Struggling with my Christian belief

The Dead Sea Scrolls???

We don't even know for sure what were Christ's teachings really. The gospels were written quite a long time after he died and the stories in them conflict in part. Of course you can choose what you believe and what you don't. That's what being human means. Ideas, such as Christian teachings, don't exist without human minds. Human minds invent ideas and human minds use the ideas as they see fit.

Also, it's perfectly clear that christians can and do pick and choose, otherwise there wouldnt be so many different christian denominations.

hapgran - so as a self confessed Christian is it just or right to exert pressure on your g/children to believe something you do and they do not? Conversely is it your place to judge them either?

I think respect for the person is central to your concerns. I am sure your grandchildren respect your beliefs. You in turn must respect them as individuals with the free will to reject religion if that is their choice. It surely should have no impact on what you believe yourself. Only worry about the things you can change and as other posters have said, hell may merely be a made made concept to encourage conformity.

I am a devout atheist if there can be such a thing!! However, I have seen just how much solace and support various religious belief has given patients I have nursed over the years, so believe me when I say I am not making light of your dilemma. Sometimes you have to prioritise the most strange things in life, and merely let other things go. Perhaps this is one of those occasions?

I don't go to Church. Well, occasionally I do but it's rare. I get all my learning and reading from my NLT bible by Tyndale so it's straight from the horses mouth. I find the more pure the reading, the more it's clear what is actually meant. Otherwise, you can end up polluting your faith with sect beliefs that are often portrayed as Christian. I read one the other day on FB that said it was possible to be a whole heap of things and still be Christian.
Er..........no it's not.

I was brought up a baptist, every Sunday morning the children would sit in the chapel for the first part of the service, we spoke the verses we were each given to learn and then there was the children's address, we then left for the Sunday school rooms at the back where our parents collected us from following the main service.

At the time of Jesus and afterwards,many Jews rejected him. It was Jewish religious leaders keen to uphold the laws they had invented and added to the OT, that put Jesus on the cross.
Yet the OT did predict the coming of Jesus Christ while the NT stands as the book representing the Christian faith.

If you stick with the bible, you can't go far wrong. Even though it's been rewritten, technology today has been able to translate the oldest written God breathed word. Many Jews today still reject Jesus hence they stick with the OT.

To date there has never been peace in the Middle East. There was a glimmer of peace when the Roman's ruled but peace hasn't ever been achieved. Yet Jesus never lifted a sword, never beheaded anyone or persecuted them. The faith is clear, the 10 commandments are a code for life.

When I was a child there were several methodist chapels in our town. My friend and I used to do the rounds, and in one the minister was preaching about hellfire - never went back. In the one I liked best there was a balcony where a large lady used to stand and warble religious songs. And they had a special sermon for children. No hellfire there.

I do not reject the Old Testament , I respect it as part of the Jewish faith. I never did follow the teachings in Leviticus , slept in the same bed as my husband when I had a period. Do not accept the eye for an eye because it has come to mean revenge, it was a law made to prevent revenge .

....lick??! - pick!

If the OT is now a no go area, then I am puzzled as to why bits of it are read out at church services. The current rejection of the OT is a prime example of the lick and mix religion, where folk cherry pick the bits they like and chuck out those they do not.

I do feel that the OP needs to hone in on the central theme of Christ's teaching as annie has chosen to do. It is beyond credence that any god worth her salt would rain down eternal retribution on people who have led good lives. The doctrine of love is where you need to be OP; and ignore the fripperies that have accrued over generations of interpretation. Your GC will I am sure be fine - they will lead good lives, under your influence and that of their parents, and will reach the end of their lives with nothing to reproach themselves for. If you believe in a god of love, then that is the central theme to hang on to.

I don't feel Christianity is the only true religion I feel the true religion is trying to act by your conscience and that can be covered by any religion and any god but at the end of the day if you have done things you aren't proud of and change to try and do them a different way isn't that better than going to church and saying a few prayers of contrition I just think it's best not to think 'yes there's an after life' or 'no there isn't' as we will never know until it's too late, treat others as you want to be treated is really the only mantra I feel I need to follow
Dont forget, so much in the various Holy books/laws can be interpreted differently by each person, for instance I ve been told in no uncertain terms by religious folks that same sex partnership/marriage is a major sin and heaven would never open its gates for them then why would God create people with those hormones or needs surely he doesn't make mistakes so why can't they be accepted, from what I ve read there is same sex interest in many animals too so not a man made condition

I would totally enjoy your grandkids whilst you are here and don't worry about what happens afterwards it may be nothing and you ve wasted all those tears and happy moments... grab them whilst you can

Luckygirl, I read the psalms , they are poetry. I follow the teachings of Christ, sometimes fail but try again, these are to be found in the New Testament not the old.

Hell as anything other than separation from God was dreamt up by man. Separation from God would be hell to a Christian, but probably not much of a concern to those of no faith.

Our Dean suggested the book "The Great Divorce" by C S Lewis, do read it, it is only short, but gives a whole new insight.

"There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, "Thy will be done," and those to whom God says, in the end, "Thy will be done." .

Ravi Zacharias explains it all very well.

www.amazon.co.uk/JESUS-AMONG-OTHER-GODS-Christian/dp/0849943272?tag=gransnetforum-21

The pick and choose in any religion is what creates sects. And of course every sect thinks they are the ones that have got it right. As they said of Olver Cromwell, "He was a man who would always do God's will and it was amazing how often God's will coincided with his own."

Luckygirl, Christians are NT, not OT although some of the OT still applies but only in reflection.

Do you read the old testament and "interpret it to suit yourself" annie? - or has that been rejected?

All Christians do the pick and choose bit. It is called free will.

hapgran, the core of Christ's teachings is love not retribution.

Wow - what a lot of really thoughtful posts. I knew I would find help here! Lots to think about but many of you have really shown me how to get these thoughts in perspective - they well up periodically and yesterday were initiated by a comment from my very devout but childless sister in law!

Anniebach is correct. There are a lot of lip service Christians cherry picking the words of the bible, but they are not true Christians. A good analogy is that you can't be slightly pregnant. You either are pregnant or you're not.
You can't read the NT then interpret it to suit yourself. How it's written is how it is.

If a Christian one has chosen to follow Christ, it cannot be I will do thst but because it's easy but not that but because it doesn't suit me .

Anniebach....why not?

Yes Vampirequeen , but a Christian cannot pick and choose which of Christ's teachings to practice and which to ignore

I may disrespect sects and what was written about him after the event but I never disrespect the man himself.

I know that, Anniebach. My point was that even if you can't do the God bit, he actually had a good point about treating others and how much better the world would be if we'd listened.