Orac said:
"For muslims my understanding is you live you die you go to your judgement what happens next depends on how you lived your life. That all sort of makes sense to me."

Basically that is the main promise of Christianity--- ie. the promise of Eternal Life, If you have been 'good' then your afterlife will be that you are eternally with God and surrounded by His love. If you have been 'bad' then you have to spend eternity without God--- in Hell. This simple belief has been much enlarged upon, and interpreted into various doctrines and sacred texts of one sort or another.

I feel that maybe what you are finding difficult to understand, Orac, is the diversity that is Christianity. There are numerous sects and divisions, each proclaiming they are the true faith. Although some Christians still adhere to the traditional doctrines of Catholicism or one of the main Protestant churches, many now have their own interpretation of their religion. This freedom is often not a choice in other religions, and it stems from the time of the Reformation when the first of many huge schisms appeared in the Christian faith.

Usually there are some common beliefs in the various doctrine. Most have a belief that God is divine, good and all-knowing. Many believe that Jesus died as a sacrifice for the forgiveness of the sins of the world. I would think that all Christians believe in some form of everlasting life after death. A lot of modern Christians do not think that Hell exists, though many still believe in some sort oF Heaven.

Another area that could cause a problem is that although Christians have the Bible as their foundation it is the New Testament that holds the story of Jesus and his teachings, not the Old Testament. Jesus is the fulfilment of the prophesies of coming of the Messiah in the Old Testament.

The divergent views regarding belief is seen as a positive by most Christians now, though once it was the source of many wars and bloodshed!

I had not realised how confusing it all is until I started to type what I thought would be a simple post! I've left out heaps-- but I'm sure Rev will correct it! I hope you continue your search Orac.

Last edited by Ellis; 11/17/11 06:10 AM. Reason: typo as usual