Do you agree with the following? If not, what is your opinion?
Oh, and all you non-Christians who popped in to take a look, feel free
to comment. So much to learn from each other.

All Christians take communion.
*** I'd say yes to this - however it is the regularity which
differs. Catholics have it as part of a mass, some non-denominational
Christians take communion once a month, others only at easter.

All Christians believe in saints.
*** All Christians ARE saints - unless of course you are refering to
Catholics - who tend to tack a more specific meaning to sainthood.

All Christians take some kind of vows to be a member of a church.
*** Absolutely false. All Christians are members of the "church" in
which Jesus established with Peter as the rock. But often "Church" is
misrepresented - when Congregation should be the term.

All Christian beliefs are the same.
*** Yes. However not all Christians interpret the same.

All Christian churches are run like a business.
*** If a church is run like a business - it isn't a Christian one.

Like any business, Christian churches are in competition, to gain
members for funding.
*** Again - if this is what a church is doing, it isn't a christian one.
Merely calling onself a "Christian church" does not necessarily make it
one.

All Christians belonging to an organized church are taught how to
convert people.
*** No Christian converts anyone. Only God can convert someone - a
christian merely shares the experience.

All Christians pray to Jesus.
*** At least once in their life - yes. Some do so daily.

The word ALL...what happened to the words, people who follow
Christianity?

It seems to be a bit of a trend towards classifications, and
separations, and placing people into categories, going on in these
forums...

What happened to people having individual beliefs, and some have
similar, and so find a 'union' within those beliefs...although like the
people who have these beliefs, whatever they are, they are still
individuals?

This thread originated with Spider. He posted the topic Common
Misconceptions of Christians.

I thought it was a bit pretentious that he formed and answered the
questions himself, so I asked my own, based on comments I've heard from
others over the years.

Only one person chose to answer, or comment. So I posted here to see if
these might, in fact, be some common misconceptions and if the answers
that one person gave, sufficiently agree with all those who would
consider themselves Christian.

Oh, good morning Lee. I have a fallen tree to chop up today, but have
yet to sleep from yesterday. Think, I'll make my way to a pillow soon.

Communion? To commune with god or nature? Sacrament to partake of a
sacred ritual often referred to as communion. yes you are correct most
Christians do take communion to renew a covenant in the memory of
Christ, however it is only a ritual for renewal of this covenant with
him. The frequency of this ritual does depend on the person involved.

Saints? Nope sorry I don't believe in saints as you put it, thus I could
not be a saint in the literal term. If you mean a saint as in one who
accepts certain teachings and allows God and his son Christ into my
life, then yes I am a saint, but these are not necessary to be a saint
in my book. In my book A saint is one who has spirituality and follows
his heart. If you use that definition then yes we all have the ability
to be saints.

Member of a church? HHhhhmmm this would be tough to answer, yes and no.
From time to time I wander into a church and as a result I could be
considered a member. In this aspect you would be correct, however since
I lean to a more strict belief system than most it would be hard to say
which religion I would align myself with. Most religions preach
damnation and I don't think anyone will be damned in the end, they will
simply be judged for who they are inside and not necesarily what they
have done on this plane of existance.

Same beliefs? That depends on How you interpret the beliefs they have.
Basic belief of christians is that Christ is a man of God, beyond that
christian beliefs vary. Some say he is the son of god, some say he is
God's incarnate upon this earth, some say he is a part of God. I am sure
there are other ideas also.

Many Christian churches are run like a business, they have secretaries,
leaders, doorman, and many other positions that a business does. This
does not however make it a business, to spread the beliefs they, they
have need money. To build the churches to hold meetings they need money.
Is this wrong? To ask a member of any church for money, or any other way
of gathering money to do these things is necessary Evil in order to
carry out the work they do.

Competition? Not in a literal sense, however most if not all organized
religions want you to follow their beliefs and in so doing you could say
they do compete for your soul.

Conversion? HHhhmmm if telling you how I feel about Anything I believe
in is conversion then yes, so by the same statement anytime you tell me
your opinion on anything you are trying to convert me. Are you calling
yourself a Hypocrite?

I pray for guidance, inspiration, protection, etc etc etc, however as it
is written in the Bible I pray to no Man or Idol. I do pray in the name
of Jesus Christ. There is a very big difference.



G

All Christians take communion.
*** sort of, but there are different meanings attached. we catholics
view the Communion as being the ACTUAL body and blood of Christ, while
many others have communion as just a reminder of the sacrifice.

All Christians believe in saints.
*** not even close. very few saints...i know i'll never be one. a
saint has to have two verified miracles performed by them before they
can be recognized as such by the church.

All Christians take some kind of vows to be a member of a church.
*** i've never taken "vows" per se...of course, they were kind of made
in my name when i was born and baptized.

All Christian beliefs are the same.
*** no. mormons, for example, have thrown in some extra stuff, heh...

All Christian churches are run like a business.
*** a church HAS to be run like a business, in part, or it will not
survive. this includes accurate accounting of all expenditures and
income, as well as fund-raising to meet the needs of the parish.

Like any business, Christian churches are in competition, to gain
members for funding.
*** i believe that some churches are actively recruiting, but i don't
necessarily think funding is what they are after.

All Christians belonging to an organized church are taught how to
convert people.
*** i belong to an organized church. i have never had such training,
ergo this is false.

All Christians pray to Jesus.
*** i know some christians who say they only pray to God. i pray to
Jesus, God, Mary...and several saints...depending on my mood.

Yes, I agree.

Gryph and LuLu, thanks for your posts. All very valid points of view
from different perspectives. I think it's becoming clear at last, why
there are so many opinions on the topics we discuss here.

There is a formidable community of people who believe that Jesus was the
son, whose purpose on this earth was to teach, and in his presence and
through his teaching he brought salvation. The basic overall category
or label we give to this community is Christian.

It is clear there are many houses in this community, and sometimes an
explanation of one's views are required, in order not to be lumped into
some preconception based on only some small association with other's
under that label.

Thanks for the posts. I must be off, but would like to discuss further.

I hope others continue to respond to these questions, the more we
understand of the views the more we learn 'not' to associate everyone
under an umbrella with one set of beliefs.

If anyone has other questions that often lead to misconceptions, this is
a great place to post, as the diversity here is wide and far reaching.
No better place to learn than through discussion that extends beyond the
confinements of our own daily lives.