86 replies to this topic

[*`*~ABG Fairy~*`*]

The Bible is only in some parts a historical account, and some of these parts are determined never to have happened. It has been said time and time again, for example, that the Gospels were never meant to be a historical document. You are right though in that faith is the real key if you're going to be a mainstream Christian, and that things must be taken into context, because the Bible is a 5000 year old book (approx. 2,000 for the New Testament) and just like other old writings we still read (the Odyssey, etc.) you have to put it into the context of the time.

The historical accuracy of the Bible is a topic that many disagree on, just like people disagree on so many other things. But you are correct in that faith is the real key. For any interested in reading Christian apologetics concerning the Bible, below are a few links that might prove helpful.

http://www.carm.org/questions_bible.htm
http://www.godandscience.org/apologetics/authenticity.html
http://www.answers.org/bible/
http://www.biblestudytools.net/

NT Christians aren't under OT law. NT Christians are in a different dispensation; that dispensation being one of GRACE. If anything, if I was to post something like: "Ted Bundy and John Wayne Gacy are in heaven", then I suppose the atheists would throw a fit about God not being fair if He allows people like that to repent and be received into heaven. But that's the entire point. Jesus came for the lost....for the sinner.....that's where His love shines with brightness. The bottom line is that seriel killers can and do go to heaven, if they have truly repented. To me, that is the REAL message of the bible, not OT scripture that doesn't even apply today.

This is another topic Christians disagree on. I agree that Christians aren't under OT law and that the grace of Jesus is the real message, however, (and I'm not saying this about you Denise), but it saddens me that so many Christians disregard the OT as unimportant. Many argue that Jesus come to fulfill the laws so that we no longer have to - but this doesn't mean that we should no longer pay attention to those laws.

[No I'm Amy]

Hmm...This whole post is pretty interesting. I like it.

[R.S.]

Christianity was the first religion though

Huh???

Judaism came before Christianity. There is also a host of Greek and Egyptian "mystery religions", Paganism, etc.

Unless you mean Christianity came before Protestantism, Anglicism, etc. But then again those are still Christianity, they're just sects of it. Arguably I think the Catholic church is the oldest form of organized, dogmatized and doctrinated Christianity, but before that there was small sects of Christianity in the first 300 years that bear little resemblence to the Christians of today.

[SmoothLover]

Christianity was the first religion though

Hate to dissapoint you, but there are some 4,000 + year-old religions (especially in China and India) And I'm not talking about witchcraft or mere separate rituals. I'm talking about a "formal" and "organized" way of worshiping.

[R.S.]

This is another topic Christians disagree on. I agree that Christians aren't under OT law and that the grace of Jesus is the real message, however, (and I'm not saying this about you Denise), but it saddens me that so many Christians disregard the OT as unimportant. Many argue that Jesus come to fulfill the laws so that we no longer have to - but that we shouldn't necessarily no longer pay attention to those laws.

The OT is obviously important in context to bear in mind when looking at Christianity, but is not the all-encompassing law of Christians (Mosaic law is what I'm referring to).

For example, Mosaic law was intended for Hebrews, who believed themselves to be the people closest to God and therefore having to follow certain laws that everyone else didn't have to, such as eating "more pure" food.

When Christianity first started, there was disagreement on who could be a Christian - just Jews, those who had converted to Judaism, or anyone. The last choice triumphed. For this reason, Mosaic laws don't really apply to modern Christians. Another reason is Jesus' existance and fulfillment of the Mosaic law so you wouldn't have to (dying for your sins). I'm reporting this all from an unbiased point of view by the way. This is all assuming the books of the Bible are correct (as there are a lot of non canonical Gospels that were written after Jesus' time) and that Jesus did exist. I'm not a Christian.

[Denise2]

The Bible is only in some parts a historical account, and some of these parts are determined never to have happened. It has been said time and time again, for example, that the Gospels were never meant to be a historical document. You are right though in that faith is the real key if you're going to be a mainstream Christian, and that things must be taken into context, because the Bible is a 5000 year old book (approx. 2,000 for the New Testament) and just like other old writings we still read (the Odyssey, etc.) you have to put it into the context of the time.

