Is This guy a Shill for atheism, or just the victim of Bad theology?

This was a post on CARM yesterday. This guy's understanding of Christianity is so bad he could be a shill for atheism. It would not be the first time an atheist went on there to pretend to be a Christian who is disillusioned and giving up his faith. This guy's understanding is so bad he doesn't even speak in standard Christian cliches. But my point in bring it up is not to accuse atheists, my point is to make sure that Christians understand what needs to be taught and what needs to be dropped like a hot rock.


Originally Posted by DisgruntledChristian

I have seen no improvement in life from believing in Jesus Christ.
I can no longer go on with the self loathing.

Christianity requires me to hate myself because of how I am.
I can longer believe I deserve death and hell.

First thing out of the shoot he gets it wrong. No wonder he has had no change in his life, he's not beileving the Gospel! Nothing in the Gospels that requires us to hate ourselves. Quite the contrary it requires that we love ourselves. The injunction "love your neighbor as yourself" (Matt 22:36-40 (NIV) (in KJV) assumes we love ourselves. We can't do that if we loath ourselves.

I refuse to believe that I am a worthless sinner

Good! So do I! No passage in the NT says that. Luke 12: 6-7 (NIV)

⁶ Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God?
⁷ But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows.

Of cousre the comparison to sparrows is ironic and  hyperbolic. He's not saying humans are only wroth a set number of birds. He's saying we are wroth much more to God than any other aspect of creation. Passages like "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son" (John 3:16) teach us that God loves every single person enough to die for them.

I can't help the fact that I am sexually confused and attracted to members of both genders.
I refuse to love and worship and serve a God who hates people and sends them to hell.
If God can't love everyone and provide a way to reconcile everyone to him that God is a malevolent entity.

No passage says God hates sinners. No passage says God hates gays. It certainly doesn't say he hates people who are confused. Only the most extreme churches teach that. It's so very cliched to speak of God loving all people that it makes me wonder if this person isn't involved in a hoax. We have very touching images of God going out of his way to bring back the lost sinners.

 Luke:

15 Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him.

² And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them.
³ And he spake this parable unto them, saying,
⁴ What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?
⁵ And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing.
⁶ And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost.
⁷ I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.
⁸ Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it?
⁹ And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbours together, saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost.
¹⁰ Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.

At that point he tells the story of the prodigal son. Even though he was reduced to the level of a servant eating pig slop he was welcomed back to the house with honors. Note that story begins with the character's initial position in the house as son, not servant. The believer is adopted as a Child of God.

But he doesn't love everyone and in fact hates everyone.

That's obviously a lie. It's also contradiction because he also says God loves the elect, so then he says God hates everyone. No passage ever says God hates anyone. He hates sins but it doesn't say he hates sinners. It sure as hell doesn't say he hates everyone. He's obviously feeling sorry for himself.

Accepting Christ has strings attached. God could have done better.
So here I am.

You have to be sincere and you have to accept what God has for you. those are not what I call "strings."

I must work on improving my health and finding a way to survive and flourish.
I must stay safe and work on ways to post pone death because as soon as I die I just might go to some deity's hell.

 So why would you post on a place like CARM? Do you really expect atheists to help you sort your relationship with God? Who will help them do that that first?

In latter posts he says:  "Jesus Christ didn't die for everyone. Only the chosen, the elect.

I have no way of knowing if I am one of the elect.

I'm tired of living in such fear anymore."

 He may be a Calvinist. I'm not real gung ho Calvinism myself. I think this is too extreme for him to be a Christian. He's either someone who was not in a chruch very long and didn't listen or someone who is hoaxing. There's a guy on CARM now he's been for a couple of years I still think he came to hoax pretending to be a chrsitian, then it has become totally clear that he was not one. I don't say that just becuase he disagrees with me. He clearly doesn't know anything about it.

This just drives home our responsibly to show the love of Christ and to really understand the gospel. Its' not hard. it's good. The Gospel is Good, God is good becuase God is love, If you have all these ideas that you are no good and God doesn't love you, you need to seek God. Not becuase he's mad at you but becuase you are not getting what he has for you that is good and positive and based upon love. God is really love. He loves you.

Bad theology is the tough love nonsense that is not love at all.