forum Ask the Christians

Started April 06, 2020 by @Althalosian-is-the-father book

tune

aaaaay have some fun socially acceptable ancient Greek pedophilia in case your day was going too well

Can a church ban someone from their congregation? Isn't that, like, against Christianity?

They can prevent someone from being an official member, but idk about ban from the congregation entirely unless they pose danger for some reason.

On a professional group gathering program basis, yes I think a church can ban someone from their congregation, but I think it would be unlikely unless under the grounds of something like vandalism, or a stalker, or something creepy or dangerous to someone else.
I know my church has a door guard at least on youth nights so people who aren't there for the program don't come in and vandalize the church, because that is a thing that can happen. (Never seen it happen but I've heard of it from multiple sources.)

As far as the against the religeon thing… I guess that depends on what branch of christianity, (There are different kinds of churches that practice different versions/interpretations of the same faith,) A couple examples are Mennonite, and Catholic, (I haven't done catholic, but I've been in a few mennonite churches, I've also been in pentacostal ones and at least from a kid's POV, they are run pretty differently.

I know my church has a door guard at least on youth nights so people who aren't there for the program don't come in and vandalize the church, because that is a thing that can happen. (Never seen it happen but I've heard of it from multiple sources.)

Yup, mine has at least one guard who may or may not be armed (I don't remember honestly) from what I've heard

I know my church has a door guard at least on youth nights so people who aren't there for the program don't come in and vandalize the church, because that is a thing that can happen. (Never seen it happen but I've heard of it from multiple sources.)

Yup, mine has at least one guard who may or may not be armed (I don't remember honestly) from what I've heard

Ours is usually a youth leader or the friendly janitor. No one is ever armed…
Though I do know the building has security cameras..

A lot of people at my church have military training of some kind and I personally have enough rage to throw myself at any threat although I'm really just a coward at heart but my life is very boring so I like to think I have the bravery of a YA dystopian protagonist

(There are different kinds of churches that practice different versions/interpretations of the same faith,) A couple examples are Mennonite, and Catholic

Mennonites and Catholics are the same faith? Are you sure about that?

I'm not sure,
My stepfather comes from an Amish Mennonite family and he used to be the main decider of what church my family went to for a long time,
My mom comes from a pentacostal family, and we went to Pentacostal churches and Mennonite churches a lot, I don't think they're separate faiths exactly, since the gist of the teachings was always the same. but there are subtle differences between them.

Do Mennonites believe in The Eucharist as the Body of Christ?

Can you explain what that term means? I'm honestly not sure of it's meaning…. or how to answer your question…. (I've never heard the term Eucharist before, and if I have I wasn't paying attention.)

Eucharist = communion

I'd like to touch on the whole homosexuality thing from a few days back. Not religious, so this is mainly based on what I've heard about history as a whole.

In my opinion S & G most likely does refer to r**e rather than the 'sins' of being gay. Seeing as the bible goes way back, it was likely that angels (as most other things with any power back then) were viewed as male (thanks to ancient misogyny). The passage itself probably did have nothing to do with homosexuality originally, but the series of men translating the book probably made it so because r^^e wasn't exactly frowned upon way back then and men viewed themselves as superior to women (usually in the way that women were weak-minded and should bend to their will).

But whatever the case, the Old Testament isn't the strongest place to make an argument against the gays.

Eucharist = communion

That! Yes, communion has happened at every church I've been to… Mennonite, Pentacostal, Lutheran, (I think even Evangelical is one my family has gone to)
The one really Iconic communion thing I remember is when they did washing of feet as part of communion, (that was in a Mennonite church back when I was ten)

Question about the homosexuality thing: Why do Christians condemn the Entire LGBTQ community, when the only part of it that is frowned upon in the bible is gay sex? Not gay love, just sex?? So why do most Christian people not like trans or other LGBTQ folk?

I'd like to touch on the whole homosexuality thing from a few days back. Not religious, so this is mainly based on what I've heard about history as a whole.

