A reader sent me this link to use as "ammunition" against my regular commenters. I also found this page within the site that illustrates many of the contradictions, by category, contained in the Bible. My own research has already led me to address many of these concerns for my own journey of faith so there isn't much new here but I wanted to have a thread up on the importance of looking at everything written in the Bible and not just one or two passages.
I'm sure I'll disappoint the reader who sent me this link because I think he was under the impression that I would reject the Bible as a result of all these contradictions. Not gonna happen. But what this site does show is that it's impossible to believe and live by every single word in the Bible without being in dichotomy. It was written by men who were not as advanced as we are on a number of different cultural levels.
So, a thinking person has to recognize what was right for their times and what is right for today...what has been lost in translation from Aramaic to Greek to English and what has not...what was metaphor and hyperbole what is fundamental and basic. Coming to grips with these contradictions is very hard for some Christians. In the final analysis, though, it doesn't matter if you accept Jesus as your savior and do your best to live by His teachings. That's how I can cast many of these contradictions aside. Once you figure out what is backwards thinking and what is forward thinking, it's quite easy to accomplish.
Celebrating his birth tomorrow means being filled with the light of love, peace, and hope and rejecting anger, hate, fear, and guilt.
12 comments:
So, a thinking person has to recognize what was right for their times and what is right for today...
Exactly what branch of Christianity preaches that M? Your own very special church of Markadelphia? God is either timeless or not. You cannot treat this as you do the Constitution and say "well this meant one thing then but now I want it to mean this". Well, actually of course you can argue that, but you can't expect that to convince anyone but yourself.
Exactly what branch of Christianity preaches that M?
Well, we could start with the 1.2 billion Catholics of the world who are now led by someone who is indeed preaching many of the same things I am preaching. The Methodist Church that my sister belongs to introduced me to Rob Bell. Bell, btw, is an evangelical Christian. Methodism focuses on serving the poor and average person and not so much on sin. Presbyterian is how I raised and the church I feel most at home in although the rest of my family goes to a Lutheran church that says all the same things I do.
Since you seem to be having trouble with all the denominations and their followers, here is a list.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Christian_denominations_by_number_of_members
Follow some of the links to the main headings of each denomination. Notice anything familiar?
Merry Christmas everyone!
(Yes, you too, Mark.)
I really don't think you and the Pope are on quite the same page. Perhaps you could show me a link to any church that preaches that God's truth changes and each person has to decide what that is.
That's a mischaracterization of what I am saying (par for the course). And you didn't really take the time to read through the link I provided. Click on Methodist, for example. Or Unitarian. Look familiar? Also, see my post tomorrow and Nikto's comment contained therein.
You said "So, a thinking person has to recognize what was right for their times and what is right for today" [your words exactly, i.e. verbatim, impossible to mis-characterize], and I have asked you for a link to any church that teaches that as Christian doctrine. To the best of my knowledge the Methodists do not teach that. Episcopalians do not teach that. Presbyterians do not teach that. So where exactly do you get the statement you made (that is, assuming you didn't just make it up yourself)?
To the best of my knowledge
Any interest in increasing that knowledge? Follow the link I provided and spend a little time reading. The Methodists, for example, choose to focus on serving the poor and largely ignore sin. By your metric, that makes the "fake" Christians.
From the link on Methodists...
Methodists are convinced that building loving relationships with others through social service is a means of working towards the inclusiveness of God's love. Wesleyan Methodists teach that Christ died for all of humanity, not just for a limited group, and thus everyone is entitled to God's grace.
The Methodists, for example, choose to focus on serving the poor and largely ignore sin.
But they don't insist that they can determine what is and is not a sin......
But they don't insist that they can determine what is and is not a sin......
Exactly. As usual M provides a link that does not support the point he is making. Although in this case at least the link was not diametrically opposed to his point.
Hmm...I guess that makes me responsible for your laziness. See, juris? We are all affected by other people's actions or inaction.
That doesn't even begin to make sense, Markadelphia. You post a link that doesn't say what you say it does, therefore juris is lazy (?!), and apparently the score is still Q to 12. Surreal.
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