Can I ask what drew you specifically to Christianity and Christian scripture? 1
Probably for the exact same reason we have cancer, down syndrome, dementia and just about any cause of death which is needlessly painful and elongated. That is to say, if you have a reason for them existing (i.e. Satan), it's probably the same for the occult. I, on the other hand, would put it down to God not existing at all.
Can I ask what motivation people would have to stop people expanding on God given abilities? Would they not be punished in the afterlife for such deceit? 2
This is interesting. I'm a little confused as to what has made you consider yourself Christian at all, and what convinced you to accept any of the Bible when you doubt so much of it. I don't understand the motivation. 3
This is purely out of curiosity, I'm not trying to convert you to atheism or anything.
1) As I stated before, I grew up in a Christian home, but my parents weren't very 'strict' about it with my brother and I. They were and still are firm believers, but they didn't want to push it down our throats. We were made to go to church when they went up until I was 12 and my brother was 11, then we were given a choice on whether to stay home or not (we didn't have a choice up unto this point because we couldn't legally stay home by ourselves in our state until one of us was 12) Looking into other religions and being curious wasn't looked down upon. So as I got older and became interested in other belief systems and other religions, nothing other than Christian doctrine appealed to me. But, the biggest thing that draws me specifically to Christianity is the trinity. I have had encounters that I believe to be with the Christian God, or at least, the simplest description of the Christian God (God is love). I also believe that Jesus was a real man that performed miracles. And I do believe that there is a piece of him that lives inside each and every person (the Holy Spirit), me included.
2) The thing that always makes me laugh about today's Christians, and even Catholics, is that Jesus says at some point in the Bible (I'll have to look up the exact verse for reference) that everything he did, we can do. So the miracles he performed and whatnot are doable today, but if someone were to ever do the things he did, Christians would scream "OCCULT!".
But to answer your question, maybe wanting people to continuously fear death and the after life to keep them dependent on the church, giving the church money, etc., so that the church could stay in a fairly big position of power. Because I think that's what a lot of churches, Christian and Catholic alike, were back when the canon Bible was put together and still is today. But, I could be wrong. Maybe I'm too pessimistic on this topic.
3) This goes back to my personal experiences with what I believe to be God. This may sound silly, but the few encounters I've had have felt like nothing but warmth and love, which is the simplest description of God in Christian doctrine. I have confirmed this for myself through praying about it. Every single time I do, I get the answer 'God is love' in some way, shape or form. I had an experience once when I first started questioning the Bible a lot, probably the one that I hold onto the most. I prayed about it and asked God to show me what he is. Didn't really think anything about it after that prayer because I didn't think there was any way possible that I would get an answer without looking at the Bible that I was questioning like many Christians advised me to do.
The next day, I was at a Bruster's (ice cream shop) with my boyfriend (who is now my husband) eating our ice cream outside on their patio area. This woman who looked to be middle aged was seemed like she was intently staring at me. I thought maybe she was staring behind me, maybe looking for a car of a family member or friend that was supposed to join her. After a few moments, I mentioned it to my boyfriend and he looked over and confirmed that she was staring at me. After we both looked over at her, she got up and started walking over. She was smiling at us at that point and asked to sit.
I asked her why she was staring at me. And then she proceeded to tell me about several things that were slated to happen in my life. I had always been a big skeptic of that kind of thing and so had my boyfriend. He was starting to laugh at her, and then she began talking about things that she would have no way of knowing. Like my talents, my life situation (I was 8 weeks pregnant at the time but I wasn't showing and we hadn't talked about any of this at the shop), and what I wanted to go to school for. She told me I was going to have a little girl, then a little boy, and another little boy. So far I have two children, one girl and one boy. She also said that I would end up deciding against going to school for nursing, which I did eventually, because it wasn't what I really wanted to do, it was what my parents wanted me to do (also no way of knowing that). We talked with her for an hour.
Afterword, she gave me her phone number and told us that she was a Christian medium, and that the Holy Spirit urged her to talk to me because I was going through a period of doubt. She told me to come see her after I had my daughter, free of charge because she had such a strong connection to my spirit, as if something was telling her that she was my guide in that time when I needed guidance. I didn't, and I still haven't gone to see her. So many people told me and my husband that what happened was 'of the devil' and that 'there is no such thing as a Christian medium/psychic' etc. His grandparents (they're catholic) told us to denounce everything that woman told us and all sorts of crazy crap.
But to be honest there is literally NO way in hell that woman would've known all of that about me or would've been able to predict several things about my life and my husbands lives unless someone or something told her. So, the moral of that story for me was, God was showing me that he is everywhere and he lives in every one of us. And he has the ability to tell people about others that they've never met if he chooses to, to offer comfort.
I know that it's pretty unbelievable, and that goes back to what I said in my first post about experiences. If you didn't experience it the same way I did, or didn't experience it at all, I don't expect you or anyone else to believe it. It is something my husband and I still talk about to this day and how strange it is that she has been right about literally everything that has happened in our lives so far. He has her phone number and has called her, but every time he does, she insists that we come see her and I don't know that I want to go yet because of all of the doubt I'm experiencing. It feels like even after that experience and knowing without a doubt that God is real and that there is a piece of him living in every one of us, I still have doubts. Not about him necessarily, but about the Bible. Because men wrote it and men put it together, and men aren't perfect. So how could we expect something they created to be? So to answer your question, that's why I (loosely) consider myself a Christian. Even if it wasn't the 'Christian' God so to speak, I know that a higher power was involved in that experience.
I know not everyone believes in things like this (understandably so, because there are probably four or five times as many BS psychics/mediums/tarot card readers/whatever else as there are actually gifted ones), so keep in mind I'm not saying this experience should be hardcore proof of God or a higher power or anything for anyone other than myself and my husband because we were the ones who experienced it. I despise when people try to push their beliefs on me and would never want others to think I was trying to do it to them.
I didn't think you were trying to convert me, btw :) Even if I didn't consider myself Christian, I don't know that I could necessarily consider myself atheist after having that experience.
