When did "belief" and "faith" become such important cornerstones of the Christian churches?

You know something? Too many of you folks are too busy interpreting the WORDS that are found in the Bible. Too many are focusing on ALL the wrong things, altogether. As Unc is trying to get across, your Jesus came here with a message, a message of LOVE, not Faith, NOT belief, but just plain old LOVE.

Suppose you try living like this: ASSUME that belief and faith are NOT what it takes to get there, ASSUME that following ALL of the laws are NOT what it takes. What harm would it do for everyone to just take Jesus at his word, for the essential message that he brought to you and just LOVE. Love everyone and everything, stop screwing your neighbor over, stop screwing your planet over, stop screwing your universe over and start acting with lover towards ALL. If you DO that, have you not ALREADY covered ALL the bases in your life? Assume that Jesus did not come here for the forgiveness of your transgressions. Then would it NOT be wise to life your life as though you SHALL be held personally responsible for your actions in this life and behave accordingly?

By following the TEXT of the Bible are yo NOT trying to find tiny loopholes by which you can evade having to live your lives responsibly? Are you not trying to state that "I have a get out of Hell free card (Jesus) and so I will do whatever I want and Jesus will forgive me for it. ALL I have to do is ask and it will be granted."? Think of it this way, the folks on the floors that the planes crashed into on 9-11 never HAD the opportunity to even ask for forgiveness (except for the half dozen folks who just happened to be looking out the window as the plane approached). So out of all those people who lived according to Faith and Belief only those who actually SAW death coming had the opportunity to ask for forgiveness, the rest are suffering in hell, according to your beliefs. Now if they had lived their lives just loving each other, according to MY principle, they would have been just fine whether or not they had the chance to ask for forgiveness. NO, we can't be 100% loving ALL the time, but on average, MOST people CAN be loving MOST of the time. Those who ARE loving for the most part don't really have anything to worry about, because they are mostly already IN compliance with all of the "laws" of the Bible. In fact they don't even have to acknowledge Jesus OR the Bible. What can POSSIBLY be wrong with loving as much as one possibly can? Do you think that your God is so heartless that simply because one never believed in Jesus or the Bible and yet loved the overwhelming majority of their lives in LOVE that he would send them all to hell to suffer for eternity? PLEASE! Don't be ridiculous! that Being KNOWS what is in your heart and knows what is in the hearts of every person. If LOVE is there then that Being is NOT about to make them suffer just because they didn't follow a certain set of rules in a book that was WRITTEN down by humans. The REAL law is written in the hearts and spirits of humans and all creatures and, just because it does not fully align with the words in a book written by humans does NOT change that law one single iota. And THAT is the ultimate "Law" that such a Divine Being would judge folks by. And to think any other way is total folly.

Now WHY is it that a Wiccan can SEE that and yet devout Christians have such a difficult time understanding such a simple thing? Just live as though it were all a bunch of baloney and live with LOVE and you are covered. Is that SO hard to understand?

Brightest Blessings,

Raji the Green Witch

Christianity is built on faith in Jesus Christ who died for the whole world. Beatitudes are the teachings of Jesus to follow as His disciples. With out faith in Christ we cannot be His disciples. I can understand that your generation in the 40s, 50s may teach and depend on the teachings of Christ rather than faith in Him. But that is not right, from the beginning the Christianity if based on faith and belief in Jesus Christ.

The Beatitudes were about the Kingdom of Heaven when everything will be made right. They weren't about this life.

Christianity was always supposed to be about faith. Many people have been just churchgoing Christians and didn't give a hoot about God for the rest of the week. That is not Biblical Christianity, which is devotion and prayer every day.

There has been a resurgence of faith in Christianity and you are either with Christ or not with Him. Christians of faith understand that.

I'll pass on giving you Bible verses, unless you really want them.

Perhaps this is from a more popular recent movement of salvation through grace. There is a resurgence of the sinner's prayer and forgiveness of sins based on unbiblical means (e.g. walking to the front of the church and having someone pray for you, holy items sold on late night television, etc.)

This emphasis on faith and belief over actions and deeds was also the theme of the times for Martin Luther. That's why James and Revelation are in the back of most Bibles now. It seems history really does repeat itself.

You make an amazing error here because you (pretend ?) that you would rather be a Robot in Heaven than a free being (in the free reflection of God's Freedom). So how can you use the phrase 'more important' when it isn't at all important to you. I'm just saying back to you what you say. Adam and Eve never complained about their freedom only its misuse. I can't judge in your case but odds are you think that things are weighted towards being evil and there I completely disagree with you. I know many free and good people. As to the connection between rationality and free will, I find Aquinas absolutely unanswerable in his conclusion below : "Man has free-will: otherwise counsels, exhortations, commands, prohibitions, rewards, and punishments would be in vain. In order to make this evident, we must observe that some things act without judgment; as a stone moves downwards; and in like manner all things which lack knowledge. And some act from judgment, but not a free judgment; as brute animals. For the sheep, seeing the wolf, judges it a thing to be shunned, from a natural and not a free judgment, because it judges, not from reason, but from natural instinct. And the same thing is to be said of any judgment of brute animals. But man acts from judgment, because by his apprehensive power he judges that something should be avoided or sought. But because this judgment, in the case of some particular act, is not from a natural instinct, but from some act of comparison in the reason, therefore he acts from free judgment and retains the power of being inclined to various things. For reason in contingent matters may follow opposite courses, as we see in dialectic syllogisms and rhetorical arguments. Now particular operations are contingent, and therefore in such matters the judgment of reason may follow opposite courses, and is not determinate to one. AND FORASMUCH AS MAN IS RATIONAL IS IT NECESSARY THAT MAN HAVE A FREE_WILL. ISn't that marvelous !!!

I can only answer for myself here.

Faith in God is vital for my existence. Without God, I am nothing. Although it took several suicide attempts to realize, just how important God is to me in my life. Since then, I have spent twenty five years helping others, just to show my love and appreciation to the only One who gave my 'life' back to me.

I don't need to go to church or read countless scriptures to discern this. Faith is not that complex. But, it "is deep"!

I conduct my life according to my close and personal relationship with God. I read scripture to get a better understanding of that which He asks of me and for when I need comfort and solutions to pain, suffering and woes.

I believe it is possible that the reason for quoting Paul these days is because, many feel the end is coming soon.

I think it's a way of controlling people. The churches teach that faith is compulsory. You have two choices: Belive what we tell you to believe or roast in hell for eternity. It's a power thing. Without the power to compel the donations will dry up and preachers and prophets will have to get real jobs.

well if you don't believe in God and have faith in Jesus, then you aren't saved, and will go to hell. So "faith" and belief" are very important things. Also in this day and age there are so many false teaching and people who aren;t just athiests, but try to disprove the bible and Christianity, so having faith and being able to see past these lies is hard and very important to keeping close to God.

God Bless :)

You watch too much TV that is NOT Christainity

Faith and Belief are the cornerstones of True Christianity.

They are a sales pitch for the televangelist

Because Uncle with each passing year there is more evidence the bible is not what it claims so people have to reconcile their belief in a god with the world around them somehow .