Basic Christianity

Introduction
The view of, or participation in, Christianity as something which is purely experiential has lead to a lot of misunderstandings and misconceptions about what Christianity teaches. The purpose of this project is to provide an accurate, unambiguous description of Christianity. It is my hope that this will provide a philosophical basis from which Christianity can be discussed rationally. It includes a statement of the basic beliefs of Christianity based solely on biblical writings*. An effort was made to limit speculations and avoid any popular beliefs that are not clearly supported by biblical writings. Some logical deduction was used to determine meaning when biblical interpretation was not clear. This document is NOT a description of the Christian experience. It is my hope that the end result will be one that all Christians can agree on.

* In Matthew 22:23-33 the religious leaders are trying to stump Jesus with a theological brain teaser. Jesus answers them by pointing out that the assumptions upon which the question are based are incorrect because they did not read and understand God’s word.

I have not yet attempted to footnote, or provide supporting Bible verses, for every concept stated here. However, there are some references provided. Where I have provided Bible verse(s) for reference, they should be taken as an example of supporting Biblical text, and not as a complete list of supporting Biblical text.

The topics contained here are all interrelated, and as a result there is a lot of overlap. One topic can not be fully understood without reading the others. The topics are as follows:

The Bible – God’s Word
The Bible is a collection of writings by people – prophets, apostles – who were inspired by God. The Bible does not talk about it’s own writing, but it does refer to itself, in places, as holy and inspired by God. Specifically, 2 Tim 3:16 and 2 Pete 1:21 demonstrate a belief that the Old Testament (OT) was inspired by God. 1 Tim 5:18 and 2 Pete 3:15 indicate that at that time, portions of what would become the New Testament (NT) were already being considered to have equal authority with the OT. It is a basic Christian belief that God spoke to man through the authors of the old and new testaments.

Some major themes of the Bible are love, family, second chances and God’s consistent nature. Among the most frequently used concepts are love, belief, and righteousness.

A primary goal of the Bible is to bring mankind into a close relationship with God, while on earth. Another is to provide mankind a way to become part of God’s spiritual family.

Reading the Bible
The more time I learn about the Bible, the more I am convinced that passages in Bible are meant to be understood “in context”. The context to which I am referring has two attributes, textual and cultural. To understand any one “verse” you must first understand the purpose of the passage in which it appears. And you must have some understanding of the culture of the writer and his/her audience. Many of the erroneous understandings and apparent contradictions that arise from Biblical teaching are the result of taking verses out of context in order to make a point.

Forgive me if I’m stating the obvious here…The Bible was not originally written with chapter and verse labels. These were added in … Some of the chapter divisions were done a little to hastily, as they seem to cross literary chapter boundaries. However, once made, the divisions were never changed in order to ensure a consistent method for referencing portions of biblical text.

The Old Testament
The Old Testament books were authored by a variety of people, many of whom were Jewish prophets. There are dozens of ancient non-biblical documents that provide parallels to the OT, including a number of epics. The oldest sources of OT text are the Dead Sea Scrolls written between 300BC and 100AD. The texts demonstrated the great care and accuracy with which OT scriptures were copied. The Jewish people maintained very strict rituals for the copying of scriptures.

The New Testament
The New Testament books were authored mainly by the Apostles, but also by other early missionaries who worked with the Apostles. The New Testament we have today comes from researching a large number of early texts. 5,000+ different texts are attested. Most of these texts are fragmentary, with enough material to make about 50 complete New Testaments.

See Appendix A for more information on biblical source material.

Controversial Texts
There are a number of biblical texts which when taken literally may result in confusion (to put it nicely). It is clear that the Bible employs a number of literary devises. Jesus admits to using parables in Matthew 8:10. In a letter to Titus, the apostle Paul provides some instruction for believers including the following: (Titus 3.9) “Avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law because these are unprofitable and useless.” Below are some examples.

Speaking of genealogies, Christians have occasionally used those found in the Bible to establish a timeline and even the age of the earth. This then has resulted in arguments with geologists, historians and scientists. So we should ask ourselves, is there a good reason to take these genealogies as literal and exhaustive? More specifically what I am asking is, when the Bible says so-and-so gave birth to, or was the son of, so-and-so, must we conclude that no intervening relations or generations occurred? The answer is clearly no. Genealogies in the Bible are used for a several purposes. It can be demonstrated that genealogies change based on the purpose, or as a result of changes in a persons status or in the relations of social structures. In other words, they have to be taken in context (sound familiar?). Genealogies in the Bible are used to demonstrate heredity, and social position, and not to establish a timeline. It should also be noted that Biblical genealogies often exclude names in order to achieve multiples of seven, which is a literary device.

There is a great deal of argument over the interpretation of the creation story in Genesis 1:1-2:3 (and this argument predates formal evolution theory). For example, scholars will go to great length to compare the words used for “day”, ”evening”, and “morning” to other OT occurrences and then conclude that they were meant to be literal, and therefore also conclude that you must take Genesis 1:1-2:3 literally (e.g. completely reject evolutionary ideas) to be a Christian. Let me just point out here that there is no indication in the Bible that anyone’s salvation will hinge upon their interpretation of Genesis. Let me further point out that Genesis 1:1-2:3 is clearly using a literary device, and that this device is different from anything else in Genesis or even the Bible (to my knowledge). So to take an ideological stand, based on the interpretation of this passage, which would jeopardize someone’s faith, is in the word’s of Paul the apostle, foolish. If you are interested in researching this subject I recommend a book called “The G3N3S1S Debate” which presents three interpretations of the creation story.