In my opinion S & G most likely does refer to r**e rather than the 'sins' of being gay. Seeing as the bible goes way back, it was likely that angels (as most other things with any power back then) were viewed as male (thanks to ancient misogyny). The passage itself probably did have nothing to do with homosexuality originally, but the series of men translating the book probably made it so because r^^e wasn't exactly frowned upon way back then and men viewed themselves as superior to women (usually in the way that women were weak-minded and should bend to their will).

Just wanna bring something up here on the sexist part of earth's history.
If you look back in Genesis, (not sure where) back to where Adam and Eve are cast out of the garden, part of what god proclaims there is something along the lines of "Man will always be stronger than women" and stuff like that,
Basically what I'm trying to point out is that the inherent sexism in our culture dates back to the beginning.
I would bring up the scripture to back me up, but my device isn't the greatest for looking stuff up…

I'd like to touch on the whole homosexuality thing from a few days back. Not religious, so this is mainly based on what I've heard about history as a whole.

In my opinion S & G most likely does refer to r**e rather than the 'sins' of being gay. Seeing as the bible goes way back, it was likely that angels (as most other things with any power back then) were viewed as male (thanks to ancient misogyny). The passage itself probably did have nothing to do with homosexuality originally, but the series of men translating the book probably made it so because r^^e wasn't exactly frowned upon way back then and men viewed themselves as superior to women (usually in the way that women were weak-minded and should bend to their will).

Just wanna bring something up here on the sexist part of earth's history.
If you look back in Genesis, (not sure where) back to where Adam and Eve are cast out of the garden, part of what god proclaims there is something along the lines of "Man will always be stronger than women" and stuff like that,
Basically what I'm trying to point out is that the inherent sexism in our culture dates back to the beginning.
I would bring up the scripture to back me up, but my device isn't the greatest for looking stuff up…

DUDE the whole bible is so fricking sexist. So much of it is like "????????" like it basically says that women aren't allowed to be church leaders and stuff. So stupid

I'm not sure how to counter that, but I will point out that not all of the Bible is sexist.
For starters I recommend looking up the Story of Esther, (there's a book of the Bible on her I think)
And then Ruth, (another book of the Bible.)
Then try the story of Hannah, (somewhere in first or second Kings)
And while you're at it look at Deborah, (somewhere in Judges)
Then try the story of Sarai and Abram, (later known as Sarah and Abraham, ) on one of their journeys to Egypt. (Not sure where it is, but someone else may be able to tell you)
And I forget what her name is but it's somewhere in exodus when the Israelites are taking down Ninevah, there's a lady that helps the Israelite spies.
And also take a look at Moses' mother.
And Issac's wife. (Story of Abraham)
This list of stories is just a piece of some of the most powerful stories in the Bible, and they star women,
Culture may be sexist, but the Bible isn't. There are probably a few other stories I missed, but those are some key ones, and they all teach huge lessons about faith and patience.

I also can't think of any part of the Bible that said a woman couldn't be a priest. (I may be wrong though).
And if that is true, then at the very least I can tell you that there were important women in the Bible, they may not have gotten the respect they deserve, but they're there just as much as the men.
Some key facts you may wanna know,
Two of Jesus very close none disciple friends were women.
It was (I believe) one of those same girls that discovered the empty tomb when Jesus was ressurected.
If it weren't for the courage of a woman, Moses never would've lived, and Israel would've been enslaved in Egypt longer than they had been.
A woman was a major factor in the quarrell between Jacob and Esau, (their own mother, and parents playing favourites)
A woman made the hard choice of giving up the child she prayed for to the lords wishes, (said kid is one of the most well known prophets, (Samuel))

^^ if I remember correctly from what my pastor mentioned briefly (oof, but it's not commonly discussed why they're there, at least as far as I know), most of the women's stories serve to say, "look, the women in Jesus's ancestry are important too."

