(Part 3) Top products from r/TrueChristian

Bible Reading:

Most important thing when choosing a Bible: pick the one you'll read. It doesn't matter if you prefer it because of how the cover makes you feel, if that will make you read it, then that's fine.

Most issues with translations only kick in when you find passages that are hard to understand and you want a sense of what the original writer was saying. Then something like the NLT may be less useful, because it paraphrases more. The one thing I'd say is that I wouldn't recommend a full paraphrase version like The Message, because it has a lot of the writer's own interpretation. It has its value, but not for regular study.

If you want an easy to access but still good for Bible study translation, then the NIV is a widely used version. With your background in mind, howevr, the ESV might be usable for you. It's a widely respected translation that is considered good for serious study because it gets closer to the original language than the NIV, with some sacrifice for ease of reading. It's not something I'd necessarily recommend for someone new to Christianity, but given that you grew up in a Christian family, you might not find the vocabulary as daunting.

Regarding annotations: feel free to skip them. They are intended to aid understanding, but are not part of God's word. Therefore they are not essential reading, although if you want help understanding a passage they may be useful. If you find the length of the Bible challenging, you may want to consider a Bible reading plan - it will give you a structured approach that just makes it all feel a bit more manageable. If you want to manage the whole thing in a year (4 chapters a day), then try For The Love of God by Don Carson. If that's too much you could give one of these a try. One popular approach is to just alternate reading Old Testament and New Testament books (e.g. read through Matthew, then Genesis, then Mark, then Exodus etc), and then, because the New Testament is shorter, starting over while you go through the 2nd half of the Old Testament. That one's good because it doesn't matter how much you read each day to fit the plan. But reading plans are just a tool, if you want to just sit and read, that's also great, reading whole books in one go has its benefits even. Whatever works for you.

Other resources:

There are many, many Christian books available. But if you want a couple of easy recommendations try:

• The Cross-Centered Life by CJ Mahaney, it's super short but nails the essentials of the Christian life. Likewise Humility: True Greatness by the same author, also short.
  
  
• Mere Christianity by CS Lewis - it's a good one for the atheist mindset, as CS Lewis was very talented at explaining Christian ideas in a way that makes logical and philosophical sense.
  
  
• Delighting in the Trinity: An Introduction to the Christian Faith by Mike Reeves - I confess I haven't read this one myself, but I love the author and I've heard him speak on this topic, and it really opened my eyes to explain the Trinity, which is one of the most mind-bending Christian teachings, yet it changes everything in an amazing way. Really worth checking out. Can also send you a link to his talks on it, if you prefer an audio option. He does some great church history stuff that warms my heart as well. We can learn a lot from those who came before us, and can shed light on our struggles and encourage us with their wisdom.

I'm alone in a room most of the day from disability and have struggled with loneliness most of my life. I'd say this pamphlet by Joni E. Tada helped me more than most. Her other few on fear and hope are great also.

Also praying the psalms, not reading them, but stopping and branching off prayer through each thought. I can't go a day without them or I get depressed. I'm amazed I lasted so long out of them. Depended on a lot of medications/substances for a long time.

I'll never have a spouse, and I'm now thankful, even being alone. I have double God. I know it sounds weird, it only made sense to me in my mid 30's. Psalms and Matthew 6:33, seek God first in all things. Also something like Tim Keller's short booklet "The Freedom of Self-forgetfulness" is great. We can take all focus, good and bad off ourselves and it's absolute freedom. Never have to even notice the loneliness again. Just saying that won't change it though, I can't explain it. It took Matthew 6:33 and James 1:5 for wisdom, focusing on those daily. Also praise and worship music in the background a lot. Once you REALLY believe you aren't alone and God is right there, the loneliness can go completely away without trying. I have no idea how it works, I'm not doing it, God is. He's teaching you something I assure you. He's loving you right now in all this because He cares.

Praying the Matthew and James verses for you! They both work, amazingly well. It's so real it blows my mind. I believed in Jesus for years, but never saw the Bible start REALLY working right in front of me. Now the Bible is alive and very addicting to me, I can't stay out of it. It's very strange.

