32
votes
Accepted
If all demons are believers, then why are some humans atheists?
I imagine it's hard not to believe in the supernatural when you yourself are a supernatural entity.
Greater evil by no means necessitates greater unbelief; while we know very little about demons, they ...
- 1,678
14
votes
Believing that Christianity is "probably" true vs. being fully convinced that Christianity is definitely true?
Preliminaries
Having no philosophy / theology degree, but as an amateur aspiring to be a Christian epistemologist, I will share in this answer a way for a rational person who, after intellectually ...
- 22.2k
9
votes
Accepted
Why is Mary's perpetual virginity a Catholic dogma?
I believe the O.P.'s question can be interpreted as, “Why is belief in Mary’s perpetual virginity considered so important that the Church makes it an excommunicable offense (heresy) to deny it?”
The ...
- 13.2k
9
votes
Do LDS believers not accept any others who self-identify as 'Christian'?
When most Christians say they "accept another denomination as Christian" it means that they recognize them as genuine followers of Jesus, saved and redeemed, part of the true Body of Christ. ...
- 31.5k
8
votes
According to Evangelical Christians, what does a person need to believe about Jesus in order to be saved?
This question really focuses the mind on what the essential point of saving faith amounts to! It is true that the New Testament has many 'condensed' gospel presentations, but some seem to highlight ...
- 27k
8
votes
Does Christianity "Match" Reality?
"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than ...
- 31.3k
7
votes
Accepted
Do Mormons view the LDS Church as a pure restoration of first century Christianity?
Yes the LDS believe it is a pure restoration of first century Christian liturgy and beliefs.
True to the Faith specifies what was lost during the Apostasy:
After His Crucifixion and the deaths of ...
- 8,697
7
votes
Believing that Christianity is "probably" true vs. being fully convinced that Christianity is definitely true?
There remains a type of epistemic distance, in the evidence for the Christian faith, that is sufficient but not exhaustive. That distance is there for a reason. It's to avoid coercion.
The evidence ...
- 3,447
7
votes
If all demons are believers, then why are some humans atheists?
The text in question states that "even the demons believe" not that "all demons believe." One can certainly picture atheistic spirits wandering in the nether gloom, perhaps unware ...
- 5,320
6
votes
Accepted
In protestantism are all mankind equal under God?
There are over 900 million Protestants worldwide. The largest Protestant denomination seems to be Anglicanism with 85 million members, followed by Baptist, Lutheranism, Methodism and Calvinism. ...
- 29.7k
6
votes
Do LDS believers not accept any others who self-identify as 'Christian'?
The LDS have a slightly differing definition of Christian:
Though the label “Christian” is often associated with particular creedal claims which the Church does not adopt, Latter-day Saints use it to ...
- 8,697
5
votes
Why do Cessationists consider recent testimonial evidence for the gifts of the Spirit less reliable than 2000-year-old evidence for the resurrection?
There is no reference to tongues/healings/miracles in the pastoral epistles nor the later writings of John. References to Pentecost are about the utterance of foreign, earthly, languages.
Then no ...
- 23.6k
5
votes
Is belief or faith the same as idolatry?
To paraphrase your question, it seems like you're asking if the transcendence of God precludes true knowledge of God.
The answer is no.
The transcendence of God means that God is beyond our full ...
- 19.7k
5
votes
Accepted
Was the term “The Way'” officially used as a synonym for Christianity during the ages?
The term, "followers of the Way" appears in the New Testament first in Acts 9:2. This was Luke writing about the murderous activities of Saul of Tarsus against the early Church. He wrote:
&...
- 27k
5
votes
Accepted
How do Christians define knowledge and faith?
Short answer
In the context of your Q, comparing "faith" vs. "knowledge" as defined in the Q is like comparing apple and orange:
The "intellectual content" of a person's ...
- 22.2k
4
votes
Are there different views on the nature or/and understanding of the Trinity among Trinitarians?
Yes there are several important subdivisions of Trinitarian theology. If we start with the Nicene Creed as the baseline definition of the Trinity, then there were three early positions concerning ...
- 19.7k
4
votes
Do LDS believers not accept any others who self-identify as 'Christian'?
the only true and living church upon the face of the whole earth1
Says something about organizations, and does not discount anyone as "not Christian". A Christian is someone who follows ...
- 5,533
4
votes
Accepted
Are there any Trinitarian denominations that do not view belief in the Trinity as a "salvation issue"?
Your phrase, "belief in the Trinity as a 'salvation issue'" is problematic. The question would be clear if it was about the Athanasian Creed making belief in the trinity a 'requirement for ...
- 27k
4
votes
According to Latter-day Saint epistemology, do Latter-day Saints perceive the witness of the Holy Ghost as an intrinsic defeater-defeater?
LDS in general do not rely solely or exclusively on the witness of the Holy Ghost, and seldom on a single experience. They are encouraged to seek such a witness as a "starter" experience, ...
- 1,794
4
votes
In Christianity, does belief precede religious experience, or is it the other way around?
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, ...
- 14.8k
4
votes
Is it wishful thinking to believe there must be a god as there would be no justice for unpunished criminality?
The fact that there is, within humanity generally, not only a social conscience regarding co-habiting, procreation, family life, community life, national life, international life, but also an ...
- 23.6k
3
votes
By Reformed Theology, Which Beliefs Accompany Saving Faith?
The usual go to verse for what is the essential doctrine that a person must believe is something like John 3:16, 1 John 5:1, or Rom 10:9:
9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and ...
- 31.7k
3
votes
Accepted
Do Christians believe in witchcraft and the occult?
Do Christians believe in witchcraft and the occult?
The vast majority of Christians would admit that both witchcraft and the occult exist in our day. However, Christians believe that it is immoral to ...
- 67.8k
3
votes
What is the earliest reference to the notion that we killed Jesus?
There seems to be two distinct issues here. One is that the claim that Jesus' death was for the sins of all men. The other is related to the sense in which all men may have participated in the killing ...
- 755
3
votes
Accepted
Do Unitarian Universalist churches acknowledge the possibility that the Quran may be the inspired Word of God?
Your question intrigued me and so I checked out the information in that Wiki article you partially quoted from. I found this reference to Islam:
The beliefs of individual Unitarian Universalists ...
- 29.7k
3
votes
Will unbelievers continue to be unbelievers at the end of the age?
As the author of the answer being quoted, I suppose it's only fair that I expand.
(Disclaimers: I am not a universalist. I am a fence-sitter on annihilationism.)
There's a difference between what ...
- 6,743
3
votes
If all demons are believers, then why are some humans atheists?
Seeing is Believing
It's simple. Demons, like the God described in the book Christians read, are just as elusive in nature. You have to already believe to "see" evidence of them. It's like ...
- 131
3
votes
If all demons are believers, then why are some humans atheists?
Interesting question for sure, and I would like to add some perspectives that I feel other answers do not cover sufficiently.
Are there fundamental epistemological differences between demons/angels ...
- 31
3
votes
Does Christianity "Match" Reality?
Based on your comments, the suffering humanity faces on Earth is misaligned with your intuition of what a world ruled by a loving God should look like. Your feelings are completely valid, and there's ...
3
votes
Why do Christians care so much about what you believe?
Christians care about what you believe because at root Christianity is about your faith, not what you do.
In most other religions, especially in the Judaism that Christianity came out of, your ...
- 31.5k
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