Gradual decline by American Christians

When we see documentaries about the North American people we get a picture that they are 'very religious'.

Christianity, which was once shared by a majority of Americans, has seen a gradual decline as fewer people hold to the core tenets of the faith.

The latest research by the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University continues the survey series American Worldview Inventory 2021 in examining biblical and competing worldviews of American adults.

According to the most recent release from the study, there has been a sharp decline in the status of Christianity across the nation in the past several decades. In 1980, more than 90 percent of Americans claimed to be Christian. That percentage dropped to 80 percent by 1990, in which the proportion lasted until after the turn of the millennium. By 2010, only three in four adults claimed to be Christians, with a further decline today as just under two out of three make the same claim.

In the previous century confidence in religion was still important.
About two-thirds of American adults had high confidence in religion in the 1970s. By the 1980s, however, that confidence was waning, and Christianity’s influence was declining.
At the start of the millennium, 56 percent of adults had confidence in religion. That number continued to decline, and now, barely four in ten adults hold a high degree of confidence in religion.

No wonder, you could say, when we look at how ministers used their institutions to gain money and trick people into their 'business'. Small personal family churches were taken over by mega churches where one got lost in the group and where there was not a special bond between teh believers.

A great problem is also that the majority of those churches are Trinitarian churches, where they worship Jesus as their god. Though people came to see the weakness of that person and the contradictions they can find in Scriptures, having a Jesus who can not do a lot of things and does not know a lot of things, whilst the Bible tells us God can do everything and knows everything.

The Bible is also increasingly rejected as a trustworthy and relevant document of life principles. Not many people want to know about the values and ethics presented in the Holy Scriptures.

In 1991, 86 percent of people believed in the existence of God as the all-knowing, all-powerful creator of the universe who still rules the world today. Today, that percentage has dropped to 46 percent.

In a lot of the American churches there was not much time spend on the Word of God. Ministers only took some verses, often out of context, to bring a long sermon, often with a lot of shouting and crying about damnation and danger to burn into hell. Often people could not find a relation between the words of the pastor and the words written in the Bible. That undermined the relevance of the Holy Scriptures in the daily life.

Regarding the belief that the Bible is the accurate and reliable Word of God, the decline shifted from 70 percent in 1991 to 41 percent in 2021. On the topic of salvation, 36 percent of adults believed in salvation through confession of sin and accepting Jesus as Saviour in 1991. Today, that amount is 30 percent. The survey also noted that this measured as high as 45 percent and was 39 percent in 2011.

The percentage of Americans possessing a biblical worldview also significantly decline (12 percent in 1995; 6 percent in 2021).

Being Christian in Western Europe at the beginning of the 21st century #2

The figures you find in #1 raise some obvious questions:

•  What is the meaning of Christian identity in Western Europe today?
•  And how different are non-practicing Christians from religiously unaffiliated Europeans – many of whom also come from Christian backgrounds?

The Pew Research Center study – which involved more than 24,000 telephone  interviews with randomly selected adults, including nearly 12,000 non-practicing Christians – finds that Christian identity remains a meaningful marker in Western Europe, even among those who seldom go to church. It is not just a “nominal” identity devoid of practical importance. On the contrary, the religious, political and cultural views of non-practicing Christians often differ from those of church-attending Christians and religiously unaffiliated adults. For example:

• Although many non-practicing Christians say they do not believe in God “as described in the Bible,” they do tend to believe in some other higher power or spiritual force. By contrast, most church-attending Christians say they believe in the biblical depiction of God, though of most of them we do know they believe in the human doctrinal god, namely the trinity. And a clear majority of religiously unaffiliated adults do not believe in any type of higher power or spiritual force in the universe.
• Non-practicing Christians tend to express more positive than negative views toward churches and religious organizations, saying they serve society by helping the poor and bringing communities together. Their attitudes toward religious institutions are not quite as favourable as those of church-attending Christians, but they are more likely than religiously unaffiliated Europeans to say churches and other religious organizations contribute positively to society.
• Christian identity in Western Europe is associated with higher levels of negative sentiment toward immigrants and religious minorities. On balance, self-identified Christians – whether they attend church or not – are more likely than religiously unaffiliated people to express negative views of immigrants, as well as of Muslims and Jews.
• Non-practicing Christians are less likely than church-attending Christians to express nationalist views. Still, they are more likely than “nones” to say that their culture is superior to others and that it is necessary to have the country’s ancestry to share the national identity (e.g., one must have Spanish family background to be truly Spanish).
• The vast majority of non-practicing Christians, like the vast majority of the unaffiliated in Western Europe, favour legal abortion and same-sex marriage. Church-attending Christians are more conservative on these issues, though even among churchgoing Christians, there is substantial support – and in several countries, majority support – for legal abortion and same-sex marriage.
• Nearly all churchgoing Christians who are parents or guardians of minor children (those under 18) say they are raising those children in the Christian faith. Among non-practicing Christians, somewhat fewer – though still the overwhelming majority – say they are bringing up their children as Christians. By contrast, religiously unaffiliated parents generally are raising their children with no religion.

