The Doctrine of the Churches

Originally posted by @kellyjay
Really, why is that? You reject the singular message from beginning to end with in it, the
only thing that sets it apart from all written works is that God is real, and it was His goal
from the Genesis to Revelation that God has for us a redeemer. Deny that what is left
is just meaningless stories no different than any other work of fiction that people can take
or leave without it being important or not.

I do not liken the Bible to The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit and Harry Potter. Stop being a complete buffoon.

Originally posted by @fmf
I do not liken the Bible to The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit and Harry Potter. Stop being a complete buffoon.

Is God real? Name calling really!

Originally posted by @kellyjay
Is God real? Name calling really!

Agreed.
'Buffoon' not necessary.

Originally posted by @kellyjay
Is God real? Name calling really!

Trying to attribute to me the view that the Bible is akin to The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit and Harry Potter, after boasting that you've been discussing Christian doctrine with me for years, is a clumsy disingenuous rhetorical gimmick on your part.

Originally posted by @fmf
Trying to attribute to me the view that the Bible is akin to The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit and Harry Potter, after boasting that you've been discussing Christian doctrine with me for years, is a clumsy disingenuous rhetorical gimmick on your part.

Is God real, are the scriptures sharing about a real live God in this real world?

Originally posted by @kellyjay
Is God real, are the scriptures sharing about a real live God in this real world?

There may be a god or gods but I don't think you have information about it, him or her... or them. The Bible is not akin to The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit and Harry Potter. It is a detailed cultural and doctrinal history and foundational scripture for thousands of years of Hebrew and then Christian history. I think many of the people, places and events are real; I believe the accounts of their beliefs are very real. You compare The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit and Harry Potter to the Bible if you want to. I don't.

Originally posted by @fmf
There may be a god or gods but I don't think you have information about it, him or her... or them. The Bible is not akin to The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit and Harry Potter. It is a detailed cultural and doctrinal history and foundational scripture for thousands of years of Hebrew and then Christian history. I think many of the people, places and events ar ...[text shortened]... pare The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit and Harry Potter to the Bible if you want to. I don't.

Is God real? Specifically the Only God in the Bible that created everything, started the
human race, called out Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob then through them started the Hebrew
race, then through them came Jesus? If the God of the Bible isn't real, reality is only
dependent upon man, you got another Lord of the Rings just a story. Because of that you
can paint God anyway you want, what does it matter! It only matters if you are bound to
truth about Him. If God is real, then there are consequences about everything not just the
Bible becoming very real.

Your rejection of God means you have nothing to base you beliefs about him on other
than that thing between your ears, you simply accept what you want and deny what you
want, it is just up to you. If you accept scripture, than regardless of that you like or dislike
the reality of God resides outside of you, as does His Laws, His love, and mercy, and His
wrath. You pick and choose what you think is important, the culture, the doctrinal history,
foundational scripture, history, and you put them on par with everything else, ignoring
that without God none of those things would have happen as they were described.

Originally posted by @kellyjay
Is God real? Specifically the Only God in the Bible that created everything, started the
human race, called out Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob then through them started the Hebrew
race, then through them came Jesus? If the God of the Bible isn't real, reality is only
dependent upon man, you got another Lord of the Rings just a story. Because of that you
can ...[text shortened]... else, ignoring
that without God none of those things would have happen as they were described.

I have no reason to believe - based on the things you say what you assert - that God has revealed Himself to you. Remember I spent decades closely involved with the stuff you believe. Now, just to be clear, I don't think he has revealed Himself to my Muslim and Hindu neighbours either. If you want to compare the literature that any of these religions are founded on to "Harry Potter" then that is your prerogative. I think it makes you sound fatuous. Even if you think you are trying to somehow diminish my stance on your particular god figure by being fatuous, as rhetorical gimmicks go, I think it is you who is diminished by the use of it.

Originally posted by @fmf
I have no reason to believe - based on the things you say what you assert - that God has revealed Himself to you. Remember I spent decades closely involved with the stuff you believe. Now, just to be clear, I don't think he has revealed Himself to my Muslim and Hindu neighbours either. If you want to compare the literature that any of these religions are founde ...[text shortened]... being fatuous, as rhetorical gimmicks go, I think it is you who is diminished by the use of it.

Frankly I doubt you.

Originally posted by @fmf
I have no reason to believe - based on the things you say what you assert - that God has revealed Himself to you. Remember I spent decades closely involved with the stuff you believe. Now, just to be clear, I don't think he has revealed Himself to my Muslim and Hindu neighbours either. If you want to compare the literature that any of these religions are founde ...[text shortened]... being fatuous, as rhetorical gimmicks go, I think it is you who is diminished by the use of it.

What reason(s) did you have at the time (when you were a Christian) to believe that God had revealed Himself to you? Or did you not believe that God had revealed Himself to you when you were a Christian?

Originally posted by @fmf
I am interested in debate and discussion about ideas ~ even those ideas I do not subscribe to - like yours and divegeester's and Rajk999's. You simply branding things "heresies" and "outlandish" and "traditional", and what is "solid" or not, isn't as interesting to me as you seem to think.

You know why these doctrines were estbalished in every major Christian group, ranging from the Orthodox to the Catholic to the mainline Protestants, right?

Because they have sound Biblical basis.

Originally posted by @philokalia
You know why these doctrines were estbalished in every major Christian group, ranging from the Orthodox to the Catholic to the mainline Protestants, right?

Once again, you are seeking to use me as a proxy to express your disagreements with Rajk999. He's a follower of Jesus and you are a follower of Jesus ~ while I am not. I am unimpressed by your brandishing words like "major" and "mainline", just as I am unimpressed by your use of words like "heresies" and "outlandish" and "traditional", and "solid". And anyway, it's your fellow follower of Jesus that you should be discussing this with. Stop using me as a proxy.