Catholicism is a sect of Christianity made up by the roman govt.

See, this kind of response is probably why you shouldn't be doing this thread. You said yourself that many here probably aren't Christians, so why would you take this tone when most people think pastors are like priests?

Obviously a full answer to this kind of question would take several books. I'm no expert in textual criticism.

As far as the textual drift (how much is lost or written wrongly over generations of copying), a few facts are illustrative:

1) The Hebrew version of a large section of the book of Isaiah was shown to have almost zero textual drift through a thousand years or recopying when the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered with an extant manuscript of Isaiah dating back to (I think) ~100 CE. Prior to that, the earliest Hebrew copy of Isaiah was from a (I think) Russian monastery and dated to around 1000 CE. Textual scholars (even religious ones) were amazed at how little was changed during that period.

2) We have fair certainty that we have the Greek texts that the New Testament authors actually wrote in close to the original form. There are lot of well-established scientific criteria for determining how a text originally read. For instance, you can take a copy of the book of Ephesians that was found in one part of the world and carbon dated to 350 and compare it to one found somewhere else and dated to 350. Where they disagree (in the NT, it is rare that the disagreements are more than minor, agenda-driven 'touch-ups') you can try to figure out which version is more genuine. General rules of thumb are earlier texts are more trusty than late texts and more controversial texts are likelier than texts that seem to have been cleaned up (i.e. it is more likely that Jesus said "blessed are the poor" as he is reported to have done in Luke than that he said "blessed are the poor in spirit" as he does in Matthew.

The question of whether you think the original texts were divinely inspired or not is obviously more of a faith question than a science question:
* Did Jesus mostly say what he is reported to say? I think so, others do not.
* Do we know what the earliest Christians claimed Jesus said? Yes, and most (religious and non-religious) scholars agree on this.

I believe in God since there's no way this world happened without divine intervention. Since God loves us so much to give us this paradise I find it hard to believe alot of us get thrown into the pit of fire to spend eternity.Seems to me the ancient Jews may have embellished some things like this. Your thought's?

What software package do you use for your accounting? Do you know this? I am an accountant for churches in NYC and was just curious what you have there. Most places your size the pastor is involved in the finance areas (vs say St. Pats which has a business manager)

From the other thread I linked:

"I'm not clear on the details, but my sister also referred to the OT in relation to the calling. She talked about the Levites, the tribe that handled all the religious duties in the OT, and something about non-Levites attempting to involve themselves in this. But since they were not called to this role, God struck them dead. Which sends a rather strong message, from her point of view, that either you're called by God to the ministry or you'd better stay out of it. I don't think she actually expects God to strike the new pastor dead though."

So I think she looks at the calling as specific to entering the ministry, and wouldn't apply the same stringent "you'd better have a calling from God or gtfo" standard to teachers and firemen. But also, she brought this up because she thought the new pastor didn't know the Bible very well. If she liked his sermons and thought he was competent it might not have come up at all. (And she didn't confront him afaik, just something I heard her griping about after she got home from church.)

I assume you play poker.

Does your congregation know you play?
Are you a winning player?
How do you feel gambling squares with your belief system?
Do you ever feel guilt over winning money from other players, some of whom have gambling problems?
Is it awkward counseling a congregant with a gambling problem when you yourself gamble?

pretty sure the disciples cast lots to pick a new 12th disciple after Judas left them hanging

bible says you shouldn't hasten to riches, but it's not too specific on the actual act of gambling. Is grinding micro-limit hastening to riches?

Only if you're very good at massively multi-tabling.

Why?

Well, lots of books. A book called "Boundaries" has been particularly helpful in my context for several people who have issues with, well, Boundaries. Serious thinking people looking for non-weighty introductions to Christian thought can't go wrong with N.T. Wright.

I think the thread is going pretty well. Religion is a subject people feel emotionally about. I didn't expect that this would be a completely dispassionate thread. I encourage all to attempt to keep the conversation on track. People are entitled to their own belief and -- if you are hostile or opposed to religion and feel the need to communicate that to me, I encourage you to PM me. I will read everything I am sent.

I don't really know how the people of my church give. I think it's important that they do, but how much they give is not information I think I need to be privy to. I would hate to treat someone differently based on how much of my salary they're paying!

My church has a full-time secretary and very part-time director or music and organist.

My church could seat 350 comfortably.

I could identify almost all 500 people who affiliate with my church by name. I am terrible with names, but spent my first month carrying around flashcards I made by cutting up a photo-directory of our church in order to match naems with faces.

The most badass thing I've ever done. Hmmmm. I once put someone out who was on fire at a Jimmy Buffet concert. I have hitchhiked across the country. I've climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro.

To clear up confusion here -- Roman Catholic Christians have a policy of their clergy needing to abstain from sex. Most other Christians allow their pastors to get married.

