Yes, as I've stated, although I didn't earn it nor do I deserve it, I know God. I don't have enough time or space to tell you how I got here. I know exactly what the wind is now, thus I no longer see a need to chase it.
My motivations are to create discussion, as per the entire reason this forum exists. The only record you have of god's word is in the bible. The fact that most Christians choose to see in the bible what they want to see is not my doing. If I worshiped a deity based on the book alone, and my soul depended on it, I would follow the book, not what I think the book says. So you tell me, what is the underlying meaning of the bible? You'll say love, forgiveness, hope, but when I show you a large portion of the bible that states otherwise, you'll say context, assumptions, etc... Who are you to decide what god's will and message is? So what is the intent of the Scriptures? There are so many conflicting views in the scripture, how do I know which one to obey, and which to ignore. If I do what you and other Christians do, I ignore the tough parts, and obey the easy ones, right? Isn't that what you really mean by "intelligent assumptions" and context? I asked you to clarify your answer, because I genuinely do not understand what your point was. Something about lying to your wife if she ask you if she's fat. I still don't know what you were trying to say. I didn't make the rules. I didn't write the bible. I am reporting on what is contained in it. Instead of questioning my motivations, can't you just take a stab at the answer? Saltyone takes the bible literally. Nyah nyah nyah. If our only account of god and jesus is in the bible, then how is it not the only source to god? What are your other sources to god? Hinduism? Islam? So what is the message? What part is correct, and what part is made up? Is the part about Jesus being the son of god made up? Why not? If you think one part of the bible is made up, then you can't know if any of the other parts are true either, can you? If my eternal soul rested on knowledge of beer, then hell yes I would need to know. If it is not complicated, then tell me where in Christianity does it say that babies go to heaven? Seems pretty complicated to me considering you have about 8 paragraphs attacking my motivations, and about three sentences attempting an answer. You don't need to "feel for me". I'm doing pretty well without you feeling for my poor misguided soul.
So how do you know what the early Christians did before the bible was penned? The bible is our only account of them, right? If you are a believer, their account of "The Word" has to be taken as authorative because there is no other counterpoint or document to refute what they claim. There is only guessing. For all we know, the Word of Jesus that existed before the Bible could have been that slaying snakes is the path to heaven.
I'm not sure what your point is here. However, Jesus promised us He would not leave us orphaned and that He would send the Holy Spirit to guide us to the truth. Therefore, I believe that Jesus did not abondon His believers until the point in time when the Bible was written and instead, true to His word, guided the early Christians to where they needed to be. Pentecost is a good example of this. I don't have the time to type how this fits into what I believe and know. I've shed that weight. I know what God expects from me and I choose to spend my energy, effort and enthusiasm on living that to the extent I am able to. Given what I've seen from some of your posts, I doubt that there is any answer that I could give you that you would accept. And thats okay by me. We all have our own path to walk. I'm not trying to convince you that you are wrong. If you have found the path that you should be on, good for you.:thumb:
No the early Christians wrote plenty about what they believed. Some of these writings even predate books of the Bible. One book on Christian morality called the Didiache is dated to the late 1st century and may have predated the Gospel of John and Revelation. The successors the the apostles, the 2nd generation bishops wrote tons on what the apostles had taught to them. Some of these teachings are only glossed over in the Bible, others are not mentioned at all. These teachings, referred to as sacred tradition, are in keeping with Bible, but not necessarily explicitly stated in it. What is clear in their writings is they did not look to the Bible as the soul source of their faith.
So you say. I don't believe you. No, this is a written record of God's word. It was spoken for centuries before any of it was written down. Keep ignoring that don't you? Who claimed that it was? Your point? But you don't, and no matter how many times you say I must follow your guidance in this matter, I know I don't have to. You have said this so many times, the pages are blurring but it becomes less valid each time you spew it. You claim I must follow the Bible literally and if I don't I am not a Christian because that is not what you(an agnostic) would do. Since you clearly do not believe the Bible, how can you dictate to others how to accept it? This is the height of hypocrisy. You should let it go. I know you can't because literalism is your only point, but you really should just let it go. I have stated this repeatedly with multiple examples. You choose to ignore them. So be it. I am a Christian. Since you are an agnostic, you consider yourself better qualified to interpret my God? Why don't you walk up to a Hell's Angel and start telling him how his club is supposed to run, especially since you, a non-member knows better than him. Please post it on youtube afterwards. This will make a great knock-knock joke some day. You assume I ignore. I am not surprised. And I find it humorous. No need to interpret that. This is where that literal thing works for you. No you didn't, but you insist on me conforming to rules you make up or had to follow as a child. I refuse your ridiculous premise. I have answered your questions repeatedly. You just choose to ignore it. So be it. Are you really this daft? You don't get that God was hanging out before Christ, or the King James Bible at the holiday inn?? Do you actually read this stuff before typing it? Do you bother to read anyone's responses to this or insist on just reposting the same question 8-10 times/post? If having the last word(which will just be a declaration of the exact same question) is this important, than have at it. These responses have become excruciatingly boring. You can claim victory if you like, and claim some noble intellectual motivation. If that works for you, I wish you the best.
Hell is a concept and you can't go to Hell if you don't believe in Hell. Babies can only comprehend The Mommy and Not The Mommy and know nothing of Hell. They're trying to wrap their tiny minds around concepts like The Food and Not the Food. They can't understand imaginary friends and mystical realms until they develop an imagination. That's when they become succeptible to suggestion and often indoctrination as well.
That is interesting. I will google it and see if the text is up somewhere. See, we are getting somewhere now :thumb:
When you do a job that nobody knows how you do it, but is vital to the institution you work at, and your boss is a good friend, you have time to slack.
