of madness... especially as it relates to the cellar.

as mentioned earlier, the cellar is a body disposal site. this came to be after a man died peacefully in the care of the Brewster sisters, and wanting to bury the man, they used a lock that Teddy built for the "canal" (he believes the cellar to be Panama), bury the body, and give him a full denominationally-appropriate funeral. but the cellar also has a more interesting narrative purpose. i have noticed that every single Brewster enters that cellar at one point in the play, save for one man: Mortimer Brewster.

i posit that the cellar itself represents the Brewster madness, and every character that enters that cellar has some sort of close connection to it. the aunts, who poison people, and Teddy, their unwitting accomplice, all go down their multiple times over the course of the play. they are tainted by the Brewster madness, are participants in the bloodshed. Jonathan also goes down there, joined by his accomplice Einstein (its a long story). he is a notable murderer and enters the cellar to hide a different dead body; he, and Einstein, are participants in the Brewster madness.

this metaphor also, if you stretch it a little bit, apply to Elaine. Elaine Harper, Mortimer's fiancée as of the beginning of the play (#justice for elaine, mortimer is a dick to her), is at one point dragged down into the cellar by Jonathan, because she enters the house and discovers him. i propose that this symbolises Elaine being dragged into the Brewster madness, as much as Mortimer tried to keep her from it.

Mortimer, however, is one of several characters that does not enter the cellar. he interacts with it often, shutting the door, or shouting into it to call somebody up, but he never enters it. why is this notable, though, if other characters avoid the cellar? because Mortimer is (supposedly) a Brewster. he should be engaging with the madness, should be down in that cellar. but he's not. he stays aboveground, because he is not really a Brewster, not truly a participant in this madness. he is a bastard. (sidenote: my favorite line in the play is when i get to just scream "IM A BASTARD!!!!" its so fun).

as for the other non-cellared characters, it's interesting to see how they interact with the cellar without going inside it. my favorite example of this is Lt. Rooney. Rooney is confronted several times with characters telling him there are 13 bodies in the cellar, but he refuses to believe it. he thinks the whole thing is crazy, doesn't believe the story for a second. this comes to a head when the aunts try to invite him into the cellar to show him the graves. he almost goes, almost engages with the madness, but Mortimer stops him.

you may disagree with my interpretation, which is totally awesome and actually i really wanna hear how y'all interpret the play because i love it so much and i have NO ONE to discuss it with other than my fellow actors. i just noticed it, thought it was cool, and tried to analyse it because analysing things is fun and i like thinking about stuff to much. "no the curtains weren't just blue, they were a 'deep, melancholy' blue, and that says something about the text", and all that stuff.

anywaysss, i hope whoever reads this enjoys it. i may do more analysis stuff like this in the future; i have some good stuff cooking on a book i've been reading in class called Where the Crawdads Sing. thank you for reading!!!!

[wisegirlandseaweedbrainforever]

Podcaster: Ecclesiastes, a book that in the west isn't read all that often.

Me having grown up in the goth side of non-denominationalism, and current inmate of tumblr.com:

[man-down-in-hatchet-town]

MY BABY'S FULLY RELEASED ON YOUTUBE!

They grow up so fast. *sniff sniff*

But anyways if you were waiting until all the parts are released to watch it, now is your Holly Jolly Non-Denominationally Good Golly Holiday chance!

(warning: Watching may cause feelings of mirth, incessant use of the phrase "holly jolly non-denominationally good golly holiday," and an even deeper love for Corey Dorris. Press play at own risk.)

(Please press play it's so fun)