I highly recommend the book Bible, Gender, and Sexuality by James Brownson (link: https://www.amazon.com/Bible-Gender-Sexuality-Reframing-Relationships/dp/0802868630/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1517791982&sr=8-1&keywords=bible+gender+and+sexuality). It helped me come to terms with both my faith and my sexuality (I'm 23 and gay). There are components of the Bible which, while divinely inspired, are nonetheless >2,000 years old. I don't hesitate to suggest that the Bible is not the healthiest source of understanding relationships that pertain to 2018.

You're gay, and God made each of us wonderfully and fearfully created. Congratulations on admitting it to yourself and being out about it here. I can't help but believe that God would want you to be in a loving, caring, relationship filled with joy and thanksgiving.

Edit: I also don't think the authors of the Bible had the clearest understanding of Biology. Human sexuality is not something chosen, but simply a component of an individual's identity. And while its very easy to say "the Bible prohibits homosexual relationships", it, to me, fails to resonate with the deep human need that most of us have - to be with in a loving relationship with another. I tend to think that, as we uncover more and more of the nature of reality and of Creation, God's Creation, we must revisit scripture in light of the nature of Creation as it is (IE Genesis is not, cannot, be literal, the Earth is not 6,000 years old). Along the same line, sexuality is not a choice, we are born more or less some kind of something (may be gay, maybe straight, maybe asexual, or anything in between). And as that's the reality of the world, perhaps the prohibitions of homosexuality need to be revisited, and reunderstood, not as literal prohibitions but rather as components of a complicated text that is heavily influenced by the culture(s) it was written in.

He's so readable that I can definitely recommend skipping the books about St. Augustine and just going directly to the source. As others have mentioned, Confessions. Others you may be interested in are City of God and On Grace And Free Will.

Also, as /u/Philip_Schwartzerdt mentioned, John Calvin isn't typically considered one of the Church Fathers given that his time on earth came in the 16th century. In fact, as a Catholic, we would consider him a heretic, but that's neither here nor there. :)

For other early Church Fathers books, you may want to check out this collection of writings from the early church, Against Heresies by St. Iranaeus, countering heresy in the early Church, and The First And Second Apologies by St. Justin Martyr, a convert to the faith at about 130 A.D. and who was martyred (surprise) around 165 A.D.

As you may have guessed, with me being a Catholic in the Roman Rite, that's the perspective to which my study of the early Church Fathers led me, but if you wish to get a primer on St. Irenaeus before the books come, this is a worthwhile read.

I highly encourage the study of the fathers. The whole Christian world disagrees on many parts of of Sacred Scripture, and the testimony of the fathers, especially those who were direct disciples of the Apostles, should be one of our primary sources of discerning Christian truth amid the chaos. Plainly put, there are many interpretations of Scripture which "make sense" or are feasible outside of the tradition of the Apostles, but if said interpretation is true, it should be reflected in the doctrines, beliefs, and practices of those whom the Apostles taught.

I'll pray for you as you jump into this study. Please reach out if I can be of any help!

Peace,

DK

To what level are you familiar with Greek and Hebrew? What are you wanting to use it for? I have this one: The Interlinear Bible: Hebrew-Greek-English (English, Hebrew and Greek Edition) https://www.amazon.com/dp/1565639774/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_PAVrxbKDVD7PB

And it's not too bad, though I don't use it a lot because of its size. I have an older Greek interlinear NT from 1950 that doesn't have the most up to date text, but is easier to carry around that I use more. But mostly I use online tools to help with translation and preaching. I'll use blue letter bible online or biblewebapp.com/reader to get the root/stem and go to a lexicon or a commentary that I trust to get a good meaning for it.

It really depends on what you want to use it for and what your end goal is on what's the best tool for you, but that interlinear I linked to isn't bad.

The book "Spiritual Warfare" by Dr. Karl Payne actually touches on this subject. He says that it's demonic activity, I highly encourage you to check the book out. https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1936488337/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1473826280&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=spiritual+warfare&dpPl=1&dpID=51oQWuBZPcL&ref=plSrch

Edit: I would definitely recommend coming back to God, nothing in this world is more important, valuable, or satisfying than Him. I hope you pray about it tonight. God bless!

For me personally, it was never the study materials that helped me deepen my Bible study. I had to change the way I read the Bible.

