#im not even a usamerican but lord

[papirouge]

im interested in converting to christianism but im confused as i dont know what are the differences between christians, catholics, orthodoxes and protestants. how do i chose? how do i know which one is the correct one? i heard there are also several different bibles? i got one free "the bible" in my non-christian country christians and i dont even know which version it is

Basically speaking, the biggest crux of opposition between Catholics and Protestans is that Catholics worship Mary, pray with idols and sustain the idea the Mary remained virgin AFTER Jesus birth, when the very two commandments and Matthew 12:46-50 contradict such positions😭 They also have a whole literature called Cathechism where they establish a set of rules and you'll often see Catholics pull it out to explain their doctrine...to defend their belief system going against what Bible explicitely condemns (ex: praying for the dead, idols, saints worshipping, etc).

Protestant have their whole share of questionnable beliefs too - especially USAmerican evangelicals. They're the ones who've been managing the church like a whole business - which is ironically what they've been accusing the Catholics of doing during the Roman Catholic Empire era lel. They don't have the same concern about social issues as Catholics do (in Europe, many NGO are Catholics, and help the poor, offer shelter, etc) ; they tend to be quite hypocrite too : like they'll go off against gays and abortion but will be silent about any social injustice they'll snarkily downplay as "woke culture".....

I'm not familiar with Orthodoxy but it comes off as Catholicism lite™️

And you don't have to "choose" any denomination, anon. There are thousands of Christian denomination, which is a heresy. There shouldn't be any divison within the Church. No denomination is "correct" in the sense that there shouldn't be any to begin with.

And yes, there are countless versions of the Bible. I often see debate of USAmericans as of which version is the best (King James Version, NIV, ESV, NASB, etc.) and all of this so.....pointless and tone deaf? 1 BILLION of Christian and there you have, a handful of self centered english speaking Americans arguing over one (1) version of the bible just because...?

Real talk anon: unlike what's often being said, the Bible can be altered. Look at the Jehova Witnesses. Seventh Day Adventists, Mormons.... Even during slavery, slave owners cropped some Bible passages (about freedom) to not give ideas to slaves....

Yes, the Bible is the Word of God, but these words on a paper can be altered and manipulated. The Bible isn't some sort of magical book turning any person reading it a Christian granted you read the "right" version. Some atheists have read the Bible more than actual Christians. I knew an agnostic Christian theologian student ; she was studying the Bible while not being Saved herself. Jehova Witnesses do think that "their" bible is the real deal. Same for Mormons or whatever other Christian sect.

That's why THE HOLY SPIRIT is so important. Because while human can twist and alter words written on a book, the Holy Spirit will never lie and no one can bend it over falsehood. That's precisely why Jesus is called "the Word" "made flesh" (John 1). By PRAYING and asking the Holy Spirit for guidance, you can be set free from the bondage of falsehood and He will guide you towards truth.

I've read/watched plentiful of testimonies from former Mormons/Jehova Witness/7th Day Adventist/witches/satanists, etc, etc and guess what? Not a single one said "I read the KJV version of the Bible and realized I was wrong". It just....doesn't work this way. They instead went to a point were they got troubled in their belief, prayed, and asked for the Lord to show them the way. This leap of faith happened because of the Holy Spirit ; the change of heart that changes us from sinners to repentance comes from God, not a Bible version.

You'll be good with your random Bible anon. It's already a blessing you've got one between your hands. Just rely to the Lord, not a name stamped Bible version to build a real relationship with God. First Christians didn't have any Bible to build up their walk with God (could they even read?). Yes, the Bible is extremely helpful, but it shouldn't be the be all and end all of Christianhood.

#answered #Christian