[DaveMSmith]

Readings:

Joshua 3,4
2Kings 2
Psalm 114
John 1, 10
Matthew 3
Mark 1
Jeremiah 12
Zechariah 11
Genesis 1
1Cor 2:14

[DaveMSmith]

Also see Spirit and Life Bible Study on Facebook

[RitaOK]

Whut?

Before we play, what’s your game here? Is there a prize, a ribbon, or a free-for-all argument?

[Col Freeper]

Can the Bible be taken literally?

Well, yea .... I take mine literally everywhere I go!

Speaking figuratively of course.

That's a lot of homework you've assigned there!

Will there be an end-of-course exam?

Pop-Quizzes?

A Diploma?

Will the grading be on a bell-curve?

My, my, I wonder: what would Jesus do? (or Paul, or Moses, or Joshua, etc., etc.)

[aMorePerfectUnion]

“Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves ... For such are FALSE apostles, DECEITFUL workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.” (Matthew 7:15; 2nd Corinthians 11:13).

 

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“Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves ... For such are FALSE apostles, DECEITFUL workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.” (Matthew 7:15; 2nd Corinthians 11:13).

 

- Warning -

 

This thread has been flagged as Cultic Spam

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Let the reader beware!

 

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[Hazelwood Redneck Brain Trust]

I am not a Bible-scholar (and shamefully do not read it as much as I should), but I see it this way:
The Old Testament is a collection of books, stories, prophecies, histories, etc... that are in a strict sense for the Israelites.
While it lays a foundation for Christianity, and is very important in understanding God & the Gospel of the New Testament - it's not a second capstone (Jesus is our salvation. Period.) A lot of people try to equate Judaism/Christianity/Islam by saying that they all spring from Abraham.
While Judaism does spring from Abraham, they stop before they get to Jesus. This is one of the reasons for the need of the Second Coming. The true Israelites & those that follow the God Abraham (all religious people who follow the Hebrew faith as compared to secular Jewish people) cannot deny Jesus the next time.
Islam is Satan's religious military arm and dark "reflection" of Christianity.
Of course Christianity is God's giving humanity a second chance by having a part of himself experience humanity & die as a perfect sacrifice to pay the price for humanities sin. He made the rules and then showed us that even He must obey his own law. (This is the pefection of God.)

So - while the Old Testament is important for those of the Hebrew faith as their covenant with the God of Abraham, it is merely a foundation for the more important Gospel of the New Testament.
As for the prophecies - believe 'em. There's a reason they are in there..

All that and a dollar will get you a cup of coffee. :-)

[trebb]

Put in context, the Bible has no inconsistencies. Men "find" the "inconsistencies" to make themselves and their religions conform to their sensibilities - else, why some 30,000+ sects of Christianity that all claim the same Bible?

Pretty amazing work - written over a few thousand years by some 150 authors and it does not contradict itself unless one decided to "translate" it outside of its context.

[HarleyD]

What precisely do you find inconsistent about Joshua? It is a historical account of the Israelites moving into the territory prescribed by God. The problem the Israelites had was that a number of them still had not put away their idols.

Jos 24:12 And I sent the hornet before you, which drave them out from before you, [even] the two kings of the Amorites; [but] not with thy sword, nor with thy bow.

Jos 24:13 And I have given you a land for which ye did not labour, and cities which ye built not, and ye dwell in them; of the vineyards and oliveyards which ye planted not do ye eat.

Jos 24:14 Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD.

....

Jdg 2:1 And an angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you.

Jdg 2:2 And ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall throw down their altars: but ye have not obeyed my voice: why have ye done this?

Jdg 2:3 Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be [as thorns] in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you.

The history of Israel is not unlike the Church. People still refuse to acknowledge or put away their idols. And, yes, the Israelites had all sorts of excuses as well. God allows our own cravings to be our own downfall.

[metmom]

Can the Bible be taken literally?

Sure it can. When context indicates is should be, as in historical narratives.

[Cronos]

In fact Dave, your Swedenborgian texts may intereste boatbums:

What confidence is to be had in councils when they do not go directly to the God of the church?

From the Nicene Trinity and the Athanasian Trinity together a faith arose by which the whole Christian church has been perverted. That both the Nicene and Athanasian trinities are a trinity of Gods can be seen from the creeds above quoted

and it goes on to deny the divinity of the Holy Spirit etc. - -but all "purely scriptural", no need of any councils etc..

[RnMomof7]

Actually everything in the OT leads to Christ