Soc.Religion.Christian

S.R.C. FAQ's

This is one of three components of the FAQ collection. This one is the closest to a conventional FAQ. It contains documents that attempt to provide reasonably objective accounts of some subject. However the coverage is somewhat random, as it's based on what specific topics have come up in discussions in soc.religion.christian.

Another approach is provided by What is Christianity? That is a set of essays that attempt to cover many of the major topics related to Christianity. Many of the web sites listed on the main s.r.c. page include FAQ's or similar information. I have tried to collect sites representing a variety of Christian traditions there.

Most of the items are in plain text format. As I make revisions I'm updating them to be in real HTML. The purple bullets indicate HTML entries.

666: What's really there in Greek?

95-theses: Luther's famous challenge to the Church

FAQ: An attempt by some readers to create an FAQ for this group

adam-god: Do the Mormons teach that Adam and God are the same person?

angels-dancing: Did the medieval scholars actually argue about how many angels could dance on the head of a pin?

apocrypha: Why do Protestants reject the Apocrypha?

archko: The Achhko book, Pilate's transcripts and other early documents [hoax]

arminius: What did Arminius teach about free will?

bahai: A brief summary of Bahai views

baptism-of-prots: When should Protestants converting to the Catholic Church be rebaptized?

books: Favorite Christian books (primarily classical)

brethren: Catholic explanation of who the "brethren" of Jesus referred to the NT are

brothers-of-jesus: Summary of possible alternatives for the "brethren of Jesus"

can-god: Can God make a rock so heavy that he can't lift it?

canon: Where did the canon (the list of books in the Bible) come from?

catholic-ref-works: List of basic sources for student of Catholic theology and history

catholic.issues: Answers to questions and criticisms about Catholic faith and practice (by Catholics)

cbd Phone number of Christian Book Distributors

christ-is-god: John 1:1, Luke 1:30,34,35, the divinity of Jesus, etc.

christ-is-god-nt: Where does Jesus say that he is God?

christian-science: Christian science beliefs

christmas: Why December 25 (or whatever)?

church-history: Recommended book on church history

comma: Why isn't 1 John 6:5-8 in most modern Bibles?

contradictions: Lists of apparent contradictions in the Bible, some proposed resolutions

cults: What does "cult" mean, and how do you judge whether a group is one?

d&d: Why some Christians are concerned about D&D and similar games

darwin: I've heard Darwin changed his mind shortly before death. Is that true? [No]

dead-sea-scrolls: Who wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls; why were they suppressed?

How can I choose a denomination: What are the major churches or denominations?

Where did all those denominations come from: (a brief history)

depravity: What does Total Depravity mean?

dictionary: Satirical dictionary of Christian terms

dispensationalism: What is Dispensationalism?

divinity-of-x-biblical: Biblical references in support of the divinity of Christ

dollar-bill: What is the symbolism of the Great Seal on the US one dollar bill? Is it Masonic?

double-effect: What is the principle of double effect (in Catholic moral theology)?

earth-mythology: Does the creation account in Gen. show influences of mythology?

easter: Where did the word Easter come from?

easter-date: How does one determine the date of Easter?

eschatology: What are the various (Protestant) views on eschatology (pre-millenial, post-millenial, etc.)?

faith: The various meanings of Faith

feminist-myths: Various (alleged) urban legends relating to feminism

film-hoax: I've heard a group is planning a movie that shows Jesus as a homosexual

fish-story: I've heard someone survived inside a whale [hoax]

founding-fathers: The US founding fathers' views on religion

galileo: Details about Galileo's condemnation by the Church

gematria: Letter-number equivalents from several different languages

god-makers: Problems with "The God Makers" (an anti-Mormon book)

gospel-barnabas: Details on the "Gospel of Barnbas" (a medieval forgery often cited by Moslems)

greek-fonts: Greek fonts available for the Maca

halloween: The origins of Halloween

hitler: Was Hitler a Christian?

hitler: Was Hitler a Catholic? What did the Church do to help Jews?

