Just a quick reminder for all you Christians out here...

[Poonani Maker]

“The lion cannot protect himself from traps, and the fox cannot defend himself from wolves. One must therefore be a fox to recognize traps, and a lion to frighten wolves.”
― Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince

 

[Black Widow Void]

When you (figuratively speaking) wake up tomorrow
Will you learn how to think
or
learn how to believe?

 

[zekko]

If things happen to take a turn for the worse, follow the way of the prophets and messengers. Many of them had multiple wives and concubines at the same time.

I don't personally see anything wrong with having multiple wives, if that's what a person wants. I'm sure few men today can afford multiple wives however. Back in ancient times, the patriarchs who had multiple wives were very wealthy men also.

 

[Atom Smasher]

Anyone can justify any and all evil or ignorant behavior and justify it through quoting cherry-p scripture. This in no way makes scripture wrong.

Putting “Thank you Jesus” on the back of your vette is a reflection of ignorance, and has nothing whatsoever to do with Jesus. Juxtaposing that with a picture of a poor boy eating crumbs has no bearing whatsoever about the veracity of scripture. Jesus said that we will always have the poor among us. Christianity has nothing to do with worldly wealth or lack thereof.

It has to do with one thing only... Eradicating our sin in the eyes of a just God. He cannot overlook sin and still be just. This is precisely why he had to provide us a way to get right with him.

Wars have been waged in the name of Christianity. This only means that men decided to evoke the name of Christ in order to kill. The Catholic church went on a murderous rampage through the earth, torturing and killing millions of Protestants and Muslims. This had nothing to do with Christ, and everything to do with the dark, evil hearts of men.

Christianity promises nothing, except peace with God and protection against his righteous judgment.

Don’t look at the actions of men as a test of the veracity of scripture. Any idiot or group can do unspeakable things in the name of Christ. Many have, and many will. Individual men are in serious error when they judge scripture by people who invoke the name of Christ. This is a logical fallacy and is based upon our revulsion to answering to a higher moral authority. Men love to believe themselves to be the almighty arbiter of what is right and what is wrong. This is why many mock Christianity. They are firmly seated on the throne and imagine themselves to be capable of discerning absolute truth.

 

[PeasantPlayer]

I’m not Christian, but I thought to remind those of you who are:

Proverbs 21:9 - Better to live on a corner of the roof than share a house with a quarrelsome wife.

Proverbs 21:19 - Better to live in a desert than with a quarrelsome and nagging wife.

If things happen to take a turn for the worse, follow the way of the prophets and messengers. Many of them had multiple wives and concubines at the same time. And as we all know, Jesus is reported to have said in the Bible, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” (Matthew 5:17).


And for all you secular folks who don’t believe in God, I’ll quote Greek poet Hesiod:

Do not let a woman who decorates her buttocks deceive you,
By wily coaxing, for she is after your granary;

This was ~700 BC. They had women with fat asses getting tramp stamps back then too.

Greek stories are intermingled in the Bible. The concept of heaven and hell and eternal torment is from Greek philosophy. The cosmic battle of good and evil was taken from Persians and their zoroastrianism beliefs.

 

[PeasantPlayer]

The devil killed less people than God in the OT. The devil was usually an insult to an opposing king or kingdom,except for a few times in the Bible. Gods murder Rate in the OT is in the millions

 

[metalwater]

is it the religion of Jesus or about Jesus. it is a huge difference.

 

[RangerMIke]

There are a great deal of reference in the Jewish and Christian bible warning men of the nature of women... There is also NUMEROUS stories in Greek and Norse mythology that does the same.

The Adam and Eve story is an allegory warning men that women will often take you off purpose, Lot and his wife, how Sodom and Gomorrah descended into chaos. In Greek mythology... wow there is plenty... it is filled with warnings with men doing stupid bullsh1t and suffering because of women... The Iliad and the Odyssey is one big story about otherwise good men going to war over a fvcking chick... and how fvcking chicks during the journey, witht he story ending with the killing of a bunch of men... again, because of a chick.

These story all warn men that while loyalty is a positive trait, loyalty when directed in appropriately can destroy you.

 

[Epimanes]

That is the wrong interpretation of fulfilled though. Jesus had a way more stricter standard/interpretation of the law then what was even in the OT (Old Testament, or what you would provide a context to what you call "Law and the Prophets").

The OT allowed divorce. Jesus forbids divorce and remarriage and calls it adultery.
The OT says not to commit adultery. Jesus says if you look at woman lustfully you have committed adultery in your heart.
The list goes on and on.

Just because something is okay in the OT (I.e multiple wives and concubines) doesn't mean it carries into the NT or is endorsed by Jesus.
Anything that sounds like it's "Okay" in the OT may be "okay" because its a compromise from God's standards in order to keep things functional with the ancient Israel society rather than being the original intended purpose in the first place. An example of this is the OT allowing divorces. God did not create divorce in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve, and Jesus endorses that first intent.

