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when I read or study Torah, i feel utterly loved, cherished, protected, and adored. Radiant. Happy. Nourished.
I feel the delight of entering into a garden filled with treasures, jewels, gems, and riches for me to gather. I feel the dazzling wonder, excitement, and pleasure of layer upon layer upon layer of treasures discovered, mysteries explored, questions answered, comfort given, clarity revealed, guidance offered, problems solved, messages delivered.
It takes me to one place .....the state of confusion
I have alwaysbeen told that God made man iin his own image, but when I read stories in the bible it is the other way around (God is a jealous, angry, spiteful ect). Why are man's most harmful and negative traits the same as the most powerful being?
Talking about when you read both the Old and New Testaments.
How does it make you feel, uplifted, depressed, confused, happy, etc
All of the above and more. Granted, I do not take it literally and understand that it is a tool that teaches, through metaphor, about human condition and what we are, but yes, it does move me. Half the time I want to burn the cursed book, the other half I want to exalt it. I have an intense hatred for the Jesus Christ that I love so much, and no faith in the God that I know to be as near to me as a distant star and as far away from me as my own skin.
Hard to explain, just like God. Ultimately, though, the Bible, like all scripture, is just a model for what GOD really is. God cannot be expressed in human language in any but the loosest terms. The Bible is a model for what God really is, as thinking that any book can really give an description of what God really is is down right sinful as sinful gets.
Of course, I am Gnostic, so I have a different take on it than most people do. Nothing can compare to the first time I ever read "Thunder" and "The Concept of Our Great Power". Hard to explain, but is is like opening a door to the inner self and seeing the great beyond within...why the hell am I still typing? And "Thunder" and "The Concept of Our Great Power" are just books, so who cares? Even if you read them, it doesn't matter. They are just fingers pointing to the moon...Either you see it (the moon), or you don't.
"Unfortunately no one can be told what the Matrix is...you just have to see it"
When I read the OT it takes me to the far distant past when people were searching for something bigger, more powerful than they were, someone who was in charge of the world around them that they couldn't understand..For me it is the oral history of man's search for what was already inside him..I find wisdom in the proverbs and psalms that were first lessons from God on morality, as man struggled to come out of a barbaric society..I see the Prophets as people who had developed an advanced relationship God and were given the prophecies of hope , peace and of the one who was coming (Jesus) to put an end to the bonds of sacrifice, works and laws that man had placed on them to reach God..
The new testament is a mixture of truth from Jesus and the beginnings of His Church and also the beginning of the falling away from His church into the hands of man and His religion..Simply because of the many translations, missing transcripts and transcripts that man left out as they determined what would serve the reader to bring them into their religion..
I think the bible as a whole is a wonderful literary collection of prose,
poetry, facts and fiction of man's search for God..
i am greatful that my bible, as a Catholic, has footnotes which explain the history behind the scripture and the real meanings of the text. That way, I am never confused. I am glad to have the church, with all it's knowledge of the anciant Hebrew and Greek text, to guide me. I don't have the background to correctly interpret this myself and I would not want to try.
It takes me to one place .....the state of confusion
I have alwaysbeen told that God made man iin his own image, but when I read stories in the bible it is the other way around (God is a jealous, angry, spiteful ect). Why are man's most harmful and negative traits the same as the most powerful being?
Because carnal beings had no conception of consciousness. They assumed that image meant their physical body and carnal emotions. They essentially attributed to God how they would be if they were all-powerful. The image we were made is is God's consciousness . . . which has none of the negative human emotions with their basis in our carnal urges . . . that is why they are in constant conflict within us. Our "better nature" is in the image of God's consciousness and has His capacity for Creativity and Imagination that other creatures do not.
Man's most harmful and negative traits are not the same as God's simetime.
They reflect only ourselves, our imperfection and the god of the system that we live in- Satan.
The Bible is hopeful in that it shows how God will deal with our imperfections and also get Satan out of the way for us. This is made possible by Jesus' sacrifice.
The Bible makes me thankful that this will happen- thankful that our future will be a great one!
Well, many clergymen/women are constantly saying that "Our God is a spiteful and jealous God" Spite and jealousy are negative traits that are attributed to men. So why are they (preachers and such) attribute a petty emotion such as jealousy to an all powerful deity?
Well, many clergymen/women are constantly saying that "Our God is a spiteful and jealous God" Spite and jealousy are negative traits that are attributed to men. So why are they (preachers and such) attribute a petty emotion such as jealousy to an all powerful deity?
Because of several references in the Bible. Here are two:
Exodus 20:5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,
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