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bonghits4christ

I knew this unitarian schooled me about how she believes that the bible has been changed, books removed, and when I heard that it scared me. But I stopped thinking about it, cuz something like that could really distort the way you grasp concepts that are in the bible. I really don't know how true that is. I know the roman catholic church is evil. I am not religious, I am not a part of any denomination and neither is my church. I mean I am not trying to put down catholics, but a lot of stuff they do is truly unbiblical. Praying to saints, it goes against the ten commandments. Confession is really wrong too. When I go to confession I go to Jesus myself. It seems like the church wants you to come to them in order to know God, whereas Jesus wanted everyone to come to him alone. They (catholic church) have found a religion out of what originally was supposed to break the religious barriers. Christianity in its true state is not a religion. It is accepting a gift from another so that I won't be defeated on earth and in heaven. So far no one has showed me the books that have been removed.

I know about the gospel of Thomas, but that wasn't even a book. It was like he did mushrooms before he wrote the book. The way he talks about Jesus and women is totally contrary to Jesus' teaching. Plus it was written about 20 years after the rest of the books were. I know that maccabees is not in the christian bible, and I am not sure why.

If anyone can actually give me the list of books that were excluded and tell me what years this happened then I will give it some thought. But I doubt anyone knows and I think it is just another rumour to get me to lose my faith. Its just like the theory about how when you whisper a sentence in one persons ear it will sound different when that other person tells another and so on etc. The problem with that is that the dead sea scrolls match perfectly with the king james version. The dead sea scrolls were found I think in the last century and kjv was 1611. That is a huge gap. Its impossible for something like that to have not changed but yet its true. The dead sea scrolls predict Jesus' birth from the prophet Isaiah. Most scholars believe that the dead sea scrolls had to be written after the Christ's birth. Yet they know that the documents are older than 2 thousand years. So there you go.

And how about the authenticity of philosophers such as Plato and Socrates. It is true that many drafts were written and they all share minor differences; and they were written long after these philosophers lived. Yet the bible has been the only book to have been proven to be truly authentic from when it was first written. I know many Christians who are more knowledgable about this stuff than I am, and they make it sound so good. Its truly faith building. Well anyway I really like this thread and I am truly challenged and intrigued by your questions and theories. Until next time, peace out to all you guys.

 

Nime

Why do you worhsip jesus? I thought you were to worship god and if you say god is jesus then would not jesus revert back to god? So why dont you then say you worship god or did god pull a Prince move and change its name?

kathleen

Aside from books being removed from the Bible, what about the translators? The Bible wasn't written in English, you know. Think about how many times all the words in question must have been translated - from Hebrew to Greek to Latin to English..... There must be errors in translation. While the ideas in the Bible may or may not have come directly from God, the Bible as we know it, if it came from God, passed through the hands of many generations of people, some of whom probably even had ulterior motives (political, etc. - hence the removal of books). Did you ever play the 'Telephone' game where you whisper into peoples' ears in a circle and when the phrase comes around, it's completely different? Same concept. And, bonghits, you were saying that you didn't want to think about the possibility of the Bible being altered because it would distort how you view the concepts presented in the Bible. Isn't that kind of like the people who are against legalization because they've always heard that marijuana'll kill ya, and are too afraid to have their world view altered by looking at things with an unbiased eye? I don't want to offend you or attack your beliefs and your faith, but I want to know why it makes a difference if God said it or if some dead scribe said it. To me, the ideas in the Bible are important and valid just because they make you think about proper conduct and how to treat fellow humans. But then again, I'm not even Christian - merely a 'recovering Catholic'.

SmokedupSouth

right on kathleen~the thing about translating the bible and people having ulterior motives is so true. it is things like that that have led me as a christian to basically turn my back on organized religion, i always felt like each church is trying to take the word of god and make it their word and preach their ideals intertwined with the carefully chosen words of god. i focus on finding my own meaning in the bible and applying the lessons that i read to my own life. smoking herb can make some abstract bible passages realte to your life and it can also clear up confusion in the bible, i think...
~peace

__________________
Judge not, and ye shall not be judged; Condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned. Forgive, and ye shall be forgiven.

Nime

The thing I find most amusing about the bible is how similar the myths in it are similar to other myths in other faiths. At times the bible comes off as the best hodge-podge of myth merged into 1 book. All the bases were covered too, from the 1 powerful god who has a child with a mortal woman(zeus) to that god's son doing good and performing wonder feats(hercules). Thats not all, we have the the whole yin-yang aspect, from god vs satan(good vs evil) to the old test vs new test.


Some of the counterdictions in the bible, well it says thou shall not kill yet the bible says to burn witches and to kill those of not the faith (pagans).

 

bonghits4christ

kathleen read my post above. I talk about the telephone game and how the dead sea scrolls cancel it all out.

bonghits4christ

There is no good v evil in the heavens. God is not fighting Satan. He is an angel. He is allowed to roam the earth like you let an ant live instead of displaying your wrath upon it. We are stronger than satan when we get to heaven. That is why he is hateful. There is no struggle with God only with ourslelves.

God and Jesus are one. To worship God is to acknowledge that he came down to earth in the form of the second person in the trinity.

The word "witch" in the hebrew means one who practices magic against others for their own advantage. it doesn't mean white witches or wiccans. It means warlocks and evil sorcerers.

Nime

So even though the bible says not to kill, is it still ok to kill the pagans which the bible also says to kill.

SmokedupSouth

Yea totally man.What's even more is amusing, is I have heard various biblical scholars describe hte Bible as a newspaper for history. Parts of it read like the front page news and events, parts of it read like local news, parts of it read like a political commentary, and parts of it even read like the comics. I think that it is funny how the easily most misunderstood book in the world is the basis for so many people's lives. Wait, thats not funny, thats sad...

DrugLawReform

I don't know why I keep feeling inclined to posting my views on these topics, but I do. I just hate to see so much negativitey in spiritual discussions. Why do I think this happens? Because every on thinks they're right. Unfortunately there are no right answers. I think the point is if you're here posting in this topic, your admitting there is something our there. or in here. or whatever. Wether to prove someone wrong or prove them right, it is proof that we all feel something. The Bible is a way for followers to find spirituality. Although I think it is unfortunate that some people take it to literal extremes. I think you should take what you can from it and leave the rest behind. I am not well versed on the writings of any paticular religion. But I know I can look in my phone book and see that religion is a category not an exact science. If it was, there would only be one listing.