Understanding the bible

[Minimalist]

(like it's only spiritual nuts, representing masculinity perhaps, that we need to place in the car door of heaven).

Origen, unlike G-C a famous xtian, cut his own nuts off for jesus.

http://www.omnilogos.com/2011/10/08/castration/

Early Christians also occasionally saw castration as a means to spiritual salvation. The most famous of these, Origen, castrated himself circa 209 in an effort to follow the New Testament scripture Matthew 19:12, which refers to eunuchs “who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake.”

Asshole.

[dtango]

Nothing in your precious scriptures mean a thing unless your god is real. We "smart guy atheists" don't happen to believe that it is, so the scriptures are nothing more than an incomprehensible jumble of mythology…

That I know my friend: that most of the atheists are ignoramuses.
As for “my” god, he is real and did exactly what the book says he did: he attacked Moses because he thought that he was the father of Zipporah’s child and not himself (Yahweh), but soon as Zipporah performed circumcision and proved to him that her child was pure, a son of god, he let go of the innocent Moses.

That is what the book says and it says it for a purpose. What was the purpose? To let the Israelites know why they had to be circumcised.
Oh, but it was the Egyptians who were the first to circumcise their children. A circumcised child is a son of god; the Israelites, therefore, are sons of god, meaning that they are gods themselves, but then gods are the Egyptians too. So what is going on here?

Maybe the redactors of the Old Testament permitted this small story to remain in the collection in the hope that it will help to wake up the sleeping ones, Israelites or non Israelites.

I'm more inclined to think that a passage like that would be heavy symbolism that you can only understand after swapping out your reason for faith, or an obscure metaphor for something else (like it's only spiritual nuts, representing masculinity perhaps, that we need to place in the car door of heaven). Failing that, it probably means something completely different in context and in the original language. Of course, there's always the old standby that it's a commandment to slam the nuts of sinners - aka everyone else - in car doors.

The story is quite clear in the original and it was only distorted by the translators of the Septuagint. There is no heavy symbolism or mysticism about it, but as I said, one has to have knowledge of the older texts in order to be able to appreciate and to understand it.

[Drich]

The bible remains the worlds greatest seller, yet how well is its contents understood?

Like any book, the bible has a beginning, a middle and an end. In the beginning God created, soon after that mankind rebelled (Gen 3), in the middle of the book Jesus comes from heaven as the promised Saviour for all who will trust in Him alone for Salvation. At the end He will return to judge the world and take back to heaven His true Church. This is the larger context that the bible must be read in.

In the Old Testament Israel were God's chosen people to show His Glory through to the other nations, Israel are the OT equivelant if you like of the Church. The advent of Jesus is foretold many times in the OT, so in reality the OT is always pointing towards the NT and the advent of Jesus Christ the Messiah. The bible is a meta narrative.

Welcome to AF.org and Good luck.

[Godscreated]

So there's no chance of God deciding to change the script, as it were? I'm assuming from your wording that it has the power to do so if it chooses.

No change, God's will prevails and is perfect.

[Minimalist]

20 The waters rose and covered the mountains to a depth of more than fifteen cubits.[a][b] 21 Every living thing that moved on land perished—birds, livestock, wild animals, all the creatures that swarm over the earth, and all mankind. 22 Everything on dry land that had the breath of life in its nostrils died. 23 Every living thing on the face of the earth was wiped out; people and animals and the creatures that move along the ground and the birds were wiped from the earth.

Fuck your murderous god.

[Tobie]

So there's no chance of God deciding to change the script, as it were? I'm assuming from your wording that it has the power to do so if it chooses.

No change, God's will prevails and is perfect.

Even if god made a mistake, he would not change it?

[Paul the Human]

Nothing in your precious scriptures mean a thing unless your god is real. We "smart guy atheists" don't happen to believe that it is, so the scriptures are nothing more than an incomprehensible jumble of mythology…

That I know my friend: that most of the atheists are ignoramuses.
As for “my” god, he is real and did exactly what the book says he did...

Reality doesn't care what you wish was true.

Your arrogance and ignorance are both astounding, though I don't know why that should surprise me. Welcome to my ignore list.

[Godscreated]

No change, God's will prevails and is perfect.

Even if god made a mistake, he would not change it?

Do you not understand the meaning of perfect.

[FallentoReason]

Even if god made a mistake, he would not change it?

Do you not understand the meaning of perfect.

Even before you can understand how 'perfect' applies to the Bible, don't you need to identify who wrote what? Only then will you know what its intended message was.

[Minimalist]

Do you not understand the meaning of perfect.

Do you not understand the meaning of your god is a fairy tale?