Idols in our Hearts

So is the Holy Spirit in @swamidass who affirms shared ancestry with chimpanzees?

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I’ve already told him I believe this is an idol for him. Otherwise yes.

I’m going to need you to elaborate on that again. How do you see this, specifically?

In other words, he does not have God’s spirit since that spirit cannot share a person’s soul with idols?

If you see that someone’s actions aren’t loving in one area, you can see which sin it’s related to, as long as you don’t have that same sin or idol. Because the Holy Spirit leads you into the truth of the Bible.

No. All of us have idols - any area where we’re not completely trusting in God, and putting our trust in something else instead.

No no no, you can’t serve God and idols at the same time. You have to pick one side. Your failure to recognize this biblical principle really undermines your claim to have the Holy Spirit.

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This appears to me like you’re saying that it’s usually much easier to see how other people are being biased if you yourself do not share these beliefs or desires that are biasing them. Sort of like both you and I would probably agree on many of the things that make it obvious that Islam is a man-made religion that isn’t at all divinely inspired.

Technically, Jesus was talking to the apostles who were given miraculous spiritual gifts and some of whom were writing inspired gospels and letters that would later become the New Testament we know and love today.

If the Spirit personally led each and every Christian to all truth, we wouldn’t have 30,000+ denominations today.

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Then how do we have so many descriptions of biblical kings who believed in God but failed to destroy all the idols and high places?

Yes. But sin is not exactly like bias.

Yes, if He lead us into all truth, we wouldn’t. That’s because of our sin, not any fault of the Spirit.

Those kings paid for it. Ever wonder why Elijah killed all the prophets of Baal?

I’m sure people can “believe in” God without necessarily following or doing what they think God intends?

An alternative explanation which I am taking quite seriously is that Christianity is based on fables.

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This is one reason why I think Christianity is a human invention, the same way Islam is. Christians are divided on a lot of things, and there is no way to tell who is saying the truth. Flat-earth Christians call YECs compromisers, YECs call OEC and TEs compromisers, and the long list of compromisers goes on. There is really no difference between Christianity and moral philosophy. Just saying.

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So maybe Christianity is a human invention, but science is divine, since people from different ideologies and backgrounds can agree on the same scientific theories? :grinning:

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:smile: maybe

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Yes, that is sin.

Then why believe in it or say you’re a Christian at all?

I agree with this.

Anyway, whether @Michael_Okoko whether people agree on something or not doesn’t make it more or less true. The question is whether Jesus really rose from the dead and whether you believe He is God and confess your need for His forgiveness and grace.

And this is called scientism. Beware of idols :upside_down_face:

19 posts were split to a new topic: Christianity and Salvation

Keep in mind that many of the denominational distinctions are more about culture, language, and history than doctrinal differences.

For example, the Swedish Evangelical Free Church and the Norwegian-Danish Evangelical Free Church were separate denominations in North America until a few generations passed and everybody was speaking English. At that point they merged to become the Evangelical Free Church of America. They realized that their doctrines had never been all that different.

Likewise, there are various Baptist denominations which affirm virtually identical doctrines but they date back to colonial or pioneer days and regional patterns of migration. Their affiliations came about through geographical factors, networks of roads, and family relationships.

A lot of Anabaptist denominations evolved in similar ways.

I even know of denominations which are separate mostly because each people-group is most comfortable with a particular dialect of the same language. Humans, both theists and non-theists, naturally affiliate according to factors which they hold in common.

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