Religious identity and practice are not the only factors behind Europeans’ beliefs and opinions on these issues. For instance, highly educated Europeans are generally more accepting of immigrants and religious minorities, and religiously unaffiliated adults tend to have more years of schooling than non-practicing Christians. But even after statistical techniques are used to control for differences in education, age, gender and political ideology, the survey shows that churchgoing Christians, non-practicing Christians and unaffiliated Europeans express different religious, cultural and social attitudes. (See below in this overview and Chapter 1.)

These are among the key findings of a new Pew Research Center survey of 24,599 randomly selected adults across 15 countries in Western Europe. Interviews were conducted on mobile and landline telephones from April to August, 2017, in 12 languages. The survey examines not just traditional Christian religious beliefs and behaviours, opinions about the role of religious institutions in society, and views on national identity, immigrants and religious minorities, but also Europeans’ attitudes toward Eastern and New Age spiritual ideas and practices. And the second half of this Overview more closely examines the beliefs and other characteristics of the religiously unaffiliated population in the region.

While the vast majority of Western Europeans identify as either Christian or religiously unaffiliated, the survey also includes interviews with people of other (non-Christian) religions as well as with some who decline to answer questions about their religious identity. But, in most countries, the survey’s sample sizes do not allow for a detailed analysis of the attitudes of people in this group. Furthermore, this category is composed largely of Muslim respondents, and general population surveys may underrepresent Muslims and other small religious groups in Europe because these minority populations often are distributed differently throughout the country than is the general population; additionally, some members of these groups (especially recent immigrants) do not speak the national language well enough to participate in a survey. As a result, this report does not attempt to characterize the views of religious minorities such as Muslims, Jews, Buddhists or Hindus in Western Europe.

Being Christian in Western Europe at the beginning of the 21st century #1

Today we do find a lot of people, in our regions, who say they are Christian and with that mostly mean Roman Catholic, but nearly never go to worship services like mass.

The majority of Europe’s Christians are non-practicing, but they differ from religiously unaffiliated people in their views on God, attitudes toward Muslims and immigrants, and opinions about religion’s role in society.

Western Europe, where Protestant Christianity originated and Catholicism has been based for most of its history, has become one of the world’s most secular regions. Although the vast majority of adults say they were baptized, today many do not describe themselves as Christians. Some say they gradually drifted away from religion, stopped believing in religious teachings, or were alienated by scandals or church positions on social issues, according to a major new Pew Research Center survey of religious beliefs and practices in Western Europe.

Yet most adults surveyed still do consider themselves Christians, even if they seldom go to church. Indeed, the survey shows that non-practicing Christians (defined, for the purposes of this report, as people who identify as Christians, but attend church services no more than a few times per year) make up the biggest share of the population across the region. In every country except Italy, they are more numerous than church-attending Christians (those who go to religious services at least once a month). In the United Kingdom, for example, there are roughly three times as many non-practicing Christians (55%) as there are church-attending Christians (18%) defined this way.

Non-practicing Christians also outnumber the religiously unaffiliated population (people who identify as atheist, agnostic or “nothing in particular,” sometimes called the “nones”) in most of the countries surveyed.¹ And, even after a recent surge in immigration from the Middle East and North Africa, there are many more non-practicing Christians in Western Europe than people of all other religions combined (Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, etc.).

The 10% for Belgium is more 8%, where the Roman Catholic Churches are less filled and of the protestant churches the Pentecostals get most people in  their church-services. Where we can find most people going to a religious service is by the Islamic community where the garage mosques and official mosques may count on a very good attendance on Friday night.

2016 American Bible survey

A presentation edition of a GOD'S WORD bible (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

When you look at the current political situation in the United States of America you may wonder how it became possible such votes where cast when so many americans say they are Christian.

This year's State of the Bible survey, conducted by American Bible Society and Barna Group, reports that 51 percent of Americans believe politics would be more civil if politicians engaged in regular Bible reading.
This indicates that lots of Americans also believe their politicians do not read often the bible. when they would do so politicians would be more effective, believes 53% of Americans.

American Bible Society President & CEO Roy Peterson believes God's Word has a key role at this pivotal moment for American culture.

 "As America is shaken by skepticism, this is the time to renew hope in the promises of God's Word," 

Peterson says.

 "When people are battling extreme violence, poverty and oppression, this is our time to open the healing words of Scripture."

+++

Related articles

• The Presidents Of The United States Of America Announce Breakup
• United States: noun (plural)
• How To Protect Your Work Culture When "Political Correctness" Is Under Fire
• On the Election - II

Mega church country loosing religous people

English: This map shows the percentage of the U.S. adult population that affiliates themselves as Mormon in a survey by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life in 2007.http://religions.pewforum.org/ (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It is the general trend that more and more people are very secular. Certainly in the economically thriving capitalist countries we see that most people are not relating to religion or to a religious body.

For the United States it still looks bright, though the share of U.S. adults who say they believe in God, while still high compared with other advanced industrial countries, slipped to 89 percent in 2014 from 92 percent in 2007, according to the Pew Research Center's Religious Landscape Study. 

