A Question Of Faith
GOT A QUESTION ABOUT CHRISTIANITY?
Here is an attempt to answer some of the questions we regularly hear about the Christian faith.
What is the difference between the Parish Church and the Baptist Church?
There is a huge variety of church denominations; Anglican, Roman Catholic, Methodist, Baptist, Pentecostal and many more. Each of them is Christian but they demonstrate their faith and understanding in a different way. Some are very formal or traditional, while others are very casual and try to do things a bit differently.
The Parish Church is Anglican, otherwise known as The Church of England, and is probably the largest denomination in the country. They have a very long tradition, built up over 500 years, and they demonstrate their faith through those traditions. The Baptist Church is a bit more casual and likes to do things a bit differently, though we still share the same basic faith. We both believe in God the Father as our creator, in Jesus His Son as our Saviour and in the Holy Spirit as God’s presence with us today. So though we do some things differently, we are pretty much the same underneath it all.
Does God answer prayers today?
We believe that God always listens to our prayers, and always answers them, though what we have to realise is that He doesn’t always answer them as we may want Him to. There are three possible ways God can answer any prayer. He can say ‘Yes’ and do whatever we ask for, He can say ‘No’ and not do what we have asked, or He can say ‘Not yet’ meaning He will answer us, and it will probably be a yes, but not right now.
Many people think that a ‘Yes’ is the only real answer to prayer, but it isn’t. We must remember that God always has our best interests at heart, and sometimes what we ask for may not actually be good for us, or right for us. At those times, a ‘No’ really could be the best answer, even if we don’t like it very much. So, the answer to our question is YES He does answer prayers today, but not always as we want Him to.
Is Harvest a Christian festival?
Harvest is not one of the major Christian festivals like Easter or Christmas, but it has been celebrated in Christian churches for many years and is considered by many to be Christian. In reality we would have to admit that it isn’t really a Christian festival as it has nothing to do with our faith. However, as Christians we believe that everything we have ultimately comes from God in some way, and that we should therefore thank Him for it all.
This is where Harvest does become important for Christians. It is an annual opportunity to tell God how grateful we are for all that we have. Not just in the form of food, but also for our homes, families, friends, clothes and all the electronic gadgets that fill our homes. If we get to the point of taking everything we have for granted, and not taking the time to thank anyone for anything, we are in danger of losing any sense of value. Therefore, Harvest truly is an important Christian festival, which I hope will continue to be celebrated for a long time to come.
Do I have to be in church to pray?
This answer to this question is very easy, and brief. Quite simply the answer is NO.
While praying in church is great, the truth is that you can pray absolutely anywhere. In fact, wherever you feel you want to. I personally often go out for a walk and pray while I am walking along. Some people find it helpful to have a specific place where they go to pray, a quiet room for instance. The important thing is that we do pray, as it is our way of letting God know exactly how we feel about things.
Who wrote the bible, and when was it written?
This is one of the most commonly asked questions and it is a bit of a mixed question when it comes to giving an answer. This is because the bible is in two parts, the Old Testament and the New Testament, and neither part has one single author, both are actually a collection of writings by different authors. Often the bible is described as a library, rather than a book, and I think that this is quite a helpful description of it.
The Old Testament was written over a long period of time, between approximately 1500BC and 400BC. It was written by a diverse group of people, like Moses, King David and King Solomon, who many of us have heard of, but also men like Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, who most of us haven‟t hear of. Each of them wrote parts of the bible, along with quite a few others, and often the books are named after the person who wrote it.
The New Testament was written between 46AD and 70AD. When you consider that Jesus died in about 30AD we realise that it was actually written very soon after he died, rather than hundreds of years later as some people think. Again it was written by several different people, most of whom were followers of Jesus during his lifetime. People like Peter, John, James and Matthew. The two exceptions to this are Luke and Paul. They both came to know about Jesus after he had died, and then spent a lot of time finding out about him, and writing down what they found out so that other people (us for instance) could know the facts, from the time.
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