Moving from belief in God, to belief in Jesus

[Anonymous]

if you have progressed from believing in "God" to believing in "Jesus, " what did the steps in between look like?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:if you have progressed from believing in "God" to believing in "Jesus, " what did the steps in between look like?

no need to progress. Christians believe in God and Jesus -- two parts of the holy trinity

[Anonymous]

Um, if you don't believe in God, who do you think Jesus was? Not the son of God but...?

[Anonymous]

I don't view that as a progression.

[Anonymous]

OP, I'm not sure what you mean. Do you mean following Jesus' teachings and example, except for Jesus' reference to God? Sort of the way people follow Buddha?

[Anonymous]

OP here. I mean I believe in God, intuitively, and I feel drawn to a Christian church. But being a Christian requires believing written stories about someone from 2000 years ago. How to get there, is my question.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I mean I believe in God, intuitively, and I feel drawn to a Christian church. But being a Christian requires believing written stories about someone from 2000 years ago. How to get there, is my question.

My advice as a Christian is not to try to force anything. You feel drawn, follow that urge, find a worshipping community that allows you to figure things out on your own time, doesn't force you to make sweeping statements of faith. Read the bible, read about Jesus and be open. See what happens.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I mean I believe in God, intuitively, and I feel drawn to a Christian church. But being a Christian requires believing written stories about someone from 2000 years ago. How to get there, is my question.

Well, the path to Christianity is different for everyone. It depends on what type of validation you need. Some people just want to be somewhere they are comfortable, while some wants to study the competing scriptures and pick the "winner", and a whole range of people in between. No one here is going to be able to tell you how you can get there, other than sharing perhaps how they got there. You can try the different ways and see what you end up choosing.

Why do you feel drawn to a Christian Church? We can start here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I mean I believe in God, intuitively, and I feel drawn to a Christian church. But being a Christian requires believing written stories about someone from 2000 years ago. How to get there, is my question.

OP, the Bible says that those who truly seek after God will find Jesus Christ. If you are truly open to embracing Jesus as God, humbly pray to God to reveal to you the truth of Scripture, and He will show you. He'll answer that prayer every time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't view that as a progression.

+1

The role of Jesus was to come here and help people find and believe in God. You've already gotten to that step.

Trying to figure out how to fit your belief in God within the Christian fold seems counterintuitive.

If you are drawn to Christianity (or any other religion for that matter), I would say first see which denomination or sect of Christianity/any religion speaks to you the most. Once there let God work in his own way to guide you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't view that as a progression.

+1

The role of Jesus was to come here and help people find and believe in God. You've already gotten to that step.

Trying to figure out how to fit your belief in God within the Christian fold seems counterintuitive.

If you are drawn to Christianity (or any other religion for that matter), I would say first see which denomination or sect of Christianity/any religion speaks to you the most. Once there let God work in his own way to guide you.

Not true. The role of Jesus was to reveal Himself as God, die for your sins, rise again from the grave and prepare to return someday to claim all the earth and heavens as His kingdom forever. If you reject Christ, you reject God.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't view that as a progression.

+1

The role of Jesus was to come here and help people find and believe in God. You've already gotten to that step.

Trying to figure out how to fit your belief in God within the Christian fold seems counterintuitive.

If you are drawn to Christianity (or any other religion for that matter), I would say first see which denomination or sect of Christianity/any religion speaks to you the most. Once there let God work in his own way to guide you.

Not true. The role of Jesus was to reveal Himself as God, die for your sins, rise again from the grave and prepare to return someday to claim all the earth and heavens as His kingdom forever. If you reject Christ, you reject God.

To OP- And this pp's post is why I say it's not a progression.

[Anonymous]

To the people that say it's not a progression, you are viewing it within the context of already believing in Jesus.
Clearly, simply believing that there is a God is different from believing in Christianity. If two things are different, then going from one to the other is absolutely a progression.

If you presuppose the absolute truth of Christianity, you may argue that it's not a progression, but rather simply learning what is already true: you are already there, just opening your eyes and your ears to take it all in.

But to someone who does not presuppose the absolute truth of Christianity, it's more akin to choosing which path to walk down, and very much a progression. It's incredibly condescending to these people to tell them "you are already there, just open your eyes/ears".

[Anonymous]

Start reading the Gospels, OP. That's a good first step.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To the people that say it's not a progression, you are viewing it within the context of already believing in Jesus.
Clearly, simply believing that there is a God is different from believing in Christianity. If two things are different, then going from one to the other is absolutely a progression.

If you presuppose the absolute truth of Christianity, you may argue that it's not a progression, but rather simply learning what is already true: you are already there, just opening your eyes and your ears to take it all in.

But to someone who does not presuppose the absolute truth of Christianity, it's more akin to choosing which path to walk down, and very much a progression. It's incredibly condescending to these people to tell them "you are already there, just open your eyes/ears".

I disagree.

If OP believes in God that belief is beyond any systemic rules and exclusivity that many religions impose in order for their belief in God to be valid. Some religions/sects/denominations narrowly define their ideas as to how the correct way to believe in God is, who the "true" God is, and tell you what exactly to believe or your are not truly that xyz religion. This can just push the OP back if it doesn't resonate.

God is above all that.

It's not really, you're already there, open your eyes/ears, it's more like you're already there, now listen to your heart and be open to accepting the guidance of God. This can be aided by finding a sect/denomination of religion that resonates with your current beliefs.

Do you believe that God is only God to a certain religion or to all people?

Do you believe God is humanlike in emotions? Gets angry? Gets jealous?

Or do you believe God is all pervading, that God is a part of all of creation?

Do you believe in heaven and Hell?

These types of things are important for the OP to think about when deciding to choose a religion because there are certain aspects that are central to the foundation of the religion.

It takes God as just God and belief, plain and simple, to an entire set of rules and dogma that are required for the faith in God.