lotharson Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 I think that the presence of terror texts within the Bible is a problem for all kinds of Christian. While we certainly reject the attributions of the crimes to God Himself,. we are still confronted with the problem of God allowing lots of people (worldwide) to have harmful false beliefs about Him. How do you deal with this? Lovely greetings from Europe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JosephM Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 I think that the presence of terror texts within the Bible is a problem for all kinds of Christian. Lotharson, In my view, It is only a problem for those Christians (not "all kinds of Christians") who attribute to the Bible inerrancy and see it written as if it were the words of God to believe as a requirement to be called a Christian. When viewed as the writings of men of the times concerning their ideas/beliefs of God it can be seen in a different light. For me, the tenets of Christianity are found more accurately in the recorded words of Jesus and in many of Paul;s recorded words concerning Jesus and life. But even those words must be considered as only pointers written by men of their times. Words that need to be proofed for validity by study,logic,reason and in my view, more importantly, personal experience. I am of the persuasion that one can come to many of the similar conclusions of Jesus's teachings that are recorded without ever reading them, by examining other books , religions, verbal teachings or by examining life itself even if no book existed. Joseph Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulS Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 For me in isn't an issue because I don't believe in an interventionist God. I imagine if one believes in an interventionist God they must rationalise God's inaction in this area much like they would concerning famine, genocide, paedophilia, and other misery & tragedy that seems to befall innocent people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
romansh Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 For me in isn't an issue because I don't believe in an interventionist God. Personally I am on the the verge of actively disbelieving in an interventionist/personal god, much in the same way I disbelieve in unicorns being literally real. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NORM Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 Lo, I don't think I can add much more to both Joseph's and Paul's comments. I don't view the Bible as any different, than say; Homer's Iliad or the Epic of Gilgamesh. There is plenty of horror and awful behavior among the deities in those types of works. I think that it only emphasizes the realization that our gods are created in our own image, rather than the converse. I don't think it coincidence that as mankind evolves into a kinder, gentler animal, his / her deities do also. NORM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
romansh Posted February 12, 2014 Share Posted February 12, 2014 I think that it only emphasizes the realization that our gods are created in our own image, rather than the converse. I don't think it coincidence that as mankind evolves into a kinder, gentler animal, his / her deities do also. Robert Wright makes a similar reflection in his book The Evolution of God. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulS Posted February 12, 2014 Share Posted February 12, 2014 I've got that one on my shelf waiting for my attention, Rom. Norm's spot on when he notes that it's probably not coincidence that as mankind has evolved, so has its God(s). I find that Christians have seemed to have anything but a 'personal relationship with Jesus' until the last few centuries, if even that early. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
romansh Posted February 12, 2014 Share Posted February 12, 2014 Wright's position is when a society falls on harder times the gods also become a little harder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZenMonkey Posted February 14, 2014 Share Posted February 14, 2014 (edited) I think that the presence of terror texts within the Bible is a problem for all kinds of Christian. While we certainly reject the attributions of the crimes to God Himself,. we are still confronted with the problem of God allowing lots of people (worldwide) to have harmful false beliefs about Him. How do you deal with this? Lovely greetings from Europe. By knowing God is all loving and all merciful to his children, despite what we believe about God. Truth is truth, so no matter how God is viewed in mind ... God is still known by all. These types certainly know God, only these types do not acknowledge God as God. For example: Every inconsistency in the scriptures can be reconciled by (what I call) three fundamental truth's: 1) By identifying absolute reality (all that is) as "God" ... "I am that I am." - "existent existence" 2) That humans interact with "all that is" (existence) through a dynamic connection to "all that is" (see, feel, smell, taste, hear, think, act). 3) By understanding that what we perceive to be real through this dynamic interaction is subject to error, hence the spiteful, jealous god of war being birthed in the minds of our forefathers.. We were born (created) to be loved by our Creator through our existence in existence. Ask yourself five very simple questions in relation to God. Your answer to the first question should be the foundation through which the others are answered. "_____" Who is God? How do you know God? How does God teach his children? How does God discipline his children? How does God make himself known to his children? Without a rock solid foundation, - everything else falls short. Place "life" as your foundation and the rest will fall perfectly in place. Zen - Edited February 14, 2014 by ZenMonkey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NORM Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 Without a rock solid foundation, - everything else falls short. Heh! I prefer sand - particularly when it is on either the east or the west coast! NORM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skyseeker Posted February 22, 2014 Share Posted February 22, 2014 I've thought much about this topic. It seems to me that people either buy into a Lord God (who appears more like an alpha male being than a divine majesty), or they disbelieve in a personal God. Simply believing in a good God seems hard for many although in their private life they should recognize that we all depend on a God who feels genuine goodness for all of His creations. Personally I choose to have some panentheistic beliefs in this matter, that God literally inhabits the world and that there are metaphysical constraints to His activity. That God is partially identical or perhaps I should call it related to the Cosmos and that there are also indifferent sides to Him. I don't mean cold sides, but He allows creation to go its ways without stopping it before things get nasty. I mean, perhaps God is closer to sheeps and lions than to us in some ways, and we're simply a special project that has to find a small place in the creation and not such a huge and overtowering one as we tend to presume. We should be clearer about our place in this world and how a better perception of God's impartial grace would be better for us than the inconsistent beliefs in an almighty God with many plans and purposes, a God who perhaps could be called too concerned with the world. And that these things are shrouded in mysteries that must be accessed mystically rather than only through plain reason. A God of love more than a God of perfectly meted out justice. The doomsayers and those who have harmful beliefs about God, and those who want God to create a wonderland from us, maybe all suffer from the same mistake of assuming that we are so important or that God has some grand plan for literally and truly everything. God is the spirit, the ancient word for spirit is breath, and the wind blows where it's blowing and we can't catch it. We're invited into the divine, God recognizes us, but the same counts for lions and mosquitos and tigers. Only it wouldn't be fair to them if mankind alone would get the price and rule truly everything. That would be too much of a humanization of the universe, and as our own history and our present behavior is proving far too succinctly, we are not angels and wouldn't be able to fulfill such a job. So go out more into nature and live more in tune with the Cosmos instead of worrying too much about the human race. We can and should believe in a loving God, but God's love often consists more of a sunset than of these manifold direct assistances and interventions in life that christianity believes in so strongly. There are always things that we as humans must look after, and we must learn from Jesus in this matter. God is with us like he is with the cow on the fields, but we must have these helping hands that reach out for our neighbor to pull him from misery. If a chimp were to recognize God, he would do this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soma Posted February 24, 2014 Share Posted February 24, 2014 The Bible offers a window to see the road we are traveling on, our destination and the motion. We do not translate the Bible; it is there to translate us from a physical to a spiritual being. It can be translated with religiosity, and used as a history book about Jesus, but then one has to deal with all the inconsistencies or it can be a book of spirituality about the mind of Christ. I feel then it is more a mythology The 5 sensory human wants logic and reason so sees the history of Jesus, but in the Bible there are too many inconsistencies so they say it is the word of God. The multi-sensory internal human wants to be alive in the immediate consciousness. This person has a power to love life in every form without judging what is encountered. The power is to find meaning in the small details. - A 5 sensory external person has a hard time perceiving or appreciating this way of life Many Christians are 5 sensory external beings. They compete for power, which brings pain, violence and destruction to others in the form of ideological and religious conflicts. They find meaning in life in the refection of something else. The Christian Mystic finds meaning in a reflective consciousness, knowing the soul or Divinity within, which breeds unity and acceptance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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