Bible written by different writers at different times for different people

me ^ | 12/6/01 | me

[Skywalk]

Ok cool.

[exmarine]

Therein lies your problem. You assume that the stories of an ancient primitive race are to be believed as literal truth. Funny, how Horus resurrected his father Osiris, but that's pagan myth. Or Krishna raising someone from the dead, that TOO is paga myth. The reality is that you believe these things to be true, and no evidence, short of aliens landing and showing you videotape will convince you otherwise.

Can't you see the distinctions between Jesus Christ and myth? Jesus was a real person, remember? Osiris was not. Osiris is a fertility repeating resurrection. Remember?

[exmarine]

LOL life is a miracle, but you compare that to the alleged supenatural freezing of the sun.

So miracles do exist then? But only the ones that have nothing to do with God? Would you like to defend abiogensis?

By the way, far more advanced civilizations around the world, record no day that the sun stood still in the sky, despite better astronomical knowledge and charting methods. Nor is there a report of the Star of Bethlehem.

Are you just throwing out anything that comes to mind? If you study the astronomical charts, you will find a convergence of 3 planets in the same area of the sky. Would this form a bright light? There are other explanations as well. Just because you don't know the explanation does not discount the miracle.

Also the Magi, were sorcerers, following the patterns of the stars to read destiny, a forbidden practice in the OT. But let's ignore that little tidbit.

Were they? Even if that is true (and the bible does not say they were sorcerers), does God love all sinners, including sorcerers? I was an adulterer, liar, sorcerer (drug user)and god-hating reprobate before I met the Lord.

[George W. Bush]

Therefore, they who assume to be philosophers without Religion, and who, by speculating, so act as to remove God and all sense of piety far from them, will one day feel the force of the expression of Paul, related by Luke, that God has never left himself without witness, (Acts 14:17.) For they shall not be permitted to escape with impunity because they have been deaf and insensible to testimonies so illustrious. - Calvin's Commentaries (Genesis)

Mr. Calvin had this thread pegged centuries ago. Calvin has such a well-balanced and genteel approach. And just beneath his smooth smooth prose lurk the jaws of an unrelenting logic. I really will have to start examining Calvin's Commentaries for his readings of the Old Testament as well.

I still get a little dizzy when I see Wesleyans quote Calvin. But it's a nice surprise. Maybe O.P. (Opie?) would like to comment on this thread as well...

[Skywalk]

Ok you made a good point about the former sinners meeting the Lord. However, I'd think that better qualified applicants(so to speak) would be the first to arrive?

I am throwing out stuff off the top of my head. I responded rapidly to the things I first saw. I had more recent knowledge a year and a half ago, but I do recall enough to get by in these conversations.

[exmarine]

I appreciate your thoughts. No problem. I just try to respond as best I can.

[rwfromkansas]

BS. In fact, there actually were Christians who said for a long time that the earth revolved around the sun. It was not a new idea when it finally got accepted. It was the Catholic church that suppressed the idea.

[rwfromkansas]

Early historian after early historian mentioned Jesus. This did not happen for nothing. Indeed, the only logical solution is the Resurrection is true. Records indicate that it is true that there was darkness at the time etc. as the Bible describes.

[Cap'n Crunch]

Thanks for the flag.

Being a Catholic I'm not permitted to read the Bible (just ask my protestant friends, they'll tell you) ;0)

Have to save this for later reading.

[RnMomof7]

Therefore, they who assume to be philosophers without Religion, and who, by speculating, so act as to remove God and all sense of piety far from them, will one day feel the force of the expression of Paul, related by Luke, that God has never left himself without witness, (Acts 14:17.) For they shall not be permitted to escape with impunity because they have been deaf and insensible to testimonies so illustrious. - Calvin's Commentaries (Genesis)

Mr. Calvin had this thread pegged centuries ago. Calvin has such a well-balanced and genteel approach. And just beneath his smooth smooth prose lurk the jaws of an unrelenting logic. I really will have to start examining Calvin's Commentaries for his readings of the Old Testament as well.

I still get a little dizzy when I see Wesleyans quote Calvin. But it's a nice surprise. Maybe O.P. (Opie?) would like to comment on this thread as well...

Actually I thought "Cal" had been lurking on FR for some time before penning this..a timeless truth.

A bible study at MY church used a Calvin Commentary for Jude..with the comment that spiritual conditions at the time of Calvin were in some ways similar to ours..so his observations are applicable

I think Opie is busy settling his cat into his new surroundings :>)

[GCSmith]

Therein lies your problem. You assume that the stories of an ancient primitive race are to be believed as literal truth. Funny, how Horus resurrected his father Osiris, but that's pagan myth. Or Krishna raising someone from the dead, that TOO is paga myth. The reality is that you believe these things to be true, and no evidence, short of aliens landing and showing you videotape will convince you otherwise.

Can't you see the distinctions between Jesus Christ and myth? Jesus was a real person, remember? Osiris was not. Osiris is a fertility repeating resurrection. Remember?

Of course, Jesus Christ was real. So was Krishna. And Mohammed. Confusing these historical people with the myths they claimed credence for, or the myths later ascribed to them, is still wrong-headed.

As for the title of the thread, the phrase "no sh*t Sherlock" comes to mind. That's why it's a mythic cycle, and not a novel.

[rwfromkansas]

Also, perhaps you would change your mind if you realized that the church was only going along with what it learned from the greatest secular scientists, who also scoffed at Galileo for a long time. The universities taught the Aristotle view of an earth-centered universe. This is convienently ignored and the church becomes the bad guy with liberal revisionism.

[Redcloak]

I'm sure that either the USENET threads or similar writings are out there. None of these supposed contradictions are novel, even though the writers may think that they've discovered something no one else has ever noticed. Over these thousands of years, plenty of eyes have looked at the Scriptures. And to borrow a quote, "There is nothing new under the sun." Someone somewhere has noticed each, asked these questions and had them answered.

[PFKEY]

Too funny!

[babylonian]

I just figure that if God is Who He says He is, (and I think He is), and if He could inspire men to write down what they were told to write, (and I believe He did) then I believe He's big enough to make sure the meaning and essence of the message to man He intended in the first place is still intact today, and can be believed completely, and will direct one to the One true God. And since I'm content to rest on that, none of the nitpicking some people come up with will have any effect on me at all.

I rest my case.

[Skywalk]

I completely forgot about Mara's temptations!!!

There's every reason to believe that much of Buddhist thought had made its way to the Middle East's philosophical and religious 'schools.' Catholic priests called Buddhism the "Satanic counterfeit" because in many ways the religions mirror one another(in their purer non-Pauline forms, at least)

[NewLand]

Your enthusiasm for the Bible is noted...but your ignorance is also showing.

Keep reading the good book...it never stops teaching, you will never stop learning.

God's words are consistent...only our views and interpretations change over time.

Thankfully, God is loyal and patient, unlike us.