thelordismylight, "No, you are wrong to assume this about africans. To many, Catholicism appeals to them because of the unity (go figure)" 1) Who said I am assuming, I may actually know African Christians, I may have seen documentaries and news reports on African Christians which support what I have said (generally). 2) Do you know many Africans and do they say, "We love un...more

thelordismylight,

"No, you are wrong to assume this about africans. To many, Catholicism appeals to them because of the unity (go figure)"

1) Who said I am assuming, I may actually know African Christians, I may have seen documentaries and news reports on African Christians which support what I have said (generally).

2) Do you know many Africans and do they say, "We love unity, the way that the Catholic chuch has unity"? Or can you give some documentary or news source which asserts this? You cannot just assume that where ever the RCC is growing, those people must love unity.less

thelordismylight, "My... ha... the unequal tenants: This is not to demonstrate that it doesn't matter how much you do, it demonstrates that god puts forth his will no matter what we may think." The servants in the story do not think much of anything (except that it is unfair that the ones who worked less were treated equally). God putting forth His will is a given, the story ...more

thelordismylight,

"My... ha... the unequal tenants: This is not to demonstrate that it doesn't matter how much you do, it demonstrates that god puts forth his will no matter what we may think."

The servants in the story do not think much of anything (except that it is unfair that the ones who worked less were treated equally). God putting forth His will is a given, the story is about the relationship between God and the person.

"But even so... it would REALLY be demonstrating (since the tenants DID actually work) that as long as you DO something... it doesn't matter how much you do..."

Is this the Catholic position?

"The prodigal son: This shows that God FORGIVES. So obviously, since the man FORGIVES the prodigal son, the prodigal son WAS at fault, but was forgiven... this actually PROVES our stance."

Um, how? The prodigal son did one thing, he came back to his father, he did not work hard all his life, rather he wasted his fortune. (Not saying that we do not have to work here) I think every Christian believes that God forgives.less

Thomas, "Does anybody know any statistics about how many of those that join pentecostal churches are still there 1 year later?" No, but the situation in Africa is not like in America where people just join a church and then drop out when they don't feel like going any more. Also, Africans often have a much more energetic and "mystical" proclivity in Church, thus Pent...more

Thomas,

"Does anybody know any statistics about how many of those that join pentecostal churches are still there 1 year later?"

No, but the situation in Africa is not like in America where people just join a church and then drop out when they don't feel like going any more. Also, Africans often have a much more energetic and "mystical" proclivity in Church, thus Pentecostalism is appealing. I seriously doubt that the number of drop-outs would be high.less

truthandjustice, "It doesn't even make sense to compare the 1 Catholic Church with thousands of individually run pentacostal churches, they don't agree amongst themselves." Yes it does. We are comparing growth rates, why wouldn't it make sense? Are there really thousands of individually run pentecostal churches, or are there several with one or two being containing t...more

truthandjustice,

"It doesn't even make sense to compare the 1 Catholic Church with thousands of individually run pentacostal churches, they don't agree amongst themselves."

Yes it does. We are comparing growth rates, why wouldn't it make sense? Are there really thousands of individually run pentecostal churches, or are there several with one or two being containing the vast majority? Also, Pentecostals do not believe that a Christian must adhere to their beliefs, thus even 10 autonomous Pentecostal Churches can recognize one another and be near fully accepting of one another.less

JHS, "WITH PENTECOSTALS IT ABOUT MONEY AND POWER, AS SOON AS THEY DON'T PONY UP, THEY WILL DROP THEM." Give me a break, are you really saying that the Pentecostals are going to Africa to make money? Where their members often live on a few dollars a day? Are you serious, do you have any scholarly study which can support your position, have you ever been to a wide variety of Afr...more

JHS,

"WITH PENTECOSTALS IT ABOUT MONEY AND POWER, AS SOON AS THEY DON'T PONY UP, THEY WILL DROP THEM."

Give me a break, are you really saying that the Pentecostals are going to Africa to make money? Where their members often live on a few dollars a day? Are you serious, do you have any scholarly study which can support your position, have you ever been to a wide variety of African Pentecostal Churches, or are you just making a wild guess? I am not a Pentecostal, but let's not pin things on them that are obviously not true.less

thelordismylight, "it was practically ALL conversion... if it were not wouldn't the OTHER religions be facing the same growths?" The other Christian groups are facing the same kind of growth, many are based on conversion, probably a lot of the RCC growth is too. "Do you want to know WHY they convert to Catholicism? Because we HELP THEM!" Oh... So it is not bec...more

thelordismylight,

"it was practically ALL conversion... if it were not wouldn't the OTHER religions be facing the same growths?"

The other Christian groups are facing the same kind of growth, many are based on conversion, probably a lot of the RCC growth is too.

"Do you want to know WHY they convert to Catholicism? Because we HELP THEM!"

Oh... So it is not because you offer them salvation? Or do you mean that helping them means salvation? Are you also saying that Protestants do not help Africans? I don't know what to say to this remark...

"And also, for people who have worked hard all their lives, it seems a bit stupid that they should go to heaven for just saying "I believe" and then doing nothing. :P They are just being reasonable... If it seems to good to be true... it probably is O_O"

Okay okay a jab at Protestants... here is the problem, you are assuming that God is incapable of doing something by making this assertation. Also, did not Jesus give plenty of parables to illustrate this? The workers who came at different times during the day, but were paid the same REGARDLESS OF WORK DONE? The prodigal son who wasted his life but was celebrated over AS OPPOSED TO THE SON WHO STAYED AND WORKED HARD? Etc.less

I saw the movie, and liked the song too. But I was a little confused about this quote, "You're like, “Hey, it's a privilege to be regarded in the Christian community. Wow they are Christ followers.” But I also feel like our music is bigger than that." "Bigger" than what? Than Christ? Than being a Christian?

