Burlyman wrote:You're also implying that no version of Christianity can lead to salvation, which is false
No, I didn't. I said "No version of Christianity is perfect."
Jesus said "No one comes to the Father except through me." But He never said "No one comes to the Father except through denomination X"
Please don't misunderstand me. I believe in truth. And I believe that truth is important. I just don't believe that any Christian denomination has ALL of the truth. And I know that all of them have flaws, because they are made up of flawed humans.
Tunnelcat wrote:more evil has been perpetrated by the followers of Christ since the inception of Christianity than almost any other reason.
You would have to support the "more" part of that sentence. Drop the more and you'll get no argument from me. And I won't even swear the "more" is wrong, but I strongly suspect it is. There are a LOT of people on earth, less than 1/3rd of them claim to be Christian. And all of them are pretty much evil.
The problem of "evil" is a human one. Take away religion, and people just find other excuses to be cruel and horrible to each other.
Tunnelcat wrote:Jesus is probably weeping right now at the state of the "religion" that was born of his words and deeds,
SO TRUE!
So here is the thing to notice. The Jewish religion was founded by God. It went off the rails before Moses could even get the 10 commandments down from the mountain. It never really got back on the rails for more than a very short distance. But still, to be a Jew was to be a member of the religion that God created. The religion that was closest to the truth at the time. But John the Baptist made it clear that just being a Jew wouldn't save you (Mat 3:9)
Christianity was founded by Christ. The church was a mess before He even died. The church treasurer was embezzling funds. One of the leaders of the church denied Christ in public. Another one publicly expressed doubts about the resurrection. Even after Christ's ascension, the church was still a mess. There were scandals over money, Fighting among the church leadership. Disagreements over doctrine. Christ is perfect. Christians are not.
I believe that some churches have more truth than others. But being a member of a particular church will not save you. That requires having a personal saving relationship with Christ. And, as you point out, it seems pretty clear from their "fruits" that a LOT of the people who claim to be Christians know nothing about Jesus and what He stood for.
Unfortunately, I often find myself in that same failing group.