Christianity And Life

It is interesting to note the deep practical wisdom in Christianity being validated by good science.

Hans Seyle said he did not trouble himself with things outside his control which came out of his understandings of stress.

It seems to demonstrate the practical value of some of the most beautiful words ever uttered in my opinion:

Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? 26Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? 27Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? 28And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: 29And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? 31Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 32(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. 33But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.​

That there being more to life...letting the worry about diet, health etc. become background noise and seeking goodness. Very bracing.

 

"If a man is caught in the act of raping a young woman who is not engaged, he must pay fifty pieces of silver to her father. Then he must marry the young woman because he violated her, and he will never be allowed to divorce her." (Deuteronomy 22:28-29 NAB)

"... And the LORD said unto Moses, 'Take all the heads of the people and hang them up before the LORD against the sun, that the fierce anger of the LORD may be turned away from Israel." (Numbers 25:3-4)

"... Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass." (I Samuel 15:2-3)

God slowly kills a baby because of his fathers mistake.
( 2 Samuel chapter 12 )

“If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple." ( Luke 14:26 )

"The One forming light and creating darkness, Causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the LORD who does all these. " ( Isaiah 45:7 )

God approved of the people throwing rocks at Achan, his CHILDREN , and even his animals, until they died ( stoning ) because HE stole some stuff.
( Joshua 7 )

"Also the daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by harlotry, she profanes her father; she shall be burned with fire." ( Leviticus 21:9 )

God has two bears tear apart 42 children for making fun of Elisha for being bald. ( 2 Kings 2 )

God hardens Pharoahs heart so he would be stubborn and not listen to moses. One of the punishments for Pharoah not listening is to kill hundrends of innocent firstborn boys... So the god of the bible kills a bunch of children, men, and animals because he himself made Pharoah stubborn and unwilling to listen. ( Exodus 9:12, and ch12 )

If I had more time I could come up with many many more... Ya, thats quite a book.

 

I find a lot of guidance and stress relief from my faith. Christianity has never been about a fluffy God who is easy to fathom.

 

Not to be overly cheeky but isn't Peat always talking about context? Cherry picking quotes there... Without getting into all the historical minutiae, the gospel is the foundation of the Christian faith, not the old testament.

Well, this is a commonly cited statement and are part of the mystery. On the face of it people struggle with it but is understood from the inside of the faith. Consider the possibility that complete faith in Christ may lead people to even greater love of their family.

 

Do not all you guys cherry pick nice scriptures? As for context how is it ever contextually ok to burn people, rape people, kill children, and punish the innocent for the mistake of the guilty? If you want to follow a book, its best to accept all the bad with the good, and ultimately come to the conclusion of whether its benefical for humanity. Scientifically and morally it has been a massive hindrance. Historically the bible has caused unmatched pain and suffering, via the imaginary stories and the powers that be ( at the time ) using it to lord over, murder, and enslave innocent people. Dark ages anyone? People need a book to teach them empathy? and love?..... yikes... oh and new testament says, "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;- 2 Timothy 3:16 that includes the old testament. @kyle

 

I cherry pick scriptures. I pick the ones that are true and skip the ones that are not. Life is a buffet.

They didn't need a book to justify murder and slavery. Isn't that just how the world has been throughout history? It wasn't the book but the times, the culture.

 

If the old testament isnt a part of Christianity, then why did jesus come and die because of Adams mistake? Adam's an old testament character. Jesus talks about the old testament all the time.

 

Yes they did, on many accounts. They used it to convince the ignorant that evil acts are ok, Because god is the decider of whether something is moral or not.

 

If the old testament was taken seriously by Christians... don't you think they would have been carrying out those practices for the last 2 thousand years? They didn't... the practices of some primitive religious zealots in Judea thousands of years ago don't negate the wisdom found in the bible, just as the awful stuff in the Quran doesn't negate the great Sufi poetry. If atheists really cared about the harm done by organized religion, their first target would be Islam, as they really do carry out primitive practices to this day. Im not assuming tca is atheist or picking a fight... just my 2c's

 

It also worth remembering that the bible is translated from hebrew/greek to latin then english... greek is pretty different than latin, hebrew is very different than latin, and latin is fairly different than English... this accounts for a lot of strange quotes. And another thing, the bible is riddled with parables and metaphors, and Jesus used many parables, and even said to his disciples that he spoke with double meanings, so obviously anyone who has read the bible would know not to take everything literally.

 

In approaching Scripture, it behooves one to consider the posture of his approach. If one begins by first thinking that all of his definitions are correct, he will find fault with many things in the Word. But if one begins his trial with the mind that he will allow Scripture to define and interpret itself, he will find fault with many of his assumptions.

A classic example is the one which says, "Your God allowed x, y, and z to happen, therefore he can't be good!" But what this person has failed to apprehend is that the fault is with his definitions, not with God. That man assumes that good is X and, therefore, considers God evil when he doesn't fit that ideal.

God is the potter; we are the clay. And because he cannot be wrong or do wrong, if we have a problem with anything he says or does, the problem is with us. It is the prideful man which says, "I know I'm right, so this book must be wrong." But this man is resting on faith, like the Christian: faith that his feelings are worthy and accurate.

[1Co 2:13-14] 13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

 

This might be interesting @kyle

The Physics of Christianity

 

Both Peter and Paul warn us to study the OT for warnings and examples for NT Christians.
Jesus was the Word became flesh and the Word was there in Genesis 1:1.
Yes-there is a new testament, but God does not change, so best to learn about Him and heed the warnings He gave Israel through His prophets of His coming Judgment. Most of Israel continued to anger God by their "whoring" with the world and Baal.

We are currently in the perilous times of the last days where most churches or Christians do not care for sound sound doctrine.
They prefer a form of godliness, but ignore the authority God demands over their lives. (see 2Timothy 3-KJV).

It is important to understand that Christianity has been perverted by Satan from the beginning, and became completely apostate during the dark ages where the Great Mother of All Harlots and Abominations (Catholic Church) had civil rule over Europe for 1260 years (See Revelations 17, 2 Thes. 2, Daniel 7-KJV). However, there has always been a remnant of God's people who stood fast for the apostolic faith that was once delivered to the saints.

Before you blame Christians for bringing wars, make sure you aren't speaking of false Christians, namely the Catholic Church and her many harlot daughters.

 

Oh God, please deliver us from internet debates over you.

 

Perceive. Think. Act. In other words, avoid all religions like the plague

 

lol isnt the bible about a mesopotamic demon or something?

 

Seems pretty clear, Such,
you are the kind of guy
who shows up in church every Sunday
without fail.

 

Man you don't know the feeling of being the only one in summer camp who doesn't know the words to the prayers lol. Or demon chants. We still haven't settled this.

 

That quote deserves a hallelujah