Losing their religion: why US churches are on the decline

[zayk35]

My first older chick kinda opened my eyes very simply. She was a Sargent in the Marines and I was just a Lance Corporal and one day she just said "I don't believe in the the Bible it contradicts itself too much" very nonchalantly, I had never questioned it up until that point even if it didn't make sense to me. But from that point on I started to question things about and I got more educated and moved on from the Bible. There's common sense shyt in there to actually live by but as far as worship and all that other stuff fukk all that

 

[2 Up 2 Down]

multiple people who independently translate from the Greek and Hebrew texts arrive at the same meaning
it's not a game of telephone

and clearly heretical texts were discarded at the Council of Nicea
just because something was written a long time and mentioned Jesus doesn't mean it is automatically from the Holy Spirit


you gotta stop regurgitating these flawed atheist takes

Different scribes have translated the Bible to various languages from once it went from being oral to written down. Language has evolved and change even within the same language and much more when going from one language to the next. To think there is exact parallels in language is foolish.
Dead Sea scrolls shows how different the manuscripts were.
Parts of some books were added centuries after it was written

Is 'Let Him Who Is Without Sin Cast the First Stone' Biblical?

Scholars are cautious about the story of the woman caught in adultery.

www.christianitytoday.com

The parts of the apocrypha have been in and out of the Bible in the early years and the main reason they were taken out is because it didn't fit the narrative they wanted.

 

[bl2k8]

It does. Alien is anything not if this Eartha nd by the details of the documents de-classified, nothing moves like these aerial phenomenon.

Also Im not Atheist...I believe nothing came from nothing...but to sit as a black man believing in a deity that has a human personality???? Thats immaturity and juvenile thinking..but most of The Coli dont have Higher Ordinance of Thinking.

Bruh it’s phenomenon that can’t be explained, it being from another world was just one of the categories that it could be listed under, does not automatically mean aliens. One of the damn pictures the government released was found to be a damn Batman ballon.

 

[God Of Art]

Bruh it’s phenomenon that can’t be explained, it being from another world was just one of the categories that it could be listed under, does not automatically mean aliens. One of the damn pictures the government released was found to be a damn Batman ballon.

............................oh

 

[Rocket Scientist]

In the next 10 to 15 years, a lot of churches gonna be shut down. America is going to be the more ratchet version of Western Europe.

Men's Day Conference? (Black) men still go to church that's under retirement age?

Dont sleep on conferences they be getting big name speakers. Not talking pastors some influential mainstream folks. Its not all preaching it be about strengthening relationships with fathers,brothers. Some brotherhood bonding type. Best churches are community base. I learned more from these Saturday forums then I do on Sunday Yea I agree its wrap in about 5-10.

 

[Dave24]

Dont sleep on conferences they be getting big name speakers. Not talking pastors some influential mainstream folks. Its not all preaching it be about strengthening relationships with fathers,brothers. Some brotherhood bonding type. Best churches are community base. I learned more from these Saturday forums then I do on Sunday Yea I agree its wrap in about 5-10.

What christian denomination are most community base churches?

 

[ISO]

Meanwhile Islam growing rapidly

That’s not good

 

[Rocket Scientist]

What christian denomination are most community base churches?

Plenty. Baptists,Non Denominational. Not the churches that are too small or big mega ones. They are serving communities.

 

[RareHunter]

In all fairness that can actually go both ways. It may turn some away. Then again, some can say God obviously come from somewhere. I believe in God but also believe there is life outside this planet.

Do not under any circumstance fall for this breh, that is the final of final cardds. Repent. You’ll only have 2 options very very soon.

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2 Thessalonians 2:9-12​

9 The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, 10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, 12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

 

[Tair]

It makes as much sense as you and me following Hinduism or Jainism; if Black folk didn't act like Abrahamic religion wasn't foreign and used it constructively, I wouldn't mind at all

As to the bolded, it means people who don't look like they're from Europe, Asia, or indigenous to the Americas

I'm Black, I'm assuming you are too and you can't skirt around our history. If you're AA or WI, there is little to no Ethiopian, Kushyte, Biblical era-Egyptian in us; our ancestors are from the exact other side of where the Bible's set: Coastal Niger-Congolese Africa


Exactly, that and geography, I think if people realized how huge and diverse the whole African continent is and how far away the middle east was from everything going on with our actual ancestors/how close to Europe it is, we wouldn't be debating wannabe jews and arabs in 2023

You said Black was anyone that doesn't look Asian, European, or Indigenous to the Americas.