Christians will sometimes use NT verses to justify a variety of ungodly behavior, especially when that behavior has become socially acceptable. On the other hand, Christians will sometimes use OT verses to impose unnecessary rules on themselves and others (e.g. stoning people). One example is the use of verses like Titus 1:15, taken out of context, to conclude that something is only bad if you think it is bad. For clarification on this see Rules And The Bible in the Rules and Morality chapter.

God - A Biblical Description
This is the forth revision.   I've tried to make the description concise and yet at least indirectly complete.  If something is not in the description, it is probably missing for a reason.  The description is such that most Christians could agree with what is included.

What Is God
God is a spiritual (non-physical) being.  God has no beginning* and no end.  God is the creator of our physical reality and holds all things together.  God is also the creator of many spiritual things.  God has foreknowledge of the future.  God has power over all His creation.  God has a nature which we know by experience and through the Bible.  God has a plan for creation. God senses/is aware of everything that happens in His creation including our thoughts.

What Is God Like
God reveals Himself to us with three different personalities, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. All three personalities play a part in dealing with mankind.  God is very interested in building relationships and uses the family model to emphasize this.  God calls His nature 'good' and by extension anything that shares His nature is 'good'.  Anything that is contrary to God's nature He calls 'evil'. God hates evil. God is compelled by His nature to punish those who do evil, but God is merciful and forgives those who do evil if they believe they need God’s forgiveness.

There are a number of words used to describe God's attributes.  Some of these words were invented to describe an attribute of God and some are common usage words.  The idea of ‘consistency’ seems to be a major theme.

These words often mean something at least slightly different when used to describe God rather than people, for three reasons.

  1. The words are used to describe our relationship with God and we are not the same as God.
  2. The words derive their meaning, at least in part, from God's attributes. 
  3. God achieves perfection in these attributes whereas man does not.

What Does God Do
He created everything for His own purpose.  Nothing happens which God does not allow to happen (which is NOT the same as saying that God causes everything that happens)!

God interacts with His creation and wants to help mankind. God leaves mankind free to act as it wants most of the time, however, God also interferes according to His plan. The degree of this interference is much debated, especially in regards to man’s freedom in choosing salvation. However, the Bible clearly states that God does intervene on behalf of those who believe in Him and ask for His help. God seems to provide this help in a way that minimizes the impact on man’s freedom to choose or reject Him, according to God’s wisdom.  For example, if I pray for a new car and one appears on the doorstep, it would require little faith on my part, or my neighbor’s, to believe in God. However, if a friend later gives me a car, my prayer is answered, and faith is still required. It also seems that most of God's interventions with mankind are with individuals, are subtle, and are designed to make a person more like God. God wants to help mankind, but God wants mankind to be as free as possible in choosing whether or not to have a relationship with God.

God judges the actions of His creations. He does so by employing equity and the concepts of good and evil as described above. Ultimately, God’s standard is perfection.

God provides a way for His creation to know Him and be part of His plan. He (Jesus) does this by paying the penalty, or taking the punishment, for the evil that His followers do. This is necessary for imperfect beings to have a relationship with God (see What is God like).

What Does God Want
God has a plan for all of creation. The plan will bring glory for God. God wants us to help facilitate the plan (see the section entitled God’s Plan). God wants all creation to give Him the love and worship He deserves (Psalm 145:10). See conclusions.

What Does God Want From Us
God wants us to know Him, not academically, but personally.  Knowing God implies a relationship in which we learn to know what God wants and that God loves us.  God wants us to love and worship Him.  God wants us to be like Him.  God also wants those who know Him and love Him to set themselves apart from others by their behavior.  And God wants the Church (all Christians) to play a part in His plan (see the section on God’s Plan). All other rules and laws in the Bible come out of this and are secondary to this. God wants us to do these things out of faith, not requiring proof.

Some Conclusions
The Bible, and therefore the Christian faith, does not indicate that there are any definitions of 'good and evil' beyond God's nature.  This means that there are no moral absolutes with which God can be judged.  However, God's nature provides some consistent moral standards for mankind which are, in a sense absolute.  Mankind has developed or been given other morals or rules for the purpose of perpetuating society, promoting God like behavior, preparing mankind for its role in God’s plan, and for differentiating themselves from other people (see Rules and Morality).

It is NOT God’s primary goal to have all people live for eternity with Him in heaven. It is also NOT God’s goal to reward people for the good that they do. God and Satan do NOT embody the struggle between ultimate Good and Evil. These ideas are a secular perversion of Christianity.

Speculations
There are some people that interpret the Bible to say that Jesus, after the resurrection, had to remain in human form. The idea is that in becoming a man, He gave up the ability to go back to being a purely spiritual being. I think this is contrary to God’s nature in regards to seeking Equity. How could Jesus have paid the penalty for the other humans, if death did not mean the end of physical existence as it does for humans?

