1) Are you certain that Christianity is true?
2) If not, why not?
3) Do you believe that if someone has anything less than certainty in Christianity, then that implies they are not regenerate / born again / saved / baptized in the Holy Spirit (or whatever your description of a "true Christian" is)? Why or why not?
4) If you are certain Christianity is true, then do you feel intellectually satisfied with your answers to questions pertaining to the following doctrines:
5) If you are certain that Christianity is true, and if you are not intellectually satisfied with your answers to questions pertaining to the above doctrines, and indeed if you feel unsure about your position on some or all of these doctrines, then why are you certain that Christianity is true or that it makes sense or that it is a coherent worldview? Scratch that—why have the slightest bit of confidence at all that Christianity is true or that it makes sense or that it is a coherent worldview if you don't have satisfying theories on each of the above doctrines? Why not adopt a more agnostic, open mentality until you have investigated these issues?
6) If you are certain that Christianity is true, are you willing to change your mind and have that certainty overturned? Let's say there's a Muslim who is certain that Islam is true. You preach the Gospel to them, but they respond, "I'm certain that Islam is true; I have no need to read the Bible." In your mind, the Muslim is stuck in their false beliefs because of their certainty. Are you worried that you could be stuck in your false beliefs in the same way? What should the Muslim do to guarantee that they are not stuck in their false beliefs in this way? Perhaps they should adopt an open-minded way of thinking and be willing to change their mind, even their deepest beliefs about their own identity, heritage, and community _even their most cherished beliefs that they want more than anything to be true. If you think the Muslim should adopt this radically open-minded attitude, do you adopt this same attitude? Have you read the Quran, or Hadith, or Sira? Have you read books written by naturalists defending naturalism (i.e. the view that there are no supernatural things)?
2) If not, why not?
3) Do you believe that if someone has anything less than certainty in Christianity, then that implies they are not regenerate / born again / saved / baptized in the Holy Spirit (or whatever your description of a "true Christian" is)? Why or why not?
4) If you are certain Christianity is true, then do you feel intellectually satisfied with your answers to questions pertaining to the following doctrines:
a) The Doctrine of Divine Revelation and God's Covenants
b) The Doctrines of the Inerrancy, Infallibility, and Historicity of Scripture
c) The Doctrines of Biblical Canon, Sola Scriptura, and Hermeneutics,
d) The Doctrines of Faith, Truth, the Rationality of Faith, Christian Epistemology, and Christian Methods for Discerning Truth
e) Doctrines surrounding God and God's attributes, including
i) God's existence and natural theology (arguments for God's existence),
ii) God's relationship to perfection,
iii) goodness (especially, God's goodness in light of the problems of evil, suffering, and divine hiddenness),
iv) transcendence vs immanence,
v) incorporeality,
vi) aseity,
vii) necessity,
viii) omnipotence,
ix) omniscience,
x) omnipresence,
xi) simplicity,
xii) impassibility,
xiii) immutability,
xiv) and time.
f) The Doctrines of the Trinity and the Holy Spirit
g) The Doctrines of the Incarnation and Christology
h) The Doctrine of Creation and Soli Deo Gloria
i) The Doctrine of Angels, Demons, Satan, and the Divine Council
j) The Doctrine of Man, the Imago Dei, and the Historical Adam
k) The Doctrine of Divine Providence and Free Will
l) The Doctrine of Sin, the Fall, and Original Sin
m) The Doctrine of Salvation and Sola Fide, Sola Gratia, Solus Christus
n) The Doctrine of the Atonement
o) The Doctrine of Eschatology ("The Last Things", including judgment, heaven, and hell)
p) The Doctrine of Ecclesiology (the authority and nature of the church, denominations, and church creeds)
q) The Doctrine of Sanctification, the Christian Life, and the Sacraments
b) The Doctrines of the Inerrancy, Infallibility, and Historicity of Scripture
c) The Doctrines of Biblical Canon, Sola Scriptura, and Hermeneutics,
d) The Doctrines of Faith, Truth, the Rationality of Faith, Christian Epistemology, and Christian Methods for Discerning Truth
e) Doctrines surrounding God and God's attributes, including
i) God's existence and natural theology (arguments for God's existence),
ii) God's relationship to perfection,
iii) goodness (especially, God's goodness in light of the problems of evil, suffering, and divine hiddenness),
iv) transcendence vs immanence,
v) incorporeality,
vi) aseity,
vii) necessity,
viii) omnipotence,
ix) omniscience,
x) omnipresence,
xi) simplicity,
xii) impassibility,
xiii) immutability,
xiv) and time.
f) The Doctrines of the Trinity and the Holy Spirit
g) The Doctrines of the Incarnation and Christology
h) The Doctrine of Creation and Soli Deo Gloria
i) The Doctrine of Angels, Demons, Satan, and the Divine Council
j) The Doctrine of Man, the Imago Dei, and the Historical Adam
k) The Doctrine of Divine Providence and Free Will
l) The Doctrine of Sin, the Fall, and Original Sin
m) The Doctrine of Salvation and Sola Fide, Sola Gratia, Solus Christus
n) The Doctrine of the Atonement
o) The Doctrine of Eschatology ("The Last Things", including judgment, heaven, and hell)
p) The Doctrine of Ecclesiology (the authority and nature of the church, denominations, and church creeds)
q) The Doctrine of Sanctification, the Christian Life, and the Sacraments
5) If you are certain that Christianity is true, and if you are not intellectually satisfied with your answers to questions pertaining to the above doctrines, and indeed if you feel unsure about your position on some or all of these doctrines, then why are you certain that Christianity is true or that it makes sense or that it is a coherent worldview? Scratch that—why have the slightest bit of confidence at all that Christianity is true or that it makes sense or that it is a coherent worldview if you don't have satisfying theories on each of the above doctrines? Why not adopt a more agnostic, open mentality until you have investigated these issues?
6) If you are certain that Christianity is true, are you willing to change your mind and have that certainty overturned? Let's say there's a Muslim who is certain that Islam is true. You preach the Gospel to them, but they respond, "I'm certain that Islam is true; I have no need to read the Bible." In your mind, the Muslim is stuck in their false beliefs because of their certainty. Are you worried that you could be stuck in your false beliefs in the same way? What should the Muslim do to guarantee that they are not stuck in their false beliefs in this way? Perhaps they should adopt an open-minded way of thinking and be willing to change their mind, even their deepest beliefs about their own identity, heritage, and community _even their most cherished beliefs that they want more than anything to be true. If you think the Muslim should adopt this radically open-minded attitude, do you adopt this same attitude? Have you read the Quran, or Hadith, or Sira? Have you read books written by naturalists defending naturalism (i.e. the view that there are no supernatural things)?
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