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Christianity Explained Information Find Christian Unity in Biblical Explanations of the Doctrines That Count! |
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You have a choice to make: You can either believe the opinions of theologians, atheists, or agnostics, or you can determine for yourself what the Bible says by studying it. If you do nothing else, be sure to read this ---------------------------> [For more information, click on any underlined text.] |
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What Is Religion and Where Did It Originate? What Is the Bible, and How Relative Is It to My Life? What Are Messianic Prophecies? Who Was Jesus of Nazareth, Really? Why Are There So Many World Religions? Why Are There So Many Christian Denominations? What Is the Law and How Does It Apply to Me? What's All This About the End of the World and End-time Prophecies? Isn't the Book of Daniel a Closed Book? Revelation: How can anyone understand all that symbolism? Who or What Was Jesus' Mother, Mary? Didn't Darwin Disprove Creation? What's the Truth About Faith and Works? Christian E-mails: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly Complete Directory of Articles/Studies
Title Abbreviations for Books of the Bible Genesis
- Ge |
What is Christianity Explained Information?
All of those questions have passed through my mind at one time or another . . . and many others as well. They are the reason Christianity Explained Information came about. Though I'm only of average intelligence, I've managed to find answers to many of my questions! However, I'm still looking for answers to others. Like most of the world, I figured that priests and other religious leaders (and probably everyone else) must be more educated in the Bible than I—it's not like I keep my nose buried in scriptures—so I accepted as fact what the religious leaders implied: that I was too ignorant to know what the leaders knew and had no right to question them. Unfortunately, by the time I was old enough to realize that I had not only a right but a duty to demand to have Christianity explained to me--to ask why Christians preach one thing and practice another and why Christians can't seem to agree on interpretations of scriptures--no one could answer my questions to my satisfaction. They always left a little doubt in my mind; I was more confused than satisfied by the answers. At first, I accepted or at least tried to accept, their answers; however, in my heart, I kept asking . . . I unconsciously kept looking for the answers. I discovered later that one scripture I had heard years watching a television ministry had become imbedded in my mind and I was subconsciously responding to it.
Did you know there are at least 21 instances in the Bible where "with all your heart" is associated with how one should seek God and worship God and obey God? This is Christianity Explained! If you half-heartedly seek God, you won't find him. You may decieve yourself into believing you've found him, but when you seek him with all your heart, you'll be amazed at how your life will change. Praise the Lord, I finally discovered how to study the Bible to bring satisfying answers to my questions. Instead of trying to interpret scriptures or make sense out of someone else's interpretation of scripture, I let scriptures interpret scriptures! Here's the key:
Verse 9: First, you must be willing to grow and learn. Even the disciples had to go through this growing-up process to be able to carry on the lives the Lord wanted them to live. Verse 10: Then you must familiarize yourself with ALL that scripture has to say about a subject. Have you ever sat through "Bible Classes" where you study scripture by reading a verse and then the class leader applyies an interpretation to it but can't tell you why his or her interpretation is any better than anybody elses? You can't "learn" the true meaning of scripture that way! Now, don't get me wrong; there are some scripture passages that can have only one meaning. For example:
So John gives a little more light later on:
However, some people interpret the phrase, "he who abides in love abides in God" as meaning romantic love or even lust, and cults are born because followers have been so deceived or bound by Satan that they don't think they can figure it out or they don't care enough about truth to study the scriptures themselves. I'm relatively sure that self-sacrificing love--the kind Jesus showed at Calvary--is more in line with what the interpretation of abiding in love should be, and I'm also sure that quality should be found in the leader, as it was in Jesus, as well as in the followers. More trouble arises when studying prophecies or when people try to make a passage of scripture apply to a topic when it really doesn't. In many cases the error arises from an unrepentant heart trying to warp scripture to justify a sinful life. In other cases the interpreter thinks he or she has been inspired by the Holy Spirit when, in fact, it is "another spirit". The misinterpretation comes from simply giving over one's heart to the first Spirit that speaks to it, rather than testing the Spirit to see if it is, indeed, from God.
