Thread: The Bible

Thought this was intriguing...

wow, LOL

well.. the Bible does teach you things if you know where to look

I have shown you in every way by laboring like this, that you must support the weak. And remembering the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive. - Bible - Acts 20:35

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. - Bible - Matthew 6:19-21
For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? - Bible - Matthew 16:26

"No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money."
Matthew 6:24

Resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to
him the other also. [Matthew 5:39]

I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you,
do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despite-fully use you, and persecute you;
[Matthew 5:44]

But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the
blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. You will be repaid at the
resurrection of the just. [Luke 14:13 &14.]

The Sabbath was made for
man, and not man for the Sabbath. [Mark 2:27.]


Whatever you did for the least of My brothers and sisters, you did for Me. Matthew 25:40

He that says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness still. 1 John 2:9

Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 1 Peter 4:8

If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own; but because you do not belong to the world and I have chosen you out of the world, the world hates you. John 15:18

Do not judge that you may not be judged. For with what judgement you judge, you shall be judged. Matthew 7:1

Originally Posted by Maritxu

wow, LOL

well.. the Bible does teach you things if you know where to look

You are so right. There are many good things in the bible. We can learn much without necessarily being a christain. I grew up catholic but I have been studying the quran. There are many good things we can take from Islam as well. Good people that are secular humanist can learn from the Tora, Bible, and Quran without taking everything literally.

I agree that while we can always learn from old books, it is such a shame to see the majority of humans simply following for the sake of tradition, believing in the silliest of things, such as: ‘Mary was a virgin’ or ‘There is only one God, we are his chosen children, and he promised Palestine to us’ or ‘God was a blue elephant.’ It just proves how immature and irrational humans really are. Humans are ready to believe in just about anything, it’s no wonder that rulers have always managed to control humans by simply controlling the information they're fed. The saddest images for me are the masses of people that bow down to the Pope or some imaginary god in total submission as slaves. It’s a shameful disgrace for humanity, and a total embarrassment.

I must admit that the Bible does have some sane, useful moral tidbits, but the problem is not in the good things the Bible has to offer, but in the fact that the little nuggets of good things are ensconced within a whole lotta not-so-good stuff.

The writers of the Bible must have not cared one iota about internal consistency; either that or they were schizo.

You'll have things like:

1. Love thy Neighbor.

Next to:

2. Beat your cat to death and imbibe its marrow while flaying the children of Cain! Obey the lord!

Could you give refference to that second one please?

Originally Posted by Yolanda

I agree that while we can always learn from old books, it is such a shame to see the majority of humans simply following for the sake of tradition, believing in the silliest of things, such as: ‘Mary was a virgin’ or ‘There is only one God, we are his chosen children, and he promised Palestine to us’ or ‘God was a blue elephant.’ It just proves how immature and irrational humans really are. Humans are ready to believe in just about anything, it’s no wonder that rulers have always managed to control humans by simply controlling the information they're fed. The saddest images for me are the masses of people that bow down to the Pope or some imaginary god in total submission as slaves. It’s a shameful disgrace for humanity, and a total embarrassment.

Who's to say what religion is right or wrong? With Christians believing God is the one and only, and muslims belieiving in Allah, how is it that two powerful "gods" can have such effect and the origins come from the same regions of the earth, and both claim to have the same home lands? It makes no sense really, thus why it's really hard for a lot of Americans to believe in ANYTHING at all.

Originally Posted by Yolanda

I agree that while we can always learn from old books, it is such a shame to see the majority of humans simply following for the sake of tradition, believing in the silliest of things, such as: ‘Mary was a virgin’ or ‘There is only one God, we are his chosen children, and he promised Palestine to us’ or ‘God was a blue elephant.’ It just proves how immature and irrational humans really are. Humans are ready to believe in just about anything, it’s no wonder that rulers have always managed to control humans by simply controlling the information they're fed. The saddest images for me are the masses of people that bow down to the Pope or some imaginary god in total submission as slaves. It’s a shameful disgrace for humanity, and a total embarrassment.

Is it also shamefull when muslims worship allah? or does this shame only apply to christians?

The "useful" parts of both the Bible and the Koran are about as useful as a sign reminding you to breathe. "Love thy neighbor"? Gee, thanks for that deep and powerful insight. "Do unto others"? Again, thanks so much for laying claim to something that civilized people have known forever. The Bible isn't so much a useful teacher of morality and ethics as it is a scam that cashes in by laying claim to commonly held morality and ethics. If you can give me an example of a moral or ethical lesson that is illustrated in the Bible that isn't the most common kind of decent sense, that breaks new ground and teaches us how to live in ways that we would never have thought of without this divine inspiration, I'd like to hear it. As far as I know, it's all incredibly trite, childish stuff that nobody would disagree with. Christian morality is carefully crafted to appeal to us, so that our approval of that morality (which we already subscribe to) is transferred onto the religion, and we become servants to the institution. Those Romans were crafty rulers, indeed, and they taught their descendents, the monarchs of medieval Europe, well how to use the tool of religion to consolidate and protect their power.

It does teach some great morals and ethics, like selfless acts (Jesus). That's why even though I'm not a Christian I still have Jesus in my avatar. To me, he symbolizes the epidemy of selflessness.