25 Dec 11
1 edit
Originally posted by 667joeThat was just a joke, of course. You seem to be getting the right attitude
Educate me.
with your request. However, I am probably not the best person to ask to
educate you. The Holy Bible says seek and you shall find. The idea is not
that you will always find everything you seek, but you must put an effort
out to seek what is important. It took me years of seeking to come to my
decision that the Holy Bible was true. I still do not have a full understanding
of how everything in it is true. But I gained enough understanding to make
me believe the rest is also true.
In your seeking I would recommend reading the Holy Bible with Bible
commentaries from Biblical scholars to help you understand what the text
says. And when you study the Holy Bible you must study it with an open
mind that it may be true rather than from a strick critical point of view.
That does not mean accepting everything on blind faith as some atheist
say you must do. There is much that has enough circumstancial evidence
that any honest person would accept as proof of its truth. The amount of
evidence necessary is dependant on the individual, however.
The study of prophecies in the Holy Bible and the fulfillment of these
prophecies was an important part of the evidence for its truth in my case.
I am sure it will be different for each individual. If you really seek the
truth I am sure that you will reach the point when the Holy Spirit will
put the exclamation point on your efforts as proof to you it is real and
not fake.
25 Dec 11
Originally posted by RJHindsThank you for a polite thoughtful answer. Having read Twain, Voltaire , Hitchens, Dawkins, as well as parts of the bible, the conclusions I have drawn differ from yours. You feel the bible is true, but you have no proof. Tales in Bulfinch's Mythology have as much veracity as those in the bible. (As an aside, did you know on the back of a one dollar bill, you will see an eagle with arrows. That is a symbol of the god Jupiter with his thunder bolts! Perhaps the god in in god we trust is Jupiter.)
That was just a joke, of course. You seem to be getting the right attitude
with your request. However, I am probably not the best person to ask to
educate you. The Holy Bible says seek and you shall find. The idea is not
that you will always find everything you seek, but you must put an effort
out to seek what is important. It took me years of seeki ...[text shortened]... Spirit will
put the exclamation point on your efforts as proof to you it is real and
not fake.
25 Dec 11
3 edits
Originally posted by VoidSpirit
i'll tell you what's damaging to humanity. worshiping tyrants as gods.
i'll tell you what's damaging to humanity. worshiping tyrants as gods.
You are not coerced. No lightening has struck you as you assemble your complaints against God day after day. On the contrary, God has offered you many happy days in your life, even in spite of some difficulties common to all men. I suspect He will continue to afford you blessings for which you are unthankful and unbelieving.
God is not fidgity with you. He allows you more time. Look how you use it.
There's no tyrant in heaven. I don't know how much further God can go that we be saved from our sins, then that the Son of God received the judging separation and punishment on our behalf on His cross.
So if the unrepentant's name is not written in the Lamb's book of life I must conclude that what comes is "true and righteous" judgment.
Fallen sinners have a vested interest in perverting eternal justice. We cannot be relied upon to tell God what penalty we think should be appropriate for spurning the redemptive sacrifice of Christ on our behalf.
A congress of thieves could not be relied upon to righteously determine what the fitting penalty for stealing should be. Their sense of self preservation would probably assign a light penalty or no penalty for the crime of stealing.
And we cannot determine what should be the consequence of unreconcilable spurning of the heavenly Father.
I know your charge of God as tyrant is a lie because of viewing the One in total subjection to the Father, Christ. And He has be given all authority in heaven and earth and assigned an eternal kingdom.
The example of the exalted and enthroned Son of God proves that your charge of His Father as tyrant is a lie. And He is the FIRSTBORN SON of many brothers leading many sons into glory.
"He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be God to him, and he will be a son to Me." (Rev. 21:7)
25 Dec 11
Originally posted by jaywilljaywill, I hope you are having a blessed Christmas Day with your family and friends.i'll tell you what's damaging to humanity. worshiping tyrants as gods.
You are not coerced. No lightening has struck you as you assemble your complaints against God day after day. On the contrary, God has offered you many happy days in your life, even in spite of some difficulties common to all men. I suspect He will continue to afford ...[text shortened]... these things, and I will be God to him, and he will be a son to Me." (Rev. 21:7) [/b]
I enjoy your posts.
25 Dec 11
2 edits
Originally posted by 667joeI enjoyed the book "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain and
Thank you for a polite thoughtful answer. Having read Twain, Voltaire , Hitchens, Dawkins, as well as parts of the bible, the conclusions I have drawn differ from yours. You feel the bible is true, but you have no proof. Tales in Bulfinch's Mythology have as much veracity as those in the bible. (As an aside, did you know on the back of a one dollar bill ...[text shortened]... mbol of the god Jupiter with his thunder bolts! Perhaps the god in in god we trust is Jupiter.)
laughed at Huck's take on the Bible. However don't forget there is a
difference in reading fiction like that and reading the truth in the Holy Bible.
