Modern-Day Pharisees

Jun 25, 2007 20:43

So, I woke up this morning to the realization that I've been a Protestant Christian (as opposed to the Catholic Christianity with which I was raised) for almost exactly four years now ( Read more... )

ponderings, that church what i hate, ranting about my fellow christians, christianity

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ironbite June 26 2007, 05:27:18 UTC
Know what I find fansinating? The fact that so many Christians have never read the Bible from cover to cover. If they had they'd probably realize that Jesus never, ever rejected anyone just because thy were different. For anything btw. I'm kinda glad you have read the Bible, atl east the bits that most people don't want to read anyways.

Anyways, said my peice. Hopefully it wasn't too confusing.

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horsetechie June 26 2007, 14:14:33 UTC
*eyeshift*

When I was 9, I read almost all of the old testament, right from the beginning. (and lemme tell yah, there are some really long and boring sections where they list who begat who for pages, and pages, and more pages) It was a slow summer, and they had a reading competition.

But to be honest, it's more beneficial to read and closely study the Bible in small sections. That sticks in the mind better tna reading it from start to finish like a novel.

;p

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highwindpav June 27 2007, 14:29:27 UTC
::snrk::

I tried that once and finally succeeded, but 1 Chronicles stopped me in my tracks for months.

I have seen some rather fascinating things produced from closely studying the first part of Numbers.

Agreed though, the Bible was never meant to be read like a novel. Certainly doesn't hurt to have plowed through 1 Chronicles at least once though.

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nightwind69 June 26 2007, 16:27:49 UTC
Ah, but it's a two-way street, you see. Yes, it's true that many Christians have never read the entire Bible, yet they'll avidly tell people that it's the Word of God, that it's good news for sinners, that it should all be believed and obeyed, blah, blah. I've always wondered how anyone can honestly make such a claim without reading the whole thing and having their own understanding of it. "I haven't read it, but I know what it says," just doesn't cut the mustard with skeptical me, I'm afraid. If nothing else, it makes it so much easier to defend your faith if you actually understand your faith. Otherwise, those who would see your faith torn down will easily confound you...

...with their own "sound bites," of course. Atheists/skeptics/whatever will often point and laugh at non-Bible-reading Christians and will often claim that they, in their intellectually-superior state, know more about the Bible than most (if not all) Christians do.

Personally, I have trouble believing that claim because they seem to have exactly the same ( ... )

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rusti_knight June 26 2007, 17:03:47 UTC
Ahh, and so goes the saying: Even Satan can quote Scripture. I had to tell that to a JW who wouldn't let me out the door so I could go run my errands. He was telling me that only 144,000 people would be able to get into heaven, even pointing out verses to this effect.

I just kind of blinked at him for a second then asked him why on earth I would want to be part of a religion where I was not guaranteed a spot in heaven. I don't think I've ever seen one of them splutter so much.

Anything can be taken out of context and twisted to suit whatever purpose required by the one doing the twisting

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drharper June 26 2007, 17:24:40 UTC
Logic FTW!

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rusti_knight June 26 2007, 17:28:21 UTC
*laughs* I couldn't help it! As a Christian all I had to do was accept Christ and my spot was guaranteed. I didn't realize that after 144,000, Heaven would be At Capacity!

I mean, come on. That's just got to be the dumbest thing I've ever heard.

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drharper June 26 2007, 17:57:33 UTC
*grins*

It's interesting to study the history of the JW's as well. IIRC, their original teaching was, since only 144,000 people would enter Heaven, when the JW membership reached that number, Jesus would come back and the world would end.

Needless to say, it caused some consternation when they got the one-hundred and forty-four thousandth recruit and Jesus didn't show. I think they now teach that only the 144,000 BEST JW's get to go to heaven and the rest get to spend eternity on a remade Earth.

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nightwind69 June 26 2007, 19:30:26 UTC
Wait, I thought that the JWs believe that they are not among the 144,000 going to heaven. The Witnesses are supposed to be the ones who get to rule Earth after Armageddon or somesuch while everyone else is being damned or something like that.

Whatever the case, I need to make myself a t-shirt that says, "Nice try, but God told me I'm one of the 144,000." I'll put it on when I know there are door-to-door JWs in the immediate area... ;)

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highwindpav June 27 2007, 15:35:39 UTC
I think the JWs might say that now because the 144,000 are already full up. They're getting up in years and most are dead now, so the rest already know they're not part of that number.

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nightwind69 June 26 2007, 20:26:04 UTC
*nods* It's amazing to me how five different groups of people can take the same passage in the Bible and insist that it means five different things. Usually -- or so it seems to me, anyway -- four of the five groups twist the passage in some manner, leaving out words or redefining them so that the passage appears fully in line with their agenda. Scripture is just one of those things that you can make say whatever you want it to say, if you're clever enough. The fact that you can make it say something doesn't mean that you're right, however.

Me, I advocate plain reading, meaning that you just read the words, taking into account context and the type of narrative you're reading. As in, poetic passages like the Psalms are, indeed, poems full of metaphorical imagery. The fact that one psalm says that the heavens proclaim the glory of God doesn't mean that if you connect the stars in the sky you'll come up with the gospels. Swear, I've seen people claim that very thing because they insist that everything be literal. Just...no. The Bible ( ... )

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highwindpav June 27 2007, 14:46:07 UTC
Now I have seen at least one person come up with a plausible gospel from constelations, and the person who did this had a rather compelling (at least to me) reason for thinking it was actually possible--having the gospel in star signs is certainly handy at times before the existence of the written word. Oral traditions, sure, but it's pretty convenient having your illustrations painted on the sky so you can point them out while passing down your oral traditions. This person didn't base the idea on misquoted Psalms, as far as I remember, but did reference Job.

As far as the "right" way to read the Bible goes, plain reading strikes me as a good one...suggesting that God can't write a metaphor when Jesus told stories constantly is a little bit silly.

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