I have always liked Oprah. I believe she has done great things for others and I believe she has a good heart. My problem with Oprah is that she projects HER belief of what Christianity is on national television. I watched a youtube video of her today and it made me sick.
A couple years ago she was doing a show and she was talking to an audience member about how she thought that there was more than one way to Heaven. (This is Christianity we're talking about. The Christianty that follows the teachings of the Bible.) An audience member was debating with Oprah, and Oprah was saying how there couldn't possibly be only one way to God. In John 14:6 it says "Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the father except through me.'"
If Oprah wants to proclaim her faith to the world, so be it. She has just as much of a right as anyone else. My problem is that she manipulates what Christianity is. She is giving people the wrong idea of what Christianity is. She is a very influencial person, and her ideas mean a lot to some people.
What she is ultimately doing is making Christianity easy for people. Christianity is not supposed to be easy. It is very difficult. Every day Christians are tested. Every day Christians are questioned about their faith. Every day Christians are tempted. Christianity is hard for everyone. Even good people, who seem to have it all together. No one is ever good enough for God because he is perfect.
What many people don't understand is that God is so holy that he can't even be in the presence of sin. That is why God turned his back on Jesus when he was crucified and took on all the sins of the world.
I am simply tired of all the different interpretations of what Christianity is. All it does is confuse people. It makes non believers question Christianity, and new Christians build their faith on an unstable foundation that can come crashing down at any point. All I can say to those who have their own interpretations on what Christianity is, and especially to Oprah, is just to read God's word for it is the TRUTH!
This is the video of Oprah. Watch it and tell me what you think
http://youtube.com/watch?v=pwGLNbiw1gk&feature=related
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There are so many many interpretations of the Bible and of Christianity, you can't possibly ostracize Oprah among millions of others who have a different understanding of this faith than you. Truth in the Bible is relative - there are so many ways to understand it and to understand truth. Your truth is obviously not hers. There are lots of people who give the wrong idea of Christianity - George Bush, for example. Relax. Let God worry about them. You just worry about you.
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/kariskoett
"All things appear and disappear because of the concurrence of causes and conditions. Nothing ever exists entirely alone; everything is in relation to everything else."
-Buddha
She is not speaking any kind of truth. Not from a Christian stand point at least. No matter what translation of the Bible you read it still says that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, no one can get to God except through him.
I do believe that God is going to take care of those who manipulate his word, but in the mean time, I'm not going to just sit here and let someone tell others the wrong message.
She never said "Christ is not the way." She only said that there has to be more than one way because of the way that Christians tend to narrow the path of light. I don't think that God ever wanted it to be so near to impossible to get to where God is. That's not love. Oprah made a good point - what if there are people that never ever hear the name of Jesus, and then they die, will they really go to hell, even if they have lived a life of love and of charity and of forgiveness? Really? That doesn't seem like the God I choose to follow. We are not just "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God." I can't believe that. I'm going to have to stick with Oprah on this one.
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/kariskoett
"All things appear and disappear because of the concurrence of causes and conditions. Nothing ever exists entirely alone; everything is in relation to everything else."
-Buddha
The Bible says that it is easier for a camel to go through the head of a needle than a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. That doesn't mean it's impossible for rich people to go to Heaven, it just means it's very difficult. Just because it's very difficult doesn't mean God doesn't love us. He loved us so much that he sent his son to die for us.
I also never said that Oprah denied Christ, because she does profess to be a Christian. However, she does deny what Jesus says when he said that he is the only way to Heaven.
Oprah also made the point that people who never heard the name of Jesus would go to Hell if he was the only way. She worried about the people who "lived as Jesus would have them to live" and lived as good people. The problem is that no one can live as Christ did. We are all sinners and Christ died to save us from our sin. That is why missionaries are so important. God is a just God and only he chooses who can enter his kingdom.
I believe that you just called God just but also said that those who live secluded and have to choice to hear the Word or not are going straight to hell.
That would be a contradiction, my friend.
And if you believe everything the Bible says, then you're in for a rude awakening. The Bible is an extremely important thing to the teachings of God and Jesus... but you have to remember, it was written by men. I don't want to hear the "men inspired by God" bit-- I've heard it before. I know.
Heck, not even all the books/letters supposedly written by Paul were actually written by Paul! Did you know that?
Did you also know that the Gospel of John had multiple authors contributing to it, and a final editor whose job it was to change things if he didn't feel everything was exactly how it should be?
Did you know that half of the words of the Bible, written in their original Greek and Aramaic and Latin, don't have a translation in English? Wind could mean breath, air, or life. Doesn't seem significant, but oh, it is.
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You are the Voice of the Childwen of the Revowution! [Toulouse, Moulin Rouge]
Why in the world do people have such a problem believing EVERYTHING in the Bible? If God is perfect and holy, is not His Word ALSO perfect and holy?
"He cried a bit, but not for long." - Neil Diamond
Well, it was written over about a 1500-year time period (the old testament being mainly stories passed down by word of mouth over thousands of years), and has over 40 different authors. And then, after everything was written, a group of bishops sat down and decided which books and chapters were actually good enough to be a part of the collection. And even after it was written it could have been edited and altered by people in power.
