Thread: Religion

Here are some corrections to your scripture lessons:

Leviticus 19:20-22 says if a man rapes another mans slave he should ask for forgivessness to a priest, says nothing about the woman being punished.

Deuteronomy 22:28-29 if a man rapes a virgin he should bless there famili by marrying her and paying the father 50 shekels. In those days if a man wanted to marry your daughter it was good.

1 Corinthians 11:3-9 again a question of period. yet continue to 10-12 "That is why a woman ought to have a veil on her head, because of the angels. (Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man nor man of woman; for as woman was made from man, so man is born from woman. And all things are from god.)"

1 Corinthians 14:34-35 is aslo i thing of period. When this book was put in the bible woman's thoughts were not recognized clearly that is different today. Even with christians.

Ephesians 5:22-24 again you don't read far enought, go to 25-33 it talks about how husbands should love their wives as christ loves the church. Married couples are one and to not love the other would be not loving yourself. It just says that the wife should respect her husband not bow to him.

Genesis 2:20-22 read more, it says that she was created to help the man and the man would leave his father and mother to become one with a woman. They are both naked and not ashamed. It explains marriage, thats all. Marriage was important back then.

Exodus 20:17 thats one of the ten commandments, don't steal.

Exodus 21:7-10 slavery was legal back then. Anyway, it says if the master gives her it be his son's slave he should treat her as a daughter and if he gets a wife the slave still must get food, clothing, and marital rights. I think the woman's needs still hold.

Leviticus 21 is the explaination of what a priest and church should be, your taking this to literally.

Leviticus 21:17-18 says that these people can still eat the bread of God or worship him and He will love him, he just can't go to the sanctuary. Its different today.

The first part of Deuteronomy is moses explaining the ten commandments to the other jews. That one is thou shalt not worship false idols. Besides, thats more of a jewish thing, Deuteronomy 14 explains what is kosher.

Anything else your confused about?

Originally posted by Philosophacles
Its different today.

So are we to follow the writings of Man's interpretations, modifications, and/or transformations of the Bible to suit our own lives, and not the \"original\" version, inspired by God? There are an estimated 200,000 different variations of the New Testament alone.

Originally posted by Max King in The Cruelest Joke of All
In ancient days, when parts of the Bible were said to have been written, all writing was performed by scribes upon papyrus paper. This was made from thin slices of the stem of the papyrus plant... Being a natural fiber, the scrolls had a very limited life. Any records that were required to last any length of time had to be copied periodically. The Dead Sea scrolls, discovered in 1947, were still intact only because they were sealed in jars and hidden in a very dry place. They were never subjected to light, moisture, or living organisms that would have quickly destroyed them.

It was very easy for these papyrus scrolls to be damaged by microscopic organisms and just plain rot. It would not be unusual for parts of the scrolls to be lost and what was lost to be made-up by the scribes who copied them. They would merely make-up what they thought the original scroll said where part of it was missing. In a great many cases, where original records were \"fixed-up\" during the rewriting, they probably never were intentionally changed for subversive reasons, but purely for the sake of maintaining the continuity of the text, accurate or not.

Just my two-cents on the issue..

you said that most everything isnt applicable today... like slavery, womens rights? GOD IS ALL KNOWING. "HE" CANNOT BE WRONG. but its different in this case? yeah... too much for me to choke down. sorry.

The bible is all open to interpretation. I know i don't know everything about the bible, if you want real good explanations ask a church pastor. Anyway the bible isn't supposed to be taken so literal, mostly the old testament. Like the whole Adam and Eve thing I don't believe, nor many of the other stories. Its the moral background that they are about. I am going to stop discussing this because I don't believe I alone can change your views because I am not terribly knowledgable of the bible.

nor am I...which is sad. I'm a christian.

i want to be more knowledgable, so i will learn.

me too. I plan to read the whole thing, probably more than once, and trace things back to their original meanings to find the truth.

Originally posted by theroguechemist+--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(theroguechemist)</div>

<!--QuoteBegin-Philosophacles

Its different today.

So are we to follow the writings of Man's interpretations, modifications, and/or transformations of the Bible to suit our own lives, and not the \"original\" version, inspired by God? There are an estimated 200,000 different variations of the New Testament alone.
[/b]

I am so glad someone realised this fact.

Good luck everyone, with finding yourselves and a religion.
Be open-minded and before you dislike all, remember there are many out there.

Please heed warning if my viewpoint may seem absurd.

I got to thinking (since I currently going into the writing profession) that any book ever composed should logically be nothing more than man's discoveries and insights. These books are bound to human error, and not expected to be perfect, ever, and NEVER followed as absolute truth. The point being that any book ever created would logically always always have errors and holes in their reasonings. But then there's this thing called the Holy Bible, and it seems to have stood a pretty long test of time.