In that country where we can find lots of big churches and have places with mega churches more people have come to doubt the existence of a god or the God.
The proportion of Americans who say they are "absolutely certain" God exists fell even more, to 63 percent in 2014 from 71 percent in 2007.

On television we may still get the picture of regularly praying Americans but that seems to become part of history. Also the attendance of religious services regularly have gone down by small, but statistically significant measures, the survey found.
The trend is most pronounced among young adults, with only half of those born from 1990 to 1996 absolutely certain of their belief in God, compared to 71 percent of the "silent generation," or those born from 1928 to 1945.

On the other hand, 77 percent of Americans continue to identify with some religious faith, and those who do are just as committed now as they were in 2007, according to the survey. Two-thirds of religiously affiliated adults say they pray every day and that religion is very important to them, the survey found

The survey also found religious divides among the political parties, with those who are not religiously affiliated more likely to be Democrats, at 28 percent, compared to 14 percent of Republicans.
About 38 percent of Republicans identify as evangelical Protestants - the largest religious group in the party, the survey found. Catholics make up 21 percent of each major political party.

+

Find also about the dwindling numbers in church:

1. a little church
2. Is your church small?
3. The Big Conversation
4. The Big Conversation follow up
5. The Big conversation – Antagonists
6. The Big conversation – Recognition and refocus
7. Having a small church mentality
8. Reasons why you may not miss the opportunity to go to a Small Church
9. Follower of Jesus part of a cult or a Christian
10. To remove the whitewash of the Jehovah Witnesses as being the only true Bible Students and Bible Researchers
11. Vision blurred by cumulative burden of divisions
12. Not words of any organisation should bind you, but the Word of God
13. Why we do not have our worship-services in a church building
14. Four Pressing Needs in Rural Communities, and How the Church Should Respond

+++

Related articles

• Pope Francis capturing the attention of Catholics and non-Catholics
• Pope Francis addresses a Congress that's 30% Catholic
• About This Report
• 2013 Survey of Hispanics
• Younger Faith Seekers Attracted to Different Church Experience
• SLIDESHOW: 5 Expenses Millennials Don't Have
• Christianity in the U.S. is getting a facelift thanks to these young religious leaders
• Interactive: Catholic rates state by state
• Integrate Sex Education In Sunday Schools; Churches Urged
• Churches urged to integrate sex education in Sunday schools

Capitalism and economic policy and Christian survey

Thursday last week the Public Religion Research Institute and the Brookings Institution released a new survey on the intersections of religion, values, and attitudes toward capitalism, government, and economic policy.

On July 18, the religion, policy and politics project at Brookings co-hosted an event with the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) to release the new survey and accompanying report co-authored by Brookings Senior Fellows E.J. Dionne and William Galston and PRRI CEO Robert P. Jones, PRRI Research Director Daniel Cox, and PRRI Research Associate Juhem Navarro-Rivera.

The 2013 Economic Values Survey tackles a range of topics, including perceptions of economic wellbeing and upward mobility, the role of government, how well capitalism is working, the importance and availability of equal opportunity, values that should guide government policy on economic issues, and specific economic policies.  With its large sample size, the survey explores a range of fault lines on these issues, including racial and ethnic or generational divides.  Additionally, the survey takes up the question of the existence and vitality of religious progressives, compared to religious conservatives, and examines the relationship between theological beliefs and the views of both groups on capitalism and economic policy.

Nearly six out of 10 Americans (59 percent) say that being a religious person “is primarily about living a good life and doing the right thing,” as opposed to the more than one-third (36 percent) who hold that being religious “is primarily about having faith and the right beliefs.”

Religious conservatives are far more likely than religious progressives  to say religion is the most important thing in their lives.

“Among people of faith in general there is a strong consensus on the need for compassion and fairness for those in need,” Dionne said, even among conservatives. He said that more than 60 percent of both theological conservatives and social conservatives “support increasing the minimum wage to $10 an hour.”

Both groups also by large margins see the gap between the rich and poor as growing, and see a role for government in taking care of people who can’t take care of themselves.

While Dionne said that this pattern is not consistent — three in five Americans, for example, think that government has “gotten bigger because it has gotten involved in things that people should do for themselves” — he suggested there was at least an opening to use religion as a bridge across the ideological divide.

Robert P. Jones, CEO of PRRI, said that Americans’ two views of what makes a person religious harken back to the Protestant Reformation and to the Bible itself.

“This has been a perennial debate through the ages in Christianity,” said Jones. “The Pauline literature, especially in the Book of Romans, makes the case for religious justification by faith alone, while the Book of James seems to state the very opposite — ‘faith without works is dead.’”

The religious conservatives are holding an advantage over religious progressives in terms of size and homogeneity. “However, the percentage of religious conservatives shrinks in each successive generation, with religious progressives outnumbering religious conservatives in the millennial generation. “Religious progressives are significantly younger and more diverse than their conservative counterparts,” Jones said.

Forty-seven percent of the Silent Generation (ages 66 to 88) are religious conservatives, compared with 34 percent of Baby Boomers, 23 percent of Gen Xers and 17 percent of Millennials.

