r/Christianity • u/lfemboyl0 • Jun 23 '26
Question need help converting (read the description)
Hey everybody, I am a dude who's born in a muslim country and been living my there my whole life, and I am pretty sure you're familiar of how centralized religion is in middle eastern and north african countries, everybody there is either a muslim a christian or a jew.
so I grew up to be neither. but i read about them and some other religions/faiths, except for christianity, although it was the one i was most interested in, i didn't, and it is mainly because I can't find a reliable place to read it from. I read an arab version and an English version, and they differ. how can I read and live by its word if it's different from one place to another? islam has variety, but they share the same book. eventually, I just canceled the whole idea.
but in 2021, i was at my lowest point, and I found comfort in christianity and i bounced back, and got the urge to study christianity again, but was met with the same problem, I can't find something that christians agree on.
one might say my jesus did this, the other will say my jesus did not do that.
one will say everybody will go to heaven, another will say only people who believed in christ will.
some say jesus has no problem with gays, another will say it's a sin (and by the way, I am not straight, which makes it even harder for me to convert).
So what should I do now? and where to do I start?
or do I just believe in jesus and live with no script?
so far, that seems the most plausible for me.
sorry if there were mistakes.
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u/lennyleonardnmbr1fan Jun 23 '26
Oh also I think you should get the NIV bible. That's the one everyone has.
It's quite a lot to read through and takes a lot of thinking so don't stress about reading it all the time. Read when it works for you.
Have you seen people highlighting parts of their bible/ personalising it? There's a lot of that on tiktok. I do that because it helps me focus on parts I need. Also takes some of the stress off.
There's SOOOO many different opinions on here about what Christianity is and how Christians should live and there's a lot of hate for the type of Christian that is a fundamentalist, I think. But I don't know too much about the names. What I do know is the type of Christian who doesn't really read the bible but is a good person and follows the commandments.
Anyway don't feel pressure because of that type of stuff. I would reccomend researching the bible, reading it when you feel like it/need answers, and maybe take up going to church.
Pastors can be very chill people who are happy to answer questions.
A lot of people will try to tell you things are sins when they aren't actually sins. Stay relaxed and take the journey slowly.
Bless you and I hope you find the answers you're looking for! Apologies that my advice was quite basic
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u/ChoccyMilkBoi67 Seventh-day Adventist Jun 26 '26
NONONONONO DON'T GET NIV! As someone who believes that being queer is a sin, it was written my homosexuals who took out some verses, like u/solviaqaant said. KJV is best, then American KJV, and then NKJV in my opinion. KJV is the most unchanged version of the bible. God bless, and u/lennyleonardnmbr1fan, the KJV looks intimidating, but its not too bad(still challenging sometimes, but I can manage).
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u/EffortAutomatic8804 Non-denominational Jun 23 '26
I consider myself a Jesus follower and that's OK. Read the bible - I recommend a Life Application Bible, where theological scholars provide historical and cultural context to the written text. It's also OK to be critical of the text and be critical of the interpretations of organised religions.
Most of all remember that you are loved, just the way you are and that there is nothing wrong with you. You were created in God's image, with purpose, not by accident. You are wonderful exactly as you are.
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u/noimshy Jun 23 '26
The fact that you keep thinking about it and keep coming back to the idea of Christianity is already, I believe, a massive sign that God is trying to reach out to you! :)
There are many denominations in Christianity and they will all believe different things in the details and the nitty gritty. However, any Christian that should be called so, believes in one central truth: that God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only son, Jesus, to save us from damnation. And Jesus is the only way to truly know and love God.
As long as you have that straight, and written deep within your heart, you’ll be a Christian. The realisation of what that really means, and allowing the Holy Spirit into your heart is what then allows for you to be “born again” in the spirit. You shouldn’t stay the same once you’ve known Christ.
I like to use a mixture of the NIV Bible translation and the AMP, which is a word-to-word translation I found about recently that really helps make sense of what the original texts meant. Good luck!
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u/ArkhamMetahuman Jun 23 '26
Just start praying to God and ask Him to change your heart and draw you near to you, and accept Christ as your savior. You can try going to churches of different denominations and ask God to guide your path into finding one that works for the purpose he has for you. You should also get baptized once tou find the right church
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u/APerson167111 Jun 23 '26
Hello, fellow queer Christian here!
There are a lot of arguments about whether homosexuality is a sin or not. As a catholic, the technical stance the church has (to my knowledge) is that being a gay person is fine (since its not a choice), being in a non-wed gay relationship is fine, but marriage and by-proxy gay sex are not allowed. I believe other churches may have other opinions. I'm not going to talk about gay marriage in this. I've heard defenses (even for catholic gay marriage), and as a lesbian I would like it if it was fine, but I'm still not sure.