Living by the Book by Hendricks was pretty helpful in getting me started. It also helped to develop a specific highlighting scheme with five or six different colors, each color relating to something I was specifically searching for (like commands to obey, prayers to pray, words like love, holy, suffering, and names). Specifically, looking for repetitions, themes, and trying to locate a "summary verse" in books have really brought a lot of insight into my study. Summary verses are great, because it forces you to "condense" the entire book into that one verse. Not all books have one, and sometimes its a summary passage, but its good practice for synthesizing and processing the content you're reading.

Once I started reading with a purpose to look for specific things, I began noticing details that prompted deeper questions that would sometimes lead to profound breakthroughs in my personal understanding of Scripture. Other times, I would have to do independent studies of the original languages (with tools, I'm not a languager) to arrive at an answer because study Bibles and websites didn't address the question well enough.

Blue letter bible is a useful place for comparing translations and looking at the Greek and Hebrew.

There's a really good book called His Word in My Heart: Memorizing Scripture For a Closer Walk With God by Janet Pope. I'm linking only because there's a newer edition that doesn't always show up on Amazon. The previous edition was published around 2002 I think. Anyway, it covers a lot of tips and the why behind it as well.

Here's an interview she did as well if you don't want to get the book. It's short and she covers the topic at a higher level.

I think the book or video will give you a better background on the why and how rather than just a list of verses to memorize. Good luck!

It's not dangerous per se, but merely understand that it is quite untrue. Yes, there are bound to be some truths somewhere in it, but reading untruth to understand truth is tricky.

If I were in your shoes, I'd study the Trinity. According to John Frame, that's the basis for understanding the consciousness.

Here's one article written to discuss some of his thoughts on this:

http://www.proginosko.com/docs/Frame_Festschrift_Essay.pdf

Read John Frame on epistemology and Michael Reeves Delighting in the Trinity https://www.amazon.com/Delighting-Trinity-Introduction-Christian-Faith/dp/0830839836/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1499447945&sr=1-1&keywords=michael+trinity and you'll make significant progress in your search, I think.

I think the Trinity explains everything.

Check out the book His Word in my Heart by Janet Pope. My goal is to memorize the full NT eventually, and she gives great tips. She memorizes books at a time, and gives some great ways to do so. There's really no right or wrong way to memorize Scripture. You can do the verse numbers with them if you'd like. Most of the Scripture I know I don't know the verse numbers, I just have them in my heart from reading them and God will always bring them to my memory when I need them :)

I read two books to help me develop how to best teach on the subject:

Holy Sh•t: A Brief History of Swearing
https://www.amazon.com/dp/019049168X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_zfzSzbHWB3QX4

Cuss Control: The Complete Book on How to Curb Your Cursing
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0595391478/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_SgzSzbPKPZVSB

Scriptures on considering the words we use are plentiful, and some have already been posted, but these two books helped solidify my knowledge of how and why cultures develop swear words. Both were incredibly beneficial to my understanding of why Christians are best served guarding their language, both publicly and privately (especially the first title listed).

Is it a sin? I can’t say conclusively. However, the Bible clearly teaches that the words we choose are important.

—

Bible Study Fellowship is something that might be what you're wanting. If you're looking for material, hit up google.
Faithlife Corporation makes some good material as well. I have these and they're OK.

Living By the Book is really good for hermeneutics and how to study the Bible.

Lastly, /r/biblereading is a sub that I help with. It's just redditors reading and putting their ideas on the internet for all to see. We could start a separate sub if you think it would work, and we could hit up specific topics.

Could it be you disagree with the particular strain of Christianity in which you were raised? There's nothing that says we must forsake science or reason to be Christian. Some of our greatest thinkers were, in fact, believers.

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Take it for what it's worth, but maybe you could start with some reading about Christianity; its history, its teachings, etc. There are a couple of things I'd suggest (full disclaimer: I was raised Baptist but converted to Eastern Orthodoxy):

​

Lost to the West, not a Christian history book per se, but more an overview of how Christianity, among other things, helped shape the West.

​

Mere Christianity, which maybe you've already read. It helped pull me away from the ledge of my youthful agnosticism.

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Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy, a podcast, admittedly from the Orthodox point of view, providing an overview of all the varied flavors of Christianity.

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I hope this is in some way helpful.

