The Hebrew calendar's 5700+ years old. The Chinese calendar's 4700+ years old. A better question might be, how did Jews go 1000 years without Chinese food?
It depends how you read the bible. Many believe Noahs Ark...Adam Eve...Daniel and the lions den...these are all parables...with much deeper meaning. Many things in the old testament were written to survive and be interpreted for the ages. My opinion is totally...TOTALLY..unimportant..but just answering this post CC. Not trying to smartass it. Many believe there was no beginning..and there is no end. As far as the "why are there still Jews" which I did crack up at ( I just liked the line and have NOTHING against Jewish people).....Jesus came to his people and predicted he would be rejected by his own people. Which he was. He mentions to his disciples on many occasions that the word would be accepted by the gentiles more than the people that saw his work done. Again..he was accurate. The disciples then took his word to the gentiles who accepted it...which lead to Christianity. While TRUTH keeps beating a dead horse...the bottom line for any Christian is...Jesus came for one reason. He didnt come to judge the world but to tell the world one thing. You can not go to God unless you go through him (through prayer). You go through him by admitting sin and forgiving others...PERIOD. That is the only reason he came. The world before Jesus was filled with sin and no tolerance. Thats the only reason he came. He did also add one more commandment saying love your neighbor as you love God. I do not believe in Adam and Eve..nor do I believe in Noahs Ark...they are are all parables on sin and forgiveness IN MY BELIEF. AGAIN...just pointing out another side. If anyone ever wants to study that form of belief....Emmet Fox. http://harrykatz.com/Sermon/Sermon_On_The_Mount_eBook.pdf NOT PREACHING...just trying to throw out another idea..which my mom taught me as a kid and has never ever left me.
IN FACT...HEY TRUTH...here is a good reading for you. Last paragraph on page 9 on. It will show you that both your church..and mine...are hypocrites. http://harrykatz.com/Sermon/Sermon_On_The_Mount_eBook.pdf Again..just one other side of the story.
Thank you for your rationale response. We'll just have to agree to disagree about the existence of Jesus and how to get to get to God. I don't believe in Jesus or God but I respect that you do, with one caveat. I respect your belief if it doesn't infringe on anyone's human rights.
not to change the subject but who wants a chuckle this morning? stumbled on to this richard dawkins video. here's the great part, older religious people used pornogoraphy more than the non religious people. the only real difference is the massive guilt carried around them that their religion so skillfully instills.
Ok...WB...and I have not checked any of these..but Im willing to bet they are all OLD Testament. Is that accurate? Anyone who quotes from the bible to blow it apart by quoting things like this from the Old Testament..thats just unfair and its just to get a raise out of some without doing your homework. I mean..there is nobody that understands the New Testament that believes any of those things. Nobody. This is where I will not get into it because that post is horrible Old Testament hogwash. If you need me to explain why...its just not worth it.
That's because you don't understand it. Theologians spend their whole careers studying the Bible, and you think you can understand it by reading it once, if that? Laughable. I don't pretend to be an expert on world history, I leave that to the historians. You need to understand the historical context the Bible was written in to understand it.
Except for the part where Jesus says "Do not think that I have come to do away with or undo the Law or the Prophets; I have come not to do away with orundo but to complete and fulfill them." https://www.biblegateway.com/verse/en/Matthew 5:17
Did you make that up, because that is certainly not in the Bible! That must be why you conveniently left out the link...I hope nobody actually believes any of your made up nonsense! If what you are trying to ask is the question of why God allows murder, rape, and slavery, that is at least a legit question. The answer to that is freedom; He created us to be free, to make our own choices; He teaches us right from wrong but never forces us to choose what is right and good. We are not robots, puppets, or slaves....we are free persons. And that's part of the meaning of life, to help make the world a better place. We are capable of combating evil ourselves if we all do our part.
If smartphones are available now, why do some people still use flip-phones? (I will admit, I still use a flip-phone; that's because I don't see the need for a smartphone for my purposes). Not all Jews accepted that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior. It's as simple as that.
Jesus revealed the true meaning of the Old Testament, the Spirit of the Law. In other words, the Old Testament is not meant to be read literally, but figuratively, and it all boils down to love of God and one another (which is really one and the same, since we are all God's children and we all have the Spirit of God within us to some degree). That's the short answer anyway, but I'm no Priest or Theologian, so I am not really qualified to give an authoritative explanation of it.
Thank you for your excellent post! .... and to second what you said, I am not qualified either to give an authoritative explanation on all of Christianity; I am no Priest or Theologian after all. I never went to seminary. I was raised Catholic and attended Catholic School for several years, so I feel like I have a good understanding of my faith, but I don't have a degree in Theology. But this thread is about discussing the teachings of the various world religions; so far only Christians have responded, but I hope we get some Jews, Hindus, Muslims, or people of any religious faith on here! I'm not sure whether Adam and Eve or Noah's Ark should be taken literally or figuratively, but I do agree with your excellent summary of Christianity, which I highlighted above. I would add, though, that people of any faith, or no faith at all, can be saved if they live a good, moral life, and in doing so "tap into" the Spirit of Christ; in other words, they in a sense accept Christ's teachings without recognizing it as such. The easiest, most "surefire" way to Heaven is through Christianity (and I believe the Catholic Church is the most complete and authentic Christian church). The Catholic Church is the only place that has the Sacraments, which are powerful spiritual tools; a supernatural encounter with Christ Himself. But regardless of which Christian denomination you belong to, by following Christ's teachings directly we can greatly enhance our inner peace, happiness, and joy in this life and the next (not to mention strengthen our personal relationships immeasurably). But God certainly will not condemn all of the Holy and virtuous Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims, and people of every faith, or no faith. The Catholic Church believes that Christ works in a Spiritual way, eventually, in the lives of all people of good will, even if they don't specifically convert to Christianity.
LOL, Most here realize you are the only one making things up. Deuteronomy not part of your bible then? I found the same thing in slightly different versions in King James Bible, New International Bible, New Revised Standard version and a few more. What bible do you use and I will pull from that one? And God wasn't giving the people free will there he was ordering them to attack and what they should do with the people if they resisted.
Didn't the New Testament just build on the Old Testament? I realize that times have changed but the Old Testament is what the religion was built upon, the foundation of it. For Truth to be professing how good god is it has to be shown what god supposedly ordered done in the past. As times changed the bible of course had to change with it for it to be accepted by people, if what I posted was a standard the church would not be able to continue to add parishioners. Laying waste to a neighboring town was acceptable to the flock a few thousand years ago but today it would be looked upon as crazy so of course they had to change it up and therein lies the problem. This is also why I did not want to get involved in this, there are many other posters here who are religious and I do actually respect their faith. Unfortunately Truth started this up so he could have his pulpit to draw attention to himself and I just could not let some of what he said go without a response.
Please explain how raping, pillaging and the like boils down to love of god and one another. When they are raping the women are they loving them? Also just wanted to check, you still denying that there were thousands of pedophile priests?
