@alicefaye Everyone can give advice but that doesn't mean everyone else can apply that advice.

If you asked for advice on healing with crystals, my advice wouldn't be fitting because I don't believe in using them. It's the same if a Christian asked for advice on how to pray for healing. Someone who doesn't believe in praying for healing, nor knows how, their advice wouldn't be fitting.

(This is however why I believe it depends, as stated in my first comment. I don't automatically rule out nonbelievers where advice is concerned.)

@OP, am I taking what you've stated so far, the wrong way? Please correct me if I'm wrong.

@living I'm speaking In general about the arse term... Example: "I'm not going to take any advice from someone I presume knows nothing about my religion as I know it to be the "truth"

Seems alittle big headed don't you think. Hence people need to take their head out of their arse.

Advice is advice anyone can give it and that means people need to not presume others can't give it just because they don't believe.

I also know the definition of ignorance: lack of knowledge or used as an insult when someone deliberately ignored or discredits information given to them. Isn't that what OP has done? Lol

@alicefaye Was the "arse" comment torwards me? Regardless, I find it a little disrespectful if about anyone.

Keep in mind, ignorance is simply not knowing something. Willful ignorance is a different story, though...

As far as I understand, @OP is probably thinking "advice" in the sense of how @LadyDanie and @PandAlayah explained it. Would you ask me for spiritual advice concerning your beliefs? That's rhetorical though, just something to think on.

I wouldn't call it disrespect. If I had a question about doctrine I would ask a fellow Christian or my pastor. But if my question was just about an aspect of the bible or something that involves Christianity I see no problem with asking a non Christian. For instance if I were to ask "what do I need to so to gain salvation in the Christian faith?" I would definitely ask another Christian. But if I were to ask something like "About how old was Jesus when He was crucified?" Or "who was the guy that betrayed Jesus?" I see no problem with asking a non Christian especially if they grew up in the church. :)

@living I am very much aware of your "truth" and I certainly didn't "shove" my "truth" (baring in mind I haven't got a clue wether my beliefs are true lol) down your throat. I said I found it extremely ignorant that because of her apparent "truth" she doesn't want to take any advice from someone who doesn't believe or practice her "truth"

Find it weird she called it disrespect? How is giving advice from a different point of view disrespect? Strange...

People having that kind of attitude is ignorant and if anything looks quite immature. Regardless of what faith.

People seriously need to take their heads from their arse.

I don't believe in receiving teachings of Christianity from non-Christians either. They don't have the authority to teach it -They are not led by God, thus they cannot teach the things of Christ. God promised to give pastors after His own heart, and those who are not Christian or no longer Christian don't have the holy spirit and need to be taught, or are not after God's heart so they do not know Him well enough to teach His word.

Jeremiah 3:13, 14

"Confess that you refused to listen to my voice.

I, the Lord, have spoken!

14 'Return home, you wayward children,' says the Lord, 'for I am your master.

I will bring you back to the land of Israel— one from this town and two from that family—from wherever you are scattered.

15 And I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will guide you with knowledge and understanding.' "

It is Clear here that those who have turned from God do not need to be teaching, but instead being taught, gaining knowledge and understanding of Him. Israel had turned from the will of God (they "played the harlot" against God, worshiping other gods and such) so God told them to return to him and he wouldn't hold anger against them,but he'd give them pastors (shepherds) after his own heart so they could be guided in Him.

If you're not close to someone you can't know their heart, so it's not possible to give anyone an accurate account of them. You can only give an account by what you THINK you know about them.

That is not credible.

Christianity is much deeper than "literal facts", and outward non spirit-led study. Christianity centers around a spiritual being...it is a spiritual experience and unless you are in the spirit of God, you can't credibly teach Christianity.

It is also clear by that verse that ministers and pastors are called by God. Everyone who holds the title of a minister or pastor has NOT been called by God to shepherd His people.

1 Corinthians 12: 27 -30

"Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.

And God has placed in the church first of all apostles,second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues.

Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles?

Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? Now eagerly desire the greater gifts."

Nowadays you can go online and become a "certified" minister. That is a trick of the enemy and we must be careful who we allow to guide us, as far as Christianity is concerned (in general also).

God will use those within the body of Christ to effectively teach His word.