The historical accuracy of the Bible is a topic that many disagree on, just like people disagree on so many other things. But you are correct in that faith is the real key. For any interested in reading Christian apologetics concerning the Bible, below are a few links that might prove helpful.

http://www.carm.org/questions_bible.htm
http://www.godandscience.org/apologetics/authenticity.html
http://www.answers.org/bible/
http://www.biblestudytools.net/

NT Christians aren't under OT law. NT Christians are in a different dispensation; that dispensation being one of GRACE. If anything, if I was to post something like: "Ted Bundy and John Wayne Gacy are in heaven", then I suppose the atheists would throw a fit about God not being fair if He allows people like that to repent and be received into heaven. But that's the entire point. Jesus came for the lost....for the sinner.....that's where His love shines with brightness. The bottom line is that seriel killers can and do go to heaven, if they have truly repented. To me, that is the REAL message of the bible, not OT scripture that doesn't even apply today.

This is another topic Christians disagree on. I agree that Christians aren't under OT law and that the grace of Jesus is the real message, however, (and I'm not saying this about you Denise), but it saddens me that so many Christians disregard the OT as unimportant. Many argue that Jesus come to fulfill the laws so that we no longer have to - but this doesn't mean that we should no longer pay attention to those laws.

No, I'm not a hyper-dispensationalist, and I believe that the OT is important to understand the CONTEXT for all NT living/guidelines. The "law" is supposed to be written on the heart of the Christian believer. But it is super important to explain that we don't go around slaughtering people or taking slaves. Seems that atheists are so stuck on God as lawgiver and judge, that they don't understand that Christians don't live under the 600 plus laws that were given to the Israelites. Most of those laws were laws that were introduced to make living in that culture, more bearable. That is what I'm saying. People use those laws as an excuse to dismiss the bible, but because they are taking them out of context, they dismiss Christianity all together, and particularly, dismiss and ignore the merciful side of God, which was manifest in the person of Jesus Christ.

[*`*~ABG Fairy~*`*]

No, I'm not a hyper-dispensationalist, and I believe that the OT is important to understand the CONTEXT for all NT living/guidelines. The "law" is supposed to be written on the heart of the Christian believer. But it is super important to explain that we don't go around slaughtering people or taking slaves. Seems that atheists are so stuck on God as lawgiver and judge, that they don't understand that Christians don't live under the 600 plus laws that were given to the Israelites. Most of those laws were laws that were introduced to make living in that culture, more bearable. That is what I'm saying. People use those laws as an excuse to dismiss the bible, but because they are taking them out of context, they dismiss Christianity all together, and particularly, dismiss and ignore the merciful side of God, which was manifest in the person of Jesus Christ.

I believe as well that the culture of the time should be taken into context - that's extremely important. Very well said Denise.

[Mortally]

smite your enemies:

And Saint Attila raised the hand grenade up on high, saying, "O Lord, bless this, Thy hand grenade, that with it, Thou mayest blow Thine enemies to tiny bits... in Thy mercy." And the Lord did grin, and the people did feast upon the lambs and sloths and carp and anchovies and orangutans and breakfast cereals, and fruit bats and large chu... [Whereupon the friar is urged, "skip ahead a bit, brother"]... And the Lord spake, saying, "First shalt thou take out the Holy Pin. Then, shalt thou count to three. No more, no less. Three shall be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shalt thou not count, neither count thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to three. Five is right out. Once the number three, being the third number, be reached, then lobbest thou thy Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch towards thy foe, who, being naughty in My sight, shall snuff it." Amen.

Jess has OFFICIALLY WON THIS THREAD.

And an acne cure in the Bible? Get off my internet.

[YourCaptain]

American meat has been linked to all kinds of problems.
Funny to see that in the bible, they used the scientific method. A period of ten days, on a specific diet void of a certain food, notice they even had a control group:

Then let our countenances be looked upon before thee, and the countenance of the children that eat of the portion of the king's meat.

Lol.
-YC

[*`*~ABG Fairy~*`*]

Jess has OFFICIALLY WON THIS THREAD.

And an acne cure in the Bible? Get off my internet.

I don't think anyone has officially won the thread... too many different opinions here, and again, the culture and context of the Bible needs to be taken into consideration.

American meat has been linked to all kinds of problems.
Funny to see that in the bible, they used the scientific method. A period of ten days, on a specific diet void of a certain food, notice they even had a control group:

Then let our countenances be looked upon before thee, and the countenance of the children that eat of the portion of the king's meat.

Lol.
-YC

Cool observation.

[*`*~ABG Fairy~*`*]

okay, i would like to know more about eating the Bible way...
i just started buying food for life food over the last few weeks.
i honestly think the Bible has alot for us to learn from.
i don't think any of the Bible's teaching would hurt any of us.
NO MATTER who, what, or Not believe in.

