Scripture

Originally posted by galveston75
Your more then welcome to believe what you want about the Bible. Even though you deny it's wisdom and who was behind it being written and for the fact that it has survived for many, many generations while many, many have tried to destroy it, it still is here and there is not one problem we have as humans it cannot assist us with.
And there is not one ...[text shortened]... and inspiration from any other book on this planet.
But you are welcome to your viewpoint.

I don't care about any of that claptrap. Here's what I think happened.

Jesus didn't write a bible because he didn't think it was necessary. And neither did any of his followers. After all, the kingdom was going to come within their lifetime. Why waste time writing a bible? But then Jesus died. Many of the people who had known him began to die. Some forty years after Jesus' death, it became apparent that the kingdom was not going to be coming any time soon. In order to keep the movement from dissipating, some of Jesus' more inventive followers began to reinterpret his message by projecting the kingdom into the distant future. We begin to see more and more mythological content creep into the stories that were being told. Many different sects began to emerge. Sects which were at odds with one another. In order to make sure that their particular interpretation was the one that gained ascendance, they began writing down what they could remember of Jesus' sayings, mixed with their own fanciful additions and interpretations. The other sects were late out of the gate in the scripture writing/forging business and consequently fell behind. So the bible we have today was cobbled together over a period of time with some probably authentic sayings of Jesus, others of doubtful attribution, and quite a lot of stuff that was simply made up out of whole cloth. In short, the bible was written by men, not to spread the word of god, but to help make sure their sect triumphed over the other competing sects.

Originally posted by RJHinds
The ones that see it differently are being mislead by the influence of Satan. 😏

Flip Wilson had it right . The Devil makes us do so many nasty things.

Originally posted by galveston75
Perhaps God wants us to be willing to take the time and effort to "search out" the scriptures. This searching and effort is not easy and this would test ones reason for looking into God's word. The heart is what God looks into and and by one taking the much effort involved in learning the Bible, it test ones heart.
If one were only looking to learn the ...[text shortened]... in such a way that most would never understand the majority of the writings in it.

We could perhaps our way into infinity but we need clear direction.Perhaps we all know nothing about anything pertaining to spiritual matters. Being in the dark seems to be the facts of the situation.

Originally posted by buckky
We could perhaps our way into infinity but we need clear direction.Perhaps we all know nothing about anything pertaining to spiritual matters. Being in the dark seems to be the facts of the situation.

I'm not in the dark at all. Sorry if you think you are...

Originally posted by rwingett
I don't care about any of that claptrap. Here's what I think happened.

Jesus didn't write a bible because he didn't think it was necessary. And neither did any of his followers. After all, the kingdom was going to come within their lifetime. Why waste time writing a bible? But then Jesus died. Many of the people who had known him began to die. Some fort ...[text shortened]... e word of god, but to help make sure their sect triumphed over the other competing sects.

No Jesus did not write any of the Bible as that was not his mission here on earth. And none of his followers wrote parts of the Bible? You need to study that one a little better.
And no the Kingdom was not supposed to be restored at that time. Where do you get that idea?
But yes you are correct that many paganistic and mythological beliefs did start to filter into the churches, teachings such as the trinity, a burning hell and many others. And that is a really bad thing. But didn't Jesus foretell that happening? That alone should hold some merit to you if one would acknowlege those statements.
And yes some translations have had some things changed. Such translations that were written by trinitarians have had slight changes to promote their beliefs for example.
But that by no means that the truths that were written are not still there. This is where simple study and comparing "ALL" the bibles scriptures and testing scripture with scripture comes into play.

Originally posted by galveston75
No Jesus did not write any of the Bible as that was not his mission here on earth. And none of his followers wrote parts of the Bible? You need to study that one a little better.
And no the Kingdom was not supposed to be restored at that time. Where do you get that idea?
But yes you are correct that many paganistic and mythological beliefs did start ...[text shortened]... d comparing "ALL" the bibles scriptures and testing scripture with scripture comes into play.

