LOL - fyi - Im a retired pastor
The Bible, in addition to being a blueprint for success and reconciliation with God, is so full of mysteries that it is laughably presumptive to think one knows the meaning of everything in the Bible means.
yes - absolutely - BUT, the blueprint of our salvation rests there, and there is a duality in its words that allow a simple man to grasp, and an "educated" man to marvel
Exactly. The blueprint of salvation.
Jesus Christ: Crucified, Raised from the dead, a sacrificial lamb God the Father sent as an atonement for my (our) sins.....(of which there are many) ...
....the only hope of redemption for sinners...
Jesus Christ: the atonement for sin and deliverance from guilt.
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As a conservative fundamentalist Christian, it irks me to no end when I read FReepers (not you necessarily) who claim to know the REAL truth because their Church does its services this way, or because its members worship this way..... or wear their clothes that way....
... or because their ministers abstain from sex, or because they don't allow dancing or alcohol.... or because they eat meat on Fridays.
You know what I mean.
The absolutely clear message from the Bible is Jesus Christ: a pathway to reconciliation with God Almighty... the gift of eternal life.
Almost all other stuff (not quite all, but close) is just superfluous and, according to scripture, a "stumbling block" to reconciliation with God.
Which is why I don't too worked up over whether someone goes to a Presbyterian, Catholic, Unitarian, Mennonite (as was my father), Baptist, or yes, Mormon church.
The essential thing is a man's personal relationship with Jesus Christ, dontcha think?