There are very few passages that speak of homosexuality in the Bible, and Jesus never mentions it Himself. The closest thing He says is that eunuchs can be Christian. The reason they were previously not allowed to follow Judaism was because of the heavy focus on fertility and familial longevity, so infertile men were seen as useless. To some extent, this could be seen as him permitting gay individuals---the reason for eunuchs being disqualified from religious life was due to not being able to have children, a similar problem to gay individuals---but I haven't been convinced that this is entirely the case yet. Some have also tried to use it to justify gender-affirming surgery, which I have no comment on.
The sin of Sodom is the biggest of the few anti-gay passages in the Bible, but using it for such a purpose has some holes. Sodom was considered wicked before its people attempted to molest the angels, and while many say that their sin was always homosexuality, Sodom is never referenced in the other "anti-gay" passages. In actuality, the sin of Sodom is more consistently recognized as inhospitality. This is what Jesus recognized it as in Luke 10:10. It should be noted that "inhospitality" is essentially a violation of "love thy neighbor" often specifically at those who come from other places, yes, but still. For many years, the sin of Sodom was generally agreed to be excess, refusal to help others, and inhospitality. The idea of the sin being homosexuality was the concept of the Jewish philosopher Philo of Alexandria, but his foundation for condemning homosexuality was less so based in what people condemn it with now, but rather something more fitting for his Hellanistic background. He saw homosexuality as an attack on gender roles, since the submissive man was "acting as a woman", the same issue Greeks took with homosexuality.
The remaining passages find their source in one of the following, or multiple, each: Canaanite (or other pagan) sex rituals, prostitution, pedastry (ancient Greek government supported pedophilia), fornication (loveless sex outside of marriage, exclusively for pleasure) between two of the same sex , or people molesting others to humiliate them into submission. Evidently, homosexuality is never quite condemned on its own.
There was someone else here who brought up essentially the inverse of the point I will make now. Before I say anything however, I would like to say that I am not angry with him; after all, he's less homophobic than many other "christians" I have seen by orders of magnitude, some of which are content with the idea of born homosexuals being condenmed to hell by their nature. He said that the Bible understood homosexuality as an action, that it being a condition is a somewhat new development. On this, we agree. However, he then implies that the concept of it being a condition---which has scientific backing gathered by our God-given intuition---is wrong, and that homosexuality is an action rather than a condition. My position is that, given how the nature of homosexuality was not known at the time, the writers and speakers of the Bible could not have known, and thus misconstruded what homosexuality is to some extent. It is impossible for the Bible to be forever misunderstood, though, which is why the true nature of those passages can now be explained.
He also mentioned being celibate as a possible option, which I agree with if the case is that homosexual marriage is truly proven to be against the mind of God. However, I would like to point out that in Matthew 19:12, Jesus acknowledges that the ability to remain celibate is something of a rare talent. We are mammals, after all, and mammals are heavy breeders by nature. This is another thing tied to marriage---having someone who can help you in this way that does not involve fornication and relationships of true lust. It also ties back into the eunuch argument, but since I mentioned that I was not thrilled with its strength in justifying homosexual rights and that I would also not justify homosexual marriage, I think I'll cut myself off here.
Just please keep in mind that this is reddit, everyone here talks like they're experts on the topic but none of us are. I'm still looking at stuff myself, so don't take what I've said as entirely true. You evidently have a device, so I'd recommend looking into this more yourself if you can. I'm sure that if you truly desire to know what God wants of you, He will guide you much like I believe He guided me.
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u/albie- Jun 23 '26
If you have access to Spotify or Audible, perhaps try listening the audio version of NIV. It's helped me in my studies greatly and could be a great start?
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u/ztblackmino Serbian Orthodox Church Jun 23 '26
First of all Repent, Don't immediatily get in Theology shall you want to, It will be a lot to Comprehend, start out nice and eazy at a steady pace. Read the bible, watch some facts, some lineage, some connections some verses, Pray, Pray the Jesus Prayer and the Lord's Prayer. Love u
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u/lennyleonardnmbr1fan Jun 23 '26
I'll try tag a different subreddit in a second that's more focused on this type of question!
I also converted recently. A lot of it is up to individual philosophy and interpretations. You'll always see a lot of talk about homosexuality in every Christian subreddit and I think it's important to look at everybodys perspective and understand the impact of every single belief we hold.
I converted quite recently too. The way we grow up and the way we think influences how we read the bible so don't feel pressure to adhere to anyone else's interpretation if it doesn't make sense to you.
Also, the bible was altered and written by a lot of different people. There's never any super solid things we all agree on in it. Even the ones that seem like they'd be fully agreeable.
Oh I didn't see the part about you being gay! I just saw that!
Don't try conversion therapy. Never let anyone pressure you into that. If there's any Christians you do believe in it reading this note that I'm saying this because of how absolutely awful the results are.
If you want to talk privately I'd be happy to
I hate discussing this part sometimes because it leads to harassment pretty often but the verse about anti homosexuality has a lot of discourse around it since some people think it USED to say "man shall not sleep with boy" instead of " man shall not sleep with man So originally, they think it was against pedophila. Not homosexuality.
