Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I didn't learn about Jesus from Scriptures. I learned through someone--my parents--telling me verbally. And that's how they learned, and those before them.
Do you think there was some point between the beginning of Christianity and now when no one was left who remembered the stories and then someone stumbled across the gospels in written form? I'm pretty sure we have enough of a historical record of the religion to know that didn't happen.
That's how heresies form. That's how we begin to take for granted sayings like "God helps those who help themselves", or "Money is the root of all evil". Scripture doesn't say those things...but people do. And when we base our faith off of what other people say, we tend to go wonky.
That's how heresies form. That's how we begin to take for granted sayings like "God helps those who help themselves", or "Money is the root of all evil". Scripture doesn't say those things...but people do. And when we base our faith off of what other people say, we tend to go wonky.
It doesn't matter if "Scripture says those things", because that makes the default assumption that if it's Scripture, it MUST be "right". And we know that way of thinking is a huge, huge problem. That may also be how heresies form.
IS "the love of money the root of all evil" just because Paul wrote that in a letter to someone and it made the Biblical cut?
Is it OK to mistreat people because they were born different from most in some way? According to what Jesus taught, no it is not, but people use other parts of the Bible to justify that.
Scripture can be informative and inspirational if reading it through a prism of understanding that it was written by men in a certain time and place, but it is simply wrong, and vain, to elevate it to the level of saying it is literally God's Word.
Ah, let's twist the framework now. Stop with that childish nonsense.
Your original claim is that no one would know about Jesus without the Scriptures. They wouldn't know about the SCRIPTURES without the scriptures, but that is not the same thing--and that, I believe, is your problem. You seem to have such trouble separating the two.
Ever hear of Kerala? A Christian community thriving for 1500 years in India with only the book of Jesus's sayings that Thomas carted from the Middle East, and yet even their liturgy includes Syriac, a language close to the Aramaic that Jesus spoke. No Bible, no Roman influence, but still believed in the very heart of what Jesus taught.
The truth would have remained without the written editorialization. Perhaps, even, in a purer form.
It doesn't matter if "Scripture says those things", because that makes the default assumption that if it's Scripture, it MUST be "right". And we know that way of thinking is a huge, huge problem. That may also be how heresies form.
You think heresies form when we actually believe what God said and the apostles taught? Really?
Quote:
IS "the love of money the root of all evil" just because Paul wrote that in a letter to someone and it made the Biblical cut?
He wrote a truth. The truth existed before Paul did.
Quote:
Is it OK to mistreat people because they were born different from most in some way? According to what Jesus taught, no it is not, but people use other parts of the Bible to justify that.
I never said that. Why are you even asking that?
Quote:
Scripture can be informative and inspirational if reading it through a prism of understanding that it was written by men in a certain time and place, but it is simply wrong, and vain, to elevate it to the level of saying it is literally God's Word.
I feel bad for a person that has no clue what to actually believe, but they'd rather just find inspiration in anything. What do you do when the things inspiring you contradict?
You think heresies form when we actually believe what God said and the apostles taught? Really?
I didn't say that. I believe heresies form when we take words written by men as coming from God without evaluating them.
Quote:
Originally Posted by BaptistFundie
He wrote a truth. The truth existed before Paul did.
It could be a truth, but it's not an absolute truth. A person could have a love of money, be good at accumulating it, and choose to do good with it. Even so, it's a good saying, but it's PAUL'S saying, not God's. That is my point. There are lots of good sayings in the Bible. They aren't absolutes, though, applicable to every situation, just because they made an appearance in what eventually became regarded as a holy book. Do you get that?
Quote:
Originally Posted by BaptistFundie
I never said that. Why are you even asking that?
I didn't say you said it, but many people do say those things using the literal interpretation of the Bible as their justification, and you know that. That is the danger.
Quote:
Originally Posted by BaptistFundie
I feel bad for a person that has no clue what to actually believe, but they'd rather just find inspiration in anything. What do you do when the things inspiring you contradict?
I can't answer to your first statement. That doesn't apply to me.
But when contradictions do happen, which by nature they always will, and I'm not sure of how to proceed, I ask for guidance and then wait for the answer. I learn a lot that way, more so than opening up a book and using it as a Magic 8-Ball. Sometimes the contradictions turn out to be complementary. The secret is to keep the mind open to possibility.
ETA: A thought re the contradictions. Christianity is full of contradictions and paradoxes. The Immortal dies. The heroes are punished. People from the "wrong" social strata are elevated. If you come to contradictions, the message might not be resolution but rather what we learn from examining them.
Last edited by Mightyqueen801; 07-05-2018 at 09:51 AM..
It is the perspective of the Bible. It is the perspective of Christ Himself.
It's not a matter of opinion... it is a matter of whether or not you and others believe it.
No. The Bible does not equal Christ.
That the Bible is the literal Word of God is very, very much an opinion.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