Rules and Morality
This is the third revision. It is important to note that rules and morality are not necessarily the same. Morality, or ethics, deals with right and wrong. Rules are sometimes used to enforce morality, but sometime rules are just administrative. The term “values” implies those things that are important, and so it includes morals and rules. Also, please note that ‘amoral’ means neither good nor bad, and is not the same as immoral.

Values
If I were to set up a Christian hierarchy of values it would go like this:

So if you look at the various rules in the Bible and in societies, we see that they all fit into the system of values above which can then be simplified as the following.

This hierarchy demonstrates a difference between God’s morality and Man’s morality. It suggests that God’s rules do not always result directly from God’s morality. It also suggests that man’s rules do not always result directly from man’s morality.

Amoral Rules?
It is easy to demonstrate that some of Man’s rules are amoral. In fact, from God’s point-of-view, all of man’s rules are amoral. It is a little harder to demonstrate that some of God’s rules are amoral. Some examples of God’s rules that do not seem to result directly from God’s morality would be, those relating to sexual relations, some maters of justice and finance, and some of the other more specific rules given to the Israelites. These are things that don’t seem to relate to God’s nature.

Some of the rules given to the Israelites, which seem to have no basis in God’s morality, have to do with “setting them apart” as God’s people. This idea of “setting apart” actually reflects God’s holiness (see Description of God), so they are moral rules.

The rules relating to sexuality and family relationships seem to have no correlation with God’s nature. They can help to set Christians apart, but aren’t really as effective as some other rules might be since they often closely parallel human nature (i.e. social preservation). But when we look at the scriptures that talk about our relationship to God and God’s plan for the Church, the purpose of these rules becomes clearer. The Bible says that man is made in God’s image. The Bible refers to the saved as sons or children of God, and brothers of Christ. And it refers to the Church as the Father’s bride. (This is discussed more in the section entitled God’s Plan.) God created us the way we are so that our relationships with our families would be analogous to God's relationships with Christians and with the Church in general.

Some examples of this can be taken directly from various scriptures like Eph 5:22-25;

Submission of the wife to the husband is analogous to our submission to God the Father.

Love of the husband for the wife, beyond even his own safety, is analogous to God’s love and sacrifice for us.

Purity in marriage reflects the purity in God’s relationship with us.

So one could conclude that these rules regarding human relationships are only analogous to God’s nature, and as such are amoral from God’s point of view. This does not, in any way, mean that they are arbitrary or meaningless, as I have demonstrated.

(Some might argue that some of God’s rules seem analogous only because there are some things about God's nature that we don't know or understand. Let me point out that I am taking my knowledge of God’s nature solely from the Bible. The idea that God would hide some relevant aspects of His nature from us seems inconsistent with those aspects of His nature which He has revealed to us.)

Why God Gives Us Rules
This is really just a restatement of God’s rules from above.
God gives us rules mainly to:

Also, God gives us rules..

Rules don't have to be about God's nature in order to be consistent with God's nature. Since God is immutable, doesn't lie, and everything He does is in His nature to do, the rules He creates must also be consistent with His nature. Apparently, it is in God’s nature to give us rules.

*One example from the Bible involves the prophet Hosea. God tells him to do things so that his life will be an analogy of Christ’s love for the church. Hosea is told to marry a whore, and then name his children after the pains they bring him. Hosea is told to “go find her in the houses and redeem her”. It seems obvious that marrying the whore was not a moral lesson from God. It was moral for Hosea to obey God. God planed to use this lesson to instruct His followers. Telling Hosea to do this did not go against God’s nature. Some people might say that it was immoral for Hosea to marry a whore, or even for God to ask it of him, but that is an example of man’s morality and not God’s.

Why Obey God’s Rules
This question can not be answered thoroughly without first having a discussion about grace and salvation, which comes in the next section.

God’s Rules Versus Man’s Rules
Christ’s words and example indicate that Christians should follow the rules of the society they are in, as long as those rules do not conflict with God’s rules. It is easy to see the difference between Man’s rules and God’s Rules. Man’s morality is based on maximizing freedom, and well-being. God’s morality is based on being God like. Christians, as members of a society, help to define that society’s morality (i.e. man’s morality), and must also contend with that morality. However, the guiding principle in setting up rules for a society should be maximizing the societies well-being, rather than enforcing God’s morality, because we are talking about man’s morality here. To do otherwise would be to judge “those outside the church” God’s morality is for the Godly. It is for those who choose to be Christians. Exercising God’s morality is part of establishing a personal relationship with God, and is not necessarily part of establishing a government. If a society decides that some of God’s rules would also be useful in maximizing the societies well-being, then we can make them part of our social morality. So man’s morality can mimic God’s morality, but it is still man’s morality.

