No True Scotsman

[Esquilax]

Just because something is in the bible doesn't indicate whether is it's right or wrong. We don't stone adulterers any more or kill kids for disobeying their parents. It also speaks of wrongs done by people that God never condoned.

So the bible, a book purporting to be the will of god, can and does have explicit instructions, masquerading as the word of god, that are not, in actuality, god's words? So how do you know which instructions are the false ones, and which aren't?

Let me guess: all the stuff that'd make you look bad is man's word, and all the stuff that'd make you look good is god's word? But you've got no justification for thinking that the reverse isn't true.

[Losty]

What this comes down to is this.....

Basically, a person can be claimed by Christians as long as they are doing 'good' (in the eyes of Christianity). As long as they stay on this path, that person one of them.
But if at any point in their life that person commits some atrocity in the eyes of Christianity, it can be claimed he was never really a Christian to begin with.

This just creates a loophole in the 'rules'. Like a get-out-of-jail-free card for the rest of the 'true' Christians.

The question is even though they are or claim to be christians, are they following Christ or they going against him? If they are going against Christ, then they are not following christianity.

Have you ever read the bible???

[jesus_wept]

Matthew 10:34. "Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword.
35 "For I have come to 'set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law';
36 "and 'a man's enemies will be those of his own household.'

The question was meant to be rhetorical but, well, never mind...

Luke 14:26. "If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters--yes, even their own life--such a person cannot be my disciple.

Luke 22:36. He said to them, "But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don't have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one.

Matthew 10:34-37. Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man's foes shall be they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

[fr0d0]

The question was meant to be rhetorical but, well, never mind...

You're welcome

[jesus_wept]

The question was meant to be rhetorical but, well, never mind...

You're welcome

One out of three wasnt bad I suppose.

[Minimalist]

I didn't say slavery was a lark. But if slaves were being treated badly, it was being done counter to Christ's teaching.

The Romans didn't give two shits about you godboy's "teaching" in the first and second centuries BC.

Evidence suggests that even when they became "xtians" they adopted little more than the name. They were never big on this turn-the-other-cheek shit.

[Mudhammam]

It's common for non-believers to condemn christianity for atrocities committed or perceived to be committed in the name of christianity. They use this to assert that christianity is an evil force in the world. A christian is defined as one who follows Christ. Therefore I ask if a nation or individual is truly following the teachings of Jesus Christ would they have committed those atrocities?

"I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned." - Jesus

"If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them if a large millstone were hung around their neck and they were thrown into the sea. If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, where
“ ‘the worms that eat them do not die,
and the fire is not quenched.’
Everyone will be salted with fire." - Jesus

"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left... Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels'... Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” - Jesus

With such an exalted, dignified view of humanity, how could any follower of Jesus ever be encouraged to mistreat those who don't fall into line?

---

Matthew 10:34-37. Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man's foes shall be they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

To be fair to the Christians, this probably wasn't intended to be taken as a call to arms or to insinuate aggression. In actuality, the writer is probably consoling Christians whose beliefs were causing them to be ostracized from their families, society, sometimes even facing physical persecution from the Jewish leaders. The writer is basically saying, "Yes, Jesus said this would happen."

[Lek]

And what would this 'contract' involve? Indentured servitude or slavery? Because in your bible, its slavery. Irrelevant of whether the person is a slave voluntarily or not, it is wrong. They are treated as property, as objects to be passed down the family. They were allowed to be beaten. I don't care if the owner treated the slaves as he would his own children, the very fact that he is allowed to beat them within an inch of their lives, and not be punished, is despicable.

I don't know if it was slavery or indentured servitude. They were not allowed to beat their slaves. Christ said to treat them well.

---

Choosing between dying from starvation and working as slave, is not a choice at all. They were forced into it by their situation.

Maybe so, but that doesn't change the fact that it was a better situation.

[Chad32]

Telling people to treat their slaves well doesn't really solve the problem of people thinking that owning another Human being is ok. Which the bible didn't get across very well, because historically christians have used the bible to justify slavery.

[Bad Wolf]

I don't know if it was slavery or indentured servitude. They were not allowed to beat their slaves.

Yes they were.

Maybe so, but that doesn't change the fact that it was a better situation.

And that doesn't change the fact that it was immoral.