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.But I think you have to concede that no one reads the Bible literally, unless you really believe that Christ is a door or that Peter is a rock

I'll concede to what GOD says about HIS OWN WORD. I'll concede HE KNOWS BEST about HIS OWN WORD.

"The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are SPIRITUALLY discerned".

"Rather, there was a considerable amount of stupidity -- and therefore spiritual darkness -- in the forms of Christianity to which I was exposed, and which would have required an absence of self-respect on my part in order to embrace.

"Self"? Got news for you - we are all nothing without Christ. You can take that in any tense you want - no man is/was/will be anything without Christ yesterday, today or tomorrow.

What you couldn't do without Him - you could not effectively and thoroughly know your lost condition - without Him, you could not have adequate concepts of God - without Him, you could realize no victory over sin - without Him, we would all be a victim of the wrath to come.

Jesus said to His disciples "without Me you can do nothing," (John. 15:5). In Ephesians 2:12 teaches outside of Christ, we have "no hope" and we are "without God in the world."

If we are to be accurate when speaking of creation, we should use not the past tense but the continuous present. We should say, not 'God made the world, and me in it,' but 'God is making the world, and me in it, here and now, at this moment and always.'

To be accurate about HIS creation, HIS world, HIS universe, we speak HIS Words....In the beginning WAS The Word, In the beginning God creatED, and the earth WAS without form, and darkness WAS upon the face... and the Spirit of God movED upon the face ... and God callED the light Day, and the darkness he callED...

"For the earth is the Lord's, and the FULLNESS thereof". 1 Cor 10:26

"Creation is not an event in the past, but is a relationship to the present."

Learn what 'was' 'creatED' 'in the beginning' means. Christians have a relationship with their heavenly Father NOT what He created. They serve the Creator not the creatED.

Leave self (pride) out of it - It's ALL about Jesus and we are nothing without Him. He is the Great 'I AM'.