Rules And The Bible
I apologize for any over-simplifications that follow.
As mentioned above, the Old Testament of the Bible contains a large number of rules (see the Pentateuch – Genesis through Deuteronomy) which are given to the Jewish people to establish rituals, to set them apart from other nations, and to protect them. Then with the sacrifice of Jesus, we have the “New Covenant” (Luke 22:20) available to us which frees Christians from much of that Jewish law (examples throughout NT). However, the NT also reinforces the fact that God desires for us to be righteous (i.e. behave consistently in a Godly manner) by describing how God would have us behave. Not surprisingly, there is a lot of overlap with OT rules regarding morality. Throughout both the OT and NT, under both the old and new covenants, those rules relating to behaving like God (i.e. God’s morality) are consistently espoused. In contrast, OT rules not directly related to God’s morality, are no longer encouraged in the NT, under the New Covenant.

Some Conclusions
It is NOT the job of the Christian Church to impose God’s morality on non-Christians. It IS the job of the Christian Church to follow God’s rules in the context of whatever society they are in. A frequent sermon topic seems to be The Scriptural Remedy to Social Ills, the point of which seems to be that, we Christians need to fix society because it is falling well short of God’s standards. The very concept is farcical for two reasons.

  1. The best social condition is the one in which the most people come to a personal relationship with God, and no man has the wisdom or foresight to know what that condition is.
  2. A society which ACTS godly, is not necessarily a society of Christians!

The Christian is commanded to address social ills in the following two ways:

  1. Help care for the needy, regardless of WHY they are needy. In other words, the bible does not command Christians to prevent need, but rather to meet it.
  2. We are to bring the gospel to individuals so they can make a choice to follow God’s rules.

It is NOT the job of Christians to judge non-Christians by God’s standards. It is enough to recognize that non-Christians are ungodly, and as such, will not be striving to achieve God’s morality.

Grace and Salvation
This is the second revision. The role of Grace in Christianity makes Christianity significantly unique among all major world religions including Christian offshoots. While all other religions describe a course of action by which one can achieve an ultimate spiritual goal, whether it be salvation, or enlightenment (Islam’s Five Pillars, the Jewish Covenant/Law, the Buddhist Eight Fold Path, Hindu Karma etc…). Christianity teaches that it is not humanly possible to achieve the goal, therefore you must trust God to do it for you. Literally, this translates into simply believing that Jesus was the Christ and achieved the goal on your behalf. This description is oversimplified as we will see later, but it is basically correct. Exercising this belief inevitably leads us to two realizations.
  1. It goes against my nature. Our natural condition in physical reality teaches us that if we want something we must take action toward that goal. If you want something you must earn it. Therefore, our nature is in direct conflict with the Christian belief that salvation can not be achieved, it can only be attained by faith.
  2. I don’t have to try to be good in order to be “saved”. This statement is so profound that it bears restating. I don’t have to follow God’s rules in order to attain salvation!

NOTE: The term ‘sin’ as it is used here and in the Bible means disobeying God or not following God’s rules.

Christian Grace
Grace, mercy and charity, as Christian concepts, are often just lumped in with love. On closer examination they are seen to be virtues motivated by love. These virtues could be defined as follows:

Grace, mercy and charity are to some extent synonymous with each other and can simply be expressed as Grace. In any case these Christian virtues all demonstrate inequity. They are giving someone the love, respect, or material wealth they don’t deserve. They are withholding the retribution, or hate someone deserves. They are paying a debt that you didn’t earn, or not demanding to receive what is owed to you.

Grace is something that is best demonstrated in one on one interactions. Occasionally large groups or governments demonstrate grace, as in the case of the Christian based Jubilee movement that has motivated some countries to forgive the monetary debts of struggling third world countries. But usually grace is expressed as one person helping or forgiving another. Countries and Governments are usually concerned with administering laws which are usually about making sure people get what they deserve, and that is the very opposite of Christian Grace.

How You Can Have Both Grace And Justice
At first, the idea of Christian Grace and justice seem contradictory. This apparent contradiction stems from the misconception that the administration of man’s laws is the same thing as God’s justice, which it is not. If someone steals from you and gets caught, man’s laws may require that they go to jail, but you can still show that person Grace by not being angry at them, and by not demanding repayment.

God solved the dilemma of Grace and justice through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ (Titus 2:13-14). Justice is served, in God’s eyes, by Jesus paying the penalty that justice demands of the Church. This act of Grace (Jesus’ execution and descent into Hell) allowed God to forgive us for our sins.

Attaining Salvation
A preponderance of NT verses indicate that salvation is attained by having faith, or belief, in God’s grace, and not earned by any act of goodness (Eph 2:8-9). This belief, or faith, is a working faith, by which I mean that it changes your motivation and purpose, and therefore your behavior (James 2:14-26). So while no “works” are required to attain salvation, your behavior will still tend to demonstrate your belief. The obvious question then is, “What if I’m a Christian, and I don’t behave as I should?” This next bit is where a lot of Christian’s become confused and mislead. If a professed Christian’s behavior consistently demonstrates a lack of faith, then this may be an indication that the person never really attained salvation. This does NOT mean that if you make mistakes, or sin, that you were never saved! Even if you sin a lot. Even if you sin in willful defiance. The whole reason we are saved by Grace is because it is in our nature to sin(Rom 3:23). What it means, is that if we don’t feel the need to repent for our sins, then we may not have ever had the faith that attains salvation.

