A Bible Question, please comment (page 3)

BlackSwan of Memphis

Restrangled:

What do you think the basic message is?

I look at the Bible as mans attempt to understand God. IMHO it is not from God/Jehovah/YHWH, but about him, his Son and the Holy Spirit. Why would they bother to write about him, is it a genelogy of the Jews and their God?

Annie Over

One more thing. How come my paragraphs always get crunched into one paragraph? and how do I copy and paste quotes from other replies? SAYWHAT Here is how I do it. I hilight what I want to answer then hit copy, then hit reply, then click in the reply screen then go to edit at the top of the page then hit paste. I know the others gotz a lot better way of doin it but I ain't figured it out yet <smile> Annie

Terry

So this is my question: God always dealt pretty straight forward with the human race, so why is his book so complicated that none of us are smart enough to get it? Does it make sense that he would only allow a select few to understand what he was trying to say? Maybe it is very simple and it has been complicated to no end my false religion........(you get my drift)
This may seem like a ridiculous question, and I apologize ahead of time, but it's really bugging me.

The short answer is: ALEXANDER THE GREAT!

Yes, that is the answer.

Let me explain, if you will.

The Jews were isolated, insular and anti-progress UNTIL the invasions and conquests of Alexander's armies forced them into a new world of philosophy, science, logic and semantics.

In less than a century after Alexander came and went, the Jews were speaking Greek and not Hebrew!

They weren't just speaking Greek! They were thinking Greek!

What Greek Philosophy brought to the world was a chain of reasoning which had to be validated by logic.

The impact on Jewish theology was devastating!

You'll find (if you care to try it) that Plato's descriptions of how Socrates dealt with his questioners/opponents is mirrored in accounts of Jesus speaking to Pharisees. Why? Because, Greek ideas, methods and thinking were the highest standard possible!

The Roman world adopted all things Greek and merely changed the names of its gods and heros without tampering with the particulars.

Simply put: GREEK ETHOS had set a standard in the world of Rome and Judaism that changed the way you had to represent reality/religion/philosophy.

That is the chief and most important reason why the Old Testament is so vastly different from the New Testament.

Take a hard look at the SILENCE______________________________between the last book of the OT and the first book of the NT. That silence is there for a reason!!

Nobody dared speak the old way or tell outrageous mythic semite tales of a mono-God dealing only with one tiny ethnic people.

Alexander WAS a god! He PROVED it by conquering everyone and everything INCLUDING JEHOVAH!! That was the reality the Jews had to swallow and digest before picking themselves up and dusting off their theology!

AlmostAtheist

Does the Bible really show that God was straightforward with mankind?

He talked directly to Moses, but not to Joe Jew. Joe could see the light at the temple, but he wasn't allowed to go to where the light was shining from, so he kinda had to take their word for what was causing it.

Noah got instructions from God, but his family never had contact with Him. Did they hear the pronouncement from God after the rainbow bit? I think so, I can't recall. But their children didn't.

Reading the Bible and seeing miracles on every page is sort of like watching Star Trek and thinking, "Man, those crazy transporters are ALWAYS going on the blink!" Truth is, the transporters work 99.99% of the time. But it doesn't make for much of a story. So you only get the "good stuff" recorded.

I agree that there's more activity from God recorded in the Bible than the average believer would say he sees today. But I think the "good stuff" of those 4,000 years being all bunched together might make it seem like much more activity than it's really meant to portray.

Dave

Kadosh

I think that we have to get to the roots of things and learn about the tribe of Judah. They have build many man made fences around the word but with the removal of the fences, I believe we have something. Leviticus 23 is a good place to start. Jesus said that there would be many divisions.

shopaholic

Maybe it is very simple and it has been complicated to no end my false religion

I would say that this is the case. When one reads the Bible and just the Bible, IMHO, the messages are quite clear. If one chooses to abide by the messages or use any of it in their life is another story. However, many religions have adjusted the message for selfish gain and power/control. People that follow a religion are often told that only a select few can truly understand the Bible for heirarchical reasons - everyone can't be a shepherd because someone has to be the sheep. The Bible mentions that "man has dominated man to his injury" and in my mind this includes religion. Most of what is being taught in many religions today is based on logical reasoning and deductions and not the Bible directly. However, one's reasoning will differ based on cultural background and personal experiences. Thats why something that totally okay in one JW congregation is almost a disfellowshipping offense in another JW congregation.

heathen

I think about that some times myself. That God had let his sacred plan be tampered with by his enemies , it doesn't seem fair to people that just want to know the truth . The WTBTS keeps saying they have the truth but then it changes from time to time proving they didn't have the truth so they go into their denial spin over it.The catholic church just claimed they have the truth because they can trace the pope possition back to the apostle Peter of which I don't think is possible because for one thing the catholic church didn't exist until the fourth century after all the apostles were dead. There was only one offical copy of the law in Israel written in hebrew , today people are still tampering with the bible translations claiming one is more accurate than the other. It is pretty pitiful . Basically I think all you can do is try to follow your conscience , the 10 commandments are a good place to start since jesus was considered the embodyment of the 10 commandments and fundamentally they are a good code of ethic. Personally I think we are in the same boat on this topic . Try to find people that don't twist the religion into paganistic or satanic propaganda .

journey-on

the 10 commandments are a good place to start since jesus was considered the embodyment of the 10 commandments and fundamentally they are a good code of ethic.

Heathen....I think you're right on with this statement. In the OT, the first 5 of the 10 commandments were about our relationship with God and the next 5 were about our relationship with our fellow man. Jesus boiled it down to two: Love God with your whole heart, soul, strength, and mind; and love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments, the whole Law rests. Simple as pie.

keyser soze

The answer is simple: God did not write the bible, men did. A bunch of presumptuos men took it upon themselves to write down "god's word" as a way to manipulate people into acting the way they think people should act. They then attribute this manipulation to God's will.

A Bible Question, please comment