In the years I've been studying, I have found that there are many other people asking the same questions I have. I'm only guessing, but maybe they can benefit from my studies--from allowing scriptures to interpret scriptures. However, while I'm very concerned about sharing this information with others so they can make informed decisions, I don't have the time to hold individual studies with everyone who's asking questions like mine (I have to work for a living to survive like anyone else). I, therefore, decided to build a Web site to which I can refer people. But this site is not intended to preach to anybody and I don't expect everyone who reads my studies to agree with them. They're primarily for my benefit,so I can be sure I'm basing my beliefs on sound principles. They're intended to help me understand why I believe what I believe and just how much my beliefs vary from what Christianity is based on; i.e., what I should believe. I just hope my studies will benefit others as well. And, yes, finding truth does take some time. In fact, recognizing that there is such a thing as Eternal Truth can take some time. But did you know if you have some handy hints and other tools, you can study the most important points of Christian religion for yourself in less than a month, spending only an hour or so a day? Of course, you need some relatively pointed lessons to do that, and my site may contain more in-depth articles than some busy people have time to digest. So, if you're interested in pointed, shorter studies, contact me (below) and I'll be happy to hook you up. I highly recommend the shorter studies as a diving board into deeper studies. After all, though the inability of my acquaintences and pastors to answer some of my questions started me studying, the points made by some pointed Bible studies with other friends were what got me hooked on indepth studying. If you can't afford an hour a day, are you interested enough to dedicate an hour a week to the exploration of the scriptures? In less than 30 weeks you could know more about scripture and Christianity than you do now, no matter how long you've been reading the Bible and going to church. I mean, you may be able to read the entire Bible in 72 hours, but will you get everything out of it that you need by just reading? I'm thinking, No, at least not unless you have a "photographic memory" and can think about what you've read over and over until the dots are connected and the important points become clear. After all, according to Isaiah 28:10, "precept must be upon precept, . . . line upon line, . . . here a little, there a little" for us to learn the subjects the Lord will teach us. If you aren't doing topical Bible studies to find out ALL that scripture has to say on a topic before setting your beliefs in concrete, your beliefs could be wrong. What surprises me is that some of what I have found out is not being preached from the majority of Christian pulpits, even though it's stuff that's important to every human on the face of the earth . . . stuff that used to be preached from some Christian pulpits . . . stuff that SHOULD be preached from every Christian pulpit . . . stuff that should be available all over the Internet for everyone to evaluate! Lord knows there's enough opinionated trash out there that there ought to be some Bible-based stuff out there too. Instead, these things are hard to find unless you know what to look for. For instance, did you know that the Bible clearly tells you how to determine who is teaching Judeo-Christian truth and who is not?
Hmmm . . . every word . . . And did you know that antichrists have been around since the Apostle John's time?
Did you know that Jesus clearly tells us that many people worship him in vain?
Or that some who think they are Christians are not?
Praise God, he knew our weaknesses and made provision for them! But that doesn't mean we shouldn't be sincerely trying to do the Lord's will?
I didn't know these things . . . not until some very astute Bible teachers showed these verses to me. These verses, each just the tip of a study iceberg, changed the way I study scriptures completely, and through all my studies, my self-confidence and faith in God have blossomed immensely. That's why I decided to build this web site--not just to bring all my studies into one place for convenience sake but to try to bring the whole picture into focus. I happen to think the whole picture is important. In fact, I believe that without the whole picture, we are susceptible to error and deception. Now, if you think error and deception are no big deal, check out "What Difference Does It Make". I know that there are millions out there who already know what I'm just learning, but there are just as many to whom what I just said is news. Because it contains my opinions as well as the results of my studies, Christianity Explained Information will be unlike any other site on Christianity. In some places you'll be wondering, "How'd she ever come up with that one?" and in others you'll think, "I'm so glad someone else sees it that way!" If you like seeing how someone else's mind works, or doesn't, you may actually enjoy this site, whether you agree with it or not. Each one of us has a slightly different "take" on what we study, so my ideas may give you food for thought, no matter how deeply you've studied on your own and how concrete your own opinions may be. Are you one of those people who like to exchange opinions and explore possibilities? Would you like to look at the whole picture instead of just what your pastor, preacher, priest, or friend or the church down the street chooses to emphasize at this moment in time? I thought, rather than "hoarding" my spiritual discoveries, I'd post them on Christianity Explained Information, where you can "evesdrop" and decide whether I'm onto something or I'm just "a couple of bricks shy of a full load". To the left is a list of the questions I shall address and hope to answer satisfactorily. I've started on some of them, but I haven't gathered all that scripture has to say about them yet, so they're just rough at the moment, if they've been started at all. They'll change over time, as new scriptures and other references are "unearthed" in my studies. I had already started various studies when I decided it might be a good idea to go back to the teachings of Christ. After all, "Christians" are supposed to be following "Christ". Maybe this will help those who profess to be Christians discover whether what they believe is actually Christian or just the teachings of some human who is (wittingly or unwittingly) antichrist. You'll notice I didn't say "The Antichrist". I'm just saying that teachings that conflict with what Christ taught are anti-Christ, which shouldn't be a hard concept to grasp. As I study, you will notice that, although some concepts stand alone, there are concepts that build on other concepts. That means if you start halfway through a set of lessons, you may not understand or be able to accept what you're reading. If you've already studied the basics that have come before that lesson, however, you should be okay. To avoid this "which lesson comes first" dilemma, there will be a lot of repetition between the lessons concerning certain fundamental Bible verses or there will be references to other lessons that will clarify points on which the lesson builds. Since I'll be working from both ends, so to speak, I must caution again that if you don't truly understand the basics, it is possible you will find your spirit rising up inside you against some points. I know this happens because I experienced this problem. But I simply studied harder to find out whether what I was learning was true or whether my churning inner spirit was right. In some cases my inner spirit WAS right; in others, however, the Bible proved my inner spirit wrong. Going back and studying the basics first made the "meat of the word" easier for me to chew. But I didn't feel bad about that. Even the first-century Christians had this problem . . .