Losing Salvation
Many Christians believe that once you have gained salvation you cannot lose it in any way. After reviewing the Biblical material supporting this view, I too find it compelling. I am not, however, convinced that their aren’t exceptions (there isn’t space here to recap the research). More about this in Speculations.

Forgiveness And Forgiveness
When reading the NT, a person could get the feeling that there is some confusion about the role forgiveness plays in Christianity. First we learn that we gain salvation when our sins are all completely forgiven as a result of Christ’s sacrifice. But then the bible says we should continue to seek forgiveness (1 John 1:9, Luke 11:2-4, Matt 6:9-15). And if I have to ask for forgiveness every time I sin, aren’t I in some way earning my salvation?

The solution to this dilemma is, for whatever reason, not readily apparent in the NT. Several solutions are commonly held, but I believe only one of them is a logical and consistent solution. These solutions are:

Why Should I Even Try To Follow God’s Rules
If we don’t need to obey God or follow His rules in order to be saved, why bother?

Obeying God’s rules improves my relationship with God. Given God’s nature, it is easy to conclude, even if the Bible didn’t say or demonstrate it repeatedly, that a close relationship with Him would be desirable. The Bible describes sin as something that gets between God and the Church, impedes communication and sours the relationship. The impediment can either be avoided (obviously) or removed. The later is accomplished by repentance.

The Bible indicates that we will be rewarded in heaven, in some way, for the good that we do on earth.

The Bible teaches that God may punish Christians here in this life for the sins they commit.

Predestination
There are sufficient references in the NT to indicate that everyone who becomes a Christian is also called to be a Christian by the Father. Specifically, the Father calls those who will be Christian’s to put their faith in Jesus, who saves them through Grace. This gives some people the idea that we don’t really get to make a choice. If that were true then the entire Bible makes no sense (big picture time)*. Another possibility is that because God is all-knowing, He knows who will chose to be Christians, and calls them. By calling them, God further disassociates my salvation from my actions, thus emphasizing Grace. I’m comfortable with this interpretation, but it is just that, my interpretation. See Speculations on Foreknowledge.

*I have explored this possibility and found that it changes the interpretation of several fundamental Christian concepts. I did not find a way to make these new interpretations fit together logically.

Some Conclusions
One interesting conclusion that can be drawn from solution C above is this. Just because we are saved doesn’t mean we are seen as being completely holy and righteous in God’s eyes. I just means we won’t be punished for our sins on judgment day. We still need to repent and get forgiveness to be holy and righteous in God’s eyes.

Speculation
Attaining Salvation
I think it may be possible to draw a distinction between achieving salvation and attaining it (in fact I’ve already demonstrated this). And that based on this distinction it may be possible to argue that a person who willingly changes their beliefs and there-by losses their faith is no longer saved. This would not be popular belief among Christians.

Losing Salvation
This topic is an example of the problems that arise from non-objective biblical studies. In reading 2 Peter 2:17-21, some would interpret this as a warning about losing salvation. This is because of the phrase, “worse off in the end”. I can think of at least three other possible interpretations for this phrase, but it is irrelevant. The context of the passage reveals that Peter is talking about false prophets, and NOT about Christians. As such, there is no way this phrase can be a reference to losing one’s salvation.

On the other side of the argument, John 10:27-29 is often quoted as proof that you can’t lose your salvation. This passage contains the phrase “no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.” Although this phrase does say no one else can take away your salvation, it does NOT say that you can’t loss it yourself. Suppose I say to you, hold something for me and don’t let anyone take it. You reply, “no one can take this from me.” Then I come back the next day, and you give it to me. Did you break your word? No. Only a lawyer would come up with that sort of interpretation.

Man and The Church
The Bible uses the word “man” to refer to mankind in general, and also to individuals. And it uses the word Church to refer to that part of mankind who will receive salvation. God created man for His own purpose (see description of God above). God wishes to have a close relationship with all people. God refuses to force that relationship and instead allows us to choose whether or not we will initiate communion. God makes it clear that He loves all people.

Man
The Bible describes man’s nature as greedy, lustful, deceitful, hateful, envious, slanderous, arrogant and foolish (Mark 7:21-22), and generally driven by the desires of the body. Yet God has built into man a conscience and a desire to seek Him. So in the Christian view man is an dichotomy. On the one hand, man is an animal, and on the other, man is a rational and spiritual being.

(Personal Note: The more we learn about conscious awareness the more we discover the uniqueness of this condition in nature. Conscious awareness allows us to observe our own thoughts as if we were spectators, and to then make rational choices. For centuries philosophers have pondered the conflict between the animal nature and the rational mind. Many have concluded that for man to be truly free, the former must be tamed by the latter, which is of course a biblical concept (2 Peter 2:17). My point is that the Christian view of man is not unique to Christianity, or even religion.)

Why Did He Make Us This Way?
If God wanted people to be like Him, why did He create us the way we are? To achieve God’s plan (see God’s Plan below). Also, see the bit on God’s Plan in the Speculations below.

Man’s Interests Are Different From God’s Interests
God is primarily interested in our spiritual development, so God’s love is not generally made manifest by indulging man’s physical desires. God makes it clear that what He values is not the same as what man values. God allows mankind to govern itself, to police itself, and to protect itself. God offers man freedom from mental and emotional burdens, rather than freedom to achieve all of man’s desires!