I studied a dozen of translations and have become quite fond of literal translations based on the Textus Receptus which the majority here won't probably recommend. For me in Germany there are two options Schlachter 2000 and Luther 1545. For you there is probably the King James Version.

However, if you plan on thoroughly studying I'd suggest a commentary to accompany your bible.

Since most will recommend the ESV, which is a good option, I recommend the John MacArthur Commentary.

One or two chapters a day is a good start. Begin in the NT and then read OT.

I always like to give the Orthodox Study Bible as a suggested tool as well when this topic comes up. Here is a link.

Absolutely!


https://www.amazon.com/Without-God-Science-Morality-Meaning/dp/B07XGDM41T/ref=tmm_aud_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=



Also, I do have a few Audible promo codes left if anyone would for sure want to listen to the book. PM me whether you're US or UK if anyone wants one.

Thanks!

Read Surprised By Hope by N.T. Wright. The concept of "Heaven" as a destination (as presented by the pastor you heard) is a lot different than the "New Heaven and New Earth" we are promised.

Jesus is the first fruits of a physical resurrection. He ate with the disciples to prove this point.

The Case for Christ (the [book][1], although the [film][2] adaptation wasn't horrible) and Cold Case Christianity would probably be good reads for you.

Case for Christ was written by an investigative journalist and legal editor for the Chicago Tribune. It details his transition from Atheism to Christianity, and how his attempt to debunk Christianity lead to him coming to Christ.

Cold Case Christianity was written by a detective who solved a number of high-profile cold cases. He has a similar story, as his book details his conversion from Atheism to Christianity through the use of cold-case investigation techniques.

[1]: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0310345863/

[2]: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6113488/

I wrote a book that is a study of the Nicene Creed, which may be helpful regarding the basics of the faith.

Just watched this today. It seems to be a very bold claim to adjust the chronology by centuries, in opposition with the bulk of modern and previous historians and archaeologists.

I must admit that there were several astonishing moments in the documentary, but it's hard to tell. Documentaries arguing for a specific viewpoint can exaggerate the evidence in favor of their theory and not mention evidence opposed to it.

However, I notice that this documentary was released relatively recently (2015), so I'm hoping that it pushes historians to rethink and reexamine the Biblical Exodus and the timelines surrounding it. Perhaps more will be found in the next few decades?

Either way, I think the documentary helped me feel more comfortable putting this one particular doubt on the shelf for now. Thank you and everyone else for recommending it! I've also picked up a couple books about the Exodus, such as Israel in Egypt.

Have you looked up the Magdeburger Bekenntnis? A Lutheran confession from 1550 outlining the city's rationale for armed resistance against Charles V.

It doesn't speak directly to the War of American Secession, but might help you as a Lutheran to think through your position. Downside, I think there's only one English translation and it was produced by a theonomist group. Upside, if you read German or Latin, you can probably find a free copy online.

Hello there /u/drac07, as a person who has studied the Exodus, such a topic matter is divided among people (even some Christians). Certainly from what you've said that some people seem desperate, I would agree with you on that. Though not all are.
I recommend the scholarly works of James K Hoffmeier and Kenneth A Kitchen who are experts in the field of Egyptology and Biblical Archeology.

Israel in Egypt
On the Reliability of the Old Testament

Hopefully this will help you to understand the historicity of the Exodus, other events and also answering sceptical scholars objections to the Exodus.

The only Bible in English that I knew of that includes the full Eastern Orthodox canon is the 'Orthodox Study Bible.'

I actually short change myself and use a RSV-Second Catholic Edition because I like the way it reads more.

I just checked the wikipedia page about it and I am not sure if that is a good unbiased source.

Further searching showed me this book. Have you read this one? https://www.amazon.com/Reliability-Old-Testament-K-Kitchen/dp/0802803962

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1936488337/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1473826280&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=spiritual+warfare&dpPl=1&dpID=51oQWuBZPcL&ref=plSrch


I highly recommend reading this book. It covers everything you need to know about spiritual warfare. Some important keys are:

Don't believe the lies you are told by the enemy,

submit every are of your life to the Lord

and

that the battle was already won by Jesus Christ.

Early Christian Fathers

History of the Church

Here is the mobile version of your link

Because that's what it claims it is, and because it checks out. Check out Lee Strobel's book.

https://www.amazon.com/Case-Christ-Journalists-Personal-Investigation/dp/0310339308

Lee Strobel's A Case for Christ was a really good read that might give you some talking points. It was written by a skeptic journalist's journey looking for historical evidence of Christ and the Bible in general.