I'll be working from both ends because I'll be exploring the Old Testament Scriptures upon which the Messiah is based, and I'll be exploring the teachings of Jesus to explain just what Christianity should be teaching today. I'll be referring back and forth in an "if you don't believe me, look here" kind of way, to the biblical basics for different topics, and I'll list all the applicable scriptures I can find on a given topic in the right margin. Since I will probably be referencing the same basic Old Testament texts in several different lessons dealing with Jesus' teachings, I'll also be building lessons dealing directly with some of those texts, which will answer other questions. I don't know about you, but I've never been able to complete the study of one Bible topic without finding information I wanted to put into another topic as well. In other words, it is likely that while you're studying one thing, something else may suddenly become clear. If my method doesn't work for you, I'm sorry, but there are many other studies available for different types of learning. If you're enjoying my studies, don't hesitate to "drop me a line" and tell me your concerns or confirmations. I'd enjoy learning that others think I'm making sense, but I'm not perfect, you know, so if I'm off track, I'd like to hear about that too! Christianity Explained Information is an ongoing study--some topics will be obviously incomplete. I'll deal with questions in an order that makes sense to me, but I'll be adding questions to the Complete Directory of Articles and posting incomplete pages for each of the topics I want to explore so you can see where my studies are leading--questions my studies bring up as well as questions they answer. If there's nothing here that interests you, I'm sorry. Check back to see what questions appear to the left, or send me an e-mail requesting an Update to see if I touch on a topic that is interesting to you. Or write and ask a question and I'll study it out with you as soon as possible. Remember, you must believe certain things for other things to make sense to you. If you don't accept something you read here, let me know. Maybe I'm wrong; I was once (grin). Maybe there isn't enough evidence for my opinion to be right or wrong. Maybe I'll just have to list differing opinions and their supporting evidence and wait until Jesus returns to find out the answers! I use both secular references and religious "authorities" as well as the Bible to answer my questions. Why? Mainly because God gave us brains and expects us to use them, but also for the following reasons: 1. Judaism is based on the Old Testament Scriptures, and Christian doctrine (Jesus' doctrine) is based on Judaism. Jesus didn't break away from Judaism; he claimed to be the fulfillment of Bible Prophecy. To prove whether he was or wasn't, we must study the entire Bible. 2. There are some things in the Bible that must be compared to historical facts to be understood. You can only recognize the fulfillment of prophecy as you see it reflected in history. You will readily see this in my study. 3. Different religious authorities have different ways of stating the same thing, and those different ways of explaining help different kinds of people see what the Bible is saying. 4. There are also differences of opinion among authorities that we "average Joes and Josephines" should know about so, as time passes, we know what to look for as possible fulfillments of prophecy. My studies reveal :
You can check out my studies and find out for yourself whether I'm "all wet". Explore Christianity Explained Information so you can
You are likely to discover some facts of which you were previously unaware. Some will surprise you, some will amaze . . . and some will downright scare you. Some will make you angry with those who have kept you in the dark all your life, but forgive them--they were/are ignorant themselves of the ways Satan is using them. Pray for their deliverance from ignorance. Hopefully none will make you feel like the rich young ruler . . . so sad. [Luke 18:18-25] Why waste your time with fictional mysteries and horror stories. Do you like "daytime drama"? Do you like reality TV? Well how about some Reality Judeo-Christianity!
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Related Links Written in the HeartThe Truth About Mary Magdalene
Scriptures: Isaiah
8:20
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Copyright 2005-08 Lynda Karr
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