While the Christian right makes up 28 percent of the population and garners more cultural attention — Jones found that there are 27,000 global monthly Google searches for “Christian Right” compared with just over 8,000 searches for “Christian left” – religious progressives are only 9 percentage points behind, with 19 percent of the population.

“What we see is not a one-to-one replacement of religious conservatives with religious progressives,” Jones explained. Instead, the ranks of religious conservatives over time are declining, while religious progressives maintain their share of the population. “But there’s also this growing number of non-religious Americans.” If the trends continue, religious progressives eventually will outnumber religious conservatives.

The report, dubbed the “Economic Values Survey,” uses respondents’ views on everything — from God to the Bible to the role of government in the economy — to create a new scale of religiosity that divides Americans into four groups: religious conservatives (28 percent), religious moderates (38 percent), religious progressives (19 percent) and the nonreligious (15 percent.)

According to the survey, white evangelicals are more likely to say the  free market and Christian values are at odds than black Protestants,mainline Protestants, Catholics, and religiously unaffiliated Americans.  Strangely enough lots of white Americans give a lot of attention to the attachment to objects and like to have many gadgets from the first hours.

 

> Follow the discussion at #EconValues

Please do find:

Materialism, would be life, and aspirations

+++

Related articles

• Report: Americans hold different views of what "religious" means
• Survey finds surprising results on religion, politics
• Event: "Faith, Values and the Economy"
• Religious Progressives Predicted To Outnumber Conservatives, Survey Finds
• A new problem for GOP: Religious liberals will soon outnumber conservatives
• Report: Americans hold different views of what "religious" means - Articles
• This Week in God
• Religious Progressives Predicted To Outnumber Conservatives, Survey Finds
• New Study Shows Breakdown of People Who Believe You Need God to be Good
• Majority of Catholics and Mainline Protestants Support Marriage Equality

Achtergelaten aan een paal tot in de dood

Engelse versie / English version: Impaled until death overtook him

De Joden hadden het plan opgesteld om zich van de Nazarener Jezus te bevrijden. Deze gewone man die rondtrok en allerlei wonderen deed was hen een doorn in het oog.

Toen de Joden eerst bewust werden van de aanwezigheid van de Heer Jezus, waren zij hoopvol en opgewekt. De Romeinen hadden hen van hun onafhankelijkheid beroofd en zij stoorden zich daar aan. Zij wilden een koning van hun eigen en Jezus van Nazareth zoals zij hem noemden, scheen een waarschijnlijke kandidaat voor die taak. Hij scheen al de geschiktheden te hebben!

Jezus won meer gunst en prijkte berouw en persoonlijke heiligheid. De Joodse leiders konden echter deze klemtoon op morele integriteit niet waarderen. Zij voelden zich geviseerd en berispt, niet alleen door zijn woorden maar ook door de ontzagwekkende heiligheid van het karakter van deze profeet-leraar. Ook waren zij jaloers op zijn populariteit met de gewone mensen. Zij dachten niet langer aan Jezus als een toekomstige koning, maar de gewone mensen schenen nog steeds aangetrokken tot die idee. De opwinding van de menigten zou verdacht kunnen lijken voor de Romeinen en de Joodse leiders waren bang dat zij zowel de Joodse plaats en natie zouden kunnen ontnemen. (Johannes 11:47.48)

Jezus moest deze mensen onder ogen kijken die het niet aandurfden een persoon te dulden wiens ambitie in het leven was aan de wetten van God te gehoorzamen. Op dat vlak is er vandaag nog niet veel veranderd. De mensen hebben niet zo graag een mens die volgens de regels van God wil leven. De meeste mensen keuren de noodzakelijke standaarden door God bepaald af. Zij verkiezen aan hun eigen menselijke instincten te gehoorzamen. En wat zijn deze instincten? De Heer Jezus vertelt ons: "Van binnen, uit het hart van mannen, komen kwade gedachten voort, overspel, overspel, moorden, diefstallen, hebzucht, boosaardigheid, misleiding, wellustigheid, een kwaad oog, lastering, trots, dwaasheid: alle deze kwade dingen komen van binnen en bezoedelen de man" (Markus 7:21-23). Alle mensen demonstreren door hun eigen daden dat zij de weg van ongehoorzaamheid goedkeuren.

Jezus Christus werd gekruisigd omdat de Joden hem haatten en van hem bevrijd wensten te worden. Dit is een duidelijke reden.
Voorzeker had God hen kunnen doen stoppen met het uitvoeren van deze verschrikkelijke misdaad. Men kan zich afvragen waarom Hij Zijn Zoon niet de pijn en schande van kruisiging heeft bespaard. Duidelijk was God machtig genoeg om tussenbeide te komen en de misdaad te voorkomen. En hoewel de Heer Jezus nog drie maal naar zijn Vader bad, "Indien het mogelijk is, laat deze beker mij voorbij gaan." God is niet tussenbeide gekomen. Indien de principes van God zouden moeten gehandhaaft blijven en Zijn doel volbracht worden, was interventie niet mogelijk. Het plan van God vereiste dat Zijn zondenloze Zoon zou moeten gekruisigd worden, het is aan een paal gehangen worden tot de dood er op volgde.