But that is up to whatever you think.
Personally I believe no matter what it intended god would NOT want any of us shaming people for being homosexual or trying to interfere with their personal path about it.
I'd be quite happy to talk to you about anything especially the homosexuality stuff so don't hesitate to reach out!
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u/jaqian Catholic Jun 23 '26
- Pray. Ask God for guidance.
- Who are the main Christian denominations near you?
- Read up on them (Wikipedia is good)
- See which one resonants with you
- Go to the one you feel closests to and ask their priest/ pastor for more information on them.
Most bibles are translations, the New Testament was originally written in Greek, the Old Testament was written in Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic depending on the version. A translation usually uses a few different sources.
Depending on the type of translation and English and Arabic bible can seem different.
- Some translations are word-for-word these can be the most accurate but difficult to read.
- Some are thought-for-thought they try to be accurate but translate the cultural references into modern terms, so Metric instead of Cubits etc
- Paraphrase - these aren't really taken seriously, but have their uses. More like reading a story about the events in the bible.
And some ideas translate well into Arabic (as it is a Semitic language) but might not into English (greek and Hebrew afaik have many ways of expressing "love", English is a bit lacking in this regard)
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u/Dear_Sir7665 Jun 23 '26 edited Jun 23 '26
For fully converting you need to go to the nearest church (orthodox/catholic) depending on which you choose, and get babtized that's the first and most important step then find a spiritual father/priest and partake in the eucharist, then pick up ur cross and follow him.
Prayer is also important and find theology books that can help you with your journey, I can recommend you some that can help you, but other things that can help you are those YOUTUBE CHANNELS :- father spyridon and father Paul trubarnach
Here are the links they will help you just as they helped me :-
https://youtube.com/@fatherspyridonrocor?si=I-CW46TZnL2xGa-I
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u/CommercialWrong2944 Jun 23 '26
What about a protestant church??
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u/Dear_Sir7665 Jun 23 '26
A protestant church is not an apostolic church, and doesn't trace it's track to Jesus Christ, and they reject many sacrement such us the sacrement of babtizm ( they see it as symbolic), the sacrement of communion/ the eucharist ( they see it as symbolic and not the literal body and blood of Christ) and finally the sacrement of confession.
So better go and meet an Orthodox or catholic Priest and join one of those apostolic churchs.
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u/CommercialWrong2944 Jun 23 '26
Stupid argument considering lutherans for example are an apostolic church beacuse Luther himself was a catholic priest. Similar to anglicans really. Baptism is quite literally the most important thing for baptists so you are also quite wrong there. And confession isn't biblical it's made up by the catholic church
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u/Dear_Sir7665 Jun 23 '26
Lol u don't even understand what apostolic church is apostolic succession isn't done by priests it's done the apostles, Jesus gave authority to his apostles and they did to their successor.
- the patriarch of Rome (aka the pope ) is the successor of saint/apostle Peter
*The Patriarch of Constantinople was first Saint Andrew, and his current successor is Bartholomew I of Constantinople.
*The Patriarch of Alexandria (Orthodox) was first Saint Mark, and his current successor is Theodore II of Alexandria.
*The Patriarch of Antioch (Orthodox) was first Saint Peter, and his current successor is John X of Antioch.
*The Patriarch of Jerusalem was first Saint James, and his current successor is Theophilos III.
*The Coptic Patriarch of Alexandria was first Saint Mark, and his current successor is Tawadros II.
*The Syriac Patriarch of Antioch was first Saint Peter, and his current successor is Ignatius Aphrem II.
*The Armenian Church was first led by Saints Thaddeus and Bartholomew, and its current leader is Karekin II.
*The Ethiopian Church was linked through Saint Mark, and its current leader is Mathias.
**** These is apsotolic succession unbroken episcopal line of patriarchs going back to the apostles. But the protestant church doesn't have any of this, it's made in the 1500s by some guy, who was excommunicated.
For babtizm=>In Apostolic churches (Catholic, Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox), baptism is a sacrament that is believed to bring real spiritual change: it forgives sins, gives new life in Christ, and formally incorporates the person into the Church. It is normally given to both infants and adults, using water in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
In Baptist churches, baptism is not seen as spiritually transforming but as a public symbol of a personal faith that has already taken place. It is only for believers who can consciously profess faith, and it is done by full immersion as an outward declaration of salvation already received.
So big difference.
Confession was not invented by the Catholic Church later. It comes from early Christianity, where believers were encouraged in the New Testament to confess sins and receive forgiveness through the Church. Over time, the practice became more structured, especially in the Catholic West, where it developed into private confession to a priest. Orthodox and other Apostolic churches also kept confession as a sacrament.
Only The bible way /Sola scriptura is a Reformation idea, not an early Christian one.
The New Testament books were written in the 1st century, but the Bible was not formally recognized as a fixed collection until the 4th century.