You then tried to section off Ethiopians from your definition of Blackness by saying, "we have no Ethiopian, Kushyte... in us"

If that is your belief your logic must be consistent. But overall, I disagree and do not accept your definition of Blackness. Not just based on the inconsistencies but also based on history.

As for me, I would be described as a typical Black American. From just DNA alone, my maternal haplogroup is the parent group to every other group in humankind. That, and I do have European, some east African, central and West African, and Indigenous American DNA. I am a mixture (as are all other Black Americans), so to say that we have "no connection" is ludicrous especially when you take into account that our lineages are what brought other lineages into the world (that includes Middle Eastern people).

I follow the path of G-d. I am sure the Yoruba religion in Olodumare is connected in some way (they parallel very closely). Ultimately, apart of my faith is moving beyond the physical and seeing beyond the vainness of life. That is something I am slowly breaking out of though.

The balak and balaam dynamic I’m more cognizant of than ever

That story shows the power of language and necessity of humility.

Personally, I do believe we exist inside a superstructure that we term "supernatural" (a circle/point within a larger circle is a good depiction), and it interacts with us through various means. Language being the main driver.

"The power of life and death are held within the tongue". The Bible emphasizes the importance of language and how it's used.

But, could you go deeper on the Balaam and Balak dynamic?

 

[acri1]

I don't think I've gone to church outside of a funeral since like the late 2000s

 

[MMS]

That story shows the power of language and necessity of humility.

Personally, I do believe we exist inside a superstructure that we term "supernatural" (a circle/point within a larger circle is a good depiction), and it interacts with us through various means. Language being the main driver.

"The power of life and death are held within the tongue". The Bible emphasizes the importance of language and how it's used.

But, could you go deeper on the Balaam and Balak dynamic?

basically the elders of moab determined through divination that the person with "power" was the destroyer who is labeled as Balaam (water of Bal/Bel or Lord/swallower of the people)

Balak which represents "emptiness" sought to divide israel as it was coming out of Egypt so through divination seeks an audience with Balaam to "curse this people"

the curse is right there, because ultimately as soon as you identify "power" with God you are already in the "adversary configuration" so to say

such that if you are not Balak (empty or ein sof thought process) then you must be a Balaam (somethingness that eats). Every Balaam rides a donkey whether he realizes it or not, and every donkey of Balaam avoids the "angel of the Lord" or "the adversary" IE Satan.

So from my perspective the way to break this spell/creation is to not assume God works through "power" or submission.

But that is in contrast to this line here:

Genesis 1:28 Hebrew Text Analysis

biblehub.com

but see the issue is that "subdueing" and having dominion can be interpreted in different ways and if you interpret it as a power thing you ultimately get fed to the adversary system.

 

[MMS]

@Marks you might find this important too

remember why Jesus says this

Matthew 12:30 - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

this is why i mentioned Genesis 49 in the other thread (Jacob gathering his sons)

philosophically that point is where Jacobs seed is (still in Egypt, prior to the arising of a Pharaoh/Atum who does not know Jacob/Joseph)

its another example of a divine algorithm that is not easy to spot. This line here sums my understanding of whats going on

Proverbs 8:30-31

30 Then I was by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him;

31 Rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth; and my delights were with the sons of men.

how many levels are there in the world of the Amorites?

Amurru (god) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Marks]

Kinda reminds me of a passage in the Tao the way you talk about "empty" @MMS , Chapter 11:

Thirty spokes converge upon a single hub;
It is on the hole in the center that the use of the cart hinges.
We make a vessel from a lump of clay;
It is the the empty space within the vessel that makes it useful.
We make doors and windows for a room;
But it is these empty spaces that make the room livable.
Thus, while the tangible has advantages,
It is the intangible that makes it useful.

Chapter 11, Tao Te Ching (Dao De Jing) by Lao Tzu (Laozi): Selected Translations, Commentary, Links, Taoism

 

[KnickstapeCity]

That’s not good