A serious question for evangelical christians

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DeletedUser

As most of you know I am not a christian. And, while I can understand a certain amount of "missionary" work and door to door "conversion conversations" (though I find the folks who practice this tend to have less working knowledge of their faith than I do [thanks to being a voracious reader and having a mother who held a degree in comparative mythology (specifically far eastern religions)]). There is a subset of people out there trying to spread their faith that I just don't get. These are the folks who hang out in the subway (I live in NYC and make a fair portion of my living at the moment busking in the subways) declaiming at the top of their lungs about how the folks passing by are bound for hell and should accept Jesus as their savior. Seriously, people in the subway are already grouchy, harried and in a hurry. If they ain't already Christian do you think that they are going to be particularly open to the overtures of someone who is telling them they are evil while assaulting their ears and impeding their forward movement while pressing unwanted literature into their hands? It hardly seems the most effective way to gain converts or even open a dialogue.
 

DeletedUser

David Crocket said:
These are the folks who hang out in the subway (I live in NYC and make a fair portion of my living at the moment busking in the subways) declaiming at the top of their lungs about how the folks passing by are bound for hell and should accept Jesus as their savior.
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I don't have an answer to the question, but I was curious about exactly what you do in the subway to earn money.
 

DeletedUser

It is not necessary for people to respond to the plea for acceptance of Jesus as Savior. It is merely necessary that they hear it. The basic foundation of Christianity is that Jesus will triumphantly return to Earth, but only when every single human being has had the opportunity to accept him as Savior.
I suppose these particular missionaries might think that there may be commuters who have only very recently emerged out of a bubble and have never heard of Jesus before.
 

DeletedUser

Artemis Gordon said:
I don't have an answer to the question, but I was curious about exactly what you do in the subway to earn money.
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play my mandolin for tips. keeps folks smiling (a little more than they normally would at any rate)
 

DeletedUser

Thanks for the answer. I always think of buskers being 'folk' singers or jugglers, you didn't strike me as either. :)
 

DeletedUser

Betsy said:
It is not necessary for people to respond to the plea for acceptance of Jesus as Savior. It is merely necessary that they hear it. The basic foundation of Christianity is that Jesus will triumphantly return to Earth, but only when every single human being has had the opportunity to accept him as Savior.
I suppose these particular missionaries might think that there may be commuters who have only very recently emerged out of a bubble and have never heard of Jesus before.
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Let's suppose that we got everyone in the world to watch TV at the same time and that they all had the chance to see a 15 second infomercial on Jesus. Do you really think that would shut these people up?
 

DeletedUser

Half of us would use the time to grab a snack or go to the bathroom!
 

DeletedUser

Adelei Niska said:
Let's suppose that we got everyone in the world to watch TV at the same time and that they all had the chance to see a 15 second infomercial on Jesus. Do you really think that would shut these people up?
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Such an event would undoubtedly be viewed as a miracle and yes, would probably cause missionaries and proselytizers to be dumbstruck, if only momentarily.
 

DeletedUser

I never did care for bible thumpers. That mentality was one thing that turned me off from christianity. I don't like telling people what to think and believe. Now telling them what to do is a whole other story. I have no problem doing that.
 

DeletedUser

Betsy said:
It is not necessary for people to respond to the plea for acceptance of Jesus as Savior. It is merely necessary that they hear it. The basic foundation of Christianity is that Jesus will triumphantly return to Earth, but only when every single human being has had the opportunity to accept him as Savior.
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Hmm, Betsy, could you do me a favor and point out where in the Bible the above-bolded arguments are stated? I mean, I read the Bible a few times over and, for the life of me, I can't find your interpretation anywhere.
 

DeletedUser

Hellstromm said:
Hmm, Betsy, could you do me a favor and point out where in the Bible the above-bolded arguments are stated? I mean, I read the Bible a few times over and, for the life of me, I can't find your interpretation anywhere.
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I'm pretty sure it does not say it directly. It is likely that someone read a passage and decided to interpret it to mean that. It is amazing the lengths some people will go with interpreting the bible so that it will say what they want it to say. Kinda like our constitution.
 

DeletedUser

scwanobi said:
I'm pretty sure it does not say it directly. It is likely that someone read a passage and decided to interpret it to mean that. It is amazing the lengths some people will go with interpreting the bible so that it will say what they want it to say. Kinda like our constitution.
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The difference being that our constitution sets up a branch of government to preside over interpretations of itself.

The Bible is just supposed to be the "word of God" and that's it.

I know this is a bit off topic, and I apologize ahead of time.
 

DeletedUser

It's relevant Adelei, since we're attempting to determine the motive for these screaming evangelical banshees.
 

DeletedUser

They are extreme into their religion, just like all other radicals. They do what they want to and they know that noone can stop them. That is why they feel it is necissary to scream like banshees, they think they may get atleast one person to convert and that is sucess enough because they believe that they save a life.
 
nashy19

nashy19

Nashy (as himself)
Some Christian missionaries believe those who do not get a chance to hear the message of god will be given a chance to hear it in the spirit world.
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I was going to bring up how stupid spreading the message to people who stupid spreading the message to people who otherwise wouldn't have heard it was (doing it to those that have heard it is real life SPAM). But now that I think about it, this could mean ghost preachers :blink:

Oh well at leasts there's a higher chance of people choosing the right religion if they find out it's defiantly spiritual.
 

DeletedUser

Along the same lines i was approached on a subway platform at around 1AM by a guy who felt the need to tell me that Jesus loved me. Now I don't know about you but I'm a little leery of anybody who approaches me at 1 AM that I don't know however innocent their intentions. I just think mass transportaion is a horrible venue for any type of spiritual conversation.
 
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