None of the bible was written by anyone who had ever met Jesus personally. It was all second, third and fourth hand information. Things the authors had heard about Jesus as it was filtered through the years.

Matthew 16:28 clearly indicates that the kingdom was expected imminently. What Jesus preached was how to live in this world in a way that would bring the kingdom to fruition.

Originally posted by buckky
It seems that if it was very very important that people understand the nature of God, and what you must do to please a God, and all the specifics needed to have an afterlife, you would communicate in a more direct and clear manner than with the confusion of Scripture . Look at all the different views on the same Book .. It's anything but clear . If it was cle ...[text shortened]... and the others that see it differently must be under Satans spell or or just plain evil . Sad .

Very perceptive. You are correct. But let me focus on this one thing.

"It seems that if it was very very important that people understand the nature of God, and what you must do to please a God, and all the specifics needed to have an afterlife, you would communicate in a more direct and clear manner than with the confusion of Scripture."

Don't listen to what others say. The Bible is more than clear. When you read it, imagine that it is God speaking directly to you. When you find something difficult to understand, don't fault God. See yourself as the one needing understanding.

In truth, understanding comes very slowly. The truths of God don't set well in the human spirit. It takes time to eradicate that which hinders understanding.

2 Corinthians 10:5 - Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

Is that clear enough?

Originally posted by rwingett
None of the bible was written by anyone who had ever met Jesus personally. It was all second, third and fourth hand information. Things the authors had heard about Jesus as it was filtered through the years.

Matthew 16:28 clearly indicates that the kingdom was expected imminently. What Jesus preached was how to live in this world in a way that would bring the kingdom to fruition.

correct. they all thought the end was imminent and to occur within their lifetimes. when it didn't happen, they stared coming up with such nonsense as "a day is as a thousand years to god..." quack quack...completely ignoring the entire idea of jesus being sent so that god could interact with humans on human terms.

Originally posted by rwingett
None of the bible was written by anyone who had ever met Jesus personally. It was all second, third and fourth hand information. Things the authors had heard about Jesus as it was filtered through the years.

Matthew 16:28 clearly indicates that the kingdom was expected imminently. What Jesus preached was how to live in this world in a way that would bring the kingdom to fruition.

"None of the bible was written by anyone who had ever met Jesus personally."

You can't possibly be that ignorant!

Originally posted by josephw
[b]"None of the bible was written by anyone who had ever met Jesus personally."

You can't possibly be that ignorant![/b]

As the authorship of much of the bible is uncertain, we can't know for sure. But I think it is likely true.

Originally posted by rwingett
As the authorship of much of the bible is uncertain, we can't know for sure. But I think it is likely true.

You've been listening to the wrong sources for far too long. The idea of 'uncertainty' is all in your mind.

It is much much easier to twist the truth than to unravel a lie.

Would you like to be proven wrong?

Originally posted by josephw
You've been listening to the wrong sources for far too long. The idea of 'uncertainty' is all in your mind.

It is much much easier to twist the truth than to unravel a lie.

Would you like to be proven wrong?

Don't waste your time.

Originally posted by rwingett
Don't waste your time.

The question was, 'would you like to be proven wrong?'

'Don't waste your time' is ambiguous. For one thing I never "waste" time.

Is it because you think you're smarter than me? Maybe better informed? Or is it because you can't handle confrontation?

Originally posted by josephw
The question was, 'would you like to be proven wrong?'

'Don't waste your time' is ambiguous. For one thing I never "waste" time.

Is it because you think you're smarter than me? Maybe better informed? Or is it because you can't handle confrontation?

it could also be "seen that, done that."

Originally posted by VoidSpirit
it could also be "seen that, done that."

It's not that.

rwingett is a self admitting agnostic. He says he doesn't know whether or not there is a God. Therefore he doesn't know whether or not the Bible is true. So, therefore, rwingett hasn't seen that or done that.

No honest person can state categorically that "there is no God". There is simply no evidence for the non-existence of any thing. At least rwingett gets that much.