If you met a Christian who actually lived like the bible says, would it change your view of the religion?
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M$15 Answers
I think I'd rather pity the person who has so rigorously followed the rules presented in the Bible, because a great deal of these rules are the interpreted beliefs trickled down through generations of people, and not necessarily the so-called "true" word of God, if there is such a thing.
People often cling to religion and its rules hoping for salvation, sometimes at the expense of others or themselves (e.g. those who think eating pork or pleasuring oneself, or doing both at the same time, leads to an eternity in hell).
If the person in question were living according to some of the truly sound and wonderful principles demonstrated in the Bible, including above all the condept of unconditional love, that would make me feel better about the religion as having inspired someone to think so nobly. However it wouldn't change my opinion that religion overall is a pox upon humanity.
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M$
I HAVE A QUESTION,PLEASE GIVE AN HONEST ANCWER IF POSIBLE.
IF SOMEONE IS ACTUALY IN TROUBLE AND RUNNING INTO A HOLE, IS IT JUDGING,TO TELL THEM THE TRUTH?EVEN IF YOU HAVE TO TELL THEM THAT THEY ARE GOING THE WRONG WAY?IN ORDER FOR THEM TO OVERTHINK THEIR IDEAS?(THIS IS NOT A PASTOR,BUT A YOUNG BACKPACKER SPEAKING)PEACE.
In Isaiah 20:2-3 A man walked naked for three years.
If he was Cretan, well Titus 1:12 says that :Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons."
Deuteronomy 25:11-12 says: If two men, a man and his countryman, are struggling together, and the wife of one comes near to deliver her husband from the hand of the one who is striking him, and puts out her hand and seizes his genitals, then you shall cut off her hand; you shall not show pity.
In other words, I have never met anyone who could live like the Bible says. It is filled with contradictions and out dated ideas. I believe that it was meant as a guide and not a list of rules.
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What about the new testament. It is supposed to be the only thing that matters, and the old testament is mostly for historical significance, as I understand it.
The new testament was written almost 100 years after the death of Christ by second generation Christians as an explanation of their views. The books are know to contradict themselves. There are also several books that were written at the same time that were not included in the New Testament because the church did not feel they were "good" enough.
What would change my view of the religion would be for the spokespeople of the religion to behave this way.
religion classes for a year or two in a private school
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M$
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Agreed, but I see so many people that completely skip the parts about love and kindness and grace that I wonder if they have even read it. I do think that it can be relevant to today, and it is possible to live like it says, the main ideas anyway and not be a thy, thee, thou stuck behind stained-glass windows type of thing. No?
In all seriousness, there's so much interpretation involved that the bible means anything to anyone. Many of the lessons in it are worth living by, but one doesn't need to follow a religious moral code to be a moral person. Someone that acted just as the bible says would be seen by me as someone who needs to put some reason behind their faith, not just circular logic. I respect those that challenge their beliefs and allow them to evolve more than those that fit in to the "afraid of hell" stereotype.
I know people that are christian that I greatly respect and admire (including some of my closest friends), and people that I dislike with similar beliefs.
Visit any group of people, and odds are you're going to try to find that many of them are trying to improve themselves in various ways. You'll find it with christians, buddhists, zoroastrians, athiests, humanists, and people of all manner of belief or non-belief.
There are also many different facets of christianity, all somewhat different in their approach to their religion, all of them have different common and personal interpretations of things.
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M$But practically speaking, this is literally impossible. There are too many contradictions for someone to follow the Bible perfectly. As Ned Flanders claimed on The Simpsons:
"I did all the stuff [God] asked, even the stuff that contradicted the other stuff!"
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If we are to keep this discussion at a high level, we need to understand the existing arguments on both sides, so we don't keep retreading old ground. Look up "Covenant of Works" and "Covenant of Grace" if you'd like to know more about the existing arguments for no longer following the old testament rules.
I am not saying I have any interpretation either way, I'm only asking what matters to people who don't believe this stuff. Is it the way bible-people act, is it that it is too ridiculous?
I think too often it is looked at as a list of rules, when really it is trying to make a point, and the main point is the point. Like it says "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself." Isn't that enough? As I understand it, the old testament is more history, to be superseded by the new testament anyway.
If that was enough, what's with all the other rules and regulations? For crying out loud, there are nine consecutive chapters in the Bible where God's telling his followers the proper way to sacrifice animals to him, and about how much he loves the smell of the dead flesh ("sweet savor" indeed). Nine chapters. How come none of the things Christians say are the most important in their beliefs or in the Bible are given nine consecutive chapters?
And that "Old Testament is just history" thing just doesn't fly. We're talking about an omniscient entity here. No one who is all-knowing and perfect would ever need to revise his rules. Revision is only necessary in the face of imperfection, and that contradicts Christians' definition of God to begin with.
Besides, under whose authority do you or anyone else decide what the correct interpretation of the Bible is?
It is just too difficult for me to control my rage. You claim that those of us who criticize the Bible haven't read it. I have lived and breathed it, I am surrounded by it, and it is just absolute nonsense. Your Bible, like all others, is incompatible with any other religious book. I refuse to acknowledge the "goodness" of anything that is inherently divisive, that claims to be "the one Truth," and has the ultimate goal of converting everyone, of freeing we other poor souls from torment, especially Africans and Gypsies and those poor followers of the other innumerable religions. Oh, and poorly written, I might add, incomprehensible at times, and boring.
I do not need your redemption. I have been rich and I have been poor. I have had love and I have had heartache. I have had my friends and family die in horrible, tragic ways. And I am perfectly fine with it. IT IS LIFE. I have followed no book, no master. I have never been happier. I have an incredible job, wife, dog... I want nothing. I have incredible friends. What does this book have to offer me?
This sick and violent book has had its day; if only ignorant parents weren't so obsessed with transmitting their religious virus to their children, we could all grow up. What an enormous waste of time, effort, and money. What a horrible tool of psychological abuse and readymade catalyst for eventual global warfare.
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M$If I was a Christian it might change my Christianity.
I'm sorry you received so many silly answers so far. Ask yourself....if you saw anyone doing what they are suppose to do would you be inclined to do what they do?
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M$
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M$Holy Spirit
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There's not much sense in trying to definitively measure a religion according to behaviors you observe of randomly sampled individuals who are (as implied by your question) not walking the line of what their religion teaches.
However you might say that it makes some sense to try to understand an individual person's condition based on whether they adhere to their religious claims.
On the other hand, it's probably better not to judge people too quickly or superficially. Much of what people are going through in their head or heart is unknown to you, even if you think you know by looking from the outside.
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