Based on the standards set by Jesus and the Apostles, I can tell you that multiple wives and concubines are not endorsed anywhere and might even be seen as a type of adultery or fornication. Unless someone is already in that set-up once they come to faith then that's one thing they have to sort out, however after someone has come to faith, they wouldn't be interested in woman out of lust like that in the first place.

A better understanding of fulfil is applying love to the equation. The command not to commit adultery is fulfilled by loving your wife. If you love you wife then you will not want to commit adultery against her. In the flesh, you can't really love you wife, because the flesh only understands lust, not love. If the grace of God touches someone's heart and they love their wife then they are not only not committing adultery against her, which is honoring that command, but are fulfilling the law by also loving her. It's possible to not commit adultery and hate your wife and cuss and fight every single day, but that would be failing to fulfill the law despite you are not breaking it by committing adultery.

In terms of wisdom, the proverbs never encourage adultery of any form but instead it encourages solitude compared to that situation. It didn't say "it's better to have multiple-wives and concubines, or visit prostitutes than deal with a quarrelsome and nagging wife", did it? It said, it's better to live alone and in more modest circumstances than to live in a mansion with a bad wife. That would be a more fitting interpretation.

But.. jesus did forgive the adulterous woman.... sin is sin... repentance is the requirement for forgiveness

 

[corrector]

But.. jesus did forgive the adulterous woman.... sin is sin... repentance is the requirement for forgiveness

That threshold for adultery is allot different than a mouse click on your computer yet they both sound the same. Just saying when you start calling everything adultery its not even easy to know when you are sinning in the first place.

 

[Epimanes]

Agreed

 

[Black Widow Void]

Anyone can justify any and all evil or ignorant behavior and justify it through quoting cherry-p scripture. This in no way makes scripture wrong.

Putting “Thank you Jesus” on the back of your vette is a reflection of ignorance, and has nothing whatsoever to do with Jesus. Juxtaposing that with a picture of a poor boy eating crumbs has no bearing whatsoever about the veracity of scripture. Jesus said that we will always have the poor among us. Christianity has nothing to do with worldly wealth or lack thereof.

I realize that religion is a touchy subject. Personally, I'd like to believe... but there are too many unanswered questions.
Since you have responded to my above posting (and I appreciate this, sincerely) ... perhaps you can, as a believer, you can share some conclusive evidence.

Why do Christians ask for people to pray for a sick loved one?
I can't help but think to myself.. "Is there a prayer quota?" I've never heard a doctor say... "we're sorry Mrs. Jones. Your husband was just three prayer request away from surviving this operation."

I'm in my mid 50's, smoke two packs a day, eat processed foods, and yet I'm healthy and on no Rx drugs. If this lord does look after his people, then why am I in such great health, while there are believers in much worse shape?

I respect the beliefs in others (although I may not agree). Personally, in view of my above assertions, I can't help but wonder if Jesus isn't Santa Clause for grown adults?

 

[Roober]

While people constantly question Christian beliefs, there are so many fundamental lessons in the Bible that's it laughably naive to write it off.

I don't go to church, or regularly practice in any way, but even I see value in the lessons. For example, the whole theory of abundance is as old as the Bible...

"For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath” Matthew 13:12

Jordan Peterson's podcast on the biblical series has gotten me more interested in reading the Bible,not because I'm a Christian but because it is one of the oldest texts with fundamental lessons on the human condition.

 

[metalwater]

I respect the beliefs in others (although I may not agree). Personally, in view of my above assertions, I can't help but wonder if Jesus isn't Santa Clause for grown adults?

imagine a world without women, none. as much trouble as they cause (and it is a lot) we prefer to have them around at least some times.

imagine a world without religion in the same way.

I have known men before that might have a similar view as yourself about religion. In some cases, they decided that the value of the secondary characteristics of religion (Christian in these cases) was of value to create a happy family. It can have some control on women and also provide shelter for the children when he must do other things. Not all.. but many of the men that I have known that really believed or convinced themself about the truth of the religion ended up falling as a result of a woman. The men that used it purposefully to help manage a family did ok and in many times ended up with successful children and a happy home with a woman that stayed loyal or at least hid disloyalty from him and anyone he was close to.

 

[ImTheDoubleGreatest!]

Alright guys I sorta made this as a half joke just for lols (but also a little bit because of snake **** too, if I’m being honest RIP)

Greek stories are intermingled in the Bible. The concept of heaven and hell and eternal torment is from Greek philosophy. The cosmic battle of good and evil was taken from Persians and their zoroastrianism beliefs.

