I dont think the bible is supposed to be taken literally. The messages behind the stories are great, but they're not meant for you to be thinking it actually happened , etc. For example, when god created the world in 7 days. No one was there, its just a story. Same with the adam and eve story. So many people bashing on the bible because it has "contradictions" . Dont take it literal, look at the meaning behind it.
So you're basically telling me that the Bible is a book of fairy tales with a lesson at the end? I'll buy that.
I have no problem with someone having a belief, whether it be spiritual or otherwise, as individuals we have the right to believe what we want, regardless if people choose to agree. However I do have a problem with the organization that is "religion" i.e - Catholic Church. It is and always has been a money hungry business, which funnily enough doesn't pay taxes either. I feel like I can't express my opinions in a perfect way in this short post, but yeah I 100% agree with you in that they are simply stories. Back all of those thousands of years ago, they didn't have the resources we have now to find answers to common questions, so what better way to make money than to convince the world that you have the answers, and for those who don't accept those "answers", well you'll burn in hell for eternity. I mean shit, if I was alive back then I would have believed as well, because I wouldn't have known any better.
Not christian, you would have been a Jew... Jesus was a Jew, Christianity didn't come about until years after Jesus' death (if you believe Jesus was an actual person)... Jesus couldn't get but 12 followers himself in his own lifetime, so odds are, you wouldn't have believed in him either and would have remained a Jew (if you were religious at all, which would be highly likely)
I should have been clearer, I didn't mean I would have been a Christian, I just meant I would have believed in something (religiously speaking), which works for whatever religion was relevant at that time and place in the world, evidently being Judaism.
lol well yes I have my interpretations. I was curious about yours. People often say things like, 'the bible is symbolic,' but never seem to give any demonstrations of this being the case, or meanings that may be hid behind the symbolism. It just seems to be a generic thing many people say, 'it's symbolic,' without really thinking about it.
It's been said many times that the Bible isn't a book so much as it is a library, and that comparative study allows us to understand which parts of the Bible are written in metaphorical language and which parts should be taken literally.
I think that's applicable to any text. I think books are meant to be read, then interpreted by the reader. It's up to us how we interpret it and that's why there's so many varying beliefs even among Christians. As individuals we're all unique in the way we experience life. Why stifle that natural inclination by reading something, then applying it to your life literally?
Good point. Acts 11:26 About 44-46 AD Mark 4:25 Actually, there are several mentions in the gospels of multitudes following Jesus. Such as the time He multiplied fishes and loaves. He "chose" 12 people to disciple. But he had multitudes of followers.
Let me put it this way. You hear a bang, walk into the next room to see two men standing over a dead body, still bleeding warm blood, the air smells of gunpowder, and one of the guys is holding a gun. The gun feels warm and you find a spent casing that is later forensically connected to the gun in the guys hand. The other guy, the witness, writes down everything he saw, and signs his name to the affidavit, (perhaps in front of others-even official investigators) Then, through all the excitement, this only witness has a heart failure, sits in a chair and dies. So now you are left with a suspect, a dead body, a warm gun, the signature on a sworn testimony of a dead witness, and you, the guy who's curiosity led him into the room. What would it take to convince you of who pulled the trigger? Will you ever be convinced? Is the sworn testimony of the deceased witness no longer valid? We have a room, call it the universe and all it contains. We observe a planet, just the right distance from the sun, with a unique moon playing a special role in this planets ability for sustaining several forms of life. A suspect accused of creating it, and signed testimonies from several eyewitness accounts of the suspects character and deeds over the centuries since. All these witnesses were executed or died of old age. An added twist is that the accused has Himself confessed to pulling the trigger. The Bible is a file that contains 66 testimonies signed by 40 different witnesses, most of who never knew each other over several centuries. They all felt the same way about the same God, and wrote collaborating accounts of the same God. Some have made predictions that, hundreds of years later, came to pass right down to the very day, according to witnesses who were there. Nobody writes a fictional story and uses real names. If you are going to write a story that you don't want anyone to investigate, you change the names of people, names of cities, etc. Yet, these signed testimonies use names of kings - rulers - conquerors which align with secular history of kings - rulers - conquerors with their places and time frames of reign. Why would someone write a fictional story and then stand behind it while being stoned to death or crucified? The Book of Martyrs is full of secular accounts of people enduring their executions for their testimonies. I wasn't there to witness creation, but I am convinced the Bible is historically accurate, so why would I not believe the beginning? And...... here we all sit.
"Blessed are the cheesemakers" "What's so special about the cheesemakers?" "It's not meant to be taken literally, it refers to any manufacturer of dairy products"
I remember a time when GC was all about respect and not bashing anothers thoughts or beliefs. Holy shit has this place changed, There used to be a time when we had respectful conversations and kept our stupid words to ourselves if they weren't right. Call me whatever you want, because I know thats what people do now, can't think of a logical rebuttal so you belittle someone because it makes you feel cool. Come on guys, grow up.
I hope you are excluding me in that. All I brought was logic, this is not an emotional topic for me, I am all about ideas and one way to challenge myself is to challenge others in hopes that I learn something. I disagree with at least some aspect of everybody I read, listen to or talk to, but I keep reading, listening and talking. For me, I don't care what the truth is, I just want to discover as much of it as I can. I would be an atheist if that were true, but it isn't, so I am a theist. I would be a Christian if that were true, but it isn't, so I remain but a theist. Now when I say that, I am speaking only about what I have learned about each, I am not claiming they are false, only that according to my efforts, they are not true. One little thing could flip my worldview, which has happened countless times. Because of that, I remain pretty fluid, holding onto any worldview too rigidly just makes it harder to revamp when exposed to something contrary.
“remember a time when GC was all about respect and not bashing anothers thoughts or beliefs. Holy shit has this place changed,” I just breezed through this thread after seeing your post and I didn’t see anybody being disrespectful or bashing anybody else’s thoughts or beliefs. What am I missing here? “used to be a time when we had respectful conversations and kept our stupid words to ourselves“ Again, who is being disrespectful? “come on guys grow up” I guess I missed something here because I didn’t see anything disrespectful or anybody bashing anyone else at all. I saw a few people joking around but certainly nobody talking down to anybody or their beliefs so I really don’t even vaguely know where this is coming from. J