I found it interesting in how the Hebrew and Greek are both not really bothered by word order, in conveying the correct meanings. Part of the structure that helped keep the truth in place in the Bible.

I'm trying to learn enough solid Biblical truth and historical truth to help counteract the Atheism that often occurs to previous Cult members that finally escape an abusive spiritual situation. This violent reaction from your roommate makes me wonder about his spiritual past.

Have you sat down and asked about his previous experience with religion? It is possible that he received religious experience that was not about the love of Christ, but about the fear and judgement of a mean God.

"Come in and I'll get my Interlinear Bible and Strong's Exhaustive Concordance."

I have autism and no one has a clue about my experience, and it's frustrating because nice people want to help and try, but it's so hard to try and explain things from a completely different perspective.

The autism forum "Wrong Planet" hits it on the head, we really do feel like aliens here and were put on the wrong planet at times.

All lights and sounds are amplified, and I used alcohol for years to be able to even go to Bible College. People can't understand that often. It's not 100% fear of man, eye contact is so painful it's unbearable, and I'm left with not making eye contact at all, or trying to do a tightrope walk with alcohol, drinking 2-3 beers to make eye contact without it hurting, but then the 2-3 beers ends up being 4-5 with tolerance then I start making bad decisions (haven't touched alcohol in a long time though).

Medication and recreation are such a fine line. I wasn't trying to feel good though or simply run away and escape from life, I was trying to study God's Word and not be in pain. No one gets that. So I have to keep it to myself and press on, maybe God wants me to be able to relate to others like me with autism one day.

For now, I'm having to be in isolation, go to church online. It's frustrating. I also can't talk about the single one thing that helps me but doesn't cause any problems, hemp/CBD. (Can't even go near talking about cannabis).

Mental disability is rough, no one can see that you are in a wheelchair. Oversensory issues are pure insanity, no one see's the giant amplifyer in your head. The fluorescent lights in stores are horrific, music in church is too loud, everyone talks so loud. Am I supposed to be "that guy" who demands all of life changes for my "special needs" or what? I can't go in public without sinning, then I'm sinning by not being in flesh to flesh fellowship. Then I'm given pills my entire life that don't work then when something does work, people say cannabis/hemp is evil. So I am stuck in a room with my cat for now, studying the Bible with hemp/CBD keeping me sane until more cannabinoids are studied to figure out what works best for each issue.

There's always someone out there who understands though. Or who is sensitive enough not to make assumptions and demand you do things the same way they did, while still obeying God's Word and using Biblical principles.

Often you have to seek those people out.

With Jesus you aren't ever alone, and God will often leave you "alone" until you realize that.

Sorry for ranting, just wanted to give an example of no one possibly being able to understand, and that Jesus is actually enough, even when you feel alone. Jesus understands and is more comforting to me than 100 close friends. I still hope for friends though one day.

Did someone say reading list?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005TA7PSG/ - Read

http://www.amazon.com/Revelation-Four-Views-Parallel-Commentary/dp/0840721285/ - Read, which help me also to get…

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003YCQ8W0/ - Read parts of it

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004H1UOPE/ - Read

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002BD2UR0/ - Read

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003TXTC22/ - A pastor I follow online recommend this. I haven’t got to it yet.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0079QQ0RK/ - No way am I going to finish this!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003CYLD5C/ - Haven’t started yet.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0030CVQ5I/ - Started, but read some of the low star reviews.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007J71S62/ - I recently got this book, but haven’t started it yet.

http://www.amazon.com/Petrus-Romanus-Final-Pope-Here/dp/0984825614/ - Uh… yeah. I read it.

***

All of that said, I know of a few Messianic Jews on YouTube but don’t know if there is any such congregation in my area. Alas I am at work and can’t dig out the names here. I also like to pick apart how they view the “rest of us” since, IMO, Christmas and Easter is so paganized.

http://www.reddit.com/r/INTP/comments/1dy1ws/intp_christians/c9v2tia?context=3

http://www.reddit.com/r/Christianity/comments/1c3qyk/jewishness_and_the_trinity_confirmations_and/

Anyway, when I got more time and less interruptions (i.e. AT HOME), I’ll check out the rest. I know of Paul Washer already.

