Posted by Ethereal Zephyr at 12:59pm Mar 4 '05First off, I'm not going to handle a bunch of "you atheistic (blasphemous, heretical, what have you) so-and-so! ÃÂ You're going to go put babies on spikes and eat meat on Fridays and resurrect the anti-Christ" replies. ÃÂ So there. ÃÂ Anyone who does it is gonna get a rahter perfunctory PM from me. ÃÂ Now, if the accusation is accompanied by brains then more power to ya. ÃÂ I'll be nice...er. ÃÂ ^_^
So what's the deal with Christianity and the Bible? ÃÂ From what I gather there's two major camps. ÃÂ You've got "If it isn't in the Bible it isn't real" and "Go by everything in the Bible" versus the more moderate approach. ÃÂ This is NOT directed toward the latter.
God gave us the Bible. ÃÂ Fine. ÃÂ That doesn't mean it's the end-all and be-all of our existence. ÃÂ If it did, there'd be a loooot of us being struck down by random bolts of lightning. ÃÂ A friend and I were debating some topic or other (I don't remember what) and it came down to the Bible. ÃÂ I mentioned the fact that *gasp!* the Bible is a collection of mythology meant to teach us to play nice with each other. ÃÂ My friend completely lost his mind! ÃÂ Apparently it is God's literal word to mankind and absolutely every word of it is dogma.
Soooo.... ÃÂ We're going to go stone (to death, mind you) every woman who enters a holy place (church, temple, whatever) on her period? ÃÂ That's in there, you know. ÃÂ Or we have to burn down our homes if they get mold? ÃÂ We can't just zap it with some bleach? ÃÂ That's in there too. ÃÂ And let's not forget the fact that "blended fabrics" are a HUGE nono! ÃÂ Well, damn! ÃÂ There goes about half of my wardrobe! ÃÂ Stinking cotton/ployester fabrics.
"Oh, but that's the Old Testament. ÃÂ That doesn't hold for Christians. ÃÂ We only have to believe the New Testament." ÃÂ Eh? ÃÂ So the fellas what cannonized the whole OT didn't know what they were doing? ÃÂ And God just let 'em throw it in for funsies? ÃÂ Sorry, that doesn't fly, guys.
And then we get to "If it's not in there, it's not real" (aka "If man were meant to fly he'd have been born with wings" syndrome). ÃÂ Alright, I miiiight could buy into the fact that some people believe this. ÃÂ Fact of the matter, though, is that people are sitting online. ÃÂ That's not in there. ÃÂ And say your 3-year old comes down with some horrible disease. ÃÂ Are you just going to sit by and watch them suffer and die because "it's God's will"? ÃÂ Darn right you won't.
So I guess the question is, what's with the hypocrisy? ÃÂ Can anyone argue this point at all? ÃÂ Or does anyone on here even ascribe to one of these points?
So what's the deal with Christianity and the Bible? ÃÂ From what I gather there's two major camps. ÃÂ You've got "If it isn't in the Bible it isn't real" and "Go by everything in the Bible" versus the more moderate approach. ÃÂ This is NOT directed toward the latter.
God gave us the Bible. ÃÂ Fine. ÃÂ That doesn't mean it's the end-all and be-all of our existence. ÃÂ If it did, there'd be a loooot of us being struck down by random bolts of lightning. ÃÂ A friend and I were debating some topic or other (I don't remember what) and it came down to the Bible. ÃÂ I mentioned the fact that *gasp!* the Bible is a collection of mythology meant to teach us to play nice with each other. ÃÂ My friend completely lost his mind! ÃÂ Apparently it is God's literal word to mankind and absolutely every word of it is dogma.
Soooo.... ÃÂ We're going to go stone (to death, mind you) every woman who enters a holy place (church, temple, whatever) on her period? ÃÂ That's in there, you know. ÃÂ Or we have to burn down our homes if they get mold? ÃÂ We can't just zap it with some bleach? ÃÂ That's in there too. ÃÂ And let's not forget the fact that "blended fabrics" are a HUGE nono! ÃÂ Well, damn! ÃÂ There goes about half of my wardrobe! ÃÂ Stinking cotton/ployester fabrics.
"Oh, but that's the Old Testament. ÃÂ That doesn't hold for Christians. ÃÂ We only have to believe the New Testament." ÃÂ Eh? ÃÂ So the fellas what cannonized the whole OT didn't know what they were doing? ÃÂ And God just let 'em throw it in for funsies? ÃÂ Sorry, that doesn't fly, guys.
And then we get to "If it's not in there, it's not real" (aka "If man were meant to fly he'd have been born with wings" syndrome). ÃÂ Alright, I miiiight could buy into the fact that some people believe this. ÃÂ Fact of the matter, though, is that people are sitting online. ÃÂ That's not in there. ÃÂ And say your 3-year old comes down with some horrible disease. ÃÂ Are you just going to sit by and watch them suffer and die because "it's God's will"? ÃÂ Darn right you won't.
So I guess the question is, what's with the hypocrisy? ÃÂ Can anyone argue this point at all? ÃÂ Or does anyone on here even ascribe to one of these points?
added on 1:03pm Mar 4 '05:
Forgive my lack of topic. I got a bit carried away. Sorry about that.