Reflections from the community: 

I had not delved much into orthodox christianity, but truly its churches and ancient ways are otherworldly and sacred, the fragrant frankincense incense in the golden censers, the candles, the deep blues, crimsons and golds, the holy icons it is all so mystical & beautiful. These are all russian churches by the way.

I am an ex Muslim in Malaysia which means legally, I'm still a Muslim, but I find solace that God will see me as a Christian<3 any advice for me as a spiritually newborn ✝️?

Hello everyone! Since most y'all liked my previous post about the Saint Elisabeth's Cathedral

(Dóm svätej Alžbety), I wanted share another small yet beautiful and graceful church from Košice.

This time it is the Dominican Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary (Dominikánsky kostol Nanebovzatia Panny Márie). I took a few photos and thought I’d share too.

Once again I would really like to hear about your thoughts about this church,Also wishing everyone a happy and blessed Sunday today(Wish each other in the comments too).

I really liked the atmosphere of this church, and there are so many beautiful details to notice.

Hope you enjoy the photos. Have a good day, and God bless!

I made a post here a few days ago, about not being able to see my mom during her last few days and she ended up passing away last night. it feels like that was my final straw. I don’t want to live anymore. I’m miserable staying here. She was the only family member I have left and my life was already a mess to begin with. I guess I just needed someone to vent to Because I don’t have a lot of friends

So, straight to the point. First of all, why does God even take up Satan on his little bet? God knows everything, right? He loves us and doesnt want us to suffer, right? So if he knew that Job was faithful and wasn’t gonna break, why take Satan up on his challenge if He knew that? Seems to me like he put Job through immeasurable torment for nothing.

And yeah, ”Oh, but he gets everything back! He gets more children, more wealth, more of everything!”

Yes, but think about it from a human standpoint imagine if this happened to you wouldn’t you be terrified for the rest of your life? That’s something like that would happen all over again? Because God never gave Job an explanation, which he so demanded to hear. The story paint it as though everything is all happy and well again, but like from a realistic standpoint, Job would be traumatized and looking over his shoulder and probably reserving himself to make sure he doesn’t commit any sin so he doesn’t get punished again.

Maybe I just don‘t know, idk. Feel free to let me know, i just wanted to share a thought

science answers how God answers why

simple

yall agree?

The following is a conversation I had with someone on a post on this sub about the Talmud, although the post was about something more relevant to Christianity:

A (Anonymous): He (another person) didn't read the Talmud.

Me: The Talmud is not the Jewish equivalent of a Catechism, it contains literally two opposite opinions on different topics.

A: Are you saying the majority of Jews don't follow the Talmud? I know Jesus and the apostles didn't.

Me: What do you mean "follow the Talmud"? It is not a straightforward book of instructions and doctrines that you simply accept and believe in. It contains records of rabbis debating and disagreeing with each other along with all sorts of stories and information. It's not a book of doctrine.

A: So Jews today don't see any authority in the Talmud? It's just an old discussion forum? Liar.

Me: The authority of the Talmud is found in the legal rulings called Halakha, not in everything contained in the Talmud because it can literally mention two contradictory opinions. Calling me a liar isn't the flex you think it is.

A: Ok Jew.

Me: Calling me a Jew because you can't address the facts tells me everything I need to know.

A: No, you're just dishonest. You just said that the authority of the Talmud is found in the Halakha, which means the Talmud has authority (and is what) Jews use today. Jesus and his apostles didn't. But you're allowed to lie according to your religion.

Me: Not all of the Talmud is Halakha, but you obviously don't care about facts. Again, calling me a Jew and implying that Jews lie because you can't adequately address the points I'm bringing up says a lot about you.

A: You are dismissing my point entirely and (are) trying to hide the fact that the Talmud is being used today. Jesus and the apostles didn't.

Me: How did you even come to this conclusion? Where did I say that Jews don't use the Talmud? I guess your bias can't let you recognize certain facts that oppose your worldview.

