>>>>SNIP
>>>>>>I can only speak for myself, not others. I am not offended at all that you and your wife are happy with your lives. That's great, and I am not being ironic or flippant. Where I *do* start getting offended is when you seem to be prescribing the choices you have made as the choices others should make as well. Not only should make, but will spend eternity in hell if they don't. (Even if they were just born into the "wrong" religion). To me that's quite condescending. The bottom line IMO is none of us truly knows what the hereafter will bring. The only difference is you think you do.
>>>>>
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>>>>>Being absolutly sure of the after life is part of being a Christian. So, if he seems confident of his fate in the after-life, it doesnt bother me at all. You don't have to accept his view/belief. No need to be offended by it.
>>>>
>>>>I think you missed a part, Sam... "...you seem to be prescribing the choices you have made as the choices others should make as well...". I'm a Christian and I find that offensive too.
>>>>The Christian Fundamentalists give Christianity a bad name, yet they've put themselves in a place where any criticism equates to unChristian, with all the baggage that connotes.
>>>
>>>But Jim aren't there somethings there are essentially Christian? My understanding of Christianity is that if you accept Christ as your savior, you're assured of eternal life with God. I always thought that was one of Christian fundamentals... Christianity 101, if you will. :)
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>>Faith, in a word. Quite a different thing from known, verifiable fact.
>
>Yes, but in terms of faith/religion, you believe the teaching as being fact... isn't that where faith comes in? To a Christian, the words read in the Bible is taken as fact.
>
>Christianity is the only faith, that I know of, that ASSURES eternal life with God, but ONLY if you believe that Christ is the savior. Maybe this is what is really bugging people, the belief that Christ is the one and the ONLY way. Maybe He is, maybe He isn't, but this is Chritianity.


It is one form of Christianity, namely fundamentalism. There are many Christians who do not take the Bible as a literal document or believe there is only one way to heaven.