Expert: Marvin Howard - 6/22/2006

Question
I am really interested in converting to Christianity because that is what my husbands religion is, and we are going to get married soon! But I still have a few question that I hope you can answer, or appoint me to someone that can answer them for me! I would like to know some information about: The Countries of origin, Historical figures and events, Central beliefs, Nature of God, Texts, Ritual and practices, and Ethics and morality? If you could help me better understand I would appreciate it.  

Answer
Hi!

Kiza, I commend you in your search to understand that which your future husband believes. This space is very limited, and there is no possible way that I can provide all the information that you seek here. I will give you a brief overview, and then I would like you to fully explore some sites and pages. Once you get all this information, I will be more than happy to address any questions you may still have of a more specific nature. I apologize for the lack of linking capability in this format. You will need to copy and paste each of the provided addresses in a separate browser window in order to access them.

Before you begin seeking to understand the religion to which your husband-to-be adheres, you need to understand that much of what the world labels as "Christian," is really something else entirely. Many false religions have been founded by men (there are over 4,000 of these, while there is only one body - Ephesians 4:4 - which is the church - Colossians 1:18 - therefore there is really only one church and not the many accepted as such). These founders told a group of uneducated people they were now Christians, contrary to that revealed by God, and because of the lack of knowledge, these men who were seeking their own fame and preeminence were believed. Each reference I give is from the King James Version of the Holy Bible.

At the beginning of the world, God made Adam and Eve. They were only given one commandment to obey. They were expressly forbidden to eat from one tree.

Genesis 2:16-17, "And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die."

To make a long story short, Satan went to the woman and tempted her. He convinced her it was not against God to eat the fruit after God said not to do so. The woman talked the man into eating with her, and all of humanity was lost, because now we are all taught by our parents the difference between right and wrong, a knowledge first obtained by eating this fruit.

God knew that from this point no man would be able to come back to Him on his own, and promised a savior to make it possible to restore the original state of fellowship between God and man. This savior was known to the Jews as Messiah, and to other people as Christ. When He arrived, His human name was called Jesus. John 1:1-14 states that He is God, and that He was present and active in the creation Himself. Isaiah 7:14 declares that He would be Immanuel. Matthew 1:23 says this happened, and declares the meaning of this to be, "God with us."

Genesis 3:15, "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel."

Before this could happen, many other things needed to be put in place. God had to convince man that we needed salvation. He did this by adding the Old Testament Law, which was given specifically to the Jews. This was done with the view and promise that the savior would come from the line of the Jews. The Jews were the descendents of the oldest, legitimate son of Abraham.

In addition, for a savior to be effective there had to be an acceptable method of sacrifice, and a way for the news of this sacrifice to be spread. The nation of Babylon (originally Babel from Genesis 11:1-9) gave us civilization, and gave everyone a system of laws to obey.

The Medes and Persians gave us crucifixion as a form of capital punishment. It was this "hanging on a tree" whereby Jesus could be cursed in our place (Galatians 3:13), even though He did no wrong.

The Greeks gave us a "universal" language to replace that lost at Babel. Even though men remained most comfortable with their native tongue, each knew (or could discover) enough of the language to obtain the entire, original message from God.

The Romans gave us a universal system of travel, known as "The Roman Road," whereby the message of God could be (and was) carried to all people. Each of these came in succession, and were foretold in the dream of Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel chapter 2.

There are over 300 prophecies in the Old Testament foretelling the coming savior. Each was fulfilled, between 430 and 2500 years after they were written, by the man called Jesus. This is the reason that man can know there is no other God than that which created us, and that His Son, who is also the same God, is the only means whereby man can once again have a close relationship with the creator. The Greek word for creator, when put in English form, is the same word as father.

One of these prophecies was the country of origin. Christianity would begin in Israel, and more specifically in the city of Jerusalem. Anything founded in another place is something different from Christianity. This includes Romanism (also called catholicism) and each and every one of the protestant denominations. All of these were founded by men, rather than God. Each and every one of these was founded in a place other than Jerusalem. Each and every one of these was founded at a different time than was Christianity.

Christianity was founded in Jerusalem. Christianity was founded by the followers of a Jesus (the savior risen from the dead as promised) with His authority and help. Christianity was founded on the first day of Pentecost (a Jewish festival always occurring on a Sunday) following the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. A few different dates are given by different people based upon different calculations of time. Even so, the range of these dates is minimal, being between 29 A.D., and 33 A.D. I hold to the date of 29. However, all of the other religions pretending to be Christianity were founded well after the year 33, so it is still a moot point. Even catholicism was founded over a time period between 57 A.D., and 533 A.D., and was founded in the Roman province of Corinth. Today, they would still rather follow what they say are the teachings of Peter with preeminence over those of Christ (c.f., 1st Corinthians 1:12).

