dyl (01/26/83)
There has been a lot of judgements made on the Bible. I wish all of you would declare your underlying intentions. Lacking that, let me classify you into three categories: 1) There is no God/the true God has not been revealed. Then there are these scriptures: Romans 1:20 For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities - his eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. 2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is *God-breathed* and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. Why would Almighty God let men write/edit His words, and sexists do the translations? Is God powerless to stop such evil? 2) God is evil. Then you have mixed God up with Satan and stop blaming God for your mistakes. What God would create men so that He can take revenge on and create women so that they will be stepped upon by men? 3) You do not know how to reach God but are trying desperately to provoke God to reveal himself. I hope the scriptures in this article would help to gain faith in the Bible. The entire Bible reveals God's mercy, love and justice for man. Just look at what happened the first time when man sinned against God. Genesis 3:8-13 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?" He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid." And he said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?" The man said, "The woman you put here with me - she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it." Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate." God gave man and woman *three* chances to repent and correct their mistakes. But their reactions were to run away from God, blame it on God and blame it on somebody else. Sounds familier? On the subject of inequaity between men and women, God has established an order among Himself, men, women and children and rightfully so because woman was created from man and more easily deceived. We should only *obey* God and not argue with him. The scripture in Ephesians 5:22-33 pointed out by Alan Kaminsky despells any anti-female slant. For those that wants to seek the scripture but have stumbled because of mis-understanding, please raise *any* questions about the Bible. With the help from the Wonderful Counselor, and God's words, I and other fellow Christians will be glad to share what God has given us. Questions unanswered lead to doubt and doubt leads to unbelief. God wants us to understand His identy and his purpose for every man.
ignatz (02/15/83)
I really don't want to fire this thing much further; if you want to quote scriptures--thank Bheer it's only the Christian bible, so far--you can find mutually contradictory evidence throughout. (i.e.: the 'Merciful' Christian God portrayed in the Bible is the same one who sent a she-bear to rip children apart for laughing at a old bald man...) If the Bible was a monolithic, easily understool manual of morals and behavior, there wouldn't be the plethora of Christian sects, now, would there? You'll never be able to resolve anything on the net when dealing with things that depend not upon logic or reaon, but rather upon *faith*; and that is, basically, at the heart of the religious question: whatever you are trying to say is the 'Word' is empirically unproven, and must be accepted on faith. You're not likely to convince anyone on the net; you're just going to get an endless argument. Please--we've better ways to endlessly waste our computer time. Dave Ihnat ihuxx!ignatz
lab (03/12/83)
Since a statement on a "bear ripping children apart" would shock many, a public note is called for. The incident is described in II Kings (IIII Kings in the Hebrew Bible). Elijah was just taken to heaven in a whirlwind, and Elisha had taken his mantle. After Elisha returned across the Jordan, a group of "children" met him and said "Go up, thou bald head! Go up, thou bald head!" in mockery of Elijah's disappearance. Elisha then pronounced their fate, which was speedily executed. The main note is that the Hebrew word translated "children" would refer to those in their teen-age years -- somewhere between 13 and 19, not yet old enough to serve in the army (minimum age 20). With that out of the way, would anyone like to form a newsgroup regarding the Bible, announcing new study material, conferences,etc.? Larry Bickford Qubix Graphic Systems decvax!decwrl!qubix!lab