I hate when people say this stuff. It’s compeltely inverted to the point where it’s satanic lol

It’s not that the Bible or Torah (or whatever holy book you want me to refer to) stole stories from Greeks and Persians, but rather, there were prophets sent to guide the Greeks and Persians of which all these stories were written about that God just refers back to in those later scriptures/religions (it’s really only one religion, but just that people have corrupted these religions over time). That’s why there are common themes of one religion shared by another; it’s not because a newer religion ripped off stories from an older religion, but instead because the newer religion refers back to what happened when God sent the prophets to the people that follow the older religion.

Where’s the evidence that this is the case rather than stolen stories? Simple. There are many instances where we discovered archaeological findings based solely off of what’s written in the Bible, things that no nation or group of people before us had been able to find. I’m talking about isolated societies that people of say Christianity could not have known about. This stuff isn’t explainable except by very weak excuses grounded in denial lol

Example: Noah’s Ark isn’t a fable stolen from the Epic of Gilgamesh, but rather, the Epic of Gilgamesh is evidence of Noah’s Ark actually happening, and that these stories were known to previous societies because of prophets who were sent to them (and then just over time, a gradual corruption in the teachings of the religion because humans suck).

 

[mrgoodstuff]

imagine a world without women, none. as much trouble as they cause (and it is a lot) we prefer to have them around at least some times.

imagine a world without religion in the same way.

I have known men before that might have a similar view as yourself about religion. In some cases, they decided that the value of the secondary characteristics of religion (Christian in these cases) was of value to create a happy family. It can have some control on women and also provide shelter for the children when he must do other things. Not all.. but many of the men that I have known that really believed or convinced themself about the truth of the religion ended up falling as a result of a woman. The men that used it purposefully to help manage a family did ok and in many times ended up with successful children and a happy home with a woman that stayed loyal or at least hid disloyalty from him and anyone he was close to.

True on it being a system to which women will ascribe.

 

[Atom Smasher]

I realize that religion is a touchy subject. Personally, I'd like to believe... but there are too many unanswered questions.
Since you have responded to my above posting (and I appreciate this, sincerely) ... perhaps you can, as a believer, you can share some conclusive evidence.

Why do Christians ask for people to pray for a sick loved one?
I can't help but think to myself.. "Is there a prayer quota?" I've never heard a doctor say... "we're sorry Mrs. Jones. Your husband was just three prayer request away from surviving this operation."

I'm in my mid 50's, smoke two packs a day, eat processed foods, and yet I'm healthy and on no Rx drugs. If this lord does look after his people, then why am I in such great health, while there are believers in much worse shape?

I respect the beliefs in others (although I may not agree). Personally, in view of my above assertions, I can't help but wonder if Jesus isn't Santa Clause for grown adults?

Your question is of course absolutely valid and any intelligent person must question this. I don't have time to answer right now as I'm dealing with a client, but i'll give you my thoughts on it a bit later.

 

[mrgoodstuff]

True on it being a system to which women will ascribe.

A "shamable" system at that.

 

[PeasantPlayer]

Alright guys I sorta made this as a half joke just for lols (but also a little bit because of snake **** too, if I’m being honest RIP)

I hate when people say this stuff. It’s compeltely inverted to the point where it’s satanic lol

It’s not that the Bible or Torah (or whatever holy book you want me to refer to) stole stories from Greeks and Persians, but rather, there were prophets sent to guide the Greeks and Persians of which all these stories were written about that God just refers back to in those later scriptures/religions (it’s really only one religion, but just that people have corrupted these religions over time). That’s why there are common themes of one religion shared by another; it’s not because a newer religion ripped off stories from an older religion, but instead because the newer religion refers back to what happened when God sent the prophets to the people that follow the older religion.

Where’s the evidence that this is the case rather than stolen stories? Simple. There are many instances where we discovered archaeological findings based solely off of what’s written in the Bible, things that no nation or group of people before us had been able to find. I’m talking about isolated societies that people of say Christianity could not have known about. This stuff isn’t explainable except by very weak excuses grounded in denial lol

Example: Noah’s Ark isn’t a fable stolen from the Epic of Gilgamesh, but rather, the Epic of Gilgamesh is evidence of Noah’s Ark actually happening, and that these stories were known to previous societies because of prophets who were sent to them (and then just over time, a gradual corruption in the teachings of the religion because humans suck).

There is no Satan

 

[PeasantPlayer]

There is no Satan

There was not no one religion, the Bible is literally a mix of astrology, fables, hymns, edited history and different tribal beliefs. When the Jews were set free by the Persians they adopted zoroastrianism which was what we see in movies today the cosmic forces of good and evil. We also see heavy paganism astrology in the Bible as well. I studied this stuff for decades and have actually read the older texts in Hebrew. Satan is not real the original term was hasatan which meant opponent. Except the opponent wasn't a entity it was an opposing king. Kings had their peasants call them gods for example king David.