Many annoying little gaffes like this are easily resolved for me the more quickly I reach for this bad boy.

>If it was to symbolize His spiritual rebirth

Nope nope nope. It was to prove that God does and will physically, bodily raise people from the dead, flesh, bones and all. If anything, the Resurrection is a symbol of God's love, but really, much of Christianity is itself a symbol that points us to the Resurrection. Christ was resurrected because God promised that one who would follow His commandments would live, and Jesus did that. Christ was resurrected to bring in the kingdom of God, and kingdoms need a King. (And the Resurrection made sure we know the name of the King: [romans 1:1-7 nrsv]. And Christ was resurrected to be the reboot of humanity, to be the new faithful Adam. Christ was resurrected for us.

Christ was resurrected for the same reason why Adam was created - because God thinks that the physical world is a pretty cool place, and wants to have fleshy, squishy meat humans bearing His image and running the place for Him. It's good for Jesus to be the eternally begotten Son of God, it's even better for Jesus to have a real human body.

When Jesus died, He went to the grave, the Pit - to Sheol. (Sometimes we use the world Hell, but we don't mean the Lake of Fire, since it wasn't time for that place yet. In this case, Hell = Sheol.) He went there because that's where dead humans go. In Sheol, Jesus "preached to the spirits who in former time did not obey" - [1 peter 3:18-22 nrsv]. Most of us believe that at this point, all the righteous who died before Jesus - starting with Adam and Eve and everybody from then on - were released from Sheol and brought into Heaven to worship God.

Jesus committed no sins, but he did take on sin, in the flesh, to kill sin in the flesh. And Jesus was not judged, because Jesus is the judge

It's not a sin to question this. The resurrection is just plain weird. That's one of the many reasons why we were considered "foolish" - our crazy devotion to this weird Jewish god was bad enough, but to say that people got their bodies back after death, and that it was a good thing? Nonsense! And to say that all this happened to some poor Jew, and that was reason to call him King? What nutters!

This is a great book: Surprised by Hope by NT Wright.

> Demonstrate it.

No.

> It's so obvious just reading Leviticus 20:13, Romans 1, the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, etc. that homosexuality is a wicked sin in of itself.

To say that a story about a city of men who try to gang rape three angels visiting them somehow obviously means that God condemns monogamous, same-sex relationships is intellectually lazy at best. Hearing this as one of your scriptural evidences tells me you haven't yet done any sort of serious study on this subject.

Romans 1 is one of the verses that requires careful study and a nuanced hermeneutic. I'm not going to try to debate its meaning here. If you're honestly interested in some careful Biblical study of this subject that arrives at a different conclusion than your own I would recommend reading The Bible, Gender, and Sexuality.

And before writing any nuanced scriptural argument off as hermeneutical gymnastics, consider any of the things in scripture you yourself would not likely claim to follow. Why do we not require women to have their head covered while praying? Because of careful study and a nuanced hermeneutic. Why do we not require women to be silent while in church? Because of careful study and a nuanced hermeneutic. Why do we now condemn slavery despite Paul's command to slaves to obey their masters, and the general lack of condemnation of the practice throughout scripture? Because of careful study and a nuanced hermeneutic. Why do we not stone to death any rebellious sons? Because of careful study and a nuanced hermeneutic.

Keep in mind that what we're debating here in my comment is not even whether or not gay marriages are sinful, but only whether or not it's a reasonable position to hold as a Bible-believing Christian. That's such a low bar. It's honestly about acknowledging that there's a non-zero chance your interpretation of the Bible is wrong on this subject.

To flip it around, it's similar to when an affirming Christian hears your non-affirming stance and immediately calls you a bigot, assumes you don't have the love of Christ in you, and writes you off as a fundamentalist who misses the actual message of the Gospel. I'm sure you're not a fan of that. It's frustrating. It's condescending. It lacks even an ounce of humility in their own position. It's not assuming the best of you.

> but it wasn't culturally condemned to hate or revile them

Even if you hold a non-affirming stance we should be happy that less people 'hate and revile' gay individuals. Even when we condemn a sin we should always be looking for ways to humanize those who are different from us in order to love them in the best way possible.