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First time I've heard of it. Guess I haven't been a good Christian and read every word of the Bible. Darn sometimes I wish some parts of the Bible weren't in there, is God really supposed to have said that?
"If two men are fighting and the wife of one of them comes to rescue her husband from his assailant, and she reaches out and seizes him by his private parts, you shall cut off her hand. Show her no pity. "
Don't you think that is a little harsh? Have you ever known this law to be inforced?
First time I've heard of it. Guess I haven't been a good Christian and read every word of the people. Darn sometimes I wish some parts of the Bible weren't in there, is God really supposed to have said that?
You either accept the Old Testament as divine or you don't. It it is a book you take your Christian prophecies from it. It was an ancient people living in a different time. They didn't act much different then the rest of the world at the time. I agree life was primitive, and it was the ancient world. Life and people can behave in primitive ways now.0.
My point is you have this book attached to the NT and you use it to prove the messiah and end time beliefs.
My assertions are not childish. You can't have it both ways. Either the book is from G-d or not. Either its full of ignorance or its not. You are cherry picking. The book is full of prophetic writings and so either they are prophets or they are not.
My stance is not childish.
Yes we can have it both ways . . . and it is unavoidable. Regardless of the Divine Source of the inspirations . . . they were INSPIRATIONS NOT DICTATIONS. They were interpreted and translated into the cognitive structures, idioms, cultural mindsets and superstitious beliefs of our ignorant ancestors, period. They MUST be properly divided.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jazzymom
Hi Ilene,
I am not an atheist I am a Jew. I have several Jewish and Christian Bible in my home that I read. I believe in G-d and I understand the readings of my Hebrew scripture in a non literal way.
There is much in the book that bothers me but I look at it (or try to) from the time it was written and to see who it was being written for. I did not grow up in a religious home. But my father was a theologian who had a pHD in early church history. So religion was a subject we talked about in my home, but not on a doctrinal level.
My point is the book is full of many different types of writings and it was written in a time that was vastly different then ours. It was written by many many different people over a period of time. I tend to agree that there is much in the Hebrew Scripture that is awful. But I also see good in the stories.
What I have issue with is that Christians on the one hand use it to prove their theology and prophecies and messiah, then they slam it as a ignorant book full of primitive writings.
It seems to me if that is the case why not just only have the NT and leave the OT?
The scriptures are for different SPIRITUAL purposes. The OT explains the evolution and failed struggles to understand God and the early "training wheels" guidance for our spiritually immature ancestors floundering in their ignorance. The OT also provides the signs and the Hope of a promised Messiah (messenger) who would explain God to us, clear up our confusion and become the Way, the Truth and the Light of the world to eternal life with God. The fate of the Messiah was known and unavoidable because of the barbarous era during which He was to bring His enlightened message . . . NOT because God demanded it!!! The barbaric religious leaders were guaranteed to eliminate Him and His message . . . and to do so barbarically. THAT was the cup Jesus asked our Father if there wasn't some way to avoid.
The NT describes the TRUE NATURE of God through Jesus' unambiguous example and message . . . but it still has been filtered through the ignorance, superstition, human flaws, and desires for power and control of the subsequent so-called leaders of Christianity. Fortunately, upon His death . . . Jesus' human consciousness was reborn as Spirit and is a permanent part of our collective human consciousness. He abides with us. His Holy Spirit is available within ALL our consciousnesses . . . IF we are receptive to it.
Yes we can have it both ways . . . and it is unavoidable. Regardless of the Divine Source of the inspirations . . . they were INSPIRATIONS NOT DICTATIONS. They were interpreted and translated into the cognitive structures, idioms, cultural mindsets and superstitious beliefs of our ignorant ancestors, period. They MUST be properly divided.
The scriptures are for different SPIRITUAL purposes. The OT explains the evolution and failed struggles to understand God and the early "training wheels" guidance for our spiritually immature ancestors floundering in their ignorance. The OT also provides the signs and the Hope of a promised Messiah (messenger) who would explain God to us, clear up our confusion and become the Way, the Truth and the Light of the world to eternal life with God. The fate of the Messiah was known and unavoidable because of the barbarous era during which He was to bring His enlightened message . . . NOT because God demanded it!!! The barbaric religious leaders were guaranteed to eliminate Him and His message . . . and to do so barbarically. THAT was the cup Jesus asked our Father if there wasn't some way to avoid.