^^ if I remember correctly from what my pastor mentioned briefly (oof, but it's not commonly discussed why they're there, at least as far as I know), most of the women's stories serve to say, "look, the women in Jesus's ancestry are important too."

They also tell stories of faith, perseverance, trust, and hope.
And a good portion of the stories I mentioned, those ladies aren't even related to the messiah.

Also, the first people to see Jesus back from the dead were women. Which also serves as more evidence that the disciples weren't lying, as a woman, or several women's, testimony wasn't worth jack, especially against a man's. So why wouldn't they choose to fabricate their story in a way that would make them more reliable (by having MEN see him and tell everyone)?

^^ if I remember correctly from what my pastor mentioned briefly (oof, but it's not commonly discussed why they're there, at least as far as I know), most of the women's stories serve to say, "look, the women in Jesus's ancestry are important too."

They also tell stories of faith, perseverance, trust, and hope.
And a good portion of the stories I mentioned, those ladies aren't even related to the messiah.

Yes!!

Just wanna bring something up here on the sexist part of earth's history.
If you look back in Genesis, (not sure where) back to where Adam and Eve are cast out of the garden, part of what god proclaims there is something along the lines of "Man will always be stronger than women" and stuff like that,
Basically what I'm trying to point out is that the inherent sexism in our culture dates back to the beginning.
I would bring up the scripture to back me up, but my device isn't the greatest for looking stuff up…

I think the verse you're referring to is Genesis 3:16. It's where God is punishing Eve. Pain in childbirth (not the part in question. We all know what that means), and this is the part where it gets tricky. I'm just gonna plop some translations of that part here.
NIV: "Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you."
New Living Translation: "And you will desire to control your husband, but he will rule over you.”
English Standard Version: "Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.”
Contemporary English Version: "But you will still desire your husband, and he will rule over you."

So they're all worded a little differently that makes it unclear to me whether it means "You'll want his kids but if he says no, deal" or something more like "he wants what's best for you, so listen to him."
It's not saying that men are always stronger than women at all. If anything, we are simply different kinds of strong. Scientifically, men are built with more muscle, but we deal with childbirth (ouch), and typically have more mental stress from families.

Just gonna steal from my mom here on the reasoning…
The way the verse and it's meaning were explained to me, is that it basically means, the the woman will desire to care and nurture her husband, but the man in the relationship will go for power and control in the relationship.
That in and of itself results in an unbalanced relationship, and can turn abusive, disrespectful, and it's where objectification comes from too…
.
.
Now I could very well be wrong, or at least way off.. But that's what I was taught, and I'm willing to listen to other opinions.

I haven't really been taught anything about it, but yes, it seems pretty obvious that it can turn into abuse and objectification, and is paraphrased in such a way as to justify it or explain why the Bible condones abuse and sexism. However, I don't think "going for power and control" has exactly the right connotation. I think it's more like, "He married you so he should want what's best for you, which means you should listen to him, because he asks me about decisions."
Sexism is often interpreted as "We don't have exactly the same role, therefore we are not equal", rather than "I'm not being treated with the respect I deserve as a human being" or "these gender roles in particular are very harmful and wrong" (please note that I am not trying to say that women and men are treated equally in many cases, because they absolutely are).

Then again, I'm not very educated on this and it's very late so I might just be spouting bull.

Also I should say more plainly, having different roles does not necessarily mean inequality, but it's often used by men to justify themselves in not respecting women

I'm late as fuck but I just wanted to put in that my church teaches that premarital sex = bad, but sex is a good thing. It was given to us as a gift from God, after all. Sex does not inherently have to be for procreation. It's definitely acceptable just for pleasure, but only within the confines of marriage.

Also on the "Bible is sexist" thing, I wouldn't say it is. The culture of that time was sexist, yes, and the Bible is simply relaying to us what it was like in those times. Jesus himself is always kind and respectful to women regardless of class, sins, whatever, and treats them as equals as opposed to a lesser person as most men of that time would. That was one of the 'socially weird' things he did that set him apart from other people.