Truth how some christians find it

  
I'd like to point you to a set of studies on Daniel and Revelation.  
They're found at http://www.tagnet.org/anotherviewpoint/Daniel and may  
be of some help to show that the Bible is the inspired word of God.  If  
you have questions, I will try my best to answer them.  I do not have a  
degree in theology, but I will do the best I can with the Lord's help.  
My primary E-mail address is jlpicard@davesworld.net, this is my  
secondary address that this is being sent from.  

Jerome Grimmer  

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Hi Victor,  
I read your post and I'd like to explain Christianity to you.  

What separates Christianity from other religions is that Christianity deals  
with sin.  

Why is that so important?  

Sin is what separates us from God. It's simple; God is perfect - He is  
without sin.  
On the other hand the Bible tell us in Romans 3:23 that "For all have sinned  
and have come short of the glory of God"  And this isn't hard to prove at  
all.  Even on our best days we are far from perfect.  And sin leads to death  
as we read in Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death." And so here is the  
problem:  How do sinful humans make themselves right with God? How do we  
avoid jugment for the things we have done wrong?  The answer (and this is the  
most important thing anyone will ever tell you) is found in John 3:16 "For  
God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever  
believes in him will not perish, but have everlasting life."  Jesus Christ -  
God's only Son - stepped out of heaven, lived a perfect life (he never  
sinned) was crucified on the cross and rose from the grave.  Jesus lived the  
sin-free life that you couldn't lead and paid the penelty that was meant for  
you.  Why? Because he loves you - it's that simple.  By accepting Jesus as  
your Saivor all your sins past, present, and future will be forgiven and when  
you die you will go to heaven.  
The gift of heaven is free. All you have to do is pray a prayer like this...  

God,  
I realize that I am a sinner and that I am in need of forgivness.  I believe  
that Jesus died on the cross for me and I accept him as my Saivor now.  This  
is new to me Lord  
so please help me to draw neerer to you.  In Jesus name I pray.  Amen  
  
  

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Hmmm. An interesting question. I think it has to do with accepting or  
rejecting Jesus' claims, I'm certain others will provide the Scripture  
for these- I'm not heavily able to cite Scripture and verse off the top  
of my head, and the University of Durham doesn't carry Bibles in it's  
Computer Rooms as a standard fixture (:)).  

Reasons for accepting/rejecting Jesus' claims I'd say fall into the  
following catagories:  

i) Spiritual Experience- An individual undergoes an experience, or  
series of experiences which convince them of these claims.  

ii) Reason- Many of the early Christians, such as Justin Martyr, were  
impressed by the philosophical nature of Jesus, and the claims made  
about him.  

iii) Experience of people living Christianity- the problem with this is  
that sometimes people meet Christians who are struggling, or failing  
even, to live the Gospel.  
  

and to those three main ones (IMO) it could also be added,  

iv) Learning this from another authority you trust or believe- St  
Augustine always said he believed in Jesus because he believed the  
Bible, and he believed the Bible as the Church told him it was true.  
This argument gets a little circular as he believed in the Church  
because of Jesus (:))!  

I think accepting Christianity as true as involve various different  
elements bouncing off of each other. As those who have read my posts  
know I don't accept the Bible as authoritative on it's own witness, I  
accept the Bible as authoritative on the witness of Tradition, and  
Tradition on the witness of Scripture. It's an argument which isn't so  
much circular, as a moebius band, the one element runs into the other,  
supporting it, and also ultimately becoming the other as well. I accept  
the whole caboodle of Christianity on a mixture of the reasonableness of  
Scripture and Tradition, Spirirtual Experience which convinces me the  
Spirit works effectively and powerfully through my Church, friends who  
have lived the Gospel very visibly in their lives: and somewhere in that  
all there's the man who lived over two thousand years ago that's somehow  
touched my life deeply through the ministrations of his Church, and  
other ways as well. This last bit almost defies expression, it's  
something else entirely: something that's there, and not there,  
something that's bigger than everything else, and yet holds everything  
else together and makes sense of it all.  

I hope that makes sense.  

Pax Christi,  

John.  

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That's a really good question.  

I believe most Christians will write and tell you that faith is a gift from  
God.  I don't think anyone can force themselves to believe...and no one can  
be forced to believe.  Voluntary assent to faith is necessary.  

About the best anyone can do is to write about what convinced oneself.  I  
know what convinced me to become a Christian, but it might not be compelling  
for anyone else.  

If you look around, there are lots and lots of conversion stories floating  
around.  Most are about conversions within Christian denominations...but the  
end point is clear, wherever the person writing the story ended up...it was  
the "true" faith.  

John  
  

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Dear Victor:  

I'll try to be brief.  You must read and study the Bible.  While doing these two things, you will discover that Christianity is "the  
one true faith" as you put it.  However, your understanding of God will expand and your perception of "the one true faith" will  
no longer be of importance.  

Some may argue that you must read and study ALL religions in order to make that the assessment you desire, but I believe  
God will speak to you as you read and study the Bible -- He will answer this, and all your questions.  He will  (some will say  
the Holy Spirit will) enter your life (physically and spiritually) as you accept His gift of salvation through His grace.  God has  
given you faith -- it is up to you to use that faith.  It won't be a matter of "the one true faith" because that euphemism will no  
longer restrain your current rejection of Him.  

In Jesus' name,  

Marvin Blickenstaff  

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