Here are a few, short, bullet type verses explaining the ethics of Christianity.

Matthew 7:12, "Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets."

Matthew 22:37-40, "Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."

John 3:16, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

Though there are many rituals conducted by the imposters of Christianity (many are also omitted or altered by the protestant groups), there are really only a few conducted by Christianity. I am running out of room rapidly. Here are the verse references for these practices. You will need to read them for yourself. While all practices are listed, not all references for each practice will be here: far from it.

Salvation:

One must first hear - Matthew 11:15, Romans 10:17

One must then believe that Jesus is Christ - John 8:24
(But that is not enough, c.f. James 2:19-26)

One must then repent (or turn from and cease) of sin - Luke 13:3

One must then confess that Jesus is the Son of God and worthy to save us - Matthew 10:32, Acts 8:37

One must then be immersed in water (baptized) before they are saved - Mark 16:16, Acts 2:38, 1st Peter 3:21, Romans 6:1-6, John 3:5, Galatians 3:27

One must remain faithful to God until they die - Revelation 2:10

Anyone who hears a message other than that from God (i.e., that from a creed book written by a man which purports to be the same) is started on a different road than that of salvation. No one who believes something different about Jesus is saved. No one who will not cease doing wrong is saved. No one who confesses something other than Jesus being the Son of God is saved. (This included saying that sins are already forgiven before the confession or the baptism.) No one not immersed in water in order to have sin removed is saved. (This includes those who mistakenly think they were already saved before this event and those who are only sprinkled or rhontized.) No one who quits walking with God before this life is over is saved.

Worship:

Prayer - Acts 12:5
Teaching/Preaching - Acts 20:7
Communion/Lord's Supper - Acts 20:7 and 1st Corinthians 11:20-29
Giving - 1st Corinthians 6:2
Singing without instrumental accompaniment - Ephesians 5:19

The only text we can have as an authority is the Bible. However, there are times when we will need lexicons (or other reference books) as assistance to return to the original meaning. This excludes any type of creed other than the Bible. Different themes in the Bible are scattered throughout, so that those who do not want to learn can deceive themselves (2nd Thessalonians 2:3-14). Care must be exercised to get the entire message on every subject. This process is called "rightly dividing the word of truth" (2nd Timothy 2:15). The firstdivision that needs to be understood (and the most important) is that between the Old and New Testaments. One was directed to us as a rule for life. The other was directed at a different group of people, and at a different time. As such, even though both are written by God and to be believed, they carry different weight for us. Other distinctions to be made are the audience of the original message (whether it be to individuals or a small group such as the Apostles or a general audience), and whether something only addressed a temporary custom or an eternal truth.

I have nearly 40 sermons posted in my Archives. Each will have part of the information you seek. Each may be accessed from this page: http://www.geocities.com/preacherman_1962

I have a list of historical, Biblical dates. I also have a chart showing many of the imposter religions (including their founders and dates). Their titles are, “Bible Timeline,” and “A Chart of Church History.” Both links may be accessed from this page: http://www.geocities.com/preacherman_1962/sermons.index.html

Here are some resources by others that you may find helpful (in no particular order):

http://www.firstcenturychristian.com/

http://www.biblestudylessons.com/cgi-bin/gospel_way/why_believe.php

http://www.biblestudylessons.com/cgi-bin/gospel_way/bible_understandable.php

http://www.gospelway.com/division.htm

There are many more resources located on the "Links" page of my site: http://www.geocities.com/preacherman_1962/links.html

One of the largest resources with which I am familiar is on my "Links" page. It is for the Highway 9 congregation in Piedmont, AL. This site alone will take weeks to explore.

God made man (Genesis chapter 2 and 3). God loves man John 3:16). God demands our love Matthew 22:37). God demands we love others, even those outside of our religion: teach them rather than kill them (Matthew 22:39, Ephesians 4:14-16). God wants unity among His followers (John 17:11-22), rather than the disunity of denominationalism (1st Corinthians 1:10-13). God demands worship, and this worship must be both in spirit and in truth (John 4:23). The truth whereby we must live and worship is the Bible, and nothing else (John 17:17, John 14:6, 1st John 1:7).

Kiza, as I said, you seek a lot of information. If after exploring these pages (especially all of the sermons I have written in my Archives and my 2 charts) you still have questions, please do not hesitate to ask. I am more than willing to help. I pray that this information will be beneficial to you studies, and that you will have a happy and sucessful marriage.

In His Service,
Marvin Howard
http://www.geocities.com/preacherman_1962
http://360.yahoo.com/preacherman_1962