The Bible has such supernatural claims and so much controversy has been going around about it, that it's very much worth looking into and considering. Don't worry, it's not going to suck you in and necessarily brainwash you! The Bible is one of the few explanations, and remains the most popular way to explain the universe and its origins. Rest assured, I say "popular way," not "only way."

Christianity has bad connotations, I know. I myself am a Christian, by spiritual standards. (because I've been baptized) I even became frustrated and furious at it according to past views I've absorbed about the religion that seemed to ruin my life...(look up Religious Addiction) Just these past days (more like hours) I thought to myself "Hey, man. This claims to be the ultimate truth. Don't put it away just yet. You can disagree if you want."

One of the most profound things I've discovered in the Bible is how a whole subject within the field of psychology can be condensed into a single verse in the Bible. For example, there are many courses and books teaching how to enjoy life. They go on and on and even have workshops! These books are not bad, though. They are just told in much larger scales in comparison to the miniscule verse "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want." ( "I shall not want" signifying the ability to love life without wanting anything more) The only exception with the scripture is that a relationship with God will suffice.

Originally posted by AirRick101
Rest assured, I say \"popular way,\" not \"only way.\"

Nor necessarily "the right way."

In the end, I believe science will prevail in explaning the universe, as it has. I mean, where in any spritual context do you find the Natural Laws of the world that science has created (Newton's laws of gravity and motion, 3 laws of thermodynamics, Einstein's relativity, Quantum theory...) being explained? I've never heard of any one using the Bible to explain why things happen the way they do.. Well, save for miracles and those things..

Nevermind. g2g

I agree that science will prevail. But it makes sense that the Bible wouldn't explain how the phsyical worlds works though. The laws of physics couldn't have already been explained because people hadn't reasoned out that there are different laws gravity and motion. If the natural laws were already explained, then there would be a lot of wasted time and effort discovering them.

I used to think that all religions were stupid. It just seemed like they were there to make people go out and convert other people. Some of the past fighting seemed to just come down to one group trying to stand up for their own religion. Other fighting is a result of trying to make one dominate religion. After reading some of these post, I realised that I think all relgions are stupid because they all seem to have an excuse to try to convert of people. Of course for a religion to survive, people must be converted, but religions just seem like a lot of good excuses for unexplained things in life. This is all well and good, if it stays self contained. But if it stays self contained and no one is ever told about the religion, then it dies. This brings you right back to converting people to one faith and saying it is the one true path of life. You can't have more than on true path of life, let alone 200,000....

Originally posted by munkle
I used to think that all religions were stupid. It just seemed like they were there to make people go out and convert other people. Some of the past fighting seemed to just come down to one group trying to stand up for their own religion. Other fighting is a result of trying to make one dominate religion. After reading some of these post, I realised that I think all relgions are stupid because they all seem to have an excuse to try to convert of people. Of course for a religion to survive, people must be converted, but religions just seem like a lot of good excuses for unexplained things in life. This is all well and good, if it stays self contained. But if it stays self contained and no one is ever told about the religion, then it dies. This brings you right back to converting people to one faith and saying it is the one true path of life. You can't have more than on true path of life, let alone 200,000....

my opinion exactly.

I think religion is just people's different views of the world. Everything can be interpreted differently. Take the bible for example. Their are hundreds of different views on what it means.

The problem is, people get too obsessed with their own views. Lots of times their religion (or view) makes them think that it is the only right one so they try to force it on other people. They just can't accept the fact that there are different ways of seeing the universe.

Also, most religions say that there are no other good ways to live. This often makes the believer narrow-minded.

If we accepted other peoples opinons and were open to different views, I think the world would be a whole lot better.

This is kind of off the subject but try to get an answer to this question: Is god so powerful that he can make a rock that he can't lift?

This is kind of off the subject but try to get an answer to this question: Is god so powerful that he can make a rock that he can't lift?[/b]

that's a really stupid question. why would he want to do that anyway?

Originally posted by Paperdoll EP

This is kind of off the subject but try to get an answer to this question: Is god so powerful that he can make a rock that he can't lift?

that's a really stupid question. why would he want to do that anyway? [/b]

Paperdolls right that question is stupid. But here's something for you to think of, don't even try wrecking your brain trying to figure something out like that because that question is beyond us all. For instance It is written that the ALMIGHTY GOD has an Infinate Army of Angels the Number of Angels he has never ends, Try figuring that one out. Or try this one for instance. Where did GOD Come From? Answer: He created himself. How is that possible I mean you have to be in order to make exsistance right? But don't try to grasp it because our small brains cannot handle that.

he didn't create himself he was always there. try thinking about that. garenteed to result in a headache!

