StillSeekingGod

thormas I don't really understand what you're trying to say... Could you explain it differently?

I am planning to read all gospels first and form my own opinions in dialogue with my partner and on here, before I do that but I am planning on it. I've only been reading for a week or two. I'm a Christian baby, really.

Well, I don't really believe in a physical resurrection which is why I quite liked the gospel of Mark.

Well, I feel as though there must be value in the text, cause if it was in ourselves we wouldn't need scriptures... but then we wouldn't know of Christ and what he ministered and stood for. It might be somewhere in between, but I do think that there is value in scripture.

I don't really seem to agree. It could be possible, but the style in which is was written seems to be quite the same throughout the gospel until you get to the 'added' ending and there it seems like someone with a completely different view of Christ wrote it. So... I know it is according to, I recognise that but like I said, it seems to have had one writer that was deemed quite credible considering it ended up in the Bible, and then the added end is like someone decided to write a bit of fan fiction.

I guess authentic as in the ending is from the same writer, and also if it is not from Mark, which it really doesn't seem to be, then how much value is there in the content of the text. I just found it quite... shocking, sort of a whiplash because Jesus suddenly, in those verses, appears to become someone completely different. It was just very strange to me..

I am not native English speaker and that is a bit too much for me. Simple English, please? I just really don't understand what you mean.

Are you looking for new arm candy already? Also I'm gender queer, not really 'female'. So, you're the only woman here, really. LOL (Don't worry, I know you didn't want to out me as gender queer.)

Is there a reason you use all those question marks? Well, yes, probably another writer but it just seems like that writer made Jesus into someone else all together. Is there anything known about the writer? Or not at all? To your knowledge, I mean.

Hi baby Isn't she marvellous?

Am I the only one just confused? I mean, I have no clue what Artyop is talking about or trying to say... Welcome though. You just seem a little frustrated. I was banned from a couple of other Christian sites as well, because of different reasons but it does make you a little angry. I hope you'll respect the rules and find a place here.

Hello I just finished the gospel of Mark and in a note in my Bible it said that 16:9-19 wasn't there in the earliest manuscripts and other ancient witnesses. It also seems to be in a completely different style than the rest of Mark, at least in my opinion. Also, are there any other references in the Bible to people picking up snakes and not being poisoned because that all seems to be a little out of the blue... (This is the first full gospel I've read, that is why I don't know) I was just wondering what others find of the last verses of Mark and what they see as the value of this bit of text, what they read into it.

In Flemish that isn't really a solution but thank you for your creativity

Perhaps. I could try to explain it like that if I have to. They just see any type of spirituality as dumb and as something for weak people... So it worries me.

If I gave the impression that I want them to be Christians, then you've got it all wrong because I really don't. I just want to stop hiding all traces of Christ and Christianity and I live at home. I live with my parents and I generally never go out on Sunday and now I would like to go to a church in the city. They are going to start asking questions and then I do not want to lie... You are right that I don't have to say anything but that also means that I will have to lie at some point and that doesn't sit well with me.

I am excited to get to know more people, get to know more about Christianity and as a Belgian I do think I have a different experience of faith then for example Americans. I'm just really happy I found this place, cause the other forums I was on censored me heavily...

As I see my faith evolving now, I don't think I'll ever believe in a literal interpretation of the biblical texts. I really find using the God, Jesus and the Bible as a sort of guiding light, a sort of way of life very interesting and very useful. Will I ever believe that Jesus walked on water? No, I'm pretty sure I'll never get to that point but I do find it very interesting to find the different possible meanings of parables and texts extremely interesting as well as sharing those interpretations with other people and talking about them. I will check that out once I do not have to study anymore. Thank you for the tip!

Welcome! I'm new here as well!

Well, I am not at the point where I'd confidently call myself a Christian as I feel like I don't know enough about the scriptures yet to do so. It is just that I feel that one day I'll probably be at that point, but I just really don't want to hide things from my parents and lie. I really don't find that correct...

My partner is female and I am female also. Anyway, she didn't mind me not believing but it is through her and her church that I started to become interested in the scriptures and now that I am reading them I really feel like it is something I want to follow and find purpose in. I agree that I should focus on my actions and making them as Christian as possible, but this really is about not wanting to lie nor deny Christ when I fully accept him. I am now, as I said in a reply to another user, literally hiding my Bible.

Well, I want to wait but right now I am literally hiding my Bible and not reading the Bible out loud when my parents are upstairs, in case they could hear. I'm not very comfortable with that but I'm also not comfortable with having to explain myself and sort of avoid the truth as well as avoid lying. I also don't want to deny following or wanting to follow Christ, as I don't believe that is right.

Hello everyone I am on my way to discovering God and Christ and I feel very, very drawn to progressive Christianity. I am very happy with this discovery but I am quite sure that my parents will not be. They raised me atheist and I really don't know how to go about telling them about my potential new found faith. Does anyone have any suggestions or tips? Has anyone gone through this?

I have read it. All I read is a text about lust, not love which just leads me to believe that the concept of loving, committed homosexual relationships wasn't something that the people of that time understood. All I interpret is that homosexual lust is not something positive. It tells me absolutely nothing about the value or the sinful nature of a loving, committed homosexual relationship. Sleeping around and satisfying lust is completely different from finding someone that you love and building a life with them.