A Question for Believers

[Prebe]

screw it, do good regardless of affiliation.

Couldn't agree more sgtnull.

Furls: Those were beautyful words. It's to bad that the whole bible doesn't reflect that attitude.

[Furls Fire]

Peace everyone

And Prebe, I view the Bible as the Word of God, but I also know that it is a book of pure interpretation. I see much of it as metaphor, and I also see much that has been twisted by the "powers that be" to reflect their own agendas. There were Gospels that were left out, added, and so forth.

The beauty of the Bible for me is the strength it gives me. Especially when I read the words of Jesus. When I read His words aloud, such peace and joy wash over me, that even my darkest hours are lit with glorious light and my soul heals. I hear Him speak.

And as I said. My faith does not come from any church, book, song...it comes from the Lord Himself. I knew Him before anything else, He has always been there for me and always will be.

[Prebe]

Furls: Would you not agree that God said a lot of things that just doesn't make sense today?

[Lord Mhoram]

Furls,

What I do not understand is how it can be the Word of God when editors have added things, taken words out, discluded certain texts, or simply fabricated much of today's Bible. How can such obviously planned changes of texts be "divinely inspired"?

[duchess of malfi]

The one thing that has always really rung true to me from the Bible is the very basic message of feeling love for others. To me the rest is just details.

The God of Furls and Edge is one that I could follow with all of my being. I believe from reading their posts that what they are speaking of is the same glorious warm feeling of complete love and acceptance I have sometimes felt deep in my heart at times of great need in my life. It is that feeling that keeps me going at times when I might have otherwise been lost in despair.

Unfortunately, I have had some extrememly bad experiences with "Christians" of various denominations (I prefer not to go into details) that have soured me on organized religion in general and Christianity in particular. I think a lot of the message has been seriously twisted over the years, such as the stances that many churches hold on homosexuality (as that subject in particular has been brought up). Love and acceptance of everyone is what Jesus wanted people to express in their lives, not condemnation and harsh judgement.

I feel God when walking in the autumn wood, when standing on the cliffs over the sea, when standing on the rim of a lovely red rock canyon, when hiking amongst snow covered mountains when I see a parent showering love upon his or her child, when I hear a baby giggle. And I have felt Him holding me up at some of the worst moments of my life.

[Furls Fire]

I have no answer LM. All I can offer is this: when I pick it up (mine is an 18th century antique of the KJV) I am overwhelmed with such peace and such power, I know it was inspired by Him. And like I said before, it has been altered, and pieces are missing, but the core, the inspiration of it, which has lasted thousands and thousands of years, is still there.

[Furls Fire]

God bless you Duchy

HUGGLESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

[The Laughing Man]

Sometimes people say what they mean and mean what they say, but that is very seldom. There is always something that someone wants from you whenever you are being spoken too. They want money, time, sex, an ego rubbing, a back rub, something. Always! People are very self-centered. Even when they are doing a so-called good deed it usually has a selfish motivation and when it doesn't then its more like reflex action than anything else. A man dives onto a grenade to protect his friends. Some would call that a good deed, others stupid. A baby is saved from a burning building. Brave man, lucky to be alive, if he has burns he'll think about that before he enters another building like that I assure you. But mostly it was a good thing. It's just that it is so rare.

And can you not, by your good intentions, and positive actions, that affect others to act the same, or at the least be affected by it, make this world where those types of people are MORE rare, and those who seek good with unselfish and pure intentions LESS rare? Is this not enough for you, and God, to feel worthy about your service?

[Avatar]

And that Furls, is why I wanted you to post in this thread. It reminds me that christianity doesn't have to be the way I usually see it, and it's a good reminder to have. (Hope you keep doing better and better. )

Salothsar:

Am I missing something here?

ONE: 'You shall have no other gods before Me.'

TWO: 'You shall not make for yourself a carved image--any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.'

Anyway, back to that assertation that (essentially), no good deed can be done by one who is not a christian...what type of deeds would you consider those by non-christians to be?

--Avatar

[SalotHSaR]

And can you not, by your good intentions, and positive actions, that affect others to act the same, or at the least be affected by it, make this world where those types of people are MORE rare, and those who seek good with unselfish and pure intentions LESS rare? Is this not enough for you, and God, to feel worthy about your service?

To be honest with you, if someone were reaching out to help me climb up a cliff I would still question their motivation. That doesn't mean they should just say, Well #($@ you then & let me drop. It means I simply don't believe people are capable of many honorable, glorious, heroic decisions. They do what they do & they have motivations behind it. THey want to keep their job, they want to be seen as heroic, they want to do something or have something that is selfish and even when they are reaching out for my hand as I hang out over a cliff they have selfish motivations about why and what they are doing. Again, not everyone, just most people. Most people never get to help someone up a cliff; it's much more complicated than that & they have much more complicated selfish reasons for doing something nice. But there truly are some people that do good things for no good reason other than to do them. And I really don't know how to quantify those people.

[SalotHSaR]

And that Furls, is why I wanted you to post in this thread. It reminds me that christianity doesn't have to be the way I usually see it, and it's a good reminder to have. (Hope you keep doing better and better. )

Salothsar:

Am I missing something here?

ONE: 'You shall have no other gods before Me.'

TWO: 'You shall not make for yourself a carved image--any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.'

Yes you are missing something here.

[Avatar]

What?

--A

[SalotHSaR]

"Of all the commandments, which is the most important?" "The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these." (Matthew 12:28-31)

[Avatar]

Aha, different commandments. I see.

--A

[Prebe]

I thought there was just ten

[ur-bane]

Nope. Quite a few more than 10. (16, actually, IIRC)
Some were "combined" to get the "Ten" that we know.
(If we had 14 fingers, there would be 14 Commandments, some say)

[Avatar]

Actually, IIRC, judaism has 600.

--A

[Cail]

Actually, IIRC, judaism has 600.

Yeah, but a lot of them are table manners.

[Avatar]

Still pretty harsh though.

--A

[Prebe]

More than 300 table manners??? Sounds like you have to have a stand-by rabi at your side while eating