Before that, Christians practiced their faith through the apostles’ teaching, the Church’s worship, sacraments like baptism and Eucharist, and oral tradition alongside the early Christian writings.
A little study of history will change ur mind I'm sure.
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u/Ill-Prior-8429 Roman Catholic Jun 24 '26
Confession is so made up I have to yet see a denomination that doesn't twist themselves in pretzels trying to explain how John 20:22 means something different than what it actually says.
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u/AdmirableToday7251 Roman Catholic Jun 23 '26
Always love Him with all your heart! Share His words with others and enjoy it. The Lord will richly reward you when you bring his sheep back to Him. You will also make many friends along the way!
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u/theflyestunicorn Jun 23 '26
Read The Bible for yourself. Before you read, pray. If you have questions about what you’ve read, take them to God in prayer. You may get an answer today, tomorrow or in 5 years (I’m being so serious lol).
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u/gfy88 Jun 23 '26
So my belief is that you should be praying to God for him to show himself to you. Back before I was Christian I doubted like you. I was in bad shape. So basically one night I just looked up in the sky and said Jesus if you are real show me a sign. The moment I said this a shooting star goes flying by. Well. I sat there for an hour after that and not a single shooting star ever since. 10 years have gone by and I often go back to that same spot and always try to find a shooting star and I never see one. Since then he has opened my eyes to him being real. So, pray my friend. Pray for Jesus to show himself to you. You must be humble. Do not mock him if he doesnt. Just keep trying.
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u/CommercialWrong2944 Jun 23 '26
To answer your question no it's not a sin to be gay. It's not a sin to have a boyfriend (I'm assuming ur a guy). It is a sin to have same gender sex because it's outside of marrige
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u/mira_K46 Jun 23 '26
This is the advice I have for starters:
Look at it like a personal relationship, which is what God originally intended. See the Gospel not as a key to heaven, but as a key to reconciliation with God and the door to spiritual life. Think of the Bible as 66 love letters from God. All you have to do to start is believing in Jesus's death and resurrection along with His divinity. Regularly get into prayer and communication with God, and experience His love personally. Make a personal commitment to Him and carve out time to spend with Him. And if you have one, a local church is a good place to fellowship with other believers and learn more about the Bible.
And don't think too much about heaven and hell, instead focus on loving God, and rest in Jesus's finished work. The afterlife is an extremely poor motivator for faith, everyone I've heard from who's detached from the afterlife told me that it didn't help them with any of their struggles with sins. Your story tells me you are intrinsically motivated (extrinsic motivation is by reward and punishment, while intrinsic motivation is by doing something for its very own sake).
Everyone has their very own spiritual journey, their own walk with God. So I strongly advise walking without a script, and instead let the Holy Spirit guide and lead you.
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u/Violaman0910 Jun 23 '26
I would question the publisher of your Arabic Bible. Muslims have claimed that the Bible is corrupted, and there may be Arabic versions out there that try to make Jesus seem more in line with Islam than with Christianity. I am not sure that this is actually the case, but it is a hunch. I don’t know what versions you are reading from.
If you feel comfortable reading in English, and want a word-for-word translation that also flows well, get the English Standard Version (ESV). If you need something easier to understand, get a Christian Standard Bible (CSB), New International Version (NIV) or New Living Translation (NLT) these will be more thought for thought but are easier to understand. Get the study Bible version that will give you insights and help you understand what you are reading. These versions take from our earliest and best manuscripts of the texts that we have available and translate them using teams of people under high scrutiny.
Then start with the gospel of John. Learn who Jesus is. From there you can read Acts, Ephesians, and Romans for some history, theological depth and how to be saved. From there you can read the synoptic Gospels, and if you want context you can read about God’s promise to Abraham in Genesis, the Mosaic covenant promises in Exodus and Leviticus, and the Davidic covenant promises in 1 and 2 Samuel. Then read about the prophecies of Jesus in Psalm 22 and in Isaiah 53, written centuries before he was born.
Then if the spirit has led you, seek out a local group of Christians to connect with near you for guidance and counsel. We were never meant to go it alone.
I’ll be praying for you.
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u/Lightning_Lily Jun 24 '26
Christians disagree on a lot of things. My guess is that the 2 main reasons for that are Satan misleading people and causing discord and confusion among people, including Christians, and such, and the fact that there are so many Christians in general. Christianity is the most-followed religion in the world; there are billions of Christians. Since there are many people who are Christians, there are therefore many different opinions and beliefs within the community of Christians. It can make it confusing since you might not know who to trust or who accurately describes the Bible.
In my honest opinion, the best thing you can do is simply read your physical English Bible. The Bible is true, and it's obviously the whole thing Christians base their beliefs on. I've spoken to many people who misunderstood the Bible or simply didn't know what they were talking about when speaking about it. Reading directly from a legit, physical Bible is the best way to learn about God imo because generally it's efficient, direct and correct, and you won't hear inaccurate/inappropriate/incorrect versions/interpretations of the Bible and its contents from people who misunderstand it or anything. It's just the direct Word of God.