immaculate: The history of the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception

infallibility: What does it mean that the Pope is (supposedly) infallible?

inquisition: Catholic historians on the Inquistion

islam: Background information for discussions with Moslems

jasher-book-of: What is the book of Jasher? (a medieval hoax)

jw: Jehovah's Witnesses beliefs (by the moderator)

jw.faq Jehovah's Witnesses beliefs (by a JW)

kjv: Discussion of claims that the KJV is the only acceptable English translation

last-supper-date: Issues with the chronology of the Last Supper

latin-mass-dir: Pointer to list of locations offering authorized Latin masses

Latin prayers

law: Use of the Law for Christians (Lutheran position)

lds.faq.1: FAQ about the LDS (Mormon) church, by Mormons

lds.faq.2: --- part 2

lent: How is Lent celebrated?

lilith: Traditions about Lilith

logos: What is the background for John's use of the term "logos" (The Word)?

lukes-birth-chronology: historical problems with Luke's chronology of the birth of Christ

luther-faithalone: Did Luther add the word "alone" when he translated Rom 3:28?

masons: Why do some Christians have problems with the Masons?

masonry: A defense of Masonry

medjugorje.84 The messages from Medjogorje (supposedly being revealed by the Virgin Mary)

membership: Growth trends for various Christian groups

missing-day: Did NASA really discover a "missing day" that confirms the account of Joshua? [an urban legend]

mithra: Are Christian accounts of Jesus based on the stories about Mithra?

monotheism: Is Christianity really monotheistic?

mormon: An FAQ about Mormon-related issues (prepared primarily by the moderator)

moslem-sources: sources for information on Moslem beliefs

nazareth: did nazareth exist in Jesus' time?

nicene: the text of the Nicene creed(s)

noachic: the Noachic laws

noahs-ark: brief note about claims that Noah's ark has been found [it hasn't]

nt-authorship: probable authors and dates of the NT books

ohair-hoax: I've heard that O'Hair has asked the FCC to ban religious programming [hoax]

omnipotence: What does omnipotence mean?

one-directional: Discussion about Jefferson's "wall of separation between church and state"

organizations: Addresses of various (Protestant, it appears) mission organizations

original-sin: What does original sin mean?

p&g: I heard Procter and Gamble supports Satanism [hoax, spread by a competitor]

peace-symbol: What is the origin of the peace symbol?

pi: Did some state legislature declare that pi is 3?

popes: Chronological list of popes

predestination: What is predestination?

promise-keepers: The 7 promises that a promise keeper promises to keep

protestantism: What are the distinctive Protestant beliefs?

quran-text: Is the Quran really free from the sorts of textual issues that apply to the Bible? [no]

reconstruction: What is Christian reconstructionism?

reformation: brief summary of the reasons for the Reformation

reincarnation: Is there support in the Bible or the Fathers for reincarnation?

restoration: History of universalism (that all will be saved) in the Church

rosary: What is the Rosary?

sabbath: Why don't most Christians worship on the Sabbath (Saturday)?

salvation-outside: Can people outside the Catholic Church be saved?

shroud: About the Shroud of Turin

sola-scriptura: What does "sola scriptura" mean? Doesn't it just mean that anyone can interpret the Bible anyway they want?

son-of-man: What did Jesus mean by the Son of Man?

star-of-bethlehem: What was the star of Bethlehem?

subscribe: How do I subscribe to this group?

ten-commandments: Differences in numbering among different churches

toronto: Information about the "Toronto blessing"

translations: Summary of English translations of the Bible

trinity.biblical The moderator's attempts to explain the Trinity (you'd think he eventually get it right, or give up, right?)

trinity.explanation

trinity.later-documents

trinity.passages

trinity.views

unforgiveable: What is the unforgiveable sin?

upc: Is the Universal Product Code the mark of the beast?

wicca: What is Wicca?

women-souls: Did the Catholic Church once teach that women had no souls?

x-outof-nt: References to Christ in early documents other than the NT

xity-definition: The problems of trying to define Christianity