See my point exactly... You're right he was always there because he is the Alpha and the Omega but he did create himself He created his being or prescense I should say. and You are right He didn't create himself and I am also right that he did. Thats how mind boggling the entire thing is.. Because its both ways.

If your arguement is "our feeble mortal minds cannot comprehend it" then you have no arguement.

Originally posted by O'nus
If your arguement is \"our feeble mortal minds cannot comprehend it\" then you have no arguement.

agreed. that's what everyone uses as an arguement when they are confronted with a good atheistic arguement.

Originally posted by O'nus
If your arguement is \"our feeble mortal minds cannot comprehend it\" then you have no arguement.

no harm in talking about it. or discussing it.

who says he wasnt created? it says he always has existed in that he is timeless, but just because we have a linear progression of time deos not mean he is necessarily so...who says something else didnt create him?

It doesn't really matter...

Anyway you cut the cake kiddies...

Its a paradox...

Something can not come from nothing!

Nothing can be spawned from nothing...

So where did it all begin?

Is a question that you shouldn't really dwell on for all too long, Theory doesn't hurt...

But actualy believing you can come up with an ultimate answer is foolish...

From there on its all Hypthetical...

"Christianity is a wonderful idea, too bad its never been tried" - Ghandi

The orginal teachings and philosophy of Christ are quite thought provoking, and widely accepted as what is "right"

Take out all of the answers to the questions that can't be answered and you have a pretty nice book of moral teachings...

But thats only as far as chistianity...

Most religions have a wonderful message, and that is... "Do on to others as you would have done on to yourself"

Practicly is ever lived by this simple "rule" then life would be far more pleasant for everyone...

Religion is about love just about in ever form...

Love for ones self
Love for ones neighbor
Love for ones world

Etc. Etc.

I don't believe in a god...

I put my faith in the only thing I can, Humanity...

Sure humanity isn't always there, and sure they cheat and lie, and are imperfect...

But what isn't?

One could agure that imperfection is perfection...

Seemingly it might be...

Without the bad we woul not know the good, without the good the bad...

The world to me is perfect...

I like the way the constitution puts it...

Nature Is God...

(Note it doesn't say God is Nature)

The only thing the defines the Christian god of today is the litirature writtin so many years ago, and revised and tamperd with since...

Its not very credible...

Ultimately one just makes more sense to me than the other...

And if our minds couldn't understand such power, then never give anyone the sorry excuse that "You Felt The Touch Of God" (Pulp Fiction Style) because no human could ever comprehend such power, if god is really what we claim him to be, he would be completly beyond us... We wouldn't know god if it snuck up and bit us on the ass...

The writtings in the bible are Propoganda...

Look at the Old Testament compared to the New...

It goes from Vengful God to Loving God...

If you ask me its quite strange...

Maybe its because fear was what people before christ needed...

Genisis is just a huge book of folk lore, fairy tales told from generation to generation just as credible as Greek Mythology or Native American Beliefe...

Im not exactly saying that religion is a bad thing, Its a great thing if you use it correctly...

But it tends to be used as a crutch or security blanket...

Break off and learn on your own...

Just be good people to just be good people...

Finding your way without the guide is always more satisfying in the end...

I believe in sense, and Logic...

I believe in alot of other things too...

Science can not explain everything, Hence Philosophy....

(I'll try harder next time! ^_~)

Well I think all true religions point to the same thing anyway, they just express it differently because everyones different and wont like the same thing. I like buddhism myself, thats just me and I see nothing wrong with say christianity or the Lynx Cult As for religious texts or any text for that matter in the words of Samuel Beckett 'everything is second hand' and should never be taken as 'gospel', we should always question who wrote something, what was their motive for writing, who was it aimed at etc. - I hate it when people quote tiny bits of things like tabloid reporters and dont look at the whole picture like "Lynx is not "a cool dude!" "

Also I think politics and mainstream religions cannot be separated, I mean just look at 16 century renaissance europe! well any period in history but i know a bit about that one.

What do all the non-christians think about stuff like shops closing on sundays, christmas etc thats hardly religious anymore in the west, and things like st. valentines day, mothers day (is that religious?) its all commercialised now, i definitely know fathers day was never a religious thing!

Sometimes its taken way too far in England though - political correctness or whatever, before last xmas, a town hall? wasnt allowed to put up a sign about carol singing - local council banned it because it was offensive to the local Hindu community apparently, but then soon after rammadan or one of their festivals, divali? was allowed to be advertised everywhere with big parties etc! and what about france, chirac wants to ban muslim girls from wearing their headdress things in school! they are pretty racist in france though, chirac only got in because the only other choice was Le Pen = evenmore right wing!

anyway, whatever you believe in youre always right