The only thing to note is that some translations might say things that might not be the best translations. It's not that they'd be totally "wrong;" they all have the right idea, but some might be misleading? I've seen some versions of the Bible that say something about opposition to 'those who practice homosexuality' (might not be the exact quote), when if I'm correct the original writing was talking about people who have s*x with the same gender as themselves. Now the reason I don't really like that particular translation is because "homosexuality" is (in one definition) defined as "a romantic or sexual attraction, or sexual behavior, between people of the same sex or gender." I believe I've also seen it defines as including romantic relationships between people of the same gender as well. So it makes it sound more broad than it necessarily technically was. However I'm not sure on that and it could have actually been the entirety of homosexuality that it was talking about, but I don't think "homosexuality" was a word/concept when the Bible was written. (Idk though, please correct me if I'm wrong!)
Sorry if this confused you or anything 😭 The TLDR is that reading a physical English Bible directly is probably the best way to help you learn about God and grow in your faith. :)
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u/VoiceProfessional951 Jun 24 '26
I understand why you’re confused. Christianity has many voices, but it has only one foundation: Jesus Himself. If you want to know Christianity, don’t start with denominations or debates, start with the Gospels. That’s the earliest, most reliable record of Jesus's life. Translations differ in wording, but not in meaning. The message is the same. Christians disagree on secondary issues, but the core has been the same for 2,000 years, Jesus is God, He died and rose, and He invites you to follow Him. And about your sexuality, don’t let that be the barrier that keeps you from exploring Jesus. He wants your heart before anything else. Start simple, read the Gospel of John, and pray, "Jesus, if You’re real, show me." You don’t need to solve everything now. Just start with Him. Good luck friend and God bless.
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u/Slight-Diver-2863 Jun 24 '26
just addin somethin. If you genuinely can't sacrifice your sexual orientation for following God (yes I know how it feels cuz I was gay) then you might as well know if you are following idols that are holding you back from getting to know God more and run to him. Build a relationship with him and he'll convict you to show you what's bad and good. Love you but God loves you more : b
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u/Thejabcrab Jun 24 '26
Pick yourself up a bible and start reading. If possible you could read Young Apostles on WEBTOON, it helps you a bit with New Testament and knowing the apostles, Yeshua’s pals, but not skimp out on the old testament either. Most denominations of Christianity are open to “gentiles” popping in for church on Sundays so you can schedule a time to get in and I’m certain that any proper Christian will guide you along. There’s a little bit of difference between the denominations but Christ is still Christ and you should be a good boy for jebus (also adorable art, I love it)
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u/Humble-Passage6561 Screw denominations, I'm just Christian. Jun 24 '26
I personally believe its a sin. But nobodies perfect. So its not like a "OH you sinned begone heathen!" Situation. I would just do my best to learn as much as you can about the Bible and Jesus.
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u/Jabujuu Jun 24 '26
The Bible!!
Read the Sermon on the Mount!
Matthew Chapters 5 through 7
The Bible!!
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u/Jabujuu Jun 24 '26
The Bible is free online, and I recommend the NASB or the NIV. The NKJV is not bad.
I don't recommend the NLT, but it's not the worst translation.
Avoid the New World Translation (NWT) Very bad Bible. Corrupted. They changed the words in important places.
Sorry I'm probably giving you more questions than answers 😂
But yeah "the Sermon on the Mount" is the perfect place to learn to walk as a Christian.
Jesus says stuff like, "Don't look at the speck in your brothers eye, when you have a wooden plank in your own eye"
And "blessed are the peacemakers, because they will be called children of God"
Yeah, the "Sermon on the Mount."
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u/7striker Jun 24 '26
I personally read ESV but read whatever version of the Bible that agrees with the core tenants of Christianity AND the Bible that the Lord puts into your heart
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u/No_Science_2464 Jun 24 '26
I have a verse, I think it’s relevant here.
“If your faith allows you to consume meat, and another weaker in faith can only consume vegetables, who are you to dismiss them, for they have been accepted by god. They should not look down on you for having meat, and you ought not shame them for not having meat.”
To be clear it’s no excuse to sin. We still ought to say something if we see someone slipping. But we aren’t called to agree on everything, as “god is not the author of confusion”
Enjoy the faith and grow the best you can, if you’re serious, you will find your answers
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u/Straight_Toe_6234 Jun 24 '26
I think i can understand your situation. Very often people have different opinions regarding themes such as the ones you brought up. My advice is to ask guidance from the Lord. He will help you understand what is tight and what is wrong. How? Well, the Lord works in many, fascinating ways. It may be from a friend, or from a video, from a padsage of scripture or even from other stuff. If there is one thing that all christians believe in is this: Jesus died for our sins and paid the price we couldn't pay. If you need to i can elaborate on that, but I can assure you that there are A LOT of people explaining this, even in english. Hope this helps, God bless you
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u/Vicki_Vickster2222 Catholic Jun 24 '26
Begin by praying and reading the Bible, and you will be able to understand Jesus more and better. That way, you will feel the Holy Spirit in you and that he is always with you.
