Answer to a young person

I thought it good to answer on this website to some good questions that someone recently wrote:

I am a young person, who is currently confused. I have not been brought up in a particularly religious household so I do not have a certain religion that I follow, so to speak. I have friends from a variety of religious backgrounds who are all telling me about their own religion. My grandparents are Christians but parents are Pagan.

I was wondering what was it that made you certain there is, as you say an ‘Almighty God’. Have you never thought that it is a load of rubbish?

I never really thought this because before doubt could get too deeply entrenched in me, I saw and experienced the power of God in my life. But before this, I carefully considered the evidence that Jesus Christ rose physically from the dead. It is the powerful evidence for THIS that validates everything else in the Christian faith, including the teaching of an Almighty God.

If Jesus really rose from the dead physically, and it is historical fact, then everything else he taught, and especially his ability to keep the written record of his own teaching straight in the future, should be strongly considered as believable.


I do disagree with a large majority of Christian beliefs and I am just trying to explore the different religions.
Why is it that Paganism is frowned upon and almost hidden completely from everyday life, where as Christianity is paraded around? Why is it hushed up, as sex is to young children? Paganism has been around for ages, even
before Christianity, and a lot of Christian celebrations bare uncanny similarity to Pagan celebrations for example Yule and Christmas are very similar.

I don’t know where you live but what you say does not apply so much today. Pagans everywhere are parading their beliefs without shame in the supermarkets, in the health food stores, on TV programmes – everywhere.

Historically Christianity has been more respectable and has centuries of influence in western culture but this is under attack. Pagans have tended to keep their religion more to themselves historically as they believe in occult practices such as casting spells and people have considered that witchcraft, if true, is more a force for evil than for good. This belief is based on centuries of experience. The resurgence of witchcraft under belief systems like Wicca has only been a phenomenon of the last few decades and people have not yet had a chance to fully taste the fruit of it, so they might believe it is really quite good after all.

There were times in history where the spiritual power of the gospel overturned the prevailing belief in polytheism and various forms of paganism and witchcraft. In the Middle Ages no doubt the Roman Catholic church violently suppressed the practices of paganism where it had the power to do so and strongly influenced public opinion in a way it is not able to do today.

The truth about something has nothing to do with how popular it is though. Today, ask around, and I think you will find that there are more people in the west who believe in reincarnation than in resurrection and eternal judgment. That doesn’t make it right, any more than a public acceptance of Christianity in some places would make it true.

Christmas and other traditional celebrations HAVE borrowed from paganism. These celebrations are now cultural opportunities for Christians to get their message out but the special days actually have no place in the New Testament. These were adaptations of the Catholic/Orthodox church around the time that Christianity became fashionable in the Roman Empire. Early Christians did not practice them as far as we know.


What is it that has made you certain that the Bible is telling the truth and that it is not just another book.

Please read the apologetics section of this website and the big issues section for partial answers to this. It hinges on the resurrection of Jesus Christ actually.

Also, isn’t history always written by the victors? So surely the Bible is biased in parts. The new testament was written by men, who had effectively ‘won’ so surely they would want to write something which would show them and their beliefs in the best way possible, hiding flaws.

At the time of writing the New Testament, the apostles were all persecuted, and almost all of them ended up dying violent deaths. Christianity had grown but not to the point of becoming politically powerful.

The Bible contradicts so much of the Roman Catholic church teaching and practice that it cannot be argued that the Roman Catholic church changed the Bible to make THEM look good. This fact is actually a powerful reason to believe in the integrity of the Bible. I would have changed it in many places if I was a Catholic pope with the power to do that.


One final question if the world was created by one God, then why is it that some of the people in the God’s world do not believe in God, or they believe in something different which challenges what that God want people
to believe. If God will only save those who believe then surely that shows an aspect of favouritism, but how is that possible if God loves all equally? I find some parts of the Bible quite contradictory.

Thank You for taking your time out to read this
Alice

Alice, God DOES treat people differently depending on how they respond to the things He reveals. God DOES love some people MORE than others for this very reason! Daniel was considered a man “greatly beloved” by God because he set his face to seek God and do the right thing even in the powerful polytheistic culture of Babylon.

The favor of God comes on those who seek Him with a true heart. The Bible says that to come to God you must believe that “He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him”.
(Hebrews 11:6)

Not believing God’s word or revelation is the same as calling God a liar. God speaks to everyone at some level. Those who respond positively, though they never heard about Jesus, will always be introduced to more truth until they have a chance to accept or reject Jesus Christ. Jesus is the true light which coming into the world, enlightens every man (John 1:9).

Hope that all helps a bit in your quest for understanding.

God bless you.

Michael

I invite you to build a faith community together with me. Join my social media channels and let’s connect, especially if you want freedom or fullness in Christ.

My Telegram has a ministry channel. On Tiktok I have many videos and new ones regularly.

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