timbo15
Babyface
I had an unbelievable history teacher in high school that I learned more from than any prof in college. At the very beginning of 10th grade world history we began by discussing the ancient Egyptian culture. He had us learn some hieroglyphics as we went along & at the end of that section he handed out a page of heiroglyphics that we had to decode. The phrase that came out of the symbols has impacted me to this day. "Man by nature is a worshipper." If you think about this, man has always looked for something above ourselves to hold onto, something after life that we can hope for.
I am one of those fundamentalist Christians that get such a bad rap from our friends to the left. However, I think it is important to define what a fundamentalist Christian is. So here goes my definition:
1. We believe that Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God.
2. That Christ was crucified on a Roman cross and raised from the dead 3 days later.
3. The reason for His death was to justify our sins.
4. All are sinners (even us vile fundamentalists) who have missed the bullseye.
5. That the only way into heaven is to believe in this Jesus Christ and believe that He died for us and that we can not achieve true holiness on our own merits.
CS Lewis said it best (and I paraphrase): In math there is only one correct answer, ie 1+1=2. The same is true in religion. Although Islam, Judaism, Buddhism or maybe even some Native American religions come close on some things there still can be only one true answer.
I think (as I would think most fundamentalists would) that answer is, "I am the Way, the Truth & the Life, no one comes to the Father except through Me."
I accept other people's views. As someone earlier in the post mentioned God gave us free will to choose Him or deny Him. Some of my good friends are Atheists, Mormons, & lip service Christians.
Before you judge me as some backwoods hick here are some of my stats. My sister, whom I love very much and speak with on a weekly basis, is gay. I am divorced. I live in a major metropolitan area in a house and not a trailer park. I drink a beer or whisky once in a while and I don't even own a gun. I am not convinced the war in Iraq is going all that well. However, I am still a fundamentalist because I believe the above statements. Can I force everyone to believe this way? Absolutely not. Only one can truly change the heart's of man and that is Jesus Christ.
I am one of those fundamentalist Christians that get such a bad rap from our friends to the left. However, I think it is important to define what a fundamentalist Christian is. So here goes my definition:
1. We believe that Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God.
2. That Christ was crucified on a Roman cross and raised from the dead 3 days later.
3. The reason for His death was to justify our sins.
4. All are sinners (even us vile fundamentalists) who have missed the bullseye.
5. That the only way into heaven is to believe in this Jesus Christ and believe that He died for us and that we can not achieve true holiness on our own merits.
CS Lewis said it best (and I paraphrase): In math there is only one correct answer, ie 1+1=2. The same is true in religion. Although Islam, Judaism, Buddhism or maybe even some Native American religions come close on some things there still can be only one true answer.
I think (as I would think most fundamentalists would) that answer is, "I am the Way, the Truth & the Life, no one comes to the Father except through Me."
I accept other people's views. As someone earlier in the post mentioned God gave us free will to choose Him or deny Him. Some of my good friends are Atheists, Mormons, & lip service Christians.
Before you judge me as some backwoods hick here are some of my stats. My sister, whom I love very much and speak with on a weekly basis, is gay. I am divorced. I live in a major metropolitan area in a house and not a trailer park. I drink a beer or whisky once in a while and I don't even own a gun. I am not convinced the war in Iraq is going all that well. However, I am still a fundamentalist because I believe the above statements. Can I force everyone to believe this way? Absolutely not. Only one can truly change the heart's of man and that is Jesus Christ.