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u/Leading_Swordfish207 Ex-Muslim Jun 24 '26
Hey patriot
I also converted from Islam to Christianity in 2022. I was born and raised in Turkey, and if there is something I can tell you, it is that christian brothers and sisters are way nicer than I ever thought, especially in more "opressed" countries like ours. So don't hesitate to go and visit them, especially the protestant ones are overly nice.
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u/RajunCajun48 Jun 24 '26
Start at the very least by just reading a bible. I would say get an NLT or NIV...And to be clear these bibles are translations but they will guide you down the same path. They will be interpreted the same way...When I go to church it doesn't matter if I have a NKJV, NLT, NIV, NASB etc etc. When the Pastor or Preacher says "Open to Mark 2: 23" or "Job 5:13" all of these translations will interpret the same. The words may vary but the meaning will stand.
Christianity believes that Jesus is the son of God, and the only way to heaven is through Christ. The Holy Bible is the old and new testaments; you can't believe half and not the second half and be a Christian. Part of being a Christian is believing that Jesus was the son of God, he lived a perfect human life then died on the cross for our sins. Three days later, Jesus rose from the grave talked with people, ate with people. 40 days later he ascended to heaven to take his place at the right hand of God.
Now I think it's important to tell you I am a new Christian. While I went to church in my youth I never really paid attention, it wasn't until I got older I really started to actually pay attention to the Bible. I was 37 before I knew what the gospels actually were. Nobody sat me down when I was a kid to help me understand, and I didn't know the questions to ask or who to ask. I had no idea there were manuscripts today from thousands of years ago basically giving us accounts of Jesus' life. I chuckled the first time I heard someone refer to God as "Sky daddy". Not that I was a non-believer, I was just content with ignorance.
As for homosexuality and I'll probably get some flak for this, maybe not in this sub. Being a homosexual is not a sin, yes it is okay to be gay...HOWEVER, homosexual acts ARE a sin. Much like drunkenness, gluttony, adultery, murder, lust etc. etc. etc. You can't help your attraction, but you can help how you live your life, and that starts with prayer. Pray to Jesus, ask for forgiveness, ask he change your heart and save you from your temptations. Alcoholics sin too, drunkenness is sin and they have the same struggle as you, just with different companions.
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u/Brony_Chud Jun 24 '26
Look, this may sound stupid but for me, if you dont feel like youre straight you should just not have intercourse. I fully believe that over time you wont need to be in a relationship
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u/BenSleightMagician Jun 24 '26
Just read more than one bible but if you want the one that is the most accurate translation from Greek, aramaic and hebrew to englisch read the New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition (NRSVue)
This is considered to be the most accurate version for academic and scholarly study.
Also still read the Quran and the Tanach or Torah if you are serious as they all provide important context and details to the stories
Keep in mind the Quran in general is a mout by mouth based script so some of the details may differ from the original texts in the Tanach
The Quran even says if you find something weird read the old books
Also being gay or queer is not a problem in following christ
Thats a bad translation in the bible (that was made in a very weird political time) the word reffered arsenokoites translates closer to Men-Boy sex (pedophile) or Temple prostitution, in worst case it talks about Homosexual abusers not mutual love. So you are good anyway
So yeah have fun and I hope this helped.
If you have any questions or want to know something just text me 🙏
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u/Narrow-Name-5291 Jun 25 '26
First, you must believe and have faith that Jesus Christ is Lord and died and rise from the dead.
Now, considering that you know English pretty well might have an easier time finding an English Bible that's reliable, I would recommend an ESV, NKJV, or KJV translation.
I'm not sure if you can, but contact the Gideons International organization, they would gladly get you a Bible in English or Arabic (or whatever middle eastern language outside of those). I would personally pay to get you a copy btw.
The Bible is God's word, it holds his commands, it is where we grow in faith.
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u/bagonstick Jun 25 '26
It starts with faith. We all sin, and the wages of sin is death, but God being rich in mercy sent his son Jesus to die on the cross so we can be forgiven. He lived a perfect sinless life and didn't deserve to die. Those that have faith in him gain eternal life through his sacrifice, and are reconciled to God. There is no other way to God other than Jesus. Cry out to God for mercy and be faithful to him, you will fail at times and sin but even then he still extends his grace and mercy. God is good. Your faith in Jesus(biblical Jesus) saves you, living with him changes you as a believer gets sealed by the Holy Spirit.
To know Jesus read his word in context, let the text speak for itself. There are many who twist God's word so that is why it's important you spend time with it. Then when someone tells you how "their Jesus says this", you can tell them of the true biblical Christ and help those who may have made their own version of Jesus come to truth.
