Unsure which christian denomination to convert to

[Misfit]

Anyone got any ideas? I'm seriously considering catholic, but I'm not sure. Not sure how that would fit in with my turkish identity, as I'm pretty sure most christian turks are orthodox, but orthodox doesnt sound too bad either. Not sure how I would fit in culturally though. Not sure why that is, maybe the se Polr while seeing some of these eastern european guys and things I'm not familiar with. I know catholic, I know protestant, growing up in the states, but I don't know much about orthodox christianity.
EDIT: Meanwhile I've been getting my knowledge on christianity from a combination of christian (including catholic) sites, varied youtube videos, and impact video ministries, which is an evangelical right wing youtube channel, and I find the whole speaking in tongues thing weird.

[loopyclouds]

The primary source to learn about “Christianity” would be the Bible. I don’t think you have to decide on a particular denomination at this point, before you feel out and get a deeper understanding of the Bible and what it might mean for you and your life. Personally, I’m Protestant, and even then there are a lot of denominations within that.

[FreelancePoliceman]

The primary source to learn about “Christianity” would be the Bible. I don’t think you have to decide on a particular denomination at this point, before you feel out and get a deeper understanding of the Bible and what it might mean for you and your life. Personally, I’m Protestant, and even then there are a lot of denominations within that.

Psalm 146:3 -- "Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no salvation."

[loopyclouds]

Psalm 146:3 -- "Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no salvation."

Yes?

[FreelancePoliceman]

Yes?

If you go the sola scriptura route, the psalmist is telling people not to believe in people calling themselves the "son of man." Obviously this would include Jesus.

The Bible isn't some tidy document that fits together neatly. Almost every so-called heresy and doctrinal dispute out there comes about from people reading various passages against each other, and each side usually is reading the passages they prefer correctly. There's no "Christianity" without an established church interpretation that reads interpretations into the text, harmonizes contradictions, and ignores what it doesn't like. Besides, if you allow everyone to interpret as he likes, he may start questioning why he should accept the entire Bible in the first place. Jesus and James on the one hand, and Paul on the other, clearly disagree on whether faith alone saves. Shouldn't Jesus' words be valued over Paul's? And hey, didn't Jesus say not to listen to anyone who claimed to have a vision of him in the wilderness, and that false prophets would come and possibly deceive the elect? Didn't Jesus in Revelation praise the capital city of Asia for rejecting false apostles after Paul complained that he'd been excommunicated by the entirety of Asia? Aren't there three mutually contradictory accounts of Paul's conversion recorded in Acts, two of which come from Paul's mouth and the third by the narrator? Didn't a demon voluntarily go about publicly endorsing Paul's message of salvation? You can quickly go down routes like this.

[loopyclouds]

If you go the sola scriptura route, the psalmist is telling people not to believe in people calling themselves the "son of man." Obviously this would include Jesus.

I don’t know why you would say “obviously” as it clearly does not refer to Jesus. You can refer to many translations/versions and it is clear that it is referring to mankind, and not Jesus, the Son of God. The other points you made I take, and I guess that’s the problem with pluralism.

[Kalinoche buenanoche]

And if anyone will ask you how you chose your denomination you’ll say you asked people on the internet? Why don’t you look up the difference between orthodoxy and Catholicism? I bet you’ll come across the Filioque stuff within the first minute of doing so. Apparently Filioque (Catholicism) says that the Son is inferior to the Father, so there is a strict hierarchy whereas orthodoxy says the son and the spirit are inferior to the father but somehow the spirit and the son are on the same level and hierarchy/dogma is overall kinda watered down? Regardless of what you end up choosing, consider joining their choir.

[loopyclouds]

If you go the sola scriptura route, the psalmist is telling people not to believe in people calling themselves the "son of man." Obviously this would include Jesus

I found a quick summary on Wikipedia which elaborates on the meaning “son of man” as it was used in those times.

1. As generally interpreted by Jews, "son of man" denotes mankind generally in contrast to deity or godhead, with special reference to the human weakness and frailty (Job 25:6; Psalms 8:4; Psalms 144:3; Psalms 146:3; Isaiah 51:12, etc.)^[2]
2. The term "ben adam" is but a formal substitute for the personal pronoun or maybe a title given to the prophet Ezekiel, probably to remind him of his human weakness.^[2]

"Son of man" in Job 25 and Psalm 146 is ben adam (Hebrew: בן־אדם), and "son of man" in Psalms 144 is ben enosh (Hebrew: בן־אנוש).

Among Jews the term "son of man" was not used as the specific title of the Messiah. The New Testament expression ὅ ὑιὸς τοῦ ἀνθρόπου is a translation of the Aramaic "bar nasha," and as such could have been understood only as the substitute for a personal pronoun, or as emphasizing the human qualities of those to whom it is applied. That the term does not appear in any of the epistles ascribed to Paul is significant. In the [Christian] Gospels the title occurs eighty-one times. Most (..) have come to the conclusion that Jesus, speaking Aramaic, could never have designated himself as the "son of man" in a Messianic, mystic sense, because the Aramaic term never implied this meaning.^[2]

[Scroll from Heaven]

If you go the sola scriptura route, the psalmist is telling people not to believe in people calling themselves the "son of man." Obviously this would include Jesus.