The NT describes the TRUE NATURE of God through Jesus' unambiguous example and message . . . but it still has been filtered through the ignorance, superstition, human flaws, and desires for power and control of the subsequent so-called leaders of Christianity. Fortunately, upon His death . . . Jesus' human consciousness was reborn as Spirit and is a permanent part of our collective human consciousness. He abides with us. His Holy Spirit is available within ALL our consciousnesses . . . IF we are receptive to it.
"A result of juxtaposition for contrasting; good and evil."
Although many have been deceived, believing evil to be good.
First time I've heard of it. Guess I haven't been a good Christian and read every word of the Bible. Darn sometimes I wish some parts of the Bible weren't in there, is God really supposed to have said that?
I doubt that God gave any commandments about a lady grabbing some guy's private parts, but the ancient Jews decided to make it one of their laws.
It makes you wonder why they did it. Looks like the old Jewish women had a habit of getting involved when their men had a disagreement.
Yes we can have it both ways . . . and it is unavoidable. Regardless of the Divine Source of the inspirations . . . they were INSPIRATIONS NOT DICTATIONS. They were interpreted and translated into the cognitive structures, idioms, cultural mindsets and superstitious beliefs of our ignorant ancestors, period. They MUST be properly divided.
The scriptures are for different SPIRITUAL purposes. The OT explains the evolution and failed struggles to understand God and the early "training wheels" guidance for our spiritually immature ancestors floundering in their ignorance. The OT also provides the signs and the Hope of a promised Messiah (messenger) who would explain God to us, clear up our confusion and become the Way, the Truth and the Light of the world to eternal life with God. The fate of the Messiah was known and unavoidable because of the barbarous era during which He was to bring His enlightened message . . . NOT because God demanded it!!! The barbaric religious leaders were guaranteed to eliminate Him and His message . . . and to do so barbarically. THAT was the cup Jesus asked our Father if there wasn't some way to avoid.
The NT describes the TRUE NATURE of God through Jesus' unambiguous example and message . . . but it still has been filtered through the ignorance, superstition, human flaws, and desires for power and control of the subsequent so-called leaders of Christianity. Fortunately, upon His death . . . Jesus' human consciousness was reborn as Spirit and is a permanent part of our collective human consciousness. He abides with us. His Holy Spirit is available within ALL our consciousnesses . . . IF we are receptive to it.
If you want to have it both ways then don't be so surprised when non Christians don't take you seriously.
You cannot cherry pick and use the Old Testament to prove your points when you want to and ignore the rest.
I would like to add some information to this thread, with the hope that we may come to a better understanding of the Scriptures. (This is based on the following assumptions: a) scripture is symbolic and spiritual, not literal; b) the scriptures were inspired by God and useful for our growth in Him.)
In Deut. 23.1, we read the following:
"He that is wounded in the stones, or hath his privy member cut off, shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD."
Now many of the verses in the OT are related to others in other places. For example, the Lord did not intend to give Israel a king, but since they insisted, He gave them their wish. Many problems insued, all due to this king. If we read a passage within the period in which Israel was led by a king, we can draw a lot of different conclusions, but the fact remains, that the Lord did not want Israel to have a king. See what I mean?
Well, back to the verse above.
My understanding is that the spirit of man is considered male, and the soul female. When we are talking about male figures, they are often referring to the spirit in (any) man. King David, or Isaiah, or Jonah, for example.
When we read about a female figure, we read of the soul in (any) man. Bathsheeba is an example. Ruth is another.
The scripture above tells us that if a man is wounded in the part of the body which carries life-giving seed, he is not allowed to enter the congregation or assembly of the Lord.
The female (soul) who prevents this suffers a loss in her "work" (hand) by harming that which is of the spirit.
Just reflecting a bit..
Blessings!
Brian
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