People are so differrent...

[JBKlyde]

what do you mean by "square"??

[jimhelm]

who wrote the bible, JB?

[BigV]

You were asked

how do you know what the Lord God Almighty wants, JB? specifically.

Your answer was to read the bible.

let's pause here. I understand that you're saying how to know what God wants is to read the bible. Ok, like how do I operate the vcr? Read the manual. Easy. However, I've read the bible, and lots of times I find that one section contradicts another section. To compare this to the vcr example, it's like saying to play a tape press the A button, and then in a different section, it says to play a tape press the X button. Well, what is it, the A button or the X button. Look, with the vcr I can just try the A button and the X button. But I can't make such an empirical examination of the mind of God. It's not possible to use your answer "read the bible" to resolve conflicts like this.

Then, as a clarification to me, you suggest that I "have faith". You further explain that good faith is practiced by singing and prayer and doing what the bible tells us to do. This isn't much help, JB. Singing? That can't really be your answer to having faith. Or praying either. Is it prayer that gives you faith and gives you knowledge of what the Lord God Almighty wants?

I ask this seriously, incredulously, and respectfully. I find my experience with prayer is the most intimate, individual experience I can have, and that's at the opposite end of the spectrum from "read the manual" and "read the bible". If my answer to what does God want is what ... ... comes to me (?!?) via prayer... that is... man. That is .. that's my mind talking to me. Not God. I can't verify it, I can't test it, I can't confirm it, etc.

I'll give you a little clue here as well. I don't know you, and I can't say anything about your actions and your words and the distance, if any, between those two. But others might. And I can discuss that distance I see in others. That distance is where hypocrisy flows in. And hypocrisy is the enemy of credibility. The credibility of those that show more hypocrisy suffers, even to the point that I discount what I hear when it doesn't match what I see. Not you, not you. But there are a lot of others I know that are making a very bad name for Christianity. This "fundamentalist" stance starts out fine, but has never been sustainable.

[JBKlyde]

There is an instant, in the book of acts or maybe Romans, and mind you I'm not well taught myself.. is says some thing to the effect of this..

the Romans had an idol to an "unknown god" and Paul took that opportunity of the un known God and taught them about Jesus Christ.

The questions is "Do you want to """""""""""know"""""""" the God of all creation on a personal intimate leval?" I'm not here to shove religion down your throat. I'm here to have fun. And express my faith as freely as possible.

[Sundae]

Paul was a misogynist who warped Jesus's teachings.

[jimhelm]

and Ringo was an idiot

[Sundae]

...but a good narrator (Thomas the Tank Engine here)

[footfootfoot]

I like John's comment in answer to a reporter asking him if Ringo is the best drummer in the world:
"He's not even the best drummer in the Beatles."

He could have should have worked a Pete Best joke in there somewhere

[TheMercenary]

Originally Posted by jimhelm

who wrote the bible, JB?

Human beings, specifically men. And it was written and rewritten and books were left out and it was changed. And then they went to the bar for a beer.

[Gravdigr]

Originally Posted by BigV

Faith I understand, a belief in things not seen. I get that. That doesn't help me understand your answer to the question how you know what the Lord God Almighty wants when you say "read the Bible" and "you have to have faith".

When there are contradictions in what I read, I am left with confusion, not understanding. Faith doesn't clarify my confusion. Faith helps me believe in things I can't see. What I can see is what is written, and that's the source of my confusion.

Have you tried the merry-go-round?

[ZenGum]

Could God create an argument so circular even he couldn't believe it?

People are so different ...

Insert predictable Monty Python scene ... which turns out to be quite appropriate.

[TheMercenary]

Originally Posted by ZenGum

Could God create an argument so circular even he couldn't believe it?
Insert predictable Monty Python scene ... which turns out to be quite appropriate.

Yes.

And on the Seventh Day he LOL'd.

[footfootfoot]

Originally Posted by TheMercenary

Yes.

At first it was like formless and empty, with like darkness over the surface of the deep and then on the Seventh Day he LOL'd.

[TheMercenary]