Man Is Important To God
The Bible seems to indicate that God has placed such importance on mankind, that we will one day be more important than the angels. More specifically, those of us who are going to receive salvation, the Church, will be above the angels in importance to God (Heb 1:14, 1 Cor 6:3). The Bible states that man was created in God’s image, and that we will be like God when our day of salvation comes (Gen 1:27, 1 John 3:1,2). Man was initially created as “just a little lower” than the angels (orig. Psalm 8:5 which can be interpreted as “little lower than God”, quoted later in Heb 2:6-8) All through the New Testament the saved are referred to as sons or children of God, and brothers of Christ. Man is destined to be part of God’s family in a real way (Eph 3:15, 1 John 3:1, 2 Peter 1:4, 1 Peter 1:23) The Bible never refers to angels as part of God’s family. And finally, Jesus allowed Himself to be incarnated as a man.

Man’s Purpose
Man’s purpose, as given by God, is in essence a restatement of the reasons behind God’s rules from an earlier section (see Why God Gives Us Rules in the section on Rules and Morality). To summarize, man’s purpose is;

The first two points are covered elsewhere so we will discuss the third point here. The Bible makes it clear that we are to praise God, both now and later in heaven. In fact, all of creation is commanded to praise God. God commands us to praise Him because he deserves it. The sample prayer given to us by Jesus (the Lord’s Prayer) starts off by giving praise to God. In the Bible praise is even used as a spiritual weapon (2 Chr 20, Psalm 22:3).

These purposes are a stark contrast to those that man invents for himself. Some ideologies claim man’s purpose is to demonstrate his own greatness, as in the case of humanism, or to experience all that he can, as in the case of existentialism and hedonism. The most natural source of purpose for man comes from his own needs. Ironically, purpose itself is one of man’s needs. This aspect of the human condition leads to a dilemma which can be stated as follows.

Everyone needs purpose in life. We think our purpose is to fulfill our needs, (i.e. food, companionship, material wealth, sex, freedom). The better we become at fulfilling our needs, the more we realize that our needs are controlling us*. We then have to make a choice. We either have to find new or greater needs to give us purpose, or to find a purpose other than our needs.

*NOTE: this control reduces our freedom, which is also a need.

For the Christian, the solution to this dilemma is to adopt the purposes that God has for us, as our purposes.

Some Conclusions
From previous sections we’ve seen that Good and Evil are defined by God’s nature. Being good entails being like God. Conversely, being bad is NOT being like God. Given the Christian view of man, these concepts could be expressed as follows. Being good entails following our God given conscience and our desire to seek him. Being bad entails following our animal nature. In other words, “sin” could be described as following our animal nature rather than our conscience or God’s nature.

God’s Plan
The Bible does not go into great detail about God’s plan, but it does provide insights, especially regarding man’s part in that plan. From the Bible we can infer that God has a plan, man is important to God, and plays an important part in God’s plan.

God has a plan
Although the Bible makes references to God having a plan, it does not explain God’s plan. In fact, it seems to imply that we are not meant to know the entirety of God’s plan until it is fulfilled (Eph 1:11,3:11, Acts 2:23, Rom 8:28,9:11, the book of Revelations, etc.). Based on the references to praising God in the bible, it seems likely that part of God’s plan is to bring praise and glory to Himself.

What we know of the plan so far, by looking into the past, is that God created man in His image (and created a universe for man to live in) and has then sought ways to have a close relationship with him. First with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, then with Israel through the law, and finally with all men through Christ’s sacrifice. The Old Testament makes it clear that God had (and still has to some extent) a specific plan for the destiny of the Jews.

The New Testament (and some bits in the OT), and Revelation in particular, talk about God’s future plans. This includes Christ’s return, removal of the Church from the earth, and an apocalypse (not necessarily in that order). Then it talks about a New Earth with God living among us for a millennium. The plan will bring all things in heaven and earth together in a new heaven and earth in total unity, peace, and harmony with God as the head, or leader. This new heaven and earth will only include those people who choose to be part of it.

Man Plays An Important Part In God’s Plan
The Bible makes it clear that the Church is to become a part of God’s family. The idea, or image, of the family is so pervasive in the entire Bible that one could say it is a major theme of the Bible. The Church is described as God’s bride. (Rev 19:7, Matt 22:2-14, Isa 54:5,6, etc.) So part of God’s plan is to bring those who are to make up the Church into His heavenly family. God created us in such a way that our human families are analogous to our destined relationship with God, and with our role in God’s plan (Eph 5:22-25). This idea helps to clarify some of the other parts of scripture. It helps us to understand some of what is meant by “created in God’s image”. And it helps us to understand the purpose of some of the rules regarding sexual behavior and family relationships set down for us in the Bible (For a more thorough explanation see the section entitled Rules and Morality).

Once the Church becomes part of the heavenly family, it becomes co-sovereign with God. The Bible says we will sit on the thrown with Him and be judges/rulers of the new earth (2 Tim 2:11, 1 Cor 6:2-3, Rev 3:21,5:10). This is the destiny that God is planning for us.