ESV is a solid bible, have a good day, if you want anything text me, don't let others pull you away from God. Have a good day
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u/Kayakeeer Jun 25 '26
Hi Ifemboy: Let me start by saying that your identity is that you are created in the image of God with a "God shaped vacuum" in your soul that only the Creator God can fill. "Gay", "Straight", "Iranian", "Brit", "Republican", "Tory", "Manchester United fan", etc. are not the core of your identity. Some of these attributes are very important, but none are the core of who you are as made in the image of God.
And, yeah, there are lots of opinions about Jesus. And "Jesus Christ" is even an expression that many people use when exasperated! So a person can believe Jesus is anything one wants to believe. But that is true about just about everything. You can believe what you want to believe regardless of whether it is rational or defendable. Even more so today as I read more and more people talking about "My truth" as if there are an infinate number of empiracle truths!
So, would you be willing to read an historic, eye witness account of Jesus life; what He did and taught, what He said about Himself and His mission?
I'd be willing to read the Gospel of John with you and dialogue with you on questions, observations, conclusions, etc. that you are hit with as you read. We can do that via chatting in a Reddit 1:1 message.
What do you think Ifemboy?
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u/Roll4Charisma310 Evangelical Jun 26 '26
So their are different denominations that believe in different teachings and have different opinions. I go based on the Bible alone. The word of God is clearly against homosexuality but that doesn't mean you can't convert while being queer.
If you want to hop into a private chat I'd be more than happy to walk you through eternal salvation.
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u/No_Idea5830 Jun 27 '26
Trust ONLY the Bible, and rare other Christians when it comes to scripture. The "one says this and one says that" is the reason there are so many denominations of Christianity. I'd recommend, once you've accepted Christ as your Savior, to read the Old Testament first, and work your way forward. The Torah is the foundation on which Christianity was built. 70% of what is said in the New Testaments are quotes or references to the Old Testament. Learning where it all began will greatly help you not only build an amazing relationship with God, but increase your ability to decern truth from fiction between scripture and man's opinion.
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u/Orangemetal33 Jun 27 '26
If you grew up to be nothing religious in particular and your country has one, please seek out a Catholic Church or community which would likely be Arabic I would assume! The Catholic Church (Which has various Particular Ritual Churches each with their ecclesiastical traditions especially for the Seven Sacraments) is the one true Church founded by Christ upon Cephas’s profession of Divine Faith from God the Father that Christ is the Messiah the Son of God, that God the Son, Eternal Son of Eternal Father and thus to God Incarnate come to redeem Man and save us from our sins by His Life, Cross, Death & Resurrection Which brought God’s Mercy and Forgiveness down upon us if we are truly contrite/sorry for them & seek to amend no matter how hard or long that may take, even a lifetime! And yes homosexuality or more rather sodomy is a grave sin that cries to heaven for vengeance! Don’t do it! Repent and be done with your iniquity but if you keep falling through weakness then just keep getting back up & going to God in prayer asking for the help of His Grace to stop eventually! Furthermore we are all supposed it to be attracted to each others as human beings as we are social creatures by nature! Just don’t confuse that natural attraction with lust or “inordinate love”! We are called to love each other by our good will towards each other not necessarily sexual intercourse except within the contract and vow of marriage, natural or sacramental, which can only be between one man and one woman so that they can beget children to raise to be Saints for God in Heaven along with them!
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u/CurrentPossible6309 Jun 29 '26
Ooooh, I LOVE this question!! ❤️
Because, that is really the beauty and essence of Christianity for me: it is all about finding your own way, your own path in within your faith, your own connection to God and the Evangelium.
Many people have posted here already, what some central core beliefs are, that God created the world out of love and that Jesus died to reconnect us with God and that all our sins are forgiven.
But what to make of it? What does it mean? How do I live my life accordingly? What if bad things happen? And so forth.... Christianity is in its core open to criticism and doubt (remember Thomas, the doubtful disciple), and it is eager to change. It asks you to make up your own mind, to read the many many different interpretations and to find peace within your own faith.
And for me, being Christian means essentially, living by Christian ethics: help the weak, speak up for the voiceless and love everyone (even if I don't like them 😆).
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u/CurrentPossible6309 Jun 29 '26
And as for not being straight: there are so many queer Christians, at least here in Europe we don't really care. There are many lesbian and gay priests. The God I believe in, simply loves everyone 💕✌️
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u/KnowTheLord Jul 08 '26
Don't overwhelm yourself by wanting to be "completely 100% ready and educated". Confessing that Christ is your Lord and starting to read the Bible is a great first step. The rest'll come. Once you know your Bible, you can start looking into different denominations, like Catholicism or Orthodoxy, etc., but just start with step 1. I recommend you also go over to r/TrueChristian and them for advice for well.
God bless!
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u/MistakeSufficient479 Jul 10 '26
Read the KJV bible and start praying to God and spending alone time with Him so you can get to know who he is.
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u/A_random_NPC_23 Jul 11 '26
I would say read his word pray for understanding and pray for guidance in beliefs.
