The Redundancy of Debate

[Contemporary Protestant]

no

[Moloth]

no

Okay, then... so...

Moloth, i dont consider godidit as a valid explanation for understanding and ive only seen people say that to explain stuff they struggle to accept

then you are the latter and have nothing further to add to the discussion.

If so, that's fine, i just want to be clear before i write you off. I like you, but if that's all you've got, i gotta move on.

[Mike Cl]

i dont think the commandments are listed with numbers
but they appear in Exodus 20 and Deutoronomy 5

i also dont hold the bible as the literal word of Gid


Moloth, i dont consider godidit as a valid explanation for understanding and ive only seen people say that to explain stuff they struggle to accept

This is one illustration of what is wrong with the bible.  In some copies of the bible, the commandments are listed in Ex 34:10-26.  But they are a totally different set of commandments.  Ex 20 and Deut 5 lists them; these are the one that are usually listed.  If I remember correctly, there are about 19 or so commandments listed in each book.  Why the 10 that are listed everywhere were selected, I have no idea.  In Ex 34, some of the commandments are----Celebrate the Feast of the Unleavened Bread.  For seven days eat bread made without yeast, as I command you.  Or--Do not cook a young goat in its mothers milk.  In these three areas of the bible, there are many more than 10 commandments.  Why chose the 10 that are almost always listed????

If the bible is not the literal word of god, then what parts of the bible do you think worthy of following and what parts do you ignore?  And why?

[Contemporary Protestant]

its a process, that i went into previously and was mocked, so im just going to simplify

i read holistically, i am more concerned with ideas in the bible and i dont treat as a textbook

the ideas of self restraint and good management of resources are things ive applied to my life

before you mention jesus im going to address that, i am not bothered by jesus mythists, ive watched interviews of richard carrier and think he is a neat dude

all in all, i have personally decided the only thing that matters to me is relationships, how i treat others and people i love are really the only thing im willing to fight for, everything else i am a mere spectator and sometimes commentator

whether you like the book or not,  the bible does have some interesting parts, in philosophical sense

[Mike Cl]

its a process, that i went into previously and was mocked, so im just going to simplify

i read holistically, i am more concerned with ideas in the bible and i dont treat as a textbook

the ideas of self restraint and good management of resources are things ive applied to my life

before you mention jesus im going to address that, i am not bothered by jesus mythists, ive watched interviews of richard carrier and think he is a neat dude

all in all, i have personally decided the only thing that matters to me is relationships, how i treat others and people i love are really the only thing im willing to fight for, everything else i am a mere spectator and sometimes commentator

whether you like the book or not,  the bible does have some interesting parts, in philosophical sense

I'll grant you that.  The bible does have interesting parts. :)  Believe it or not, I can see where you are coming from.  For most of a decade, I attended Unity church--believe it or not--belongs in Ripley's, right??  And to compound matters, I was president of the board, vice president and member at large during a 3 yr span.  And my beliefs and thoughts were essentially as they are now.  How could I stand it?  The Filmore's started this movement in the 1890's as an answer to conservative Christianity.  They  (Charles and Myrtle) did not believe in an actual 'Jesus' as other than a man.  I believe he taught what they label as 'the christ consciousness'--that which is 'divine' within each of us.  And divine was not thought to be other than our own Jimminy Cricket tells us right from wrong; our own internal guide.  And Charles developed what he called The Metaphysical Bible Dictionary.  With it, one can 'translate' all passages of the bible into a personal message or lesson for ourselves that applies to our daily lives.  I really do think you would really enjoy this book.  Google it and see if you can find some passages or translations from it.  It seems to fit your personal views to a 'T'. 

I finally left that church because the new minister was trying to make it a main line christian church.  The Filmore's really did not want churchs, but study groups and study places.  That would have been much better than a formal, organized church.  Anyway, I still think of the Filmore's teaching often.

[nodelusions]

This debate will go on forever because 'theist does not live in Objective Reality but in a Fantasy'. Its like trying to get Wolverine to talk to Batman..It wont happen coz Wolverine live in Marvel universe while Batman exists in DC.

[SGOS]

i dont think the statement god did it limits discussion, because it raises the question
how did did he do it

That's putting the cart before the horse.  The first question is how do you know a god exists?  Until that is satisfactorily answered, questions about his intentions, character, and abilities are pointless.

[the_antithesis]

Is it just me or do religious debates seem to go on without end. Everyone has another complaint, contradiction, proof, and someone else always has an explanation or refutation. Its obnoxious

Yep.

[Solomon Zorn]

...I disagree with you saying ... that atheists are more advanced intellectually.

I know some very intelligent Christians. I used to be a Christian. I remember being convinced of Biblical authority. I would do my best at reasoning within the system of belief that I had created from the Bible.

But we all rationalize in our weak moments. I was coming at the world with this preconceived notion. I was reasoning to a point, but didn't want to let reason take me where I didn't want to go. So I made some big errors along the way.

Not that I'm Mr. Spock now or anything. I still base decisions on emotion, sometimes unwisely.

whether you like the book or not,  the bible does have some interesting parts, in philosophical sense

From time to time, I still read Proverbs and Ecclesiastes (my personal favorite), from the Old Testament, or The Sermon On the Mount from the New Testament. I find things that I agree with, and many others that I do not agree with.

But now I see it for the flawed human instrument it is.  Dangerous in the wrong hands.