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I have always maintained: Seek God first. The Bible makes more sense after that.the bible says he rejects some people no matter what they do. That doesn't align with a loving compassionate forgiving god.
Of course some were Jewish rabbies.I hope some of the Biblical scholars you studied were Jewish rabbis who know the Hebrew language.
First, not everything in the Bible is about us. It addresses certain people in specific times. Finding the themes is vital because it separates the wheat from the chaff. There are many truths, and each individual is greatly affected by some truths, but perhaps not all. A line in a popular 1970s song noted, "They seek the truth before they can die..." Before Christianity, before Judaism, people believed each of them had their own God. (We see this is scripture--The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob.) It is was the ancient perspective of God and in God they would find truth.
And many Christians believe God chose Paul to accurately bring Jesus' teachings to the gentiles. If so, God screwed up. God didn't know Paul would add his own bullshit that had nothing to do with Jesus teachings?Some Christians, perhaps, but not Christianity as a whole. Even decades ago, I was reading where some Christian scholars were noting Paul's despair in the verses you quoted in the OP. Their conclusion is that perhaps Paul should have kept his own despair to himself. Paul could not understand why all Jews could not accept Jesus.
It does not, but the NT is obviously dominated by him.What scripture says Paul was chosen by god to write most of the NT?
So god didn't know, and couldn't prevent his inspired word from becoming bastardized by modern translations? What does that say about today's christians who base their faith on a bible that reads much differently than it once did?It is what ancient culture was. Read the Bible in modern English through the lens of Western culture and the result is an entirely different understanding of what the original author was saying to his original audience. What they understood is entirely different from what we understand. People can get a sense of this when they seriously study the Jewish faith with a mind to the Hebrew language.
The Dead Sea Scrolls showed us all that the Bible has not been "bastardized"So god didn't know, and couldn't prevent his inspired word from becoming bastardized by modern translations? What does that say about today's christians who base their faith on a bible that reads much differently than it once did?
Do we come to the crux of the matter here? That God screwed up?And many Christians believe God chose Paul to accurately bring Jesus' teachings to the gentiles. If so, God screwed up. God didn't know Paul would add his own bullshit that had nothing to do with Jesus teachings?
God works with us. When I assign schoolwork, I could do each student's work perfectly. Or, I could work with each student where they are and they can grow into perfection themselves.So god didn't know, and couldn't prevent his inspired word from becoming bastardized by modern translations? What does that say about today's christians who base their faith on a bible that reads much differently than it once did?
Were you a Catholic Christian? I ask because Catholics seem to be more aware of their Jewish roots. I found intense study of Judaism gave me a better understanding of Catholicism, of the Gospels, and of Paul. They had a different way of thinking. We don't need God to write us a better translation/interpretation of the present Bible--we can do that study on our own.It all made much more sense before I decided to seek a better understanding of gods laws as accepted by christianity.
Then try a better understanding of God's Law as taught by those of the Jewish faith.It all made much more sense before I decided to seek a better understanding of gods laws as accepted by christianity.
Biblically speaking, God chose Paul for a reason.That is a totally different subject, but there was more politics involved in the Council of Nicea and the Council of Trent than there was religious belief.
So the Bible is BS just like the Constitution?Let's keep in mind that The Church has, for about two thousand years, tried to understand God's message, as revealed MAINLY through the Torah, the teachings of Jesus, and the explications of Paul.
Brilliant scholars have examined and re-examined the texts, the translations, the cultures in place at the relevant times, and the "traditions" that have grown over the centuries. Their writings are all over the place, for those who care to look for them - especially now in the age of the Internet.
So the (Protestant) idea that any uneducated rube can pick up his (version of the) Bible, read it, and challenge the beliefs and teachings of the Church, is fatuous indeed. It is not unlike the Average Citizen who comes into a copy of the U.S. Constitution, reads it while sitting on the toilet (it's not very long), and proceeds to challenge long-established interpretations because "it doesn't make sense to him."
To be vulgar about it, it is bullshit. On this very forum, one reads people saying that they read something in the Bible and figured out that they understood something that no one else had figured out before. Gimmeafukkinbreak.
The Dead Sea Scrolls showed us all that the Bible has not been "bastardized"
Try again.
None of the NT was included in the dead sea scrolls, so they have nothing to do with this discussion. There were, however, disagreements with what is included in the bible. Seems odd for something inspired by god. Why do you think he allowed those disagreements?The Dead Sea Scrolls showed us all that the Bible has not been "bastardized"
Try again.
True, but the NT was written very close to the time Christ walked the earth as the documents have been dated accordingly.None of the NT was included in the dead sea scrolls, so they have nothing to do with this discussion. There were, however, disagreements with what is included in the bible. Seems odd for something inspired by god. Why do you think he allowed those disagreements?
You can choose to see it any way you want. That's exactly what I did for so many years, until I looked up exactly what the bible says. My choice of which parts to believe, and all the little things I had to add to make it all fit weren't as easy for me at that pont.Do we come to the crux of the matter here? That God screwed up?
Humans are imperfect, but it seems to me that God works quite well with the imperfect. Apparently Paul's notes that we can't argue with how God made us hit a nerve. I see it more as God working with who we are. While I see Paul's anguish with his own people, the Jews, not accepting Jesus. But that was Paul's anguish--it was not God's.
Nor do I dismiss Paul's words. As despairing as he may have been, what also comes through clearly is that the Glory of God will draw people together. That can happen anytime people choose to focus on God instead of their different beliefs. In other words by noon today, or in any number of millenium.
I'm sure you think that makes sense in this discussion, but it's not the school's job to teach christianity, or any religion. Churches teach religion, and unless you can point to a church that had it's bibles removed, I'll ask you to stay on subject.God works with us. When I assign schoolwork, I could do each student's work perfectly. Or, I could work with each student where they are and they can grow into perfection themselves.
What does it say about today's Christians? It says they live in a society where the Bible was removed from public education and therefore more will continue to be more and more ignorant of what it is our ancestors wanted to teach us and pass on to us.