The Bible, Jesus and God - (we cant just go making things up)? a discussion - Page 2

unicorns are real!



ok carry on

Normally, they admit to either not reading or not praying or not being "into it"...

Amazingly, these people don't find what they're not looking for...

That's why it's called "Faith" and it can begin with something as simple as "open-mindedness". I also like to refer people to Max Lucado; the man has talent.

there is no god... god is the ruling class's Santa Clause to maintain order. Just like children are told 'he knows when you are naughty, he knows when you are nice, you better not pout, you better not cry, you better not shout, I'm telling you why, Santa Clause is coming to town'.


kids grow up then Santa gets replaced by God.

'he will come back to judge the living and the dead', sound familiar?

anyone can tell the populous, 'thou shall not kill', then the populous will say, 'or else what?', so the ruling class used fear of the unknown, the unknown of what comes after death and invented a 'god' that would judge every man woman and child upon their death and deem them worthy of heaven or eternal fire and brimstone in hell, it added a lot more weight to 'thou shall not kill' for most of the populous and the people feared and abstained from anything the ruling class deemed to be a sin, since of course the ruling class has historically ruled under the authority of the god in vogue at the time. The idea of God and religion are antiquated at best and I suppose is still needed for those not possessing the ability to figure out the difference between right and wrong for themselves and still need a god to fear in order to help them make the choice between right and wrong.

eh!? Santa is god,... bah..

only if they had a T shirt

I don't question Gods wisdome,I question yours.God didn't make you atheist it's your own personal choice.

Yeah sure.

I am not saying that.

I am saying that there are people that do read the Bible and think it is crap after reading it.

The bible contains several contradictions. I never understood how some read the bible and believe it is the direct words from God. It is obviously man's interpretation.

There are people who read a portion of it or take it out of context... I don't know anyone who is extremely familiar with the Bible and thinks it is "crap"... Historians and archaeologists are good examples.

The only contradictions come from misinterpretations or conflicting contexts (which I would be happy to expand on). It's as historically accurate as any piece of literature ever created and the best selling book of all time many times over. Coincidence? In my opinion, no.

"I do not have enough faith to be an atheist!" Anonymous.

:raises hand: Bible--I've read most of it--was required to...had 12 years of strict catholic school..CCD..retreats and tons other of those youth brainwashing camps too...I read most of it as was required..I thought about it and did the usual discussions about it...and I don't buy it..

AS a book it is an over interpretation by people who warp the meaning and lessons in the book to the extreme...Its a very simple book in its most basic context--and humans complicate the living piss into it and rip it to shreds to support whatever they personally want it to support for them. Man puts too much power into a book and yet most miss the points and lessons....some of which are very valid and true in moral and lesson..like in any good parable story.

IMO--If people really looked at it as a whole and its place--it would tell you to go as far away as possible from these organized religions and those who tell you to follow them for they will lead you.... They are not the answer--they are ALL as external and self serving and false as a golden calf--the churches and religions are there to prolong the problems and the dogmas and prolong the controlling servitude...period..

EDIT: Oh--and its not "history"...and its not the 'exact words' of god...the meaning perhaps in some instances may be close to the lesson to be learned or garnered from--but its not the 'word'....its no more a history book then The Cat in The Hat is a history book about the origin of cats..

Again--JMO...

-w

I am not talking about from the point of view of historical accuracy that the Bible is crap.

I mean those people that read the Bible and find it to be morally repugnant. For example, Gods order to commit Genocide, to murder for minor infringements and etc.

Wolf, I grew up Catholic as well. Had to do all that religious stuff like catechism, Sunday school, confirmation, first communion, confession and penance etc etc. We HAD to go to church, there was no choice in the matter. When I left home, I also left the church. Good riddance, I was done with that crap.

Fast forward about 15 or so years. I was about 35 when I started to wonder how I was doing in the scales of God's justice system. I never stopped believing in Him, I just really didn't like all that religious crap, the laws and the constant threat of "you're going to go to hell". Anyways, I figured I'd try reading the bible again. Started at Genesis and read maybe up to 1st or 2nd Kings. I got real bored and Jumped up to the Gospel of John.

It was just amazing to me the stuff I was reading in John. I don't ever remember being taught this stuff, certainly not anything about grace. I kept reading in the new testament and all the lights just came on. He met me there and led me to the truth. I gave my life to Christ and since doing so, the word of God has taken on new meaning. Things I couldn't understand now are very clear. To me reading the bible without the wisdom of the Holy Spirit leaves much to be desired.

I realized it's not about laws and rules and regulations and having to do this and that. Catholicism does not encourage a personal relationship, rather they want to take the place of God. When I truly met the Lord, it was the relationship with me that He wanted, not all that religious stuff.

I tried to go talk to a priest when I first got saved, but he didn't want to talk to me so I didn't go back to the Catholic church again. I ended up attending a small local church. It's great to be with brothers and sisters in Christ to worship and fellowship together.

I guess what I'm long windedly trying to say is, don't let your childhood experiences with religion keep you from exploring the spiritual world. God is real I have no doubt and Jesus Christ is Lord!

Blah blah..

There is more evidence of God than there is evolution. I'm not saying millions of people can not be wrong, Obama getting elected proves that. You comparing God to santa is retarded.

I can only assume your referring to the Old Testament and taking a conversation between God and a specific individual out of context...thank you for proving my point. Feel free to point out where the Bible instructs anyone outside of that conversation to conduct "genocide"...

As for being morally repugnant, that's a new one... I honestly don't know anyone who finds Jesus Christ's teachings to be morally repugnant. Most of our laws are congruent with morals derived from scripture... Could you be more specific?

No respected historian or archaeologist would make a statement like your last one. The historical accuracy of the Bible is not debatable. This accuracy lends credibility towards this rest of the Bible...which is exactly how we derive much of our history from ancient literature...

I do agree that many religions, particularly extreme Christian or Catholic denominations incorrectly or over-interpret the Bible in order to serve their own agenda. That's why individual Bible study and prayer are stressed in scripture; there has always been a tendency for hidden agendas in the Church and there likely always will be.

No, it wasn't out of context.

I am not sure how you can put it any context without it being considered to be genocide.

God orders the murder of all the Amalakites in Samuel. He orders the death of all men, women and children.

"Now go and strike Amalek and utterly destroy all that he has, and do not spare him; but put to death both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey" Samuel 15:3.

Why? Anything that is claimed to BE historically accurate IS up to debate--because its accuracy, facts and claimed correct account of occurrences needs to be verified if it is expected to stand up to any scrutiny and eventually be held without 'question'. IMO the bible has not done that..and that may be personal view which would be an agree to disagree thing..at least for historical accuracy in purpose. For lesson learning purposes--it has exceeded any book published to date on the parable and moral lessons that should be looked at and learned from and weighed...but for accurate proven 'history'?



-w

Minor correction. Major difference.

It is not " Thou shalt not kill"

It is "Thou shalt not do murder"




Good Luck