Now, that being said, in a forum setting such as this, I believe it's more acceptable for non Christians to give tidbits of information on Christianity because there are Christians here to confirm or correct the information provided. So here, if an unbeliever gives a Christian information on Christianity, I do not believe we must disregard it. They could very well have accurate information based off what other Christians have taught. I simply recommend taking that information and studying for yourself. Pray about it and even ask you pastor about it, if need be. After all, we are to study to show ourselves approved.

But I do not believe Non Christians should be alone teaching Christianity. This is not at all a diss to unbelievers or non -Christians, but if one doesn't understand calculus, one shouldn't teach calculus. If one doesn't understand basketball, one shouldn't teach basketball. Christianity is not a free-for-all where anybody is free to teach it.

Christians shouldn't teach Islam, Buddhists shouldn't teach Zoroastrianism, etc.

I would also like to point out that not everyone who cries "Lord Lord!!!" Will enter into the kingdom of heaven. Meaning not everyone who claims to be Christian truly is Christian.

With that said, from the previously provided statistics, I would like to know whose standards this is based off of. God's? Or the world's? I truly believe that It would be more accurate to say that 73% PROFESS Christianity.

Going by God's standards, If you ask how many actually believe in and follow the teachings of Christ, I am willing to bet that percentage would go down tremendously (if one doesn't respect the teachings of Jesus, or believe God's word to be true, one is not truly a Christian).

If you ask how many are Christians merely because they were born into a family of Christians, I again am willing to bet that percentage would go down tremendously (One is not automatically a Christian just because their family members are, this is a personal walk).

Because Christianity is a spiritual faith, Statistics such as these may not be as accurate as we think. Wording is important.

@american I understand that and agree with your explanation on what it means. To explain myself, the reason I stated what I did in my previous comment, is not because I have a problem with the saying. It is because I have seen it used in a way to passively say that a person is wrong. Using it to tell someone they are wrong defeats the purpose of saying it.

I disagree a bit with the wording that OP used, I would not use the word disrespect because when someone doesn't agree with YOUR TRUTH, it's a matter of PERSONAL BELIEF AND FACT TO THAT PERSON.

I don't seem that as disrespectful, it's a learning process with two sides..

( bold letters for emphasis)

???

@Living - I'm pretty sure "everyone has their own truth" means that truth is relative and that everyone's truth/belief is equally deserving of respect.

It does not mean that your truth is less valid or that all truths are equally factual in the long run. It simply means that different people see the same evidence and come to different conclusions (truths).

For instance, different people witness the same theater show from different places, perspectives, and mindsets. Some of them may see different things, depending on where they're seated. They have different experiences. They draw different conclusions and may each remember the event differently. Each of them have a different truth. They might not all be totally accurate, but if they're discussing the show (without having the writer there to answer questions), there's no way for them to know for sure who is right when their recollections conflict.

By saying "everyone has their own truth," I don't see it so much as dismissing your belief that your truth is the ultimate truth, but simply acknowledging that our truths all ultimately come down to faith and therefore we should not bicker about who is right or dismiss certain people/ideas/beliefs simply because they don't subscribe to the same truth.

It just means that, from our earthly perspective, we cannot objectively tell whose truth is the most accurate. Maybe we'll find out when we die and meet the writer of the show, but until then, it's up to interpretation and what we've seen.

@alicefaye One thing to understand is that Christians believe our truth is the truth. Now, I've never shoved that down anyone's throat so I'd appreciate it if "everyone has their own truth" was not shoved down mine. If I read that wrong then forgive me, but I don't like for my belief (which I've actually never expressed on here because of the rules) to be cast aside and told "there's no one frikkin true belief". It's a two-way street, I don't tell you that you're wrong, you don't tell me I'm wrong.

Not to be rude but I find it extremely ignorant that you don't want advice from someone who doesn't follow your faith, completely agree with american_smile, that's like my saying "oh sorry I don't want to take advice on the healing power of crystals and reiki from you because you don't believe it to be true, therefor your advice means nothing...." ? like wtf?

Correct me if I've read into this wrong but honestly? What makes your beliefs so superior that they make everyone else's advice who doesn't follow your religion or denomination to be any less? ?

There is no frikkin one true belief. As far as I'm personally concerned we're all winging it and that includes me also. ?

