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[Holy Pow]

As Christians, do you ever feel the need to trust science or conduct your own experiments and trust those instead of God?

I’ve been curious to know wether or not as Christians you are allowed to search for your own understand or have your own personal ideas? Is anything other than the words in the Bible wrong, and if you are to agree with anything other than those words is it a sin to do so? do I have the wrong idea or have I just met extremists?
I’m terribly confused about how solidarity and personal choice works in Christianity. While I’m atheist and strongly situated as one, I really want to know are you actually allowed to have a personal choice at all or control over your own body? Such as if you have a terminal illness and you’ll die a horrible death is it ok for you to choose euthanasia or are you meant to suffer?

No offense is meant and I won’t be responding to any aggression.

[jimwalton]

Oh, I trust science all right. And of course I conduct my own experiments. But not instead of God. It's all one picture.

> I’ve been curious to know wether or not as Christians you are allowed to search for your own understand or have your own personal ideas?

Of course, of course. This will apparently surprise you, but we Christians are human beings. We learn like everyone else, think, evaluate, discern, weigh, and decide. You seem to think God tells us everything and we never need to use our own brains, and if we're tempted to use our brains, "Oh my, NO NO NO, just use blind faith!" Nothing could be further from the truth.

> Is anything other than the words in the Bible wrong, and if you are to agree with anything other than those words is it a sin to do so?

There is truth all around us. We find truth in almost every corner. Learning is a wonderful thing. It's never a sin to think, to ask questions, to search, to doubt, to wonder, or to learn.

> do I have the wrong idea or have I just met extremists?

Wow, not knowing whom you've met, I'm sitting here just shaking my head and assuming the worst. I'm glad you came on the forum to ask, because you seem to have a skewed picture of Christians.

> I’m terribly confused about how solidarity and personal choice works in Christianity.

We think, we learn, we observe, we hypothesize, we weigh evidences, and we make decisions, just like everyone else.

> I really want to know are you actually allowed to have a personal choice at all or control over your own body?

Oh my goodness, what Christians have you met? Egads. Of course we have personal choices. Of course we have control over our own bodies. We need to talk more, you and I.

> Such as if you have a terminal illness and you’ll die a horrible death is it ok for you to choose euthanasia or are you meant to suffer?

Euthanasia is a complex subject. Generally I think physician-assisted suicide attempts to address legitimate concerns with an illegitimate strategy. It's a complicated matter that has to include family, the law, the medical community, and the individual. In general, physical-assisted suicide opens the floodgates for a truckload of abuses (what's cheap, what's easy, what's convenient, etc.). It's a legal and moral quagmire about issues of suffering, dignity, economics, information, and relationships.

It can't just be reduced to "is it ok to choose euthanasia or are you meant to suffer." We can talk about euthanasia more, but it may be a different subject than the intent of your post.

[Holy Pow]

This is a brilliant response and answers all my questions, thanks for taking the time to write it. I’ve received different types of responses for posting this here I received one DM telling me I deserve to go to hell and be whipped, while another commented that if he questions anything he whips himself. So I see so far that there is the good the bad and the ugly with this. You’ve helped me see that just because you believe in Christianity it does not mean you inherently have ceased control of personal thought.

Just one more question, have you feared that with that personal thought maybe it means you have succumbed to evil? Because after reading a few other comments and DM’s it looks like some believe to have a person opinion or to hypothesize is damning god, others believe it to be only human.

[jimwalton]

> have you feared that with that personal thought maybe it means you have succumbed to evil?

Since evil has a definition about which most people agree, any self-examination convinces me I have not succumbed to evil. Let me share some things the Bible says about using our minds:

Matt. 22.37: "Jesus replied: 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' " I show my love for God by using my mind. Lack of curiosity is a sin. Studying science is one of the ways we can love God with all our minds.

Luke 1.3: "I have carefully investigated all things from the beginning." The text is affirming research, critical thinking, data, and conclusions.

Luke 24.45: "Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures." God wants us to understand, to have open minds to learn, digest, form new thoughts, and take us deeper in knowledge.

Romans 12.2: "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." It's our responsibility to be good thinkers. Notice in this verse that Paul’s appeal here is to the mind and the will, the body and the spirit, just like Jesus when He says, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength." All that we are is to be offered to God as useful.

1 Peter 1.13: "Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming." Christians should never be content with a flabby and unexamined faith. You must think things out and think them through.

Acts 17.11: "Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true." Use your brain! Check things out. Evaluate, research, confirm or disapprove. The Bible calls this being "noble."

I hope that helps. I'm not just making this up. The Bible encourages us to use our brains critically, analytically, and deeply.

[Scape211]

I’ve received different types of responses for posting this here I received one DM telling me I deserve to go to hell and be whipped, while another commented that if he questions anything he whips himself. So I see so far that there is the good the bad and the ugly with this. You’ve helped me see that just because you believe in Christianity it does not mean you inherently have ceased control of personal thought.

Wow - crazy to hear you've experienced that. However I cant say I havent been in conversations where other Christians have differing opinions from me and the conversation got heated. Its staggering to me the stance some people (in this case Christians) take in gray areas or cling to certain ideals that don't have as much logic and reason behind them.

Let me put it this way - in the time of the Bible, no one knew about space or that their Earth (which they didnt even call Earth) was round. Most seemed to believe in a flat plane with a bubble over them that may have been held up by the mountains like pillars. That wasnt just the early church either, that was the general thought among people; Christian or not. However should we still believe that? Clearly not. So we are definitely allowed to think about things logically, go through things to understand how to interperate them properly, and even conduct our own experiments if we choose to.

God didnt design our world to be mysterious so He would be hidden from us. He designed it so it would show His glory and the more we think, observe, ponder, use reason and logic, etc. we start to understand more about Him in a way that continues to show His Glory. At least this has always been my experience. If you have questions, ask them, research them, and seek out an answer. Its certainly better to dig in and do good searching than to just take some interpretation at face value.