Interesting perspective. I agree that it is tough to trust any religion written by men, but the fact is that is all we have. All of the major world religions have been passed down by the written word of men. I choose to focus more on what I feel like the intent of religion is for us all. And that is to LOVE one another. Love your enemies just as you love your family. Love all people and all of God's creations. Even if you don't believe, or are not sure you believe in God. If you walk through life with love in your heart, you will be following in Gods path.
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If god wants us to love each other, why was he so cruel in the bible?
These are not mutually exclusive. He does not need to lead by example, as a father does not need to lead by example for his offspring to listen ( that actually is somewhere in the Bible).
I disagree. I think that Jesus did lead by example, and we should do our best to do the same.
Well, in my opinion this is where the "written by men" part comes into play. I don't think God is a vindictive God. The Old Testament is full of pretty awful sounding stuff. I believe that regardless of how the word of God has been twisted by men. It's true intention is best learned through the teachings of Jesus. And Jesus taught Love and Respect for all people and creatures.
I always look at the phrase "God is love" sideways because of verses like these. You either can say this God changed or we have to accept some disagreement between father and son and if you don't have direct ancestry with the ancient Isrealites then you'd best not count on him.
Given the miracles He performed and the documentation given by the inspired authors of the Gospels, I'm betting that any apparent discrepancies in ancestry are on the human side. :o)
It is all we have is no reason to take it in hook line and sinker. We can read things without having to believe them fully. You and I could debate for example and you may say something I hadn't thought of before. I will then incorporate what you taught me in the exchange into my own world view. That does not mean I took EVERYTHING you said and incorporated it. We must be willing to look at all information for potential value, but we should never take EVERYTHING without thinking about it and making our own informed decision. The path I walk very likely would not work for you as well as it does me, so why would I want you to follow my path? Your path might go further than mine.
Yeah that is kind of weird... look at those things like something you'd find in a fortune cookie.
We know a lot that those that came before us do not know. There is evidence we have also lost some knowledge. When it really starts to become questionable though is when you really spread out and research a lot of religions. You'll find pretty much every story (including all of those about Jesus) had a historical figure in other religions that did those same things, before his existence. Sometimes thousands of years. It is almost like each new version of religion building up would incorporate the stories from the past, change some names, and write it as though it was happening then. In particular study the Egyptian Religion (particularly that of Horus) and the Hindu religion (Krishna).
You will find startling similarities that predate Christ by very large amounts of time.
I am not saying there is no value. I am just saying we should not blindly believe everything we read just because we were told we had to.
I absolutely don't take everything printed in any book to be 100% true. And, I understand your view and would say we have a very similar view of the subject of religion. I question almost all of it. But though I question I still believe.
Nothing wrong with believing in something. We just must ALWAYS question ourselves and our own beliefs. If we don't we might miss the truth (even small ones) if they occur in front of us. :) I constantly question and change my mind too. I am sure I'd have some pretty heated arguments with the me from a decade ago.