Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Should Christians Celebrate Halloween?

The Bible is held up as the Word. The Gnosticism that you hold to is not what is taught, in scripture, as the means by which God communicates with mankind or the believer. To make a wild claim that people worship the Bible is nothing more than a strawman argument to support and unorthodox view of the faith.

Personal “revelation and communication” which really doesn’t exist in the way that modern charismatic heresy teaches Is the reason we have so many bastardize views of white Christianity is and why it’s so dam(Ned) confusing to the masses.

I see it differently. If someone gave up on Christianity because of something in the Bible or something about the Bible, they may have given up on Christianity unnecessarily. Even if someone is leaning towards the door and is about to leave Christianity because of something in the Bible or something about the Bible, they don’t have to leave.

And here’s why that is - Jesus’ most devout first century followers never owned the Bible, never read the Bible...because there was no ‘the Bible’ to be had or read. But these men and women turned the world upside down; they’re the reason that people worship Jesus today; and they never held the Bible because there was no ‘the Bible’ until the fourth century.

So what happened...? What did they believe...? What did they know...? Why is it that people are so quick to (and so easily persuaded to) walk away from faith because of a book that didn’t even exist when Christianity began...? How we talk about the Bible can be an obstacle. And what we point to as the foundation of our faith...for most Christians...unfortunately, is the Bible. We’ve been taught...unfortunately...that the Bible is the foundation of our faith.

What served as the foundation of faith for the first century church...? We should take the cues about the foundation of our faith from those who were closest to the action...the first century, first followers of Jesus. What was the foundation of Peter’s faith…? Where did Peter get his hope…? How is it that he was now walking around in the open - being bold and confident and preaching - whereas before, he was afraid and hid for his life...? The foundation of his faith was not something he’d read or had read to him. The foundation of his faith was something that he’d seen.

What should be the foundation of our faith...? What should be the center of our confidence...? Peter would say “that’s easy...the resurrection of Jesus. The foundation of our faith is not a book - it is an event. The Bible did not create Christianity. The Christians eventually created the Bible. The foundation of our faith is not a group of manuscripts; the foundation of our faith is not a book ~ it’s the events that inspired the book; events that inspired writers, guided by the Holy Spirit, to document conversations, insights and events—the pivotal event being the resurrection of Jesus.

Peter believed what he believed because of what he saw. He saw Jesus die, and later, he saw the risen Jesus. The resurrection of Jesus was the foundation of Peter’s faith; he clearly said so. The resurrection of Jesus is the foundation of my faith as well

Again, I see it differently. The Holy Spirit is a teacher, a helper, and an advocate. Some followers of Jesus truly believe that the same Spirit of God that raised Jesus from the dead actually resides within them, and teaches them the things that God wants them to know, and helps them live the way that God wants them to live.

Apostle John, who was an eyewitness of Jesus’ earthly ministry, who believed in Jesus, and then after He died he quit believing, and then after the resurrection he started believing again, who was ultimately arrested by Emperor Domitian and put on the island of Patmos to rot, who had seen more bloodshed personally than most of a whole bunch of us put together, who had lost friends to acts of terror by the Romans and by the Jewish Temple leaders, who had seen the entire Jewish Temple destroyed, said that, “God is love.”

When Jesus was about to be crucified and He gathered with His closest followers that last night together, He said “this will be the distinguishing mark of those who follow me”…not whatcha know, not whatcha read, not whatcha memorize, and not whatcha do on Sunday morning…“the distinguishing mark of those who claim to be my followers is that you love one another.” Why…? Because that love for other people reflected the nature of God.

What passes for Christianity nowadays is very different from the first-generation passion of what it meant to follow Jesus back then. And that’s very likely why the church isn’t connecting with our current culture. The gospel of grace was and is an irresistible message. The first century approach of advancing the gospel of grace modeled by Jesus and His apostles and His other followers is the exception rather than the rule nowadays. It’s no wonder that so many people resist it, reject it, and rebuff its followers. The fault doesn’t lie with Jesus or His teachings or His life’s example. He taught a simple ethic in the great commandment: love God and love others; love others as I have loved you.

But that is not what is exemplified by a great many Christians nowadays.

I am attracted to what Christianity originally was.

A great many Christians nowadays seem to have an uneasy relationship with grace. 'The church' seems to do best when it’s characterized by grace...it is certainly more appealing when the message of grace is most apparent...grace that was modeled and taught by Jesus. But grace seems to often be an early casualty in the world of organized Christianity. A great many Christians seem to gravitate toward graceless religion...they define themselves in terms of what they are against...instead of defining themselves in terms of what they are 'for'. Jesus consistently criticized graceless religion and its practitioners...and He consistently criticized graceless religious leaders. The ones who had Him killed were those who claimed to know God the most...but they knew little of grace. And they confirmed everything he said about them by doing so.

The church is most appealing when grace is most apparent. And ‘Christian’s’ are most appealing when grace is most apparent.

I know of know one who worships the Bible. You have fabricated a phony sin called Bibliolatry. The Bible is The written Word of God. Christians don't worship a book. Christians worship Christ. His disciples who walked with Him called The Christ the Word of God. They did this intentionally.

Christ, the risen Jesus, was documented in the Bible. That is how we know about Him. Your rejection of the Bible makes no sense since the Jesus you claim to worship is given to us through the special revelation of God's written word.

Furthermore you have repeatedly said the 1st century Church had no Bible. I have proven to you this is false.

Interesting observation. antlers is very careful to not describe his faith in any detail. I do wonder if it is a form Gnosticism.

This is categorically false. We know for an absolute fact through secular archeology they had a Bible, for example, the dead sea scrolls and other sources.

Dunno man, books just might have been uncommon in those days.

This in no way is cause to reject or allows us to ignore the Bible. The Bible tells us how to know we have the Holy Spirit. The Bible tells us what the fruit of The Spirit is.

Christ Himself quotes from Scripture when he taught His disciples. All the Disciples talk about reading, studying and quoting Scripture. They were all practices Jews. They all had access to Scripture.

So we have BOTH secular sources and Biblical sources demonstrating that the early Church had access to and used Scripture.

You try and reject the Bible all why kind of quoting it. You paraphrase the Bible while rejecting it. If you don't use the Bible where do you get your spiritual knowledge?

You have no idea what original Christianity was like with out the Bible. How can you not see how nonsensical your position is. Your claim about how bad Christianity is today compared to original Christians requires the Bible to make.

Old Hat worships himself and the bible and not Christ.

So:
Should Christians celebrate Halloween?
Or not?

I'm like running out of time here!

Yes and no.

Well
Thanks
i think

The Branch Covidiots have ruined our Halloween by quarantining us.


So, I am going trick or treating to WalMart. Get a few 50 pound sacks of candy and maybe a Big Mac later.



Hopefully we dont get smited.

Do you want free candy?

Its a pickle. God hates free candy according to HC and OH.

Well



Yeah, but after that time with the gal in a van down by the river............