Abe F. March

Wikepedia says:

“A Christian    is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament. "Christian" derives from the Koine Greek word (Christos) Christ, a translation of the Biblical Hebrew term Messiah.[1]

Central to the Christian faith is love or Agape. Christians also believe Jesus is the Messiah prophesied in the Hebrew Bible, the Son of God, and the saviour of mankind from their sins.[2] Most Christians believe in the doctrine of the Trinity ("tri-unity"), a description of God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, which retains the monotheistic belief of Christianity's Abrahamic heritage through an ineffable confluence. This includes the vast majority of the churches in Christianity. A minority of Christian churches are Nontrinitarians.

The term "Christian" is also used adjectivally to describe anything associated with Christianity, or in a proverbial sense "all that is noble, and good, and Christ-like."[3] It is also used as a label to identify people who associate with the cultural aspects of Christianity, irrespective of personal religious beliefs or practices.[4]

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Personal notes:

There are about 21 major world religions.  The two largest are Christianity and Islam.  Estimates give Christianity 2.1 billion and Islam with 1.3 billion with Secular/Irreligious/Agnostic/Atheist 1.1 billion (of which approx. 13.5 million are Jewish.)  

Epiphany:  1. The manifestations of Christ to the Magi. 2. Any manifestation of a god or demigod.  (Feeling) A sudden realization of a great truth

Prophet: (religion) A prophet, from the Greek word προφήτης profitis meaning "foreteller", is an individual who is claimed to have been contacted by the supernatural or the divine, and serves as an intermediary with humanity, delivering this newfound knowledge from the supernatural entity to other people.  

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Confused by religion?

From my early childhood I have wondered about the teachings of my church concerning the bible, the proclaimed “Word of God”.  Sending missionaries to foreign lands was felt necessary to convert the heathens to Christianity and save them from hell.  I often wondered about those who never got the message.  Did they go to hell due to ignorance?  The answer given was that if they didn’t know the truth, God would not punish them.  In my view, if that were the case, then ignorance was a good thing.  Once the people were told what was sinful, only then did they have a problem.  

The second thing that puzzled me was the punishment of hell.  If we are God’s children, then it follows that God is our parent.  How could a parent condemn his children to everlasting punishment in hell?  The Bible tells us that "God is Love" (1 John 4:8).

The most well known verse is John 3:16, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

I have read numerous books about religion.  The study of religion although enlightening served to elicite more questions.  A book by Karen Armstrong: “A History of God” is revealing and provides an historical look at the three major religions:  Christianity, Islam and Judaism.  Who or what is God appears to have confounded men throughout the ages.  Icons have been used to help with God visualization.  At the same time, God is expressed by some as essence (an abstract entity or a phenomenon).  Christ, the son of God, is visualized in human form and that appears to help with visualization in prayer, when talking to God.

The inspired word of God is accepted as God talking to man, revealing the sacred word.  How did God talk?  Was it with a voice, an epiphany, a dream or simply a strong feeling/ inspiration?  

Moses is said to have received his commandments from God.  It is said that God talked to Mohammad and he recorded what God revealed to him that led to him writing the Koran, and.  that made Mohammad a messenger of God (Allah) - a Prophet, as was Moses..  It seems that anyone claiming to have been contacted by God is a Prophet.     

How can it be proven that God talked to someone?  Do we take that on faith?   

When a President claims that God told him to invade a country, can we believe that and does that make him a Prophet, or is profit the objective?  

Keeping in mind that there were many Gods in ancient history, I presume that man created his own vision of God that he followed.  For some that God is one of wrath and vengeance.  The Christian God in the form of Jesus is proclaimed to be a loving God, a forgiving God, a God that turns the other cheek.  Each of the three major religions claims one God - presumably the same God, yet their actions often suggest that they worship a God of wrath – not forgiveness.

Communicating with God is another problem.  How does one communicate with nothingness?  If God is a spirit, what is visualized?  I can appreciate that an Icon provides a visual aid.  An Icon of death however, as with the crucifix, is a negative image.  An icon of life would be more positive.  The Eucharist ceremony, symbolically eating the body and drinking the blood of Christ, seems to me, cannibalistic.  

Man has been searching answers for ages.  Theories based on flawed texts written by man have caused numerous religious philosophies.  There are approximately 38,000 Christian denominations in the world today.   The philosophies of Islam are not so numerous. Muslims are basically divided in two major factions, Sunnis and Shias, that are further divided into various Schools of Jurisprudence and orders of Imamate. All other movements within such as Salafi, Modernists, the Mystical Sufi Orders, Deobandi and Barelvi are either Sunni or Shia or both. The division occurred during the early phase of the Caliphate over the question of who should succeed Muhammad after his death.  “While Christian denominations differ chiefly in matters of doctrine, Jewish denominations differ from one another primarily with regard to practice. Hasidism and Kabbalah are mystical approaches to the Jewish faith. Like monasticism in Christianity and Sufism in Islam, Jewish mysticism emphasizes inward, spiritual experiences over intellectual and rational knowledge.”

Conflict continues within Christianity, Islam and Judaism regarding beliefs and form of worship.   Who is right?  Can one ever fully comprehend God?  Is God a person, an intelligence or a thing?  Faith is an important factor in any belief or doctrine.

I believe ones perception of God is personal.  I don’t think there are valid answers to many questions and that what we believe to be right or real comes from faith.  Whatever our belief, it should not be forced on others. The search for answers may provide insights, however truth is what we believe it to be.