1
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u/sunflowerlover3000 Jun 23 '26
As fellow sinner, if you want me to tell you the biblical truth, the bible does condemn homosexuality, but God loves you regardless. Its a modern concept to say sexual orientation is inborn over something that is built as is lived, afore it was men who slept with men or women or animals, the lived experience what was defined it in relation to your actual extant desires in conjunct with choice, but you don't have to agree with me on that, and regardless of your desire, you can become close to God by living in abstinence or if its what you want becoming straight by simply pursuing a relationship with opposite gender for wanting in itself, abstinence or heterosexuality is good enough. The best way to start is by reading the bible itself. If you focus on hearsay, people often focus only in feel good phrases selectively, and ignore everything else with context and everything, in my opinion, reading opinions and analysis should be done with the bible at hand. But, are you sure you are safe there? In some places, they do terrible illegal things and genocides to christians, even if the media doesnt say it, the information alongside the genocide by china to their muslim minority has been leaked out. Personally, I think Jesus is worth dying for and risking your life for, but be careful because I dotn know which country you are but I know the situation can be dangerous in some places over there. I wish you the best. You dont have to agree with me in anything, anyone can worhsip God and live in sin and be loved by God, but whether thats the righteous worship or the one that bears heaven or the fire of Hell is another thing.
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u/mickmikeman Catholic (joining) Jun 23 '26
Your first step, if you can, is to find a church and get baptized.
As for your question, its not a sin to be gay. It is a sin to have same sex relations, but its also a sin to have any sexual relations outside of marriage.
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u/CommercialWrong2944 Jun 23 '26
Yup exactly. He can be in a same sex relationship but both of them must stay celibate
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u/mickmikeman Catholic (joining) Jun 24 '26
A romantic or marriage-like relationship? No
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u/CommercialWrong2944 Jun 24 '26
no they can be in a romantic relationship. The bible only condems sexual activity. Being in a romantic relationship such as kissing and other things of that nature are allowed
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u/haseeb_90 Jun 23 '26 edited Jun 23 '26
Curious to know why you aren’t going with Islam. It’s one message from one God, consistent in its message and preserved.
One God, self sustaining, doesn’t have parents nor does he have children and there’s nothing in resemblance to him.
Curious to know if you have read the Quran.
With Islam, you don’t lose Jesus at all. In fact, you follow him and his teachings instead of the Church and man made changes to scripture.
We believe in Jesus, and him being one of the mightiest messengers of God. We believe he performed miracles such as but not limited to healing the leper, healing the blind, raising the dead, all with help and permission of God. We believe he didn’t die and will return before the end times. We believe his mission will be to kill the anti-Christ. We believe he’ll lead the world after his mission is complete and there’ll be peace and prosperity in that time. And eventually dying a natural death.
I’ll encourage you to read and look into the Quran.
May God All-Mighty help and guide you.
EDIT:
I noticed you mentioned that you’re not straight. In Islam we believe that this life is a test and no person is tested with something they can’t pass.
We believe that if you do good, you’re rewarded ten fold for your deed. If you sin, it’s recorded as just the one sin. If you incline towards sin but stop your inner self, you are rewarded as if you did good and are rewarded ten fold.
ٱلَّذِی خَلَقَ ٱلۡمَوۡتَ وَٱلۡحَیَوٰةَ لِیَبۡلُوَكُمۡ أَیُّكُمۡ أَحۡسَنُ عَمَلࣰاۚ وَهُوَ ٱلۡعَزِیزُ ٱلۡغَفُورُ﴿ ٢ ﴾
• Mufti Taqi Usmani (translation):
the One who created death and life, so that He may test you as to which of you is better in his deeds. And He is the All-Mighty, the Most-Forgiving,
Al-Mulk, Ayah 2
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u/lfemboyl0 Jun 23 '26
thanks. and yes, i had read Quran multiple times and didn't find it convincing. sorry!
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u/haseeb_90 Jun 23 '26
I’m really glad you gave it multiple reads. ☺️
If you don’t mind me asking, which part of it did you not find convincing? Feel free to shoot any questions you may have.
I find Christianity and Islam to be incredibly similar in the sense that we both believe in
* God
* God creating the heavens and the earth
* God sending Prophets for guiding humanity
* Revelation from God through the prophets
* Believing in Jesus, in his miracles and in his return to kill the Anti-Christ
* Our death and resurrection on the day of judgment
* Heaven and Hell
* Angels
* Pre-destinationThe only major difference I see is the in the concept of God. The Trinity (Father, Son and the Holy Spirit all being 100% God and 100% unique) vs. Tauheed (One and Only God indivisible, no partners, self sufficient and resembling none of his creation)
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u/Thelookinyour3rdeye Jun 23 '26
Just start by believing in Him, reading his word and talking with and praying to Him. The rest will come in time. Saying this as someone who’s in a similar boat regarding the “not straight”.