I have all the proof I need and you could have it too if you could stay
with the right attitude. It is much easier to criticize and dismiss what
you do not understand than to seek the truth. You have the choice to
do as you please. But I am not your free teacher. You will have to do
hard work if you want the truth. It is not near as much fun as reading
fiction books like you enjoy. 😏
P.S. Twain, Voltaire , Hitchens, and Dawkins are not what I would call
Biblical scholars that can give good commentaries on the Holy Bible.
25 Dec 11
2 edits
Originally posted by SuzianneThank you.
jaywill, I hope you are having a blessed Christmas Day with your family and friends.
I enjoy your posts.
The children we have custody of are innundated with the Christmas typicals. It is always a challenge to help them not to feel "left out".
I have not celebrated Christmas myself in over 30 years. I gave it up one year upon studying the New Testament carefully. It is one thing that Jehovah's Witnesses cannot hit me with.
But that is me. Don't take it as my legality upon anyone else.
Praise the living and victorious Lord Jesus.
25 Dec 11
Originally posted by jaywillI continue to celebrate it because of the family not because it has anything
Thank you.
The children we have custody of are innundated with the Christmas typicals. It is always a challenge to help them not to feel "left out".
I have not celebrated Christmas myself in over 30 years. I gave it up one year upon studying the New Testament carefully. It is one thing that Jehovah's Witnesses cannot hit me with.
But that is me. ...[text shortened]... n't take it as my legality upon anyone else.
Praise the living and victorious Lord Jesus.
to do with a pagan sun god or the birth of Christ. I just don't see any need
to upset the family on a small issue like pagan origins of Christmas and
Easter. It is enough for me to know the truth and know it has no affect
on salvation. I hope you had a merry Christmas anyway.
26 Dec 11
Originally posted by RJHindsHow do you know that the bible does not contain any fiction? If you believe in virgin births and resurrections, it plain your truth detector is not working. It's just that simple.
I enjoyed the book "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain and
laughed at Huck's take on the Bible. However don't forget there is a
difference in reading fiction like that and reading the truth in the Holy Bible.
I have all the proof I need and you could have it too if you could stay
with the right attitude. It is much easier to criticize and di ...[text shortened]... not what I would call
Biblical scholars that can give good commentaries on the Holy Bible.
26 Dec 11
Originally posted by RJHindsHappy Solstice! Did you know that Yule Tide was derived from a pagan festival in honer of the god Jul when a very large piece of wood (possibly a tree trunk) was burned over a twelve day period starting December 25. Sometimes animal or even human sacrifice was involved. Naturally, the festival was plagiarized by Christians. Oddly, Christians abhor pagans for human sacrifice, but honor the sacrifice of Jesus (for whom there is scant evidence of a reliable nature!)
Believe as you wish. I am not in a mood to argue. Merry Christmas. 🙂
26 Dec 11
3 edits
Originally posted by 667joeYes, I did know that.
Happy Solstice! Did you know that Yule Tide was derived from a pagan festival in honer of the god Jul when a very large piece of wood (possibly a tree trunk) was burned over a twelve day period starting December 25. Sometimes animal or even human sacrifice was involved. Naturally, the festival was plagiarized by Christians. Oddly, Christians abhor pag ...[text shortened]... ifice, but honor the sacrifice of Jesus (for whom there is scant evidence of a reliable nature!)
Of course, from pagan origins we get Christmas trees and flying reindeer. However, from Christianity we get the patron saint Nicholas of Myra who was known for giving to the poor and the gift of giving in genral. It's a stark contrast between Christianity and paganism if you ask me. It's light verses darkness.
26 Dec 11
Originally posted by whodeyChristianity and paganism are both myths. By the way, as a Christian, you are living under a dictatorship with the tyrant god demanding praise and threatening everlasting punishment and torture for disobedience. You have to accept the dictator's rules even when they are clearly wrong or merely petty. You will feel empowered to do unethical and even harmful things and feel self righteous while so doing. And the ultimate irony is that as theists, you put yourself through all this for something that is imaginary! You are forced to believe in virgin births, resurrections, that being gay is a sin, that you can't work on a certain day, that people who don't believe the same drivel as you are inferior, that women can't control their bodies , that someone being nailed to a cross was a good thing, that human sacrifice was good, that someone else can relieve you of your sins, that you are being punished for the sins of others who lived thousands of years before you were even born, etc. etc.
Yes, I did know that.
Of course, from pagan origins we get Christmas trees and flying reindeer. However, from Christianity we get the patron saint Nicholas of Myra who was known for giving to the poor and the gift of giving in genral. It's a stark contrast between Christianity and paganism if you ask me. It's light verses darkness.