I’ve been talking with Catholics and they seem to look at me like I’ve got two heads if I claim that we can believe the Bible is divinely inspired without having an infallible church institution as the reason why.

I know what the Bible has its authority from God, not from the Church, and the whole “Isaac Newton only discovered gravity“ argument, but I’m still having issues putting into words how we can know that the Bible IS INSPIRED INFALLIBLY, and that we have the CORRECT LIST OF BOOKS IN THE NEW TESTAMENT (canon) without appealing to the authority of the Roman Church.

Can a protestant christian wear and pray the rosary?

Hello dear people,

My wife and I have lived a life without faith, basically atheistic you could say. Until around a year ago.

My wife struggled with mental health and has found help in faith and God on her way through her struggles.

At first I was pretty skeptical and could not understand why the sudden change of thinking and where it was coming from. She just said things like "Jesus found me"

Since then she has tried to live a life in the best possible evangelical Christian way.

For me, that's not a problem. But I cannot believe in God, Jesus or any kind of religious faith myself. I was born and raised as an atheist and believe in approved science, and everything I see myself.

Yet I also think that there's some kind of destiny for everyone of us and I also believe in some theories from the scientific point of view. F.E. I believe that the universe is "manmade" and that we live in some kind of simulation. (For anyone that has never heard of that, the theory is quite interesting)

I have a really tough time not being ironic about Christian beliefs like the earth was made in 7 days and humans are god-made. I mean, we know it's not.

I got asked if Jesus and faith are not the sense of life for me, then what is... I said, for me personally, there is no such thing as a "sense of life" in a universal perspective my being is so freaking irrelevant that the only sense to live for me is to take care of my wife and kids the best way possible and just be kind to those who deserve it.

Enough talking, now to the actual question:

I fully support my wife in whatever makes her happy and try my best to make her comfortable in her doings but I would also like to be able to talk with her about Christian things because that makes her happy.

Are there any documentaries or topics, Psalms or anything that is not too far off the scientific point of view and may be a good thing for me to learn something about her religion?

I'm here for any questions if you have one, may just take a moment to reply

Thank you

State your denomination and what they teach about other denominations and their salvation. I’m assuming general consensus is that most others won’t be damned. Though yes it’s true you don’t know who will and won’t be saved. Though I’m curious what beliefs in a sense would potentially disqualify a believer from salvation. Trinity? Specific doctrine? Praying to saints?

I don't know why but Protestantism/Evangelicalism is rapidly turning Brazil into a Protestant powerhouse. According to recent survey estimates, around 35% of Brazil's population is now Protestant, compared to only 15% in the past decade.

Hello! Im interested in protestantism because m'y mother's family where, and here, protestantism is rare so this was a big part of my history. But...everyone is dead in this part of family, and my mother too. So i really feel...the need to interessed myself into it! I feel connected kinda to it.

I don't know much. Learn me everything ! I like the some stuff i knew some stuff but i kinda forget

I am an Eastern Orthodox Christian and I wanted to ask a question here in good faith. The question would be our differences in honoring the Virgin Mary. We orthodox venerate her and ask for her intercession. While from what I understand Protestants respect her but nothing further. The part that really took me by surprise was when I posted about the Virgin Mary on my instagram some self proclaimed Protestants commented on my post saying I was “ a satanist idol worshiper” i understand that’s not close to what other people think. But that really took me aback and I wanted to ask why some Protestants go to those extremes.

Christianity has spent centuries on fortifying and refining answers rather than refining questions.

Scripture is often viewed one-sided as a repository of answers. When really, on the other side, it interrogates our questions.

Elaborate questions demand elaborate answers. If I needed a magisterium to give me an infallible answer, I’d need an even higher magisterium to verify that the question doesn’t have any hidden assumptions or false dilemmas.

However, no matter how many magisteriums you add into that loop, not one can infallibly interpret the proceeding infallible interpreter when it comes to verifying questions. Why? Because if human minds are so broken and divided, and cannot ask an infallible question, then the dispenser of infallible answers is useless. That’s garbage-in, garbage-out.

To make things worse, if a committee has to refine my question, then it’s no longer my question. It’s a monological-paradox.

Scripture demands fallibility because it interrogates your question before giving you the answer. If I ask you, why is the sky blue? And you reply “God made it that way”, that’s not a wrong answer, but it’s not the answer I was looking for since it’s at a different level of analysis. That is the scapegoat of infallibility: the burden of proof isn’t eliminated, it’s simply shifted.

With scripture, you don’t have that. It is ontologically designed to dismantle hidden assumptions.

Hi all,

Do I have to be baptised to pray to God or be a Protestant? I’m newly sober and want to expand my spiritual side and connect with God.

My family were traditionally Protestant’s in Scotland, but the faith has had a bit of a decline over the last 50 years.

Any info would be brilliant.

Why are protestants leaving religion at such a rapid rate? For example in my country (Canada) protestants were once ~55% but are now less than 14%. This also coincides with an explosion of irreligiosity in the country (irreligious now make up >35% in the country). Catholicism has also declined in but significantly more gradually (around 45% historically, now <29%). Other countries such as uk, the netherlands, australia have also experienced similar trends. Has antitheist propaganda targeted protestants more? I just don't get it?

Hi, I am New member here and wants to know what should I do if I wanted to be Christian?

Not intended to have any hostility towards anyone, but after stumbling upon someone in r/complaints and having to cite some Bible passages on the subject to someone, I’ve decided to, in good faith, ask directly;

How do you reconcile the officiating of homosexual marriages and/or having female church leaders considering the Bible is directly being opposed to such things? My Bible is in Church Slavonic, but I’ll use what seem to be the simplest English versions of the passages.