De veroordeelde man werd met repen van leder afgeranseld waaraan stukken van bot of metaal waren bevestigd. Sommige mensen stierven reeds tengevolge van deze zweepslagen, maar Jezus bleef levend en moest een zware houten balk dragen. Hij werd, door handen en voeten gespijkerd aan de houten balk die dan hardhandig naar een verticale positie werd gebracht en standvastig in het terrein werd opgeheven. Dan werd hij eenvoudig verlaten te sterven. Hij werd niet gedood -- slechts vastgespijkerd in een positie waarvan ontsnapping onmogelijk was en achtergelaten tot de dood over hem kwam. Gelooft u dit?

Breng uw stem uit in de maandelijkse enquête:

This month's survey question:

The Meaning of the Cross

Jesus died instead of us to appease the wrath of God for all time.
He did NOT die as our substitute but rather as our representative.
He didn't actually die. His staged death was an elaborate plot.
Don't know.

> http://www.thisisyourbible.com/

Impaled until death overtook him

Dutch version / Nederlandse versie: Achtergelaten aan een paal tot in de dood

Jews had made the plans to get rid of the Nazarene Jesus, who was to them a thorn in the eye.

When the Jews first became aware of the presence of the Lord Jesus, they were hopeful and excited. The Romans had robbed them of their independence and they resented it. They wanted a king of their own, and Jesus of Nazareth as they called him, seemed a likely candidate for this office. He seemed to have alI the qualifications!

Jesus of Nazareth (miniseries) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Jesus won more favour and preached repentance and personal holiness.  The Jewish leaders did not appreciate this emphasis on moral integrity. They felt rebuked not only by his words but also by the awesome holiness of the Lord’s character. Also they were envious of his popularity with the common people. They no longer thought of Jesus as a prospective king, but the common people still seemed attracted to this idea. The excitement of the crowds could make the Romans suspicious, and the Jewish leaders were afraid that they might take
away both the Jewish place and nation. (John 11:47,48)

Jesus had to face the human who could not tolerate a person whose one ambition in life is to obey the laws of God. To express it in another way: human beings reject the standards required by God. They prefer to obey their own human instincts. And what are these instincts? Let the Lord Jesus tell us:
"From within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: all these evil things come from within, and defile the man" (Mark 7:21-23).
All human beings demonstrate by their own deeds that they approve of the way of disobedience.

Jesus Christ was crucified because the Jews hated him and wanted to get rid of him. This is one obvious reason. But surely God could have stopped them from committing this terrible crime, and at the same time have spared His Son the pain and shame of crucifixion? Obviously God was powerful enough to intervene and prevent the crime. And yet, although the Lord Jesus prayed three times to his Father, "If it be possible, let this cup pass from me. . . " God did not intervene. If God's principles were to be upheld and His purpose fulfilled, intervention was not possible. God's plan required that His sinless Son should be crucified, it is put on a stake until death came over him.

The condemned man was whipped with thongs of leather to which pieces of bone or metal had been attached. Some people died already as a result of scourging but Jesus stayed alive and had to carry a heavy wooden beam. He was nailed, through hands and feet to the wooden
beam which was then lifted to a vertical position and fixed firmly in the ground. Then he was simply left to die. He was not killed -- just impaled in a position from which escape was impossible and left there until death overtook him. Do   you believe this?

This month's survey question:

The Meaning of the Cross

Jesus died instead of us to appease the wrath of God for all time.
He did NOT die as our substitute but rather as our representative.
He didn't actually die. His staged death was an elaborate plot.
Don't know.

> http://www.thisisyourbible.com/

How should we react against the world

First of all let me say that there are different opinions on the matter how we may be involved in the affairs of the world. I personally find that we may not be  unaware, unconsious, insensitive and should try to help where we can.

when I look in my mailbox I become bombarded with loads of requests to join many causes. Can we take part in those causes which seem to us to reflect some of the things we believe or were we can stand behind? Are we limited how far we can go and which organization we may trust and help. - I think so.

What is your opinion?

This month's survey question:

Should we participate in protest movements?

Yes! How else will we change the world?
No! God will change the world, not us!
Yes but cautiously and non-violently.
Christianity is irrelevant to real world issues.
Don't know.

Go to http://thisisyourbible.com/ to bring out this months vote.
The Bible Answer to Revolution and Human Rights

• Protest and Violence
• Grumbling and Discontent
• What was the Message of the Apostles?
• Freedom . . . and Bondage
• Social Reforms
• What would Jesus do?
• Jesus and the Authorities
• "Resist not evil"
• Rules for Living
• The Peace Movement
• Should a Christian protest?
• Preaching the Kingdom
• God's "Rights"
• God is in Control
• When will God put things right?
• Signs of the Times
• Citizens of a Heavenly Kingdom
• The Final Question

Wat gebeurt er als wij sterven

In de vorige postings kwam de dood reeds ter sprake.

