Do You Believe in the Literal Christ?

[Anonymous]

I’ve been thinking….

Do you think it matters one way or another? It can be fun to talk about…but day to day life…does it matter?

[Anonymous]

Katzpur wrote:

DarkJedi wrote:

Katzpur wrote:

When I was a teenager, I used to tell my two best friends that all of this wasn’t really happening. I said, “I exist, but right now I’m just dreaming, and you two are just figments of my imagination.” I wasn’t saying it to be mean, but it really set them both off! 😆

I’ve had that thought before, and in fact it first occurred to me as a teenager. What if we are all just St. Elsewhere?

Scary thought, huh?

Heber13 wrote:

Do you think it matters one way or another? It can be fun to talk about…but day to day life…does it matter?

For some people, it’s a matter of their being a loving, father-like (and/or mother-like) entity at the center of the universe, directing our lives to the best possible outcome… Or… The Nuclear Chaos, a being who rests at the center of all of existence, the “Blind Idiot God”, who dreams all of reality, yet knows not what he dreams (see Lovecraft’s “Azathoth”).

So I guess the question boils down to, if a person’s belief completely contradicts reality, does it matter in their day-to-day life? I’d say no. If a wrong belief gives life meaning, but life by nature is itself meaningless, does that life still have meaning? How does a belief that all of reality could at any moment blip out of existence effect your day-to-day life? If true, does knowing your life has no inherent meaning or purpose, that all is chaos and all will end, free you or fill you with despair? Is it better to believe in a guiding Father/Mother god, even if one never existed, so as to imbue meaning and purpose in a meaningless world?

[Anonymous]

Heber13 wrote:

I’ve been thinking….

Do you think it matters one way or another? It can be fun to talk about…but day to day life…does it matter?

I think it does matter in establishing a community identity and an individual place within that community. Being able to say “I’m a Christian” is a lot like being able to give the secret password for entry – it establishes you belong, and a few general specific common beliefs (for example, a shared knowledge/understanding of Jesus Christ – his work and ministry, a unique spiritual experience that brought a person trust in Jesus Christ as their personal savior). That is one of the reasons why other churches have a hard time seeing us as a Christian community – we don’t have that same shared knowledge/understanding of specific circumstances, and we define a lot of other principles differently and put them in a different priority order.

I think it matters less than it used to because communities are no longer limited to locale – primarily due to the internet. This is good because it gives people who would normally be outcasts an environment where they can shine, be themselves, provide specialized informal life-skills training/tips, and have a special interest to be passionate about. It also means that the local communities need to change to be “relevant” – either by having an internet presence, adding items of interest to a diverse amount of people, and/or becoming more entertaining.

Churches seem to be some of the last to change in this area because they feel that they have the right from God not to change and that the organization sets the terms as revealed by God. For some people, the flavor of doctrine matters to a varying degree – everyone has faith narratives that accept and reject certain principles. I feel that the LDS church has made quite a few strides in these areas over the last 5 years, but that the LDS church is losing people because the doctrinal faith narrative of the church has not changed as much as the people have, and now points to principles that people reject and feel deeply are incorrect doctrines/teachings.

[Author]

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