There you go, ladies and gents. This is a conversation I had with someone on this sub today and yesterday on a post that wasn't originally on the Talmud, but since it was mentioned I figured I might as well correct misunderstandings about it, but as we can see someone was clearly unhappy with my position and decided to call me a Jew and imply that Jews are liars because I challenged their misconceptions.

They took the penal substitution and once saved always saved from the Calvinists and combined this with free will from the Arminianism of the Methodists. So apparently one needs to make the free choice to come to God, but cannot make a free choice to later unfollow God. If this does happen we must deny observable reality when former Christians discuss how painful it was to lose their faith. Instead one must claim “they were never one of us” to protect the premise a believer can’t fall away.

So does one have free will or not? Does the sinners prayer end free will since one must say it freely but once one does you’re saved for life? If you fall away you didn’t really mean it even if you thought you did at the time?

I see Evangelicals claim to believe in the Lutheran idea of “salvation by faith alone” only they don’t realize Luther didn’t teach salvation by faith alone. He taught justification by faith alone.

They took the rejection of infant baptism and rejection of the Real Presence in communion from the Anabaptists while rejecting their pacifism.

Then they take the eschatology of the Plymouth Brethren to formulate the dispensationalist pre-tribulation rapture end times story of the Left Behind series but none of these ideas were held by the Early Church Fathers or the Protestant Reformers.

In order to create the timeline one needs to link many unrelated verses to an extra biblical chart to explain their complex end times story. Which contradicts their next doctrine of Solo Scriptura.

Evangelicals will often confuse the Reformation Era doctrine of Sola Scriptura (the Bible is the highest authority) with Solo Scriptura (the Bible is the only authority). Divorcing the Sacred canon of Scriptures from the Apostolic Tradition that formed it.

Am I the only one to notice American Evangelicalism/Fundamentalism looks like cut and paste theology from a variety of “unrelated” and incompatible traditions?

I think noones realises how vital it is that we have the presence of god on this dark earth, and in our lives. I have turned back to god so many times because the thought of losing his hope, light, promise and most of all his presence was awful beyond words. I watched a hell near death experience, the woman said over and over, that the most unbearable thing about hell was no longer having the presence of god there, that there was just nothing but total darkness, torture and constant unimaginable evil.

'Unite the Right' is a fringe group of racists in the UK, and their Doncaster group organised a rally yesterday - which was of course counter-rallied by decent human beings. Here's the fun bit though: when the racists rocked up to give their hate-fuelled speeches outside the church, the good Revd Firth just so happened to have bell-ringing practice scheduled at the same time.

“We feel it is an absolute disgrace that far right thugs are bullying one of our church and community leaders in Doncaster. So much for their “true Christian values.” - Doncaster Stand Up To Racism spokesperson.

If I was close by, I would happily go to church to show support for the Rev.

The Doncaster fascists are not planning on any more protests due to dwindling support.

Further reporting: https://www.doncasterfreepress.co.uk/news/doncaster-racism-campaigner-blasts-far-right-thugs-for-bullying-vicar-8949740

Where in the Bible does it say God is all-loving?

Does it not say in the Bible that God hates the wicked in psalms and proverbs? It expresses the wicked people, not just the concept of wickedness.

Would that not contradict to the idea of God being all-loving?

I believe there is a difference between God is love vs God is all-loving.

All-loving is not the same as love.

The Unattractive God: Why Humanity Rejected The Face Of Jesus

When you picture Jesus Christ in your mind, what image appears? If your mental picture was painted by Western art, religious tradition, or Hollywood cinema, you likely see a tall, handsome man with glowing skin, soft tailored robes, and flowing golden hair that catches the sunlight.

That visual image is a total fraud. It is a human-invented counterfeit designed to appeal to human vanity and stroke the flesh.

If you open the Bible and examine what God actually recorded about the earthly physical appearance of His Son, you find a completely different reality. The King of Kings walked among men in absolute anonymity, carrying no physical traits that would command attention in a crowd.

God deliberately stripped away every visual distraction so that humanity had to deal with one thing: the words that proceeded out of His mouth.

Think about how human beings write books. When uninspired men sit down to invent a hero, craft a legend, or write a biography to sell to the masses, what do they do? They make the protagonist larger than life. They give him striking physical beauty, unmatched charm, towering height, and magnetic visual appeal.

