Well, this'll piss her off, though it's nothing but the truth

[cyanotok]

not quite sure what you mean about the more you study the bible the close you get to God and the farther you get away from Christianity.... Christianity is all about have a close relationship with God, so how can you grow close to him yet away from Chrisitanity? the two go hand in hand, you can't have one wiht out the other

Comments

[flukemanda]

The Bible makes a whole lot more sense when you are taught the Bible rather than if you just read it. Having a bibical scholar explain it to you in historical context reveals the religious truths that are there. It's less about the storylines of what is happening (ie, occurences in context that seem to go against Christian teachings) than it is about the patterns that emerge about the relationship between God His people. The laws in the Old Testament were collections of laws made by Hebrew Kings back in the day that the editors of the Bible (over many generations) wanted to associate with God to tie the Davidic monarchy to God. It's rather complicated and I couldn't possibly explain it here, but the bottom line was the cycle in which the Israelities sinned against their God by denying Him, so God punished the Israelities ("delivered them to their enemies"). Then the Israelities repented, begged for forgiveness, and God saved them. This happens over and over. The ultimate message that that underlies the apparently harsh Old Testament is that God is forgiving if we repent and will save us as long as we keep faith, and THEREIN lies the religious truth.

[cyanotok]

Read my latest entry. My reply was too large to put here.

-Eric