Niemand kan het eindpunt van dit wereldse leven vermijden. Allen worden wij ook tijdens ons leven geconfronteerd met de dood. Vroeger leek het wel de mensen meer aan te grijpen en werden zelfs perioden van rouw ingevoerd. Vandaag de dag lijken de jongeren er makkelijk over te stappen en als het iemand in hun omgeving over komt vinden zij dat dan "bad luck".

De jongeren behandelen de kwestie niet serieus. De tragedie is spoedig vergeten. Ook diegenen van middelbare leeftijd geven niet om de dood. Waarom zouden zij er over na denken? Het is nog te ver van hun bed om een echt gevaar te schijnen: "beter het aan te durfen wanneer het komt". Oudere mensen worden bewuster dat zij tegen een realiteit moeten aankijken waaraan zij niet zullen kunnen aan ontsnappen. Hun vrienden en relaties blazen de kaarsjes uit en verdwijnen uit het landschap. Hun gezichtsvermogen en gehoor verminderen en de lichamelijke kwalen die groeien herinneren hen dat de menselijke omlijsting uiteindelijk vergaat.

Vele mensen vinden een troost in het idee van overleven. volgens verscheidene christenen zouden de mensen een geheimzinnig innerlijk leven hebben dat zij "de ziel" noemen. Hiervan  wordt gedacht  dat dit deel van het vergankelijke lichaam rechtstreeks na de dood naar de "hemel" kan gaan, waar de persoonlijkheid verdergaat met leven -- in zaligheid. dit kan dan volgens sommigen enkel gebeuren als zij gedoopt zijn. Weer anderen vinden dat iedereen die een spirituele wedergeboorte heeft gekregen naar de hemel zal gaan. Noch anderen zeggen dat elke dode rechtstreeks in de hemel wordt opgenomen of een nieuw leven krijgt ofwel in die hemel of terug op aarde. Maar er zijn ook veel christenen die aan de waarschuwing van hun priesters houden dat zij ook mogelijk in een vagevuur kunnen terecht komen en bang moeten zijn dat zij niet in de hel worden geplaatst na hun dood, waar zij dan eeuwige pijniging zullen moeten ondergaan.

Velen zien een groot verschil tussen de afloop in de dood van dieren tegenover de afloop voor hen. Maar wat zegt de bijbel daar over en wat gelooft u?

Ga naar de enquête van de maan september op This is your Bible en geef uw antwoord op volgende vragen:

1.  - Dood is als een slaap waarvan die in Christus zijn delen tot aan zijn terugkeer, wanneer zij   zullen gewekt worden.
2.  -Onze onsterfelijke ziel gaat naar heerlijke zaligheid of brandende hel.
3.  - Wanneer wij dood gaan, dan is het gewoon gedaan. Afgelopen. Wij zijn dan gestorven voorgoed.
4.  - Wij worden na onze dood nog als een persoon gereïncarneerd en de cyclus van heropleving gaat verder.
5.  - Weet niet wat er na de dood gebeurt.

What happens when we die?

The Question  of the Month by www.thisisyourbible.com is: What happens when we die?

Everybody becomes confronted with death.
Today when young people hear the bad news they often quickly change the subject or say: "bad luck". The tragedy is soon forgotten.
The middle-aged do not care to contemplate death. It is too far off yet to seem a real danger. This is Your bible looks how they react , but also how those people react when they got older, and closer to the age of dementia and deterioration.
When the end of this life is more nearby, people start wondering more. Or when something seriously happened with themselves. Often first something serious has to happen before they think of God, and after life.
Lots of people in the capitalist world accept the fact that death is the end of life. There is no escaping the reality of death. But is it really the end of everything?
Many Christians think that their soul goes straight up to an other place after they die. They either can go straight in heaven or have to undergo a cleansing first in purgatory. In the worst case they go like all the big sinners to hell.
Most people agree that we cannot reverse what has happened when a person dies. All human resources are powerless to restore a dead person to life.

But what do you think death is and what happens in death?

POSSIBLE ANSWERS:

1. - Death is like a sleep from which those in Christ will be awakened at his return
2. -Our immortal soul goes to heavenly bliss or burning hell.
3. - When we die, that's it. We are extinct forever.
4. - We are reincarnated as another person and the cycle of rebirth continues
5. - Don't know

Fill in this month's survey question at http://www.thisisyourbible.com/

This month's survey question: Heaven and Hell

Heaven and Hell: What does the Bible REALLY teach?


For centuries preachers went around bringing frightful ideas about places were people would be tortured for the sins they had done here on earth.  It has been commonly believed by most professing Christians that heaven is the abode of the righteous dead where they experience everlasting joy and happiness, and that hell is the eternal abiding place of the wicked who are subject to never-ending torment in its unquenchable fires.

This month's survey question:
Is the Bible's Hell a flaming torture chamber?

• Yes.  Unrepentant sinners deserve what they get!
• No.  The word translated hell simply means the grave.
• The notion of a fiery hell is nothing but empty superstition.
• Hell is conscious eternal separation from God, not torture in flames.
• Don't know.

Go to > http://www.thisisyourbible.com/

Israel Gods people

Was Moses being too starry-eyed, too close to the Israelites to see things in perspective, when he spoke of them as the "chosen people"?