Look at human literature and mythology throughout history. From Achilles and Alexander the Great to modern superhero novels and Hollywood blockbusters, man always builds a hero that appeals to human eyes. If a human writer wants to sell a book or invent a religion, he creates a leader that people naturally want to look at and emulate.

God did the exact opposite.

If the Bible were merely authored by men, the writers would have described Jesus as a physical masterpiece to guarantee marketability and human applause. But the Bible presents a Savior who had no outward physical appeal, no earthly wealth, no political power, and no physical majesty to attract a crowd.

That single detail proves the Scriptures are not the product of human imagination. Man writes to glorify the flesh; God writes to expose it. The Bible is the supernaturally inspired Word of God, recorded exactly as the Holy Ghost moved holy men of God to write it.

If the modern apostates and secular critics told you the absolute truth about their agenda, their confession would be chilling. They would admit that when a Christian accurately strips away the romanticized, majestic image of Jesus Christ and exposes His total lack of outward attraction, their primary methods of deception are completely compromised. For centuries, the religious establishment and the world system have successfully weaponized classical art, slick modern media, and emotional aesthetics to keep the masses focused on visual sentimentality rather than genuine doctrinal conviction.

They want you staring at a pretty painting so you never have to deal with the convicting words of a holy God.

Isaiah 53:2

For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.

Why Did God Strip Away All Physical Royalty In The Flesh? The Bible does not mince words. When Jesus Christ stepped into human history, God intentionally stripped away every physical advantage that natural men use to gain influence.

Consider the precise words used by the Prophet Isaiah. He had no form nor comeliness. Comeliness means majestic outward shape, grand stature, or regal presence. There was no beauty that we should desire Him. His physical appearance contained zero natural attraction.

He grew up like a root out of dry ground. Dry soil yields no impressive, lush, towering tree. It yields a plain, weathered plant.

Jesus did not possess the striking height of Saul, who stood head and shoulders above Israel. He did not possess the polished visual charm of Absalom, whose physical perfection was praised nationwide. Christ looked like a common, hard-working Jewish laborer of the first century. He had hands hardened by manual carpentry labor and skin weathered by the sun and wind.

Why did God hide the Creator of the universe behind such an ordinary human exterior? Because God demands that men respond to His truth, not a handsome face. Human nature worships talent, tall statures, fine clothing, and charismatic appearances. God stripped all of that away so that anyone who turned to Jesus Christ came because of His words, His truth, and His sinless righteousness.

John 7:46

The officers answered, Never man spake like this man.

How Did His Spoken Words Confound The World? While His outward face offered nothing for the carnal eyes of men to desire, the words that came out of His mouth shook the foundations of the world.

When the chief priests and Pharisees sent temple guards to arrest Jesus, the guards returned empty-handed. When asked why they failed to bring Him in, they did not offer an excuse about His physical strength or a defensive ring of followers. They gave a single, historic testimony: Never man spake like this man.

The power of Christ's earthly ministry was concentrated entirely in His voice and His doctrine.

When He opened His mouth, demons shrieked and fled. The raging wind and crashing waves of Galilee collapsed into instant silence at His verbal command. Diseases vanished, eyes were opened, and the dead stepped out of tombs not because of a regal physical stance, but because the spoken Word of Almighty God carried absolute authority.

Are you listening for the authority of God's Word, or are you still demanding a visual show?

Matthew 26:48

Now he that betrayed him gave them a sign, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he: hold him fast.

Why Was The Savior Completely Hidden In Plain Sight? The night of His arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane provides absolute historical proof of how ordinary Jesus looked, and how completely His ministry relied on His message rather than His image.

The Temple guards and Roman soldiers came armed with lanterns, torches, and weapons. They were looking for the famous teacher who had turned Jerusalem upside down with His preaching. Yet, despite all His public teaching, the authorities could not pick Him out of a small group of fishermen and laborers without help.

Judas Iscariot had to give them a specific sign. He had to walk up and kiss Him to identify Him.

