Religious Questions

[Drich]

As Drich seems concerned that there aren't enough religion-themed questions being posted, I thought I'd help.

[NB: These are not 'trick' or 'gotcha' questions, just an attempt to start a dialogue.]

1.  Regarding the Bible, are there particular standards you use for determining what is meant literally and what is meant allegorically, or is it more of a 'gut' feeling?

The Hebrew Bible is organized into three main sections: the Torah, or “Teaching,” also called the Pentateuch or the “Five Books of Moses”; the Neviʾim, or Prophets; and the Ketuvim, or Writings. It is often referred to as the Tanakh, a word combining the first letter from the names of each of the three main divisions.
The books of the prophets tell of the coming messiah/Jesus and the "writings cover history (kings psalms the song of solomon) # not reallylaw but the cultural foundations of the jews who they where.

Then the NT tells on how to become a christian which is a different religion all together than OT judaism. 4 gospels which tell of JEsus the book of Acts speaks of the establishment of the church, and establishes Paul and a legit church father giving him the right and authority to teach and expand the church. then you have the epistles which are the letters to the individual churches or people that make up the bulk of the new testament. these are important because each letter is a different way of dealing with sin in a given region/denominational system of belief. finally you have revelation which is a history of the last days as recorded by a bronze age man.

This means each book has a varing degree of importance. a psalm a book of "writtings/song of traditions" EI: A song a slave sang when in captivity does not challenge or cancel out say a command for the jew in the book of the law. nor is this considered a contradiction. as the book of psalms simply record what jews people sang at different times in their existences. for instance a jewish slave which wished their masters dead may sing about the joy they would feel smashing his master's kids head against the rocks... even though in the book of the law there is a command which forbids killing!

2.  I know you are convinced that your religious views are the correct ones (and that's fine).  People with other religious views are convinced of their own correctness and for similar reasons.  When these views contradict each other (everyone can't be right), do you ever consider the possibility that you might be mistaken?

what are other religious views? other christians or people who believe in other gods?
OTher christians (people who worship Christ are saved despte their errors like I am save despite mine. why? because the same grace that covers us when we will fully sin is there in much more abundance when we do our best and simply can not understand another way or the right way was lost to time. in a sense we as christians are charged to do our best and forgive others when they fall short just like we want God to forgive us when we fll short.

Other religions are easy. none of them meaning rank in file members have access to their God. access to their God is only granted by a prophet or emmisarry. everything is faith only based and you have to wait and see.... Christianity despite what you think is evidence based IF AND OnLY IF you seek this evidence n God's terms. think doubting thomas. Jesus did not condemn thomas for doubting he gave thomas what he needed to establish and maintain faith. Then he said blessed are those who do not need proof. meaning God will give those who can live off faith that much more, for everyone else God gave the Holy Spirit. So what kinda of proof do you get to believe in God? in a sense in one form or another you get God himself..

Once you are stood before the living God... no one else can be right... and again I know the popular thought is everyne can claim this across the board, but again 25 years of study says only Christianity take away the prophets preists and put the rank in file believer before God alone without go betweens.

3.  Hypothetically, if you could be persuaded that Jesus of Nazareth was not divine, would it be possible for you to still reverence him as a great moral philosopher?

Jesus' relevance is tied to deity. you can not have one without the other.

4.  How important are religious rituals to you, personally?

1- to 10? personally? 0. religion all religion is crap. now pair me with my wife or someone new in the faith and I will do whatever she/they needs to fill their religious cup. Religions are training wheels to get us to the point where we can commune with God directly, and teach and help others to also do so. They are of value because it is the bond or the binding that hold people who have little to no exposure with God to those who deal with him daily. However religion becomes toxic when God is removed and worship becomes about the methodology and not about spanning the gap for people.

Religion dies when God leaves a church and all that is left is methodology.

5.  Is there ANY passage in the Bible with which you have trouble reconciling your beliefs?

Boru

honestly no. with all my heart I say this: God a long long time ago showed me everything (not that I remembered any of it) but it changed the way I thought and think. this gives me access to his library of understanding and the bible. After I answered almost all of my questions I started in 2008 with CF.com answering christian questions about God and then atheist questions just so I could learn more. You all ask questions I would not have the nuts to ask, but in providing you with an answer I also learn something new.

Example I use to say I did not know about adam and eve and the dinosaurs, and taught it was ok. then one of you really pressed me and taunted if God is really with you you can provide us with the truth. I started to ask and honestly started to get pictures of how it all fell into place, iwa frantic writing stuff down as it was not in order. I would ask my self what does this verse say or does this verse cancel out this idea and on and on it went for 15 mins, then I took all the pages and laid them out in order. then I did what I do here. i research everything and cross check it.. I can remember how many times i did this. I made a few slight changes that made it jive with scripture, but that is it. and it has remain largely unchanged in over 10 years.


That was a big one..

Then the flood.. then that was answer relatively easy, again by remembering to read what was on page and frame it from the proper perspective. The primary being noah did not save the living creatures from God by putting on the boat he built. but Rather God needed noah to proove to all of us we have it within us to be worth saving. meaning it was noah's faith in God that had God save the creature (not noah) from a flood designed to wipe out not man, but evil. IE possessed men demons and hybrid giants (demi gods if you will)
So in sort the flood is not a logistical manual that shows how to save the planet from God but rather how God saved the world through one man's faith and a crapy little boat he built.