The idea that God has a special relationship with the nation of Israel does not go down well today.  Our society is pre-occupied with equality and equal opportunity.  Why should God choose one nation out of the many that fill the globe?  What is so special about that tiny strip of land between the continents, the country we now call Israel, for which He seems to have such a deep regard?

Did every detail of the prophecy come true: the sojourn in a foreign land; the slavery; the taking of a spoil; the 400 years?
In case the murder of God's Son was the ultimate act of rebellion by the Chosen People, were the Israelites punished whe they, as Moses had foreseen, became the Wandering Jews after 70AD, to be found in practically every country of the world, despised, reviled and hounded by persecution from city to city?  For long centuries, exactly as the cursings had warned, they had no rest for the soles of their feet.
"Has God rejected His people?"

This month's survey question:
 God's People?  God's Land?

1. The people of Israel are God's people and an integral part of His plan.
2. The people of Israel are NOT God's people nor is Palestine their land.
3. The notion of a chosen people is irrelevant and wrong-headed.
4. Don't know.

> http://thisisyourbible.com/

Bestaat er iets als engelen en kunnen die zondigen

Wij als Christadelphians geloven dat voor alles in ons leven de antwoorden te vinden zijn in de Heilige Schrift. Maar wanneer wij de Bijbel lezen moeten wij in consideratie nemen wat door zekere woorden wordt bedoeld. Wij moeten de taal van die 66 zeer verschillende boeken trachten te begrijpen

Als wij bijvoorbeeld het woord "engel" bekijken moeten wij inzien dat het komt van het Griekse angelos, dat "bode" betekent. In het Oude Testament wordt, met twee uitzonderingen, het Hebreeuwse woord malak ,dat ook "bode" betekent gebruikt voor "engel". De profeet Malachi nam zijn naam van dit woord, wat je ook kan interpreteren als "zendeling". Hij aanschouwde zich als een bode en hij profeteerde over de komst van "de bode van de overeenkomst", Jezus Christus (Malachi 3:1).

Hoewel het woord "engel" in de Bijbel, dat een bode of boodschapper betekent, bijna altijd naar heerlijke wezens verwijst, kan het toevallig toegepast worden voor menselijke bodes. Malachi zelf zei dat een priester een bode (malak) van de Heer des Heren was (Malachi 2:7) en in het Boek van Openbaring werden de oudere van de zeven kerken van Azië engelen genoemd (1:20; 2:1 enz.).

Maar wanneer wij bodes tegen komen die bovennatuurlijke dingen doen, is er geen twijfel dat zij heerlijke wezens zijn - de boodschappers van God, die werken voor Hem en voor het ultieme voordeel van de mensheid.

Wij als Christadelphians geloven dat God aan het voordeel van mensen denkt en voor hen werkt door Zijn gastheren van bedienaars.

Gelooft u zoals wij dat er machten zijn die de machten van God zijn?

Zijn er hemelse wezens welke wij Engelen kunnen noemen? En van die hemelse wezens waren zij steeds aanwezig in Gods nabijheid en wilden zij allemaal God volgen, eren, aanbidden en loven?

Sommige mensen geloven dat zij op hun rechter en linker schouder zo een engel hebben zitten. Rechts zou dan de plaats zijn voor de bewaar engel, die een goede engel is die ook de goede daden van de mens noteert. Terwijl volgens sommigen op de linker schouder de engel zit die de slechte daden noteert of nog erger tot slechte daden aanmaant. Dat is dan de duivelse engel.

Maar indien er een duivelse engel zou bestaan is dat dan niet een engel die tegen de wil van God in gaat, dus zondigt? En kunnen engelen wel zondigen?

Indien Satan een Cherub, dus een van de hoogste engelen was, die tegen God reageerde en er zelfs toe over ging om de mens in opstand tegen God te brengen, zondigde deze engel dan niet tegen zijn schepper? En indien er meerdere duivels zijn zoals Lucifer en anderen, die engel waren, waren dat dan geen zondige engelen?

Welk zijn uw mogelijke antwoorden als men de vraag zou stellen of engelen weldegelijk kunnen zondigen?

1. - Ja. Lucifer was een engel en die zondigde.
2.  - Engelen kunnen niets doen als zij mythologische schepsels zijn.
3.  - Engel betekent bode of boodschapper. Menselijke bodes kunnen zondigen. Hemelse kunnen niet zondigen.
4.  - Engelen zijn onsterfelijk en kunnen daarom niet zondigen.
5.  - Weet niet.

Doe de test en vergelijk uw antwoorden met die van anderen op www.thisisyourbible.com voor deze enquète van de maand juni.

God heeft de wereld voorzien van boodschappers die met Hem in contact staan en zo tussen hemel en aarde kunnen reizen. Hun taak is de communicatie te verwezenlijken tussen de Allerhoogste en de gewone man. Zij zijn "Zijn engelen", "Zijn gastheren" en zij zijn "Zijn ministers", die Zijn genoegen doen. Met andere woorden heeft de Enige Schepper van hemel en aarde, Elohim Jehovah/Yahweh God van goden de totale controle over hen en alle andere leden van Zijn creatie. Die engelen die ten gunste van God en mensen werken "overtreffen" in kracht en zij hebben meer dan genoeg macht om hun opdrachten te vervolledigen.

