Bible Problems? Faith Problems? Christian Problems?

I've recently been having a lot of problems with my faith to the point where I don't even know who I am anymore. The other day in Windows on the World, I discovered what my life verse is. It can be found in Micah 6:8 and includes the phrase, "And what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God." If I do this, I feel as though I am fulfilling what Jesus taught and that I really can't go wrong. I hope this helps. :D

Are Catholics Christians?

One of my best friends and I recently had an argument on whether or not Catholics are Christians. The main argument that he had was that Catholics worship the saints. This is not true. Catholics (according to something I read...I don't claim to be all-knowing) ask the saints to pray for them, just like we may ask family and friends to pray for us. Another thing is that Catholics have a Pope. Now, according to what Jesus said in the book of Luke (?) (upon this rock I shall build my church...), Peter was the first Pope. The etymology for the word "pope" means "papa" or "father". The Pope is sort of like the pastor of thousands of different churches and is also sort of the president of the Vatican.  As a Protestant, I don't really care about the Pope one way or the other, but if the guy is that important to Catholics, then let them have him.

In conclusion, even though there are probably many other points that I could address, little tiny details such as saints and the Pope are insignificant. As far as I know, if you accept Jesus as your savior, which Catholics do, then you are a Christian. Enough said. 

Wrong to Take the Bible Literally? Not Necessarily....

Whether or not to take the Bible literally has been a major source of controversy between me and many of my friends here. It seems to me like some societal issues we see today come from this, such as homosexuality. It says in Leviticus 18:22 that "A man shall not lie with a man as with a woman, it is an abomination." However, I have heard that this verse directly translated from the Hebrew is referring to temple prostitutes. I may be wrong about this, but in any case, the laws in Leviticus were written for that specific culture. Not to say that the whole book should be entirely disregarded of course, it can tell plenty about the Israelites and can promote a greater understanding of their culture and actions. Be that as it may, I still believe that laws such as "no polyblends" or, "sacrificing in various ways" were specific to the culture and are not necessarily applicable today. In my mind, taking the Bible literally is an all or nothing deal, and if you don't follow the laws of Leviticus, who's to say you should follow everything to a T? I truly believe that the Bible is extremely important, and I'm not trying to disregard that, but I encourage you all as you read, to read it with your eyes, mind and heart wide open.

For Lack of a Creative Title: First Post

Welcome to my blog and thank you to anyone who might be reading this! For my first post,  I would like to discuss some of the reasons I have chosen this topic. Here at Eastern there are many different views about the way Christians should be, or what they should believe. Personally, I believe that there are many different ways to  interpret the Bible, but many people believe that there is only one way. I think it's really important to be open to other people's ideas and to consider that they may be right because that is how you grow in your faith. I know a lot of people are willing to listen to what people have to say, but they often walk away without really taking what they've heard to heart. 

I've grown up in a very progressive church where gay people are accepted as a rule and where the Bible is not taken literally. My church is partnered with a Muslim community, which I think is really cool because we are supposed to accept and love everyone. I was taught to question my faith, and even though it led me off the path for a little while, my faith came back full force. I hope that everyone enjoys reading this and that it challenges you all to think outside the box. Happy reading!