Expert: Richard Aberdeen - 1/4/2005

Question
-------------------------
Followup To
Question -
what is the difference between Catholic , Protestant. Angilic and Orthodox.

How we know that Jesus born in 25 th December.

some christian says
"Jesus is a GOD"
some says
"Jesus is a incarnation of GOD"
some says
"Jesus is a part of GOD means Trinity"
some says
"Jesus is a son of GOD"

which section of christains say this?

Answer -
I was raised in fundamental Protestant churches and had several Catholic friends growing up, so I know a little about these two.  I am not very familiar with the other two.  

The beliefs of Catholics and Protestants vary considerably, so it is not very accurate to try and describe what Catholics or Protestants believe, as if all Catholics (or Protestants) believe the same thing.

Some fundamental differences between many Catholics and Protestants are as follows:

1) Traditional Catholics worship saints, believe Mary the mother of Jesus and saints can (and often must) intercede for them, so they often pray to them rather than God directly.  Many if not most Catholics believe that the priest upwards to the Pope must intercede for them regarding forgiveness of their sins.  Catholics tend to believe in certain traditions, such as the use of rosary beads, confessional booths, building of ornate churches, observance of lent, etc.  Far more Catholics than Protestants practice a "hands on" approach to helping the sick and poor, although the Roman Catholic church is one of, if not the, wealthiest organization in the world, a crass contradiction if there ever was one.  Other than helping the sick and poor, Catholicism shares little in common with what the Bible actually says, in particular, the Bible teaches that Jesus is the one and only person who can intercede between God and people.

2)  Protestants believe that the Bible is the infallible literal word of God, although if one thinks this through logically, it is literally not possible to believe this if one does not understand the entire Bible.  That is, according to the Bible, faith is a growing reality and is based on "evidence" of things not seen--one could not possibly truly believe that the Bible is infallible unless one understood all of the evidence, which no one even  remotely does.  They tend to have lists of things they believe in beyond this, such as an eternal Godhead of 3 beings who are co-equal and co-eternal.  Protestants tend to be very similar to the Pharisees described in the Bible, that is, they practice an outward religion of conservative orthodoxy (no smoking, drinking, carousing, etc.) while ignoring core teachings of Jesus, such as helping the sick and poor, putting away one's sword, etc.  Protestant fundamental and evangelical Christianity has almost nothing in common with what Jesus and the early followers of Jesus practiced, who shared all things in common and practiced extreme freedom from religion in any outward form.

Jesus is presented in the Bible as the friend of "sinners and the common people" and the New Testament consistently paints a portrait of a very radical young man who these people truly loved and longed to hear and be around.  The siners and common people today, who are no different, are the same people who tend to go to bars, watch Saturday Night Live, Leno, Letterman, etc. and who not only hate but openly make fun of both the Catholics and Protestants of our society.  This fact alone speaks overwhelmingly that neither Catholics or Protestants share anything remotely in common with the true historical Jesus, who would roundly and soundly comdemn both groups today, very much as he roundly and soundly condemned the Pharisees and Saducees of his own time, very similar groups in actual practice.

Calling oneself a Christian, something Paul, a main author of the Bible, never did, and subscribing to a set of beliefs in no way makes one a follower of Jesus.  All it does is cause the "sinners and common people" to hate Jesus out of ignorance, that is, these people today for the most part, in large part due to what both Catholics and Protestants teach and practice, have no idea who their friend really is.



Is Bible still Truly word of GOD or it is altered by Saints? also as you said that Paul is the main Author of Bible ? How it can be proved and How  many Bibles are now a days and are they different from each other ?

Answer
Historians differ from as early as 6th Century B.C. to as late as 4th Century A.D. for the actual year of Jesus' birth.  No one has yet convincingly proven what year or what day Jesus was born.  It is far more important to practice what Jesus said than to observe holidays supposedly dedicated to him or to otherwise, argue about what specific date he was born.  Paul in the New Testament (Galations) specifically argues against the religious observance of days, times and years or otherwise, promoting salvation through religion and the law, clearly stating that such religious observance is in vain.