Vindt meer gegevens over engelen op andere van onze pagina's:

Satan of duivel
Lucifer

+

• Who are the Angels?
• Why did God Create Angels?

• The "Sons of God"
• Man Made Lower than the Angels
• The "Mighty Ones"
• Angels in Old Testament History
• The Angel that Bore the Name of God
• The Angel of God's "Presence"
• Angels with Names
• Angels Preach the Gospel
• The Angels in World Affairs
• Angels at the Second Coming of Christ
• Can Angels Help Us?
• Guardian Angels?
• "The whole family in heaven and earth"
• How Can the Angels Serve Us Now?

Engelse versie / English version > Heavenly creatures do they excist

Heavenly creatures do they exist

We can see people around us and some of them say they have some unseen creatures on their right and left shoulder. Some people say they have a guardian angel.

What do you believe? Are there such things which are called angels, and what or whom do they present?

Are angels imaginable creations or just figments of the artist's imagination in religious paintings down the centuries? Is there really something out there we ought to know about? Is it important to know if they exist?

Several Christians believe in good and bad angels. They think devils are angels who followed the Cherub Satan who riposted against God. If devils are angels who did not follow the Will of God, you could say that it where angels who sinned, because when we do not follow the Will of God we sin. But can angels sin?

POSSIBLE ANSWERS:

- Yes. Lucifer was an angel and he sinned.
- Angels can do nothing as they are mythological creatures.
- Angel means messenger. Human messengers can sin. Heavenly ones cannot sin.
- Angels are immortal and therefore cannot sin.
- Don't know.

GO TO www.thisisyourbible.com TO SUBMIT YOUR ANSWER.

We as Christadelphians believe that for everything in life we can find the answers in the Holy Scriptures. But when taking up the Bible we do have to take inconsideration what is meant by certain words.

The English word "angel" comes from the Greek angelos, which means 'messenger'. In the Old Testament, with two exceptions, the Hebrew word for "angel" is malak, also meaning 'messenger'. The prophet Malachi took his name from this word. He was himself a messenger, and he prophesied about the coming of "the messenger of the covenant", Jesus Christ (Malachi 3:1).
Although the word "angel" in the Bible, meaning a messenger, nearly always applies to heavenly beings, it can occasionally apply to human messengers. Malachi himself said a priest was a messenger (malak) of the LORD of hosts (Malachi 2:7), and in the Book of Revelation the elders of the seven churches of Asia were called angels (1:20; 2:1 etc.). But when we meet messengers doing supernatural things, there is no doubt they are heavenly beings - God's messengers, working for Him and for the ultimate benefit of mankind.
We as Christadelphians believe that God works on man's behalf through His hosts of messenger servants.

We believe that there are forces which are God's forces. They are "his angels", "his hosts", and they are "his ministers", doing His pleasure. In other words, the Only One Creator God of gods has total control over them and all other members of His creation. Those angels which have been at work on behalf of God and man "excel" in strength and they have more than enough power to complete their commissions.

Find some further answers:

Evil in the bible

Satan or the devil

Lucifer

+

• Who are the Angels?
• Why did God Create Angels?

• The "Sons of God"
• Man Made Lower than the Angels
• The "Mighty Ones"
• Angels in Old Testament History
• The Angel that Bore the Name of God
• The Angel of God's "Presence"
• Angels with Names
• Angels Preach the Gospel
• The Angels in World Affairs
• Angels at the Second Coming of Christ
• Can Angels Help Us?
• Guardian Angels?
• "The whole family in heaven and earth"
• How Can the Angels Serve Us Now?

Dutch version / Nederlandse versie > Bestaat er iets als engelen en kunnen die zondigen

How do you find peace through Jesus

'Peace through Jesus' is at the heart of the gospel message.

Jeremy Pearce did a survey on “How do you find peace through Jesus?”.
The 28 answers could be sorted into 3 distinct groups, really representing Jesus in the past, future and present. A show of hands in the audience of around 400 also split into roughly these three categories. There were lots of positive comments afterwards.

> Jesus is Lord

Acts 10:36

"You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, telling the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all."

> How do you find peace through Jesus?

A man with an outstanding personality

We can find in the New Testament a man with an outstanding personality. One who gives striking evidence of extraordinary powers in the miracles he performs; he makes the most penetrating observations about human life, and faith, and the true worship of God; and his claims concerning himself, as the only source of life to come, are such as no one else would dare to make.

Who is that man?

Survey question for April:

Is Jesus Really God?

Possible Answers:

- Jesus is God the Son, the second person of the Trinity.
- Jesus is the Son of God but pre-existed as an Archangel.
- Jesus was a great teacher but merely human.
- Jesus is the Son of God, a unique man who did not exist before his birth.
- Don't know.

Go to www.thisisyourbible.com now to submit your answer.

"Jesus: God the Son or Son of God?"