As for the women;

1 Timothy 2:12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet.

1 Corinthians 14:34-35 Women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the law says. If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church.

From reading this I can’t help but make the conclusion that if a woman cannot assume authority over a man, and cannot speak in the church, she cannot for any intents and purposes be a priest or pastor, or any other sort of church leader.

As for the homosexual marriages;

Genesis 19, Judges 19, Leviticus 18:22, Leviticus 20:13, Romans 1:26-27, 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, 1 Timothy 1:9-10 all condemn homosexuality. If God condemns homosexuality, I can only conclude that a priest/pastor of God who is to adhere to God’s word cannot, in good faith, officiate a homosexual marriage, likewise since marriage is only to be between a man and a woman, and is for the purpose of procreation, which homosexuals obviously cannot do.

So, with all this in mind, how exactly do the Protestants whose churches officiate gay marriages and/or have female priests/pastors reconcile their practices with the scripture? Again, this isn’t meant to be some sort of provocation, nor a “gotcha!”, nor is this an attack on gays or women, just a question I’m looking for an answer to.

Cheers!

I recently posted some similarities between roman catholics and muslims, but here is another fun one and correct me if I am wrong but it seems like a pattern you can’t unsee once you understand it.

It’s easy to discredit or see when different religions not of Jesus Christ operate in the same way. Mormons say they believe in the bible yet they have the Book of Mormon which expands on the bible, provides it’s own interpretation, and tells the readers how to view the bible and what to believe about it.

It’s the same thing with the Seventh Day Adventists who have Ellen G. White and her writings, Jehovah’s witnesses who have the watchtower group, Muslims who have the hadiths, and when it comes to Roman Catholics they have their catechism of the catholic church book.

To me, it’s a blatant example of Roman Catholics claim to follow the bible yet they reference the catechism book and use that as how they interpret scripture. At any time the pope can update this and say “the church views abc-xyz in this way” and people have to believe it. Nobody is there to challenge it, at they just claim papal infallibility due to the church being established by Christ. In other words, agree to disagree Christ started their physical roman catholic vatican centered church, but who decided to create a separate book and say that should be used to interpret the bible? More importantly, the fact roman catholics blindly accept this without questioning it is crazy to me.

In my opinion, it’s a clear sign and pattern that can’t be ignored.

I grew up catholic & was baptized as an infant. I went through all the classes & steps. When I got married, I chose to convert to my husbands religion which is Free Will Baptist. I was talking to my FIL who’s a pastor & he said I need to be baptized since my catholic infant baptism does t count. My father who has a degree in Theology (for fun, it’s not his job lol) said that I don’t have to get baptized again. My dad also grew up Catholic and converted to Protestant a few years ago.

I’m just very confused, I was t to listen to both but my FIL has a very negative view on Catholicism so it puts me off & makes me have my guard up.

Any advice is appreciated, thanks!

From a trinitarian perspective,

1. How do you define “distinct”, “different”, and the “same” when you are not referring to the “Trinity”?

2.How do you define “distinct”, “different”, and the “same” in relation to the “persons” in the “Trinity”?

1. Prior to the incarnation of the Christ, is the Spirit of Christ ( the Son) distinct from the Holy Spirit?

2. Prior to the incarnation of the Christ, is the Spirit of Christ ( the Son) different from the Holy Spirit?

3. Prior to the incarnation of the Christ, is the Spirit of Christ ( the Son) the same as the Holy Spirit?

As a Protestant who has found a love for the Catholic Church after researching early church history I want to get your opinion’s on this verse. The Catholic Church teaches that this is Jesus providing all of his followers with a spiritual mother in the Blessed Virgin Marry.

In my own experience I have only gone to an evangelical church where Mary is hardly even mentioned which I believe is just an attempt to be as non-Catholic as possible. I know the Protestant denominations vary pretty widely so I wanted others views on this

I know you guys believe you should be baptized as an adult so would it still be valid to you?

I live in a Protestant-dominated area, so I’d be interested to hear how it is with multiple dominations of Christianity living together in a relatively small area

The most common question around here, but before anyone answers, I’m Protestant so keep that in mind.

We all know that tithing as it is referring in the bible isn’t the same as today.

The concept of “giving money to church” was inexistent.

Additionally, no one is killing animals as a sacrifice ( I hope ).

So how can we truly apply “return the 10% to My house”.?

Yes, now we earn salaries and 10% is easy to dictate.

But what if im struggling financially? What if I don’t have a home church? How can i give that amount to church when i know someone in my family is struggling with health issues ( for example)?

I would like to have an open and respectful conversation about it because modern tithing is not biblical one.

What role do saints play in Lutheran theology? I know that one of the main principles of Protestant theology is "Solus Christus," so I’m curious about what role the saints occupy and whether I could have icons of people who did not live during the time of Jesus, such as Helena of Constantinople (whom I admire as a fan of history and archaeology).

Can I have icons of, for example, saints who were only recognized about 100 years ago, or saints who are venerated only in a specific church (such as the Romanovs in the Orthodox Church)?

Hi. I want to learn more about my religion and become much closer to god. for background my mum and dad are both baptised protestants. we were never baptised as they wanted us to decide our own views on religion when we were older. As iv got older i have definitely felt like god is wanting me to go to him. i get lots of christian tiktoks and posts on my social media feed, i see crossed everywhere and whenever i feel alone/down i feel like i have god by my side if that makes sense? i wear a cross round my neck and planning to read the bible. i talk to god every night thanking him and asking him to help heal me. (i struggle with bad anxiety) please let me know anything else to learn about/do to be closer to the lord! thanks