It's ok @ Living, it worked in well with the conversation. :)

I'm sure it entirely possible to run into someone who knows a little bit more than you do, from time to time. ?

I've learned lots of things from Catholic ladies and non-Christian ladies just from this forum, alone. The world is a very big place. It's never save to assume you know more than another.

Someone telling you your beliefs about God are wrong, that's a different story. Nobody can prove God's existence one way or the other, factually speaking. ?

@wookiee I haven't read any of the former comments, lol I apologize. Just to let you know that my response was only torwards the OP.

@Living, I am talking about literal facts.

@OP (I haven't read any former comments.)

I believe it depends.

Are they giving literal facts? That's different from teaching the spiritual aspects. Sometimes one who doesn't believe in a specific spiritual/divine aspect of Christianity, may not grasp it and therefore could give incorrect information. That's not to say they can't grasp and explain other aspects, however. I know many nonbelievers within the forums understand that Catholics don't actually pray TO Mary, (Jesus' mother) but they ask her and others they believe to be in Heaven to pray FOR them.

So it truly depends on the circumstances, the information, and the person themself.

I find it odd when people think that only Christians can know a lot about Christianity and that non-Christians cannot speak with any authority on the topic. It is especially funny to me when Christians talk to non-Christians like they have never heard of Jesus in a country that is mostly Christian.

Just talking about the U.S. for a moment, 73% of Americans are Christian and that percentage is bumped up considerably when you include former Christians. It is not unusual at all to find non-Christians who have studied the Bible extensively and who have been Christians (often devout Christians) at some point.

Of course, this is not saying that ALL non-Christians have equal knowledge of Christianity to non-Christians. But take for example 2 twin brothers, both raised Christian, attend a Christian school, regularly attend church, pray devoutly, and feel they have a personal relationship with the Christian God. Both are in seminary classes as they get older, and both get perfect marks on all of their evaluations. After graduation, one becomes a Christian minister. The other finds after studying the Bible for a long time in seriousness that it does not ring true to him, and so he chooses another path that makes more sense to him. In this scenario, they both have similar Biblical knowledge - enough to become a minister. To say that the second brother (in matters of the Bible, not of personal faith) could not easily teach a very good Bible study class just because he does not believe it is the inerrant word of God would be an ad hominem fallacy.

Similarly, two women here of similar background and religious studies but with different personal faiths should not be assumed unequal in their knowledge.

I think she's saying she doesn't want to learn Protestant Christianity from non Protestant Christians nor non Christians.

I still don't understand the question honestly. I however agree that we have different views of truth but I disagree that in any religion there's no need to learn other religions, for me the reason I feel so solid in my belief is because I took the time to understand other religions to really look for truth everywhere, I'm not muslim simply because it's my family religion I'm muslim because I believe in it as truth over any other religion that I have learned about so yes I do believe to say yours is absolute truth you have to have taken the time to read others.

This is my personal view :)

I'm with @american-smile here. For example, if I provide a fact about the KJV, it's a documentable fact about the publishing of that version of the Bible. It is not from the devil.

I'm not sure what your point is.

If someone has accurate information, why does it matter what their own faith is?

For instance, I'm pagan, but I was raised Catholic and am very well educated about Catholic theology and the history of the Christian church.

So even though I am not Christian myself, I am well-informed about the Christian faith and can teach people what I know.

As long as I give accurate information, why does it matter that I myself am not Christian?

I'm sorry I'm probably all over the place with my responses. Just ask if i didn't make sense.

@zeta for me I'm sure mine is truth for me. I'm sure for others it isn't though.

@sweetbrea no i don't think it's ok to take advice as far as religion concerns from people who are not of your religion when it has to do with it, especially if they are trying to put in scientist before God. But as far as like artifacts and such, yes, you can get advice because there could be something. But it was basically just for people who are Christian. But then also some who say are Christian may not know all either.

I think it depends. I guess I could see your point if you're talking about the actual dogma/religious aspects of Christianity, but I see no disrespect in learning things like historical fact from non christian sources if they have factual information.

Not sure I can understand exactly what your saying

It's either your saying that it's important to learn about other religions to know yours is the truth?

Or

You refuse to learn about other religions because your so sure yours is the truth?

If you could clarify :)