I was born in 1993, in an era where I am fortunate enough to have a great amount of information on how the universe came to be, and how the things that occur within it occur. I turn to God(specifically in 2009 after a brief stint with atheism) for answers as to why the universe came to be, and why the things that occur within it occur.
So far, His answers have been pretty damn reasonable. Perfectly, in fact.
@DeistPaladin:
God didn't write the Bible. Man did. So while God may not change, our perception of Him can. Our understanding of Him can. And once we compare our understanding of Him to the Bible, we begin to shed light upon it's principles and knowledge.
But God is not contained within the Bible, as you seem to think He is. So man may not have gotten everything about God right the first time, sure. But God got it right the first time, when He created the universe itself.
I don't claim to understand the Bible any better than Luther or pre-modern Christian thinkers ever did. I'm sure they could beat me by leaps and bounds in that regard. But that's not the point I was making. A literal interpretation of the Bible was fed to people for hundreds of years because, you have to remember, only a few copies of the Bible even existed. Preachers and leaders could spin it anyway they liked, and the people would accept it because they had no access to it themselves.
In an age where anyone who pleases can have access to the Bible, and it's teachings, we would expect that deeper thinkers would come out of the wood-work and correct the interpretations of old. Obviously, that is what happened. People who understood God*, but had no access to the Bible in olden times, began to say 'Hey, wait a minute.'
*I re-iterate; God is not contained within the Bible. The Bible is a book about God, written by men. Once the Bible got into the hands of the common man, who thought about things and came to understand God quite well, it's words were more clearly and accurately spread throughout the world.
@Thor:
Please, point me to the individuals in your life, and otherwise, who hold said 'out-dated' interpretation as their core beliefs. I only know one person who has that kind of thought process. Most other people I talk to understand that the Bible is not meant to be taken the way most of you guys are taking it.
@Chuck:
There is a more effective way in which God communicats with us; it's called life. Do you think the authors of the Bible were just talking out their asses? ...Nevermind, dont answer that. The snarky remark I will obviously get in return isn't worth the time on either of our parts.
The point I'm making is that the Bible isa collection of observations about life as it relates to God. They were observing God in real life, and describing Him and His ways as best as they could with their limited human ability and knowledge. They did not include, nor did they even get correct, everything about God within the Bible.
He is far too vast for one book to contain.
So far, His answers have been pretty damn reasonable. Perfectly, in fact.
@DeistPaladin:
God didn't write the Bible. Man did. So while God may not change, our perception of Him can. Our understanding of Him can. And once we compare our understanding of Him to the Bible, we begin to shed light upon it's principles and knowledge.
But God is not contained within the Bible, as you seem to think He is. So man may not have gotten everything about God right the first time, sure. But God got it right the first time, when He created the universe itself.
I don't claim to understand the Bible any better than Luther or pre-modern Christian thinkers ever did. I'm sure they could beat me by leaps and bounds in that regard. But that's not the point I was making. A literal interpretation of the Bible was fed to people for hundreds of years because, you have to remember, only a few copies of the Bible even existed. Preachers and leaders could spin it anyway they liked, and the people would accept it because they had no access to it themselves.
In an age where anyone who pleases can have access to the Bible, and it's teachings, we would expect that deeper thinkers would come out of the wood-work and correct the interpretations of old. Obviously, that is what happened. People who understood God*, but had no access to the Bible in olden times, began to say 'Hey, wait a minute.'
*I re-iterate; God is not contained within the Bible. The Bible is a book about God, written by men. Once the Bible got into the hands of the common man, who thought about things and came to understand God quite well, it's words were more clearly and accurately spread throughout the world.
@Thor:
Please, point me to the individuals in your life, and otherwise, who hold said 'out-dated' interpretation as their core beliefs. I only know one person who has that kind of thought process. Most other people I talk to understand that the Bible is not meant to be taken the way most of you guys are taking it.
@Chuck:
There is a more effective way in which God communicats with us; it's called life. Do you think the authors of the Bible were just talking out their asses? ...Nevermind, dont answer that. The snarky remark I will obviously get in return isn't worth the time on either of our parts.
The point I'm making is that the Bible isa collection of observations about life as it relates to God. They were observing God in real life, and describing Him and His ways as best as they could with their limited human ability and knowledge. They did not include, nor did they even get correct, everything about God within the Bible.
He is far too vast for one book to contain.
