Dear Dr. Laura Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God's law. When someone tries to defend the homosexual lifestyle, for example, I simply remind him that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be an abomination. End of debate. I do need some advice from you, however, regarding some of the specific laws and how to best follow them. When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odor for the Lord (Leviticus 1:9). The problem is my neighbors. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them. How should I deal with this? I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as it suggests in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her? I also know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of menstrual uncleanliness (Leviticus 15:19-24). The problem is, how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offense. Now I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself? Then, Exodus 25:44 states that I may buy slaves from the nations that are around us. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans but not Canadians. Can you clarify? A friend of mine also feels that even though eating shellfish is an abomination (Leviticus 11:10.), it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don't agree. Can you settle this? And Leviticus 22:22 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle room here? I know you have studied these things extensively, so I am confident you can help. Thank you again for reminding us that God's word is eternal and unchanging.
The bible was written thousands of years ago; therefore, it reflects the customs and social mores of that period. To transplant the cultural idiosyncracies to this day and age is irresponsible and illogical. Instead, focus on the Christian tenets that provide a basic outline on how to live a good life. It's easy to nitpick the texts ad nauseum. It's kind of like focusing on a stock's 1-minute chart and ignoring the hourly chart and moving averages to ascertain the main trend. Everyone can use a 1-minute chart to fulfill their personal expectations. A more macro view provides a closer representation of the truth.
Oh, I get it.... God slaughters people, including children, left and right in the bible, but we should just IGNORE all that, and focus on the little bright spots? I don't know about you, but if someones actions, contradict their words, I pay closer attention to their actions. I guess all those priests that molested children for decades are A-OK because the bigger picture is OK? The priest hourly chart is OK, with a molestation here and there on the 1 minute chart.... no big deal right? No one needs the bible to tell them how to live a good life. There are plenty of other sources available to help you with this that DO NOT have examples of genocide and murder and torture in them. The bible does not, in any way, have a monopoly of "good tenets". It's a pretty lousy example in my opinion. peace axeman
Very good quotes. Your point is? What, that he is a God of Judgement, anger? I'll say it again, God is a God of love, mercy, righteousness and Judgement. If man abides in him(righteousness), he shall see the love and mercy of God. If not, your end is Judgement. Clear and simple.
HAHAHAHAHA what a great guy this god of yours, "DO WHAT *I* SAY OR *I* WILL BURN YOU FOREVER thank you god. as you put it, His nature is CLEAR & SIMPLE!
goldenarm, I agree with the content of your post BUT religious "teachings" persistently hyjack what belongs to Humanity itself. My argument is with those who say their God is the Truth. It/ they aren't. The truth is humanity - humans who are caring loving and helping each other. These power crazed religious zealots steal and self proclaim from humanity itself and then blame humanity for all the wrong and give all the credit to their groundless superstitious beliefs. All for the end purpose of power and money or be damned if you don't. That is just downright WRONG and it has dragged down mankind's quest to find out what the hell is really going on. I wholeheartedly agree, yes the Bible was written, for all acoounts, hundreds of years before the christ-ifixion thing (thousands of years before if you include the apocryphal mimicry) and hundreds of years after 0 AD. Thunderbolt wants to use that as PROOF of the Truth, now that will NOT do. The TRUTH belongs to Humanity, not to that woolly headed fuzzy minded non logic. The macro view IS humanity itself. Surely you see from my prevoius post that I said it is stupid and I get no pleasure from debunking thunderbolts parrot posts, as axeman so rightly puts it. I'm not nit picking text to prove the opposite. My position is that Goodness Kindness Love Peace IS the Truth belonging to humanity, and the way to really live a good life, not by no brain god image meaningless text.
You can't grasp the point Thunderbolt? You can't see what I am saying.? Well it certainly pulled you up enough to stop your lame biblical advertising campaign, perhaps enough for you to think just for a second. It's not God's word it's the word of man. Men "wrote" the Bible. If man abides in the actions of a humanitarian (righteousness), he shall see the love and mercy which resides within him . If not, your end is the Judgement of your fellow humans. Clear and simple.
No, no, stu, the bible was written by men who were in the spirit of God. I know you can't comprehend this but it's true. Although men put their physical hands on pens and paper, it was God's inspired word that gave the utterance for those pens to go into motion. For those who deny God and his word, it's because they are not God's people. Let me make myself clear since everybody will flip out over that statement. We were all created by God, but only those who accept and obey are his children. You have a choose. Hilter once said, " we, the people of Germany, do not need God, for the world is ours". Well, he was able to say whatever he wanted while he was breathing, but I can assure you that unless he somehow repented to God before he died, he's in a lake of fire. So, in conclusion, anyone can say whatever they want on this earth(there's no God, I'll live the way I want, Jesus was a hoax, ect...) but when Judgement day comes, your lies have no where to run. Is it really worth it?
I know you all feel that I'm intolerant, but the fact is, the truth is intolerant. 2+2=4, not 5, not 11, not 213. The truth is unbending, it is unyielding, it is exclusive. The truth of God is offensive to the hellbound, sin-loving, want-to-believe-lies man. God hath not left Himself without witness in this perverse and crooked generation--His word is the Holy Bible (King James 1611 for the English speaking peoples of the world). I am not the author of truth, but I know Who is. His name is Jesus and anything that contradicts His word is a wicked lie.
You've got to hand it to thunderdolt. At least he has a lot of faith in what he believes in, no matter how illogical it seems. He's got his bases covered. If there is no God nor eternal life, he won't know any difference when he dies. But if there IS a God and an afterlife, then he's got a ticket to the pearly gates. Thunderdolt is hedging his risk like a good trader should!