This is probably true, but I believe all Christian groups are experiencing the most growth in Africa. Especially evangelical and pentecostal groups. The transformation there is rapid and incredible. Still, I wonder how much of the RCC's growth there is due to conversion, and how much is due to a high birth rate.

ifeelfine, I have some friends from England, and they have told me enough stories to make me almost believe that the U.S. is a safer place. Report after report have come out noting the extreme drinking problems that England has. CNN just gave a couple recently. They have a lot of problems there.

"Former Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey released a video Saturday addressing the kidnappers as "honorable men" and "men of faith."" Wait a second, is he calling the terrorists honorable men, and men of faith? Is he lying to try to get them to release the british hostages or is he serious?

ifeelfine, I would be perfectly willing to see it as gray if I thought it was. I have no reason to believe it is as gray as you say it is. The only possible point of "grayness" is in what constitutes a real human life. I refuse to say that a smaller human is less human. The fertilized egg is well on its way to becoming a full human adult.

The most un-scientific thing I may have ever heard, "The scientific method doesn't allow for inclass debates on facts..." Wow, so the scientific method is giving a hypothesis, making an experiment, and then testing it. The whole point of science is challenging theories and asking questions, and now you have suggested that challenging theories and asking questions is not permis...more

The most un-scientific thing I may have ever heard,

"The scientific method doesn't allow for inclass debates on facts..."

Wow, so the scientific method is giving a hypothesis, making an experiment, and then testing it. The whole point of science is challenging theories and asking questions, and now you have suggested that challenging theories and asking questions is not permissible.less

Here is the site which is somewhat biased to certain religious groups, and sure they give the link to the NCSE, but that is directly supported by their site, it is not some side thing. http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evosite/misconceps/IVAandreligion.shtml

I believe this is the site that is called into question about regarding some questions as merely disruptive. http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evosite/misconceps/index.shtml

Steve, "As I wrote earlier this is by no means indicates that God does or does not exist what it does do though is question the craftsmanship of the brilliant ID designer trumpeted on these pages." An interesting point, to be sure. I think that the first thing to note, is that God did not create us as physically "perfect" beings. The eye is not the only part of the human ...more

Steve,

"As I wrote earlier this is by no means indicates that God does or does not exist what it does do though is question the craftsmanship of the brilliant ID designer trumpeted on these pages."

An interesting point, to be sure. I think that the first thing to note, is that God did not create us as physically "perfect" beings. The eye is not the only part of the human body that is innefficient, God could have made us pure energy which could sustain istelf without the need to consume, that could not feel pain or die, and which never suffered the effects of old age. In all reality the human body is extremely fragile, I dare say we are one of the most innefficient creatures on earth.

Some of this can be answered that we are living in a "fallen" world. Perhaps God did create us more perfectly, but due to our rejection of Him our bodies and genes have become degraded further and further. Perhaps God wanted a being that was not physicall perfect, but in many ways dependent, thus such a being would not be able to become arrogant so easily. In any case, our bodies are amazing and originally God says that they were, "very good".

But this provides a problem for evolution as well. Our bodies are really innefficient, we are pretty weak comparitively speaking. By far the most efficient creatures are bacteria and one celled organisms. If evolution is based on natural selection, which proposes that life evolves into better suited organisms based on environment, then I cannot see why life would not have simply remained one celled, simple but efficient organisms? It seems like evolution is not leading life to be better suited to environment, but rather to be more fragile and less suitable to environment.less

also ifeelfine, The word "murder" and "kill" are clearly separated in the Bible. It is absolutely forbidden to take a human life, EXCEPT, in cases where that person has committed some gross violation against another (murder etc.) As Christians, we live under Grace thus we must be merciful in our judgments of others, but that does not mean that the criminal does not deserve d...more

also ifeelfine,

The word "murder" and "kill" are clearly separated in the Bible. It is absolutely forbidden to take a human life, EXCEPT, in cases where that person has committed some gross violation against another (murder etc.) As Christians, we live under Grace thus we must be merciful in our judgments of others, but that does not mean that the criminal does not deserve death, only that we should not exact such a punishment.

The main point here is that "murder" and "kill" are not equal.less

ifeelfine, "You do realize that this was the prevalent belief amongst Christians up until a couple hundred years ago? The story of Onan was interpreted this way." This was not the prevalent belief, Christians have never said that each time the woman menstruates without bearing a child it is murder. There is no comparison here. As to the situation with Onan, this was only within the...more

ifeelfine,

"You do realize that this was the prevalent belief amongst Christians up until a couple hundred years ago? The story of Onan was interpreted this way."

This was not the prevalent belief, Christians have never said that each time the woman menstruates without bearing a child it is murder. There is no comparison here. As to the situation with Onan, this was only within the Catholic and some Protestant circles. Nonetheless, the sperm inside our bodies does die and become replaced, one way or the other. We are not murdering every child that could have been produced by each sperm You are making this extremely unclear and absurd by pushing this position, everyone agrees that life only happens after conception. At conception the fertilized egg has the full potential to become a complete human child, and all things being equal it will become one.

In all reality you do not believe what you are saying, and I dare say that absolutely no one does, the issue is about conception, not what happens to an unfertilized egg. You are running into the absurdities which I talked about.less

To say, "I cannot believe in God because I cannot know everything about Him" is utterly ridiculous and would prevent us from being able to function in the world. Imagine, I don't even know everything about myself, yet alas, against all odds, I believe I exist. We do not have to know everything, only what is revealed.

"Justice Minister Lene Espersen said the law was needed because judges "must appear neutral and impartial" in court." Sorry buddy, but just appearing impartial is not going to be good enough here.

Is it just me, or does it appear that a good portion of the posts here have been wiped out?