The Church also plays an active role in achieving God’s plan here on the present earth. God’s will can be influenced by the Church through the great power of prayer (see the section entitled Rites and Rituals for more details). Because of this, prayer teaches us about faith, and about participating in God’s will. This too, is analogous to our human family relationships. Some would go as far as to say that God is dependent on the Church to complete his will here on earth. Some verses allude to the authority given to the Apostles, and maybe the Church in general, by God (Matt 18:18, Luke 10:19, John 20:21-23).

Some Conclusions
God’s plan will be carried out regardless of our actions. However, it will happen sooner if we choose to participate in the plan. One need only look at “The Lord’s Prayer” in the gospels to see this. “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

The conclusions in the section on Rules and Morality are relevant to this section. At this point I think we can add one more point to those conclusions. The Bible, and therefore God, does not command or instruct Christians to take action against evil. Instead, we are asked to be faithful, trust God, and love others. This fact should separate true Christians from religious fanatics who claim to be fighting the forces of evil. This point is an important distinction as recent history has demonstrated. Take note that Islam teaches its followers to take action against evil.

Speculations
I have had an insight that may reflect part of God’s purpose in creating man and the universe. This theory views life in the physical world as a philosophical experiment. Life in the physical world is driven by the desire to survive and propagate. In a universe with no spiritual influence, natural behaviors can all be traced back to survival. That is to say that most human desires are, like that of other animals, based in survival (keep in mind that even social/societal behaviors are survival based, albeit on a different level). This fact has been well demonstrated by evolutionists in a variety of scientific fields*. Yet it seems that efforts to achieve these desires do not result in the maximum good for the most people. In fact, they don’t even seem to result in the maximum good for anyone! Happiness is only maximized when desires are controlled. This concept goes beyond Judeo-Christian philosophy to such an extent that it can be called general wisdom. My theory is this: natural behavior maximizes survival, but does not maximize well being. That is: doing the things that ensure survival does not maximize happiness. I believe that un-natural concepts like grace, and faith are needed to maximize well being. I think that part of God’s plan may be to demonstrate this fact.

So then one might ask, “why did God create a world where such a contradiction exists?” This question assumes that the contradiction is a result of the makeup of our particular physical reality, and that in some other reality the contradiction might not exist. I think it would be more accurate to say that the contradiction is the result of the “cause and affect” paradigm which is the basis of all reality. I’m saying the contradiction is unavoidable.
(Author’s Note: Contradiction is not quite the right word)

Rites and Rituals
The Bible prescribes very few rites or rituals. All of them are symbolic, except for prayer. None of the rituals prescribed by God are requirements for salvation! Here is a list of the prescribed rituals:
Rite/Ritual Purpose Comment
Prayer Communication Also, brings us closer to God and teaches us faith
Communion Remembrance Reminds us of Jesus’ sacrifice
Baptism Public declaration Symbolizes rebirth
Passover Feast Remembrance For the Jews
Animal Sacrifice Repentance Became obsolete after Christ’s resurrection

The Bible refers to numerous rituals which were imposed on the Jews by their religious leaders, but the Bible does not prescribe or support them.

Animal Sacrifice
This ritual was a purely symbolic gesture. It symbolized the payment of the sin penalty by proxy. The proxy was Jesus.

Communion
Although now days communion is performed as part of a church service in a very ritualistic manner, it was originally part of a dinner party and was performed as a toast to the new covenant and in recognition of Jesus’ sacrifice. The purpose of communion is to remind us of Jesus’ sacrifice and our participation in the new covenant. The breaking of the bread, and the pouring of the wine, are symbolic of Jesus’ crucifixion. I see no reason to conclude that the metaphor extends beyond the breaking and pouring. I also see no reason to conclude that Jesus’ meant for His statements (“this is my body…this is my blood”) to be taken literally.

Prayer
Prayer is described in the Bible as our way to talk to God. I use the word “talk” here to encompass several activities described in the Bible including; praising and worshiping God, making petitions, and seeking spiritual direction or inspiration.

The Lord’s Prayer could be considered a rite of the prayer ritual. It is also Jesus’ example of the ideal prayer (Luke 11:2, Matt 6:9). It contains, in order, the following;

  1. Recognition of, and praise to, God.
  2. Expression of the desire for God’s plan to be fulfilled, and for His will to be done here on earth.
  3. A request that our needs to be met on this day.
  4. (a) Repentance for our sins* and (b) a declaration that we forgive others.
  5. Request for protection from temptation and evil.

Notice that the request for God’s will to be done comes before the request for our needs to be met. Notice also that giving forgiveness and receiving forgiveness go together. In fact, both versions imply the former (a) requires the latter (b), and this is reiterated in Mathew 6:15.

* The purpose of this repentance is, most likely, to restore communion with God, and not to obtain the forgiveness that is required for salvation. See the discussion on this in the section titled Forgiveness and Forgiveness in the Chapter on Grace and Salvation.

To often, prayers focus only on items 3 and 4a above, which missed the point. God will not fulfill your request if it is not in His will, and you can not seek forgiveness (mercy) until you have forgiven others.