So while the writings in the Bible may be inspired by God, they were written by men. Many, many men. And Men are prone to mistakes and corruption. You can't believe every single thing in the Bible because the Bible contradicts itself numerous times. It's been translated from and into so many languages that the original meaning of things has been lost. Even now, in the English language, there are different versions of the wordings of passages.
Yeah, it's a good guideline. I don't consider it the final authority on anything though.
"What I lack in decorum, I make up for with an absence of tact."
Don Williams, Jr.
Read my Blog!
The Sex Change Blog
"What I lack in decorum, I make up for with an absence of tact."
Don Williams, Jr.
Read my Blog!
The Sex Change Blog
Wordddd, Sawa.
I'm Christian... but I can't say that I take the Bible literally or as a final authority in any way, shape, or form unless the final authority is on the history of a group of people in a certain area of the world.
I view it more as a history of the Christian culture and a recorded bit of [many of] our ideals...
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Procrastination isn't the problem, it's the solution. So procrastinate now, don't put it off. [Ellen Degeneres]
How is it that you can say with such certainty that your way is right?
"Don't blame me. I voted for Kodos."
Homer Simpson
I'm with Jsaj.
I don't think she's manipulating Christianity at all. That's what she, as a Christian, believes.
You, as a Christian, apparently believe something else, as do I (only I believe something completely different) as a Christian.
You say that she has no right... but what gives you the right?
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You are the Voice of the Childwen of the Revowution! [Toulouse, Moulin Rouge]
The Bible (THE TRUTH) gives me the right. Christianity follows the teachings of the Bible. I posted a passage from the book of John that says Jesus is the only way to be with God. The world has manipulated Christianity into something easy. God created man. Man did not create God. Therefore man can't say what the truth is. Oprah doesn't have the power to get to Heaven by herself. Although she is a good person, she is nowhere near perfect.
And what about verses from the Bible that contradict what you're saying?
For example:
1 Corinthians 9:24 Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain [it]. 25 And everyone who competes [for] [the] [prize] is temperate in all things. Now they [do] [it] to obtain a perishable crown, but we [for] an imperishable [crown].
1 Timothy 6:12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 13 I urge you in the sight of God who gives life to all things, and [before] Christ Jesus who witnessed the good confession before Pontius Pilate, 14 that you keep [this] commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ's appearing.
The Bible has a lot of contradictions. That's not to say it is not meaningful or important. But what makes you right but her not when you're both getting your facts and therefore your beliefs from the same book?
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You are the Voice of the Childwen of the Revowution! [Toulouse, Moulin Rouge]
careful with that language, young grasshopper. I am not a man. God created humanity.
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/kariskoett
"All things appear and disappear because of the concurrence of causes and conditions. Nothing ever exists entirely alone; everything is in relation to everything else."
-Buddha
Am I correct in my assumption that you are female? If so, shouldn't you be silent and wait for a man to tell Oprah (or at least the men involved in this discussion) what she should think and do? Ahem...
"Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence." ~ 1 Timothy 2:11-12
Just wondering,
percivale
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You and Oprah probably read the same Bible.
In John 14:6 it says "Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the father except through me.'"
My grandfather is a Christian and a pastor. He also has the same view as Oprah. He often quotes the above. His interpretation is that no one can go to heaven unless he or she lives righteously as did Jesus. By righteously he means doing good works, loving your fellow man and doing unto others as you would have them do unto you. Because God does not care what you believe, only what you do.
I watched the video, it reminded me of when I used to argue with my Sunday school teacher.
Remember, God works in mysterious ways.
“I hope the departure is joyful and I hope never to return.” - Frida Kahlo
This is one of the reasons that I became an Athiest for a period of time. I'm saved now, but people like her really make me sick. I'm a Christian... but I'm also an American.
[Krst]
People like Oprah make you sick? Or the author of this blog? (sort of confusing pronoun usage...)
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/kariskoett
"All things appear and disappear because of the concurrence of causes and conditions. Nothing ever exists entirely alone; everything is in relation to everything else."
-Buddha
Holy hairdos, Batman!
I think Oprah was being open to the validity of other religions. That is not something Christianity teaches, but it is something some Christians find in their hearts...openness to others.
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/ediblewoman
...exactly. x.x
Are you kidding? Hypocracy.
You yourself are broadcasting your interpretation of Christianity. Oprah is a Christian because she believes in God and that Jesus is God's son. Of course she can believe that there is more than one way to heavan. I don't even like Oprah but i am with her all the way on this one.
So, then, what do you all consider to be the final authority on things?
"He cried a bit, but not for long." - Neil Diamond
Please use the reply button so the conversation can flow smoothly. :-)
Relating to God and the Universe, I don't really have a final authority on things. I guess God would be the final authority but I don't go around pretending to understand and know what God wants.
I think using the Bible as a final authority on everything greatly limits a person's perspective on God. It makes people assume that they know what God is, and then they limit their understanding of who God is. And, if you do that, you're looking at God as who you want, or assumed, God to be. Basically, you're not seeing God, you're seeing an idol you've built of your own ideas.
I think the Bible is pretty clear regarding idol worship.
"What I lack in decorum, I make up for with an absence of tact."
Don Williams, Jr.
Read my Blog!
The Sex Change Blog
Oprah is being misunderstood and judged upon...
Some don’t like it all that much, is to understand some are still unaware of the origin of hate!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seAPQ9WihN0&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnC1DojrN0o&feature=related
It is said,
Can’t help it - tangoterje