From: christian@geneva.rutgers.edu
Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian
Subject: FAQ for soc.religion.christian
Date: 4 Jan 93 05:01:00 GMT

Unfortunately my FAQ collection is too big for a single FAQ to be
practical.  It's about 2MB.  Thus it's organized as a set of files on
specific topics.  You can retrieve them via anonymous FTP from
ftp.rutgers.edu, in pub/soc.religion.christian.  They are in three
subdirectories: faq, mine, and others.

Here's what I've got that I would consider the FAQ proper: reasonably
factual summaries of common issues.  I don't agree with all the
doctrines described, but they're often asked about.  These are in the
subdirectory faq.

arminius - summary of Arminius' views.  (Arminius is the
	originator of Arminianism.  I did this FAQ because of a number
	of postings showing a misunderstanding of what Arminianism is.)
bibles - online sources of the Bible
books - list of Christian classics
catholic.bbs - list of Catholic BBS's
catholic.issues - response to a set of common questions about
	Catholic beliefs
canon - the history of the canon, with a few comments on the text
christ-is-god - discussion of NT passages relevant to the question
	of whether Christ is God
church-history - list of books about Church history
comma - a discussion of the textual issues behind the Johannine
	Comma (1 John 5:7).  In some translations this passage
	contains an apparent reference to the Trinity.  This posting
	explains why this reference is almost certainly a late addition
cults - an attempt to summarize the criteria commonly used to
	classify something as a "cult" -- note that no judgements
	are made about specific groups in this posting
d&d - a summary of the objections to D&D (not that I agree with
	them, but it's a FAQ)
denominations - a summary of the common families of denominations
depravity - what's this total depravity business?
dollar-bill - where the symbolism on the dollar bill came from
easter-date - algorithms and programs for computing Easter
email-addresses - email addresses of organizations relevant to
	academic religious studies
email-lists - a catchall list of all mailing lists, online archives,
	etc, on the topic of Christianity
ftp - recommended FTP addresses for the KJV
gospel-barnabas - a discussion of the Gospel of Barnabas -- a
	medieval forgery that sometimes comes up in discussions 
	with Moslems
greek-fonts - where to get greek fonts for PC's.
immaculate - a description of the doctrine of the immaculate conception
infallibility - a description of Papal infallibility, and discussions
	about what decisions are considered infallible.  (This is not
	an argument about whether the idea is right or not, but an
	attempt to explain what it means.)
jw - a summary of Jehovah's Witness doctrines
kjv.fixes - typos in the online KVJ
law - discussion of the status of the Law for Christians
last-supper-date - a summary of the issues involved in deciding which
	day of the week the last supper was on, and related issues
latin-mass-dir - a list of all places in the U.S. and Canada where
	Latin masses are celebrated (by Roman Catholics)
latin-texts - a list of classic prayers in Latin available via email
law - discussion of Christian uses for the Law, from the Formula of Concord
lds.faq.1 and .2 - a summary of LDS beliefs (done by LDS)
lent - describes Roman Catholic practices related to lent
logos - summary of possible sources for the concept of Logos in John
masons - summary of issues involving masonry
mormon - a summary of LDS beliefs (done by me -- lds.faq is too long
	for many purposes)
nicene - the Nicene creed, in both versions, and more than you ever
	wanted to know about where it came from
niv - the cheapest known source of an online copy of the NIV
noachic - where do the 7 Noachic laws come from?
organizations - list of Christian non-demoninational mission organizations
original-sin - what is the doctrine and why might one believe it?
rosary - what the rosary is and how to pray it
sabbath - various Christian views on the status of the Sabbath
shroud - summary of current views on the Shroud of Turin
translations - a summary of major English Bible translations
trinity.biblical - the Biblical basis for the Trinity
trinity.explanation - a more detailed description of the doctrine
unforgiveable - on the unforgiveable sin
x-outof-nt - a list of references to Christ outside the NT

--------
The following are position papers that express my views.  They are
in a separate directory: mine.

arminianism  - a summary of Arminianism (should really be in FAQ)
atonement
biblical-crit - a summary of issues in textual and literay criticism
calvin.bible - calvin's view on the Bible
calvinism
christmas - on the propriety of Christians' celebrating Christmas
decision - my position of free will, grace, etc.
doubt - the usefuless thereof
ecumenism
epistemology - an attempt to say why I believe in the truth of Christianity
free-will - probably is now subsumed in "decision"
gods-responsbility - God's responsibility for human failure
homosexuality
homosexuality.conversions
incarnation
inerrancy
judgement
law
mines - "where were the Protestants before the 16th Cent?"
once-saved - once saved, always saved?
p&g - "Procter and Gamble" gives its profits to the Satanic Church? [a 
	classic case of urban legend]
paul
pentecostalism
picking	- liberals "pick and choose" pieces of the bible that they
	agree and disagree with?
problems - problem passages
progression - progressive revelation
rules - rules in Christian ethics
tev - review of the TEV translation
theodicy - God's responsibility for evil
trinity - my view
what-is-x - "what is x'ity?"
why-jesus
women
works

----------------------

The following are summaries of views of others.  In some cases they
could just as well be in faq, but they'e in a subdirectory others:

bapt-nec4-salv  - whether baptism is necessary for salvation
blasphemy-holy-spirit - what is meant by blaspheming the holy spirit
boston-ch-x - HUGE (114K) summary of various views and experiences
	on the Boston Church of Christ and related groups
catholic-list - mailing list on Catholic issues moderated by jhpb.
	This is not the same as the more visible "Free Catholics"
	list.  The latter includes Anglicans and others.  This one
	is intended to be about Roman Catholicism.
christian-science
contradictions - in the Bible
creationism.anti - bibliography of books about creationism (I never
	got a bibliography of books favoring it -- I'll add it if I do)
dating
dispensationalism
divinity-of-x-biblical
existence-of-god
fish-story - debunking of commonly cited claims that someone was swallowed
	by a whale
galileo
homosexuality
inerrancy
latin-bible
non-christians
prophecy
trinity.passages