Although prayer is not a requirement for salvation, it is an inescapable necessity. Having come to believe in God as one’s spiritual father, one is going to want to talk to Him at some point, if for no other reason than to say “I believe”.

God has chosen to make prayer an important part of his plan. The Bible indicates that sometimes God will not act until asked to do so. This is the great mystery of prayer, that God’s will can be influence by the Church. Prayer can be used to cause God to act, or to not act, and therefore, to change His will. (Gen 18, Ezek 22:30-31, Matt 9:37-38, John 14:13-14, etc.) It seems reasonable to infer that prayer is the training method for learning to do God’s will, and that God has provided prayer to prepare the church for co-sovereignty with Him (see the section on God’s Plan).

God has promised that all prayers from believers will be answered, if certain conditions are met (John 14:13-14,15:7,16:23-24, Matt 7:7, Matt 18:18). Reasons for “unanswered” prayer;

If it is part of God’s plan that the Church can influence God’s will, then we can conclude that the Church plays an active role in achieving God’s plan here on earth, through prayer.

Other Topics
Why Do People Try to Change Christianity
Inevitably, “followers” of Jesus have attempted to change the biblical message. Of coarse it is in our nature to like new over old. New and Improved is the oldest marketing ploy (along with sex), and yes, ideas are marketed. However, there are aspects of Christian faith that are contrary to human nature and these become targets for redefinition.

One of the main Christian teachings targeted for re-definition is grace. As mentioned below, true Christianity is unique among all religions of the world in teaching that salvation is not achieved. (See the section on Grace and Salvation) People would much rather have a list of things to do than be told they must trust someone else, and it appeals to our pride by allowing us to say “look at me, I earned this”.

Another main target is the Godhood of Jesus. People find the trinity concept confusing. So if you want to create a new religion which can draw on a pool of religious people, this is a good way to start. For obvious political reasons Jesus did not run around the ancient world shouting “I’m God!” He would not have been able to achieve His plan if He did. When pressed, He alluded to it, or implied it, without coming right out and saying it. However, if you read the New Testament you will see several instances which are completely unambiguous.

The third major target is Christian morality. People like to think that their religious morals and social morals are complimentary. Over time, the necessity for various social morals change, and we don’t want people or society to think that we are bad people. It is inevitable that at some point we will have to face the ideological dilemma of Compassion vs. Cowardice. Remember that Christianity is not about what seems good or fair to people! It is about God’s law! Today’s “Political Correctness” teaches a definition of “tolerance” that is really just ideological cowardice. If you stand for something, you are going to upset and/or offend some person somewhere!

Christianity And Other Religions
Most people look at these as being two separate religions. It is accurate to say that post Christian-Judaism as practiced today is a separate religion. However, Christianity encompasses Judaism. It is the fulfillment of Judaism. The Christian Bible’s Old Testament is … From the perspective of post Christian-Judaism, Christianity is a cult, as is Islam. Needs research.

Spirituality
This word has different meanings in different contexts.

Biblical context – The word spiritual does not occur in the bible until the book of Romans in the NT. This word spirit occurs often and usually refers to God, as in the spirit of, or the Holy Spirit. Why the book of Romans? Because it is after Acts chronologically, and in Acts we have the God giving us, the church, the indwelling Holy Spirit. Before Jesus ascends into heaven (Acts Ch1) He says Holy Spirit will “come on you”. Then at Pentecost (Acts Ch2) the Holy Spirit comes and they are “filled with the Holy Spirit”. This phrase then occurs through the rest of Acts. So the word “spiritual” refers to being filled with the Holy Spirit.

Modern Christian church context – The word spiritual is synonymous with religious.

Modern Secular context – The word spiritual refers to anything that is metaphysical.

Foreknowledge And Free Will
One interesting side effect of a belief in foreknowledge is that it assumes that it is possible to move both forward and backward in time. It also assumes that one can move backward in time while retaining accurate knowledge of the future, which seems to be inconsistent with the idea of free will. For example, free will implies that a point in history where a choice is made has an undeterminable outcome. And if the outcome can not be determined, then it also can not be known prior to its occurrence. It is overly simple to say that these considerations are irrelevant for God. The Bible gives every indication that God works in a cause and effect framework. It is not so much a matter of physics as it is a matter of logic. God may not have to obey the physical laws which we are subject to, but it is possible, and even likely that logic does apply to God. Therefore, this discussion IS pertinent, and touches on a number of arguments surrounding, or challenges to, Christian doctrine which have been left largely unanswered by the Christian community.

Most of the confusion regarding the discussion of freedom and foreknowledge comes from the unspoken assumption that “cause and effect” and the flow of time, are the same thing. It is possible, and even likely that they are not.

Appendix A
Biblical Sources
The New Testament Sources
The New Testament books were authored mainly by the Apostles, but also by other early missionaries who worked with the Apostles. The New Testament we have today comes from researching a large number of early texts. 5,000+ different texts are attested. Most of these texts are fragmentary, with enough material to make about 50 complete New Testaments.

The most important of these texts are:

Timeline

To Do List
Credits
Although this paper has been entirely written by me, Mark Groseth, there have been a large number of people who contributed through conversations and such.

Those people are:

Apologies to anyone who’s name I’ve forgotten to mention.

 

Index