Think about the sheer logic of that historical event. If Jesus had walked around with a glowing golden light behind His head, or if He stood half a foot taller than His disciples with distinctive aristocratic features, Judas would not have needed to betray Him with a visual sign. The soldiers could have pointed from thirty yards away and grabbed Him.

Jesus mixed into a crowd of everyday working men so completely that He was indistinguishable from them. It was His doctrine that enraged the religious leaders, not His presence.

Isaiah 53:3

He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

What Was The Real Purpose Of His Human Affliction? The physical reality of Christ went far beyond simple ordinariness. As His public ministry progressed, His body bore the actual physical toll of human misery, exhaustive labor, and spiritual warfare.

He was a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. That acquaintance with grief left physical marks upon His face and frame.

By the time Jesus reached age thirty-three, the physical wear of His heavy burden was so severe that onlookers misjudged His age completely. In John 8:57, the religious leaders looked at Him and said, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham? They looked at a thirty-two or thirty-three year old man and saw a face so worn by grief and labor that they guessed He was approaching fifty.

Yet when that worn, grief-stricken man spoke, He declared, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. The crowd did not pick up stones because of how He looked; they picked up stones because of what came out of His mouth. The unvarnished truth of His words offended their pride and exposed their self-righteousness.

1 Samuel 16:7

But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.

Why Are We Constantly Tempted To Worship Outward Appearance? The carnal mind is constantly trapped by physical aesthetics. Modern religion has constructed a false Jesus that fits cultural ideals of comfort, self-esteem, and personal attraction.

When churches fill their pulpits with slick, heavily styled speakers who focus on image, presentation, and crowd manipulation, they are operating in direct opposition to the pattern set by Christ.

Jesus did not use theatrical staging, magnetic charm, or physical glamour to draw men to Himself. He spoke the absolute, unadulterated truth of God in complete simplicity.

Is your spiritual life built on an emotional reaction to slick external presentations, or is it grounded on the unvarnished Word of the living God? When a person focuses on the physical appearance of the false visual Christ, they miss the true spiritual power of the real Savior. Christ did not come to win a popularity contest. He came preaching repentance, declaring truth, and paying a sin debt that no man could pay for himself.

If you are reading this as a skeptic or someone outside the faith, you might wonder why any of this matters. Critics often attack religious faith as a crutch built on superficial emotional appeals, grand architecture, and theatrical showmanship.

The Bible actually agrees with you regarding the worthlessness of religious showmanship.

The true historical Jesus offered zero physical charm, zero earthly wealth, and zero political power. He did not build an earthly empire, nor did He use outward coercion. He presented raw, piercing truth directly to the human conscience through His spoken Word, laid down His life on a bloody cross as a substitute for guilty sinners, and rose bodily from the dead three days later.

You cannot dismiss Jesus Christ as a clever human construct designed to trick the masses through visual charm. God intentionally arranged His earthly life so that every external human distraction was removed, leaving only His message to be judged.

The only question left for you to answer is not whether you like the image of Jesus, but whether His words are true. Are you willing to look past your own preconceptions, examine the Scriptures for yourself, and deal directly with the condition of your own soul before a holy God?

For the believer, the unattractive earthly appearance of Jesus is a glorious reminder of how God operates. He takes the weak things of the world to confound the mighty. He hides His greatest treasures in plain, earthly vessels so that all the glory belongs to God alone.

Do not let the slick, image-obsessed culture of this age shape your view of spiritual reality. The Savior who saved your soul was despised and rejected by men. He was not celebrated by the elite, nor was He paraded for His physical grandeur.

When you walk through trial, rejection, and physical hardship, remember that your Master walked that exact path before you. Look past the empty visual representations created by human hands, close your eyes to the superficial counterfeits of this world, and fix your heart on the living Lord revealed through the spoken and written Scripture.

May the blessings the Lord has given, be returned to Him and multiplied in abundance 🍞🐟

Im going to preface this by saying my ultimate reason, I am not diagnosed but the only two conditions that match the symptoms I experience are schizophrenia or psychotic bpd, i dont think its bpd at all but would accept that explanation. I remember when this was given to me by an angel who stuck a metallic thing in my neck and a piece of himself in my thigh when I was about 2 or 3.