Again, I don't keep the church I'm part of a secret in previous posts I've made. I'm trying to avoid too much specificity here.

I care very deeply about the teachings of my church. I don't think that doctrine should be changed in response to social pressures. I do think that the church has, in the past, persisted in terrible doctrine and policy on justice issues (especially in regard to slavery) for a long time. There are, occasionally, good reasons to change doctrine. This is all my opinion.

Sorry for whatever tone was perceived. All I mean to say is that, beyond acknowledging that I am sexually active and married, I don't want to get into a discussion of my sexual experience, history, etc.

In your opinion what are the chances there is a heaven/hell?

Have you ever experienced pressure from your congregation to have kids ?

What did you buy with your winnings ?
Does anyone know you (used to ?) play poker ?

Do you believe that non-Christians are going to hell regardless of how they live their lives?

craziest thing someones told you in confession?

.

After you counsel someone, do you tell them they've been pastorized?

Can you ride a unicycle?

Let's say a member of your congregation confides in you - what is the line someone must cross that would compel you to betray that confidence? For example, intent of harm to self or others, infidelity, other crimes, etc. I'm mostly unfamiliar how this works in various religious settings.

When you first took over duties as head pastor, was the transition relatively smooth? Were there other candidates? Any notable objections from the existing congregation, even though you were a long-time member? (Again, I have no idea how this process works.)

What has been the biggest challenge you've faced as a pastor?

What is your stance on premarital sex? I attend a fairly conservative church (and know a lot of people from similar churches in the area), and almost every person would say they are against premarital sex, yet over 50% of the couples who met at church and eventually get married had sex, usually while they were engaged. Another 25% actually have premarital sex with someone they don't end up marrying ... the other 25% probably never have premarital sex before marriage.

In general, what i've seen with most things is that Christians will talk the talk, but when it comes down to it, they do things at the same rate as non-christians ... examples: gambling, pre-marital sex, divorce/extra-marital affairs, homosexuality, etc. Why do you think this is, and do you see something similar in your congregation? (The point of my question is, it doesnt really seem like Christianity changes anyone except perhaps their external persona as well as offer a community of people who make them feel better about themselves/give them some purpose/give them something to keep them busy)

Do you wear a clerical ?

Can you be laid off or is it a lifetime job ?

Do you consider yourself patriotic ?

My thoughts are that many people have similar convictions about the necessity of a God to explain the existence of the Universe or world. Given my ridiculously amateur reading in science and interest in physics, I don't necessarily agree. Jews didn't really invent the modern notion of Hell. That was more Milton/Dante/the medieval Church/19th century fundamentalists.

Right. I neglected to mention that we have a member who volunteers for all that stuff. I think they use Quicken or something. I just glance at the income and expenditure reports to see how we are doing from a system-wide perspective.

Like I said, your sister and I would probably not agree on some pretty fundamental questions regarding the nature of the pastoral office or ways to interpret Scripture. I don't know her. I obviously have no way of knowing exactly what her perspective is. What I do know is that many people, when they don't like their pastor, will all-of-a-sudden have lots of convictions about how a pastor is supposed to "be". Coincidentally, the pastor that they already didn't like doesn't mesh with their newfound, theological conviction regarding the pastoral office. The Bible does seem to say that -- for teachers and preachers especially -- God is paying very close attention to how you do your job.

I talked about some earlier. I was a winning player. I sort of fell into it. It didn't seem to matter until I realized I was scooping big pots from people who couldn't, necessarily afford to lose the money. I definitely felt guilty about taking the money. That's why I quit. I don't think I've ever talked with parishioners about gambling problems other than general statements in my sermons. If everyone gambled like I used to, it wouldn't be a problem. I enjoyed the challenge of playing and the thrill of winning more than the money. I would love to find a monthly game with serious players for negligible stakes. Some in the church knew that I used to be a winning poker player.

Don't you think this thread has enough potential for a flamewar without bringing up Israel or partisan U.S. politics. I'll just say that the situations you discussed are complicated and messy and intractable.

LOL -- that's the first new Bible joke I've heard that was funny in several years.

(In regard to my vagueness about specifics of who I am).

I suspect that the stuff will come out eventually, I just want to establish a bit of a rapport first so that people don't set out to use the information in ways that could hurt or embarrass me. Like I said, you could probably find out my identity if you really wanted to. I'd just rather it take a bit of work.

OP is doing a great job in this thread. Some of the people asking questions need a big cup of grow the heck up.

(which is to say that two people have already earned bans and that anybody else politarding or trolling will get the same)

Do you think Mormons are a Christian religion...if so would you believe that Joe Smith is a prophet? Aside from all the fruitcakes (I hope you get the Buffet reference lol) in the last centuries, do you believe there have been any prophets since Christ?

Are most religions worshiping the same deity, just with different names and customs?

Have you read anything by John MacArthur and if so do you like him?