Posted on 12/06/2001 6:32:57 AM PST by Weatherman123
Excellent post! And you are exactly correct as we read in the Revelation to John
22:1And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.
22:2In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, [was there] the tree of life, which bare twelve [manner of] fruits, [and] yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree [were] for the healing of the nations.
22:3And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him:
22:4And they shall see his face; and his name [shall be] in their foreheads.
22:5And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.
Whether literal or symbolic... the message is the same.
This is a damnable lie. It's not the same as I have pointed out ad nauseum.
As a matter of fact... the message is the same. If a person reads it and believe Adam is a parable teaching us that mankind has fallen. And this person reads and believes that we are all fallen because of the state of mankind as described after the fall. The message is the same.
Myself... I believe it literally. But those that accept the same outcome that I accept... well there are a lot of more things more important to argue about. Those that accept man's fallen state whether through parable or literal Adam still accept man's fallen state.
In sum, if you proffess to be a Christian, ie saved by Christ in the most literal sense of the meaning, it is my opinion, and I think Scripture and simple reasoning back me up here, that in order to accept salvation and Jesus, you must accept original sin coming ffrom the first humans. This game of lets play cut and paste with the Scriptures is absurb. How am I to discern what is truth and what is not? Is salvation truth? How can you prove it is and other portions are not? Do you merely discount supernatural accounts? Do you stick only to the parts you like?
One side includes those who see that the study allows people to make their faith greater, to see for instance the beauty and reality of the stories of the Israelites as they escaped from bondage in Egypt.
However, then there are the people who find it safer to retreat to the "safe" interpretations, who are scared (and I can certainly understand the fear) to "kick the tires" (as a best friend of mine likes to say) and see the whole story. I pray that all have the opportunity to "kick the tires" a bit - spoken from personal experience, it is so worthwhile!
I have to confess that I'm surprised that by bringing up this theory I'm being told that I'm not a real Christian. That anyone who studies the Bible in one way can't really believe in God. I thought other Christians would be more tolerant. It saddens me.
Actually... in order to accept Christ Jesus salvation you must admit your own sin. I don't blame my sins on Adam. Paul tells us we are born with a sinful nature. But we are all guilty of our own sins. For all have Sined and fallen short of the glory of God. Because the truth is that if Adam hadn't sinned I would have. And so would each of us.
I have a very similar view as you about the bible. It is amazing to me how the fundamentalists reduce God down to something of a fire breathing Zeus-like character that sits in a throne in heaven and is consumed by damning and praising people here on earth. My belief is that God is an infinite mind and of infinite existence that is, yes, well beyond our comprehension.
I don't believe God will rest until his creation is complete and its not complete until day 7 where he says "its very good". Genesis one is described as the generations of the heavens and the earth. In my literal mind it describes ALL of those generations from beginning to end and the seven days are from God's view point.
I'll way in, but just briefly. I was told by an old acquaintenance of this, and he told that it was speculated, AND IT'S ONLY SPECULATION, there two different creations are being refered to.
One for a pre-existance Earth where Satan met his downfall, and the one for the current Earth as we know it. It is speculated, and please see the word "speculation", that the fall of satan as told in the Old Testament took place on a pre-existant Earth. It was destroyed and awaited to be made anew by the Lord God. It's called the "Gap Theory."
If anyone else has heard of this let me know through this discussion or private reply. I'd like to find out if anyone else has heard of this.
I'll way in, but just briefly. I was told by an old acquaintenance of this, and he told that it was speculated, AND IT'S ONLY SPECULATION, there two different creations are being refered to.
One for a pre-existance Earth where Satan met his downfall, and the one for the current Earth as we know it. It is speculated, and please see the word "speculation", that the fall of satan as told in the Old Testament took place on a pre-existant Earth. It was destroyed and awaited to be made anew by the Lord God. It's called the "Gap Theory."
If anyone else has heard of this let me know through this discussion or private reply. I'd like to find out if anyone else has heard of this.
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