I agree - no matter what your faith is, there is a lot of wisdom in the Bible. If you're interested in what the bible says about food, you can, well, read the Bible of course, haha, but there are also many helpful books that can help sum things up for you, like What Would Jesus Eat? by Don Colbert and Holy Cow! Does God Care about What We Eat? by Hope Egan, and books on Kosher, such as Kosher for Everybody by Garfunkel. Just be aware that some Kosher rules, such as eating milk seperately from milk, are Jewish traditions that aren't found in the Bible (that may be the only one - not sure). No matter what book you're reading, is always a good idea to cross reference with the Bible itself if you're wanting info that's strictly Bible based.

[Ronin]

Seems to me the bible quote refers to a kind of miracle...in other words some people were going to eat only seeds (pulse) and water for ten days, and then another group was going to be eating the king's food for ten days which we can assume is a rich diet.

Then after ten days, the two groups would be compared and the group eating only seeds and water would have fat faces, even fatter than the faces of the group on the diet fit for a king.

So then a sort of miracle would have occured and this would prove that the people eating only pulse and water were faithful or something. But as we all know seeds are highly calorie dense and birds eat them a lot because birds need a lot of energy. Seeds will fatten anyone up. The miracle would be to stomach a diet of only seeds for ten days. There would be no miracle in getting fat off of seeds.

[cjb]

American meat has been linked to all kinds of problems.
Funny to see that in the bible, they used the scientific method. A period of ten days, on a specific diet void of a certain food, notice they even had a control group:

Haha, yes, even God knows that it can't be true unless it's proven via the scientific method.

I also think it's interesting and worth noting that the Old Testament gives instructions to treat the animals that you eat in a humane manner. How many of the 70ish% percent of Americans who claim to be Christians buy meat that was raised humanely??

[*`*~ABG Fairy~*`*]

I also think it's interesting and worth noting that the Old Testament gives instructions to treat the animals that you eat in a humane manner. How many of the 70ish% percent of Americans who claim to be Christians buy meat that was raised humanely??

You are SO right about that. That is such an excellent point!! The following is an excellent video explaining how poorly innocent animals are treated by the mainstream. http://www.themeatrix.com/ If only more people would realize this and then actually do something about it by not supporting those types of inhumane practices.

[Marrakech]

Amen.. this is the funniest post Ive read tonight!

[mikee]

Accutane, now thats an easy way out. Be aware of having increased sensitivity to sunlight, depression, damage to the liver, kidneys, and colon. Make sure you stop taking it if you become pregnant, and remember over 60 cases of suicide and nearly 1,400 cases of psychiatric problems linked with the use of Accutane.

those numbers are tiny in comparison to the amount of people who have taken it.

people who take accutane usually have extremely severe acne, i think their psychiatric problems and reason for suicide was the state of their skin. i don't think that everyone who is on accutane on this site is a representation of those who aren't on acne.org. even in my case i never put up pictures in my album when i was at my very worst.

[mikee]

I also think it's interesting and worth noting that the Old Testament gives instructions to treat the animals that you eat in a humane manner. How many of the 70ish% percent of Americans who claim to be Christians buy meat that was raised humanely??

You are SO right about that. That is such an excellent point!! The following is an excellent video explaining how poorly innocent animals are treated by the mainstream. http://www.themeatrix.com/ If only more people would realize this and then actually do something about it by not supporting those types of inhumane practices.

fuck that their purpose is for my dinner, not to enjoy their life. besides, animals don't have "feelings"

[R.S.]

I also think it's interesting and worth noting that the Old Testament gives instructions to treat the animals that you eat in a humane manner. How many of the 70ish% percent of Americans who claim to be Christians buy meat that was raised humanely??

You are SO right about that. That is such an excellent point!! The following is an excellent video explaining how poorly innocent animals are treated by the mainstream. http://www.themeatrix.com/ If only more people would realize this and then actually do something about it by not supporting those types of inhumane practices.

fuck that their purpose is for my dinner, not to enjoy their life. besides, animals don't have "feelings"

What I really don't get is this "animals don't have feelings" argument. If you run over a dog and have it barely alive clinging for life on the street, it's going to be crying. Is that a feeling? If you give a dog a treat, it's going to be excited. Is that not a feeling? Obviously animals don't experience complex emotions like the feeling of being decepted or something like that, but they have basic feelings and they obviously feel pain (or they wouldn't care if you hurt them).

[Mr Chris Mas]

What about...
John 13:34
"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.
Surely we acne sufferers could do with more love like this...

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8Love never fails

[RoxyHart]

What about...
John 13:34
"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.
Surely we acne sufferers could do with more love like this...

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8Love never fails

Amen! thats one of my favorite verses in the Bible.