(March 21, 2013 at 6:01 pm)CleanShavenJesus Wrote:

(March 21, 2013 at 5:42 am)catfish Wrote: Am I really cherrypicking? Or is that just the term used when someone fails at convincing another that they must believe every last word of the Bible?

Why do you have the power to say what is literal and what isn't? Why do you have the power to call yourself a Christian and a follower of the Bible and obey some things and not others?

I obey the New Testament and obey the parts that the Bible says to obey. The Bible does not tell Christians to obey the Old Testament. Insisting that it does displays a great ignorance of theology that proves the person has spent next to no time reading the Bible, has probably never ever read through the book of Galatians.

(March 21, 2013 at 6:01 pm)CleanShavenJesus Wrote:

(March 21, 2013 at 5:42 am)catfish Wrote: Am I really cherrypicking? Or is that just the term used when someone fails at convincing another that they must believe every last word of the Bible?

Why do you have the power to say what is literal and what isn't? Why do you have the power to call yourself a Christian and a follower of the Bible and obey some things and not others?

The question is why don't you have the power? Why do you depend on others?

(March 21, 2013 at 5:42 am)catfish Wrote: Am I really cherrypicking? Or is that just the term used when someone fails at convincing another that they must believe every last word of the Bible?

Some people cherry-pick, but I haven't seen much of that on this forum except from atheists. For example Drich and I have both used proof-texts to support our own takes on Christian doctrine. That does not mean that we believe only those texts to the exclusions of others. But both of us take Holy Scripture as whole cloth, including all the violence, ancient rituals and strict prohibitions. Seeing the 'big picture' allows us to grasp the significance of things that offend modern sensibilities in light of God's overall plan.

The disbeliever sees only the surface of the text and uses that to justify his disbelief. The disbeliever refuses to see the overarching narrative and repeated themes. So instead he focuses on each bible story as an isolated event. And without seeing how it fits into the grand scheme of things he sees only what he wants to see, a malicious and vindictive god. In short, the atheist is the real cherry-picker.

(March 22, 2013 at 2:20 pm)ChadWooters Wrote: The disbeliever sees only the surface of the text and uses that to justify his disbelief. The disbeliever refuses to see the overarching narrative and repeated themes. So instead he focuses on each bible story as an isolated event. And without seeing how it fits into the grand scheme of things he sees only what he wants to see, a malicious and vindictive god. In short, the atheist is the real cherry-picker.

Meh. I don't think I've cherry picked. There are many nice teaching stories but also way too many dry bits. I've never been drawn into the book or seen it as an important book to get my head around. There are lots of books, many of them good. While there are good reasons to study the bible to understand our own culture but life is short and I have many books ahead of it on my reading bucket list.

This disbeliever became a disbeliever because he found it impossible to rationalize away the multitude of discrepancies and pretend that there was an overarching, unified narrative. Discovering that the Bible wasn't written nor assembled the way I thought it was helped make its contents much more sensible. Treating it like the cobbled-together writings of an ancient people who were no different than their contemporaries makes it a much more understandable book than treating it like a god-inspired testament to his own greatness, which is at once divine and fallible and given to a wide range of interpretations and misinterpretations.

(March 22, 2013 at 2:10 pm)jstrodel Wrote:

(March 21, 2013 at 6:01 pm)CleanShavenJesus Wrote: Why do you have the power to say what is literal and what isn't? Why do you have the power to call yourself a Christian and a follower of the Bible and obey some things and not others?

I obey the New Testament and obey the parts that the Bible says to obey. The Bible does not tell Christians to obey the Old Testament. Insisting that it does displays a great ignorance of theology that proves the person has spent next to no time reading the Bible, has probably never ever read through the book of Galatians.

You need to put that Bible down for little bit and pick up a Physics book. Do some research on the theory of relativity. Understand what space-time is. An omnibenevolent, omnipresent, omnipotent omniscient God cannot exist simultaneously with this universe. All of these characteristics CONTRADICT EACH OTHER and do not fit with the laws of our universe! If the universe is real, your religion is nominally FALSE! You have the gull to call anyone else ignorant? Jesus Christ!!
I wait on baited breath for your claim that the universe in fact must not exist. In which case, I'm sorry to tell you that Descartes and Keanu Reeves have already cornered the market on making anymore profit on such a claim. There wouldn't be any good reason for you to start a new religion based on that though, there's not enough money in it. How about attempting to understand the rules you and your surroundings follow everyday. Persue an understanding for the things around you using the abundance of knowledge available. If in the end, you still have a question in which you need to arbitrarily insert God, then go for it!! I'm telling you though, you'd be surprized how fast you realize it's just not necessary.

That is not what the person who proposed the big bang thinks.

jstrodel Wrote:Why is the idea of God ridiculous?

There is nothing logical about a magical being watching over all of us.

(March 22, 2013 at 2:18 pm)catfish Wrote:

(March 21, 2013 at 6:01 pm)CleanShavenJesus Wrote: Why do you have the power to say what is literal and what isn't? Why do you have the power to call yourself a Christian and a follower of the Bible and obey some things and not others?

The question is why don't you have the power? Why do you depend on others?

I had the power to put the book down altogether. If anyone's depending on anything, it's you.

(March 22, 2013 at 4:59 pm)CleanShavenJesus Wrote: I had the power to put the book down altogether. If anyone's depending on anything, it's you.

Your perception of reality is distorted.

(March 22, 2013 at 5:11 pm)catfish Wrote:

(March 22, 2013 at 4:59 pm)CleanShavenJesus Wrote: I had the power to put the book down altogether. If anyone's depending on anything, it's you.

Your perception of reality is distorted.

Enlighten me