Psalms 118:8
8 It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man.

two of which come from Paul's mouth and the third by the narrator?

Acts 1:1
1 The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach,

Luke 1:3
3 It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus,

2 Timothy 4:11
11 Only Luke is with me. Take Mark, and bring him with thee: for he is profitable to me for the ministry.

Shouldn't Jesus' words be valued over Paul's. Aren't there three mutually contradictory accounts of Paul's conversion recorded in Acts

Acts 26:15-18
15 And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest.
16 But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee;
17 Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee,
18 To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.


Acts 9:4-6
4 And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
5 And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.

Acts 9:15-16
15 But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:
16 For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake.
6 And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.

Romans 15:16
16 That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost.

the elect?

Isaiah 45:4
4 For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me.

Matthew 24:31
31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

Zechariah 2:5-6
5 For I, saith the Lord, will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst of her.
6 Ho, ho, come forth, and flee from the land of the north, saith the Lord: for I have spread you abroad as the four winds of the heaven, saith the Lord.


Isaiah 65:9-12
9 And I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah an inheritor of my mountains: and mine elect shall inherit it, and my servants shall dwell there.
10 And Sharon shall be a fold of flocks, and the valley of Achor a place for the herds to lie down in, for my people that have sought me.
11 But ye are they that forsake the Lord, that forget my holy mountain, that prepare a table for that troop, and that furnish the drink offering unto that number.
12 Therefore will I number you to the sword, and ye shall all bow down to the slaughter: because when I called, ye did not answer; when I spake, ye did not hear; but did evil before mine eyes, and did choose that wherein I delighted not.

Isaiah 27:13
13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the Lord in the holy mount at Jerusalem.

Daniel 7:21
21 I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them..

Compare with

Ephesians 1:4-5
4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,

Ephesians 1:11
11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

Ephesians 2:10
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

after Paul complained that he'd been excommunicated by the entirety of Asia?

1 Cor 16:19
19 The churches of Asia salute you. Aquila and Priscilla salute you much in the Lord, with the church that is in their house.

Acts 19:8-10
8 And he went into the synagogue, and spake boldly for the space of three months, disputing and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God.
9 But when divers were hardened, and believed not, but spake evil of that way before the multitude, he departed from them, and separated the disciples, disputing daily in the school of one Tyrannus.

Acts 19:10
10 And this continued by the space of two years; so that all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.

Acts 19:20
20 So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed.

Colossians 1:7
7 As ye also learned of Epaphras our dear fellowservant, who is for you a faithful minister of Christ;

Philemon 23
23 There salute thee Epaphras, my fellowprisoner in Christ Jesus;

2 Cor 1:8-10
8 For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life:
9 But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead:
10 Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us;

2 Cor 11:23-27
23 Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft.
24 Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one.
25 Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep;
26 In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;
27 In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.

Didn't Jesus in Revelation praise the capital city of Asia for rejecting false apostles

Rev 2:2
2 I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:

2 Cor 12:12
12 Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you in all patience, in signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds.

Mark 16:17-18
17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

1 Cor 1:22
22 For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:

Acts 19:11
11 And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul:
12 So that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them.

Didn't a demon voluntarily go about publicly endorsing Paul's message of salvation?

James 2:19
19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.

Mark 1:24
24 Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God.

Acts 19:15-16
15 And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?
16 And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.
Acts 19:17
17 And this was known to all the Jews and Greeks also dwelling at Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.

Acts 16:18
18 And this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour.

Matthew 7:22
22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

James on the one hand

James 1:1
James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.

Shouldn't Jesus' words be valued over Paul's?

2 Timothy 2:16-17
16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
17 That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.

Matthew 4:23
23 And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.

Romans 15:16
16 That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost.

[godslave]

No matter the religion, God is always the others. It's a construct of the Super-Ego in the Freudian sense and a fundamental Jungian Archetype.

Gods are born of the anthropomorphism of natural phenomena. They are projections. Man created Gods in his image and then became aware of his own reflexion. But spiritual truth is a matter of perspective and beliefs are coping strategies to ease the suffering inherent to the human condition. Whatever works for/with you is your Truth.

If you leave your religion because it doesn't correspond to your personal values, what does it say about you ? If you follow your religion's dogma regardless of your personal values, what does this say about you ? If you feel the need to give meaning to your life only through the existence of God, what does it say about you ? If you don't need an afterlife to justify your existence in the present life what does it say about you ?

That said, this dude has got news for you..

 

The rest is literature.