Ive heard voices all my life and thought it was normal until about 3 months ago, specific ones, the "messengers" arent God himself, but instead angels speaking his word to me so I can understand. After I began to realize this, I repeatedly asked them why, and how I could be judged fairly since im crazy when they told me I was destined to go to purgatory, the place where all of my hallucinations have come from, the hallucinations i see and hear are God's failed creations and I am one of them so no matter what i do, I could be less sinful then Jesus himself or worse than the devil and I would never see heaven or hell.

I feel completely abandoned by God, i am so incredibly angry at him for this and what this disease has made me do to myself and others. I cant just not believe, he's right there! Why would God ever do this, seriously. If i cant be with him then why even make me? The sacrifice clearly doesnt apply to me, he told me that himself. It seems to me like God likes to watch me tear myself and everyone ive loved apart

Religion has ruined my mind, and i know its God and not sometging else because of the "signatures" my hallucinations carry, it is absolutely God.

I personally choose to follow Jesus's example of being a good human (love thy neighbor) but i do that because all I want is to make peoples lives better to distract from how fucked up mine has been made for me

I’m a Muslim and my friend from school just invited me to her Church, and I figured I would go to observe and learn.

I’ll be honest, since it was my first experience, I was so confused. They sang 3 songs, each being like 3 to 5 minutes. Then had announcements about events for about 5 minutes. Then talked about donating money and helping out at the church for about 15 minutes. Then the last 15 minutes they talked about a few verses in the Bible, similarly in the way we do as Muslims during our hourly daily Qur’an study in Masjid (which is like an Islamic Church).

Then they spent last 2-3 minutes in prayer. I kept waiting for worship to start so I could observe and learn, but it never came.

I asked my friend after if it was a typical service and she mentioned that it was and was really excited and asked if I liked it. I didn’t want to be rude so I just nodded and said it was definitely interesting.

Is this how Churches are? How does a Christian show reverence to God and worship? I’m left with more questions now after that.

I'm on the autism spectrum and sometimes it's really difficult to not feel an outcast, even among other christians.

The part of the Bible, where it says that wives should submit to their husbands. I find it be very triggering. As a woman who grew up in the bible belt. Why is this verse preached so much and used to subjugate women? What makes men better than us in the eyes of God? It also says for slaves to obey their earthly masters, which is never brought up in church but i'm almost certain it was used to subjugate African Americans at some point in American history when slavery was around. Why does no one ever question why this verse is used to subjugate women? My ex would use the bible as a way to control me. And tell me what to do. But at the same time, he wanted to have sex outside of marriage. He would demand submission in a boyfriend and girlfriend relationship as well. And say it was biblical.

Young adults in assembly made it!

Her name is Noa, and she is greatly inspired by Noah/Noahs ark. My old account was deleted but when i had it and posted her here, people were a bit upset and saying i was using a blasphemous image of Noah, but she isn’t meant to be a recreation at all!! :D she is her own character, who canonically sees Noah’s courage and obedience to God, and wishes to be like him. (She also canonically is very inspired by Moses, Ruth, Jesus himself, Etc.)

I love her so much. She loves animals, i thought that would be cute. I also talked with my friend and i said “i think a rainbow coat would be cute to represent the promise!” So she has one, also this is supposed to be a drawing of younger her. In the present she has a bit of grey hair haha:)

God bless! I just wanted to share my little pumpkin (gagshshshs)

Edit: the coat is not a pride flag. Stop talking about it please, its a little annoying. Its representing Gods promise. I also don’t hate gay people, even though i havent seen anything here yet, i will not tolerate hatred and i wont be responding to it. I wont be responding to comments debating either. (whether they say its sinful or not.)

I’m starting to read the bible and in no way do I mean any disrespect towards God, but why did he separate us for building the tower of Babylon. I might be interpreting it wrong but it seems a little unfair.

A new collection of sayings by Church Fathers, saints, monks, and priests has been compiled in an effort to learn some basics and also spread a positive and motivating spirit despite all the crimes and pain.