What good does religion offer the world today?

@TheCobbler,

Yes, but 'The church' is not a space.

0 Replies

@Leadfoot,

What part of "love your enemies" don't you understand?

Which chapter and verse says, "reserve love for only that which is loveable"?

Matthew 5:44
But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

2 Replies

@TheCobbler,

TheCobbler wrote:

What part of "love your enemies" don't you understand?

Which chapter and verse says, "reserve love for only that which is loveable"?

Matthew 5:44
But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

So then why did Jesus curse the Roman soldier who stabbed him in the side while he was on the cross? He cursed him to roam the Earth endlessly unable to die.

Even if you were to argue that soldier is some kind of ghost or something, the point is Jesus cursed his enemy instead of blessing him.

1 Reply

@TheCobbler,

Quote:

What part of "love your enemies" don't you understand?

Which chapter and verse says, "reserve love for only that which is loveable"?

Matthew 5:44
But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

Just because someone is my enemy or hates me does not mean I don't see things in them that are lovable. I will do all I can to encourage them to hold onto them and grow them even more. It is my sincerest hope that they will cease to hate me and become my friends. I do in fact love them for those things and will until the day they abandon all that is lovable about themselves and it is my hope that they never do.

But if and when that happens, it's over. It is not myself that will bring it to an end, but God who makes that decision. God loves all of us until we make the decision to abandon all that is lovable. But even with God, his love of us is conditional on our holding onto those things. Sadly, not all will.

1 Reply

@Krumple,

According to scripture, Jesus died to save all (without exception)...

Catholic Encyclopedia:
St. Longinus is the centurion who pierced the side of Our Lord while He was hanging on the Cross. St. Longinus, who was nearly blind, was healed when some of the blood and water from Jesus fell into his eyes. It was then he exclaimed "Indeed, this was the Son of God!" [Mark 15:39]

Comment:
So, did Jesus hate his enemies?

He is called the prince of peace because if everyone loved their enemies there would be no war...

Rational is the root of self deception.

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@Leadfoot,

When we look inside and see through all of the learned hate and misdeeds, inside is a perfect spirit that has been eclipsed by the outer shell of bitterness and unfeeling.

1 Reply

@TheCobbler,

I can certainly second that without hesitation

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https://scontent-ord1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/16864392_10212195579149870_1781598252848435809_n.jpg?oh=52ba60a2f575de4ba8bb149509aa40d3&oe=59731259

1 Reply

@TheCobbler,

It's so obvious with its many errors and contradictions.
Start with the age of earth; bible 7,000 vs science 4.5 billion years. Then study the contradictions on "thou shalt not kill."

1 Reply

@TheCobbler,

TheCobbler wrote:

According to scripture, Jesus died to save all (without exception)...

Catholic Encyclopedia:
St. Longinus is the centurion who pierced the side of Our Lord while He was hanging on the Cross. St. Longinus, who was nearly blind, was healed when some of the blood and water from Jesus fell into his eyes. It was then he exclaimed "Indeed, this was the Son of God!" [Mark 15:39]

Comment:
So, did Jesus hate his enemies?

He is called the prince of peace because if everyone loved their enemies there would be no war...

Rational is the root of self deception.

I know that's the narritive but I don't buy any of it. How does a person's death exonerate another person?

The whole thing to me is convoluted. God creates a being with free will and at the same time is all knowing, he would have known Adam and Eve would disobey him long before even creating them. Yet carried it out and punishes all of their Descendents for their mistake.

Like if you were to be imprisioned your entire life due to a crime your great grandad committed. You had no say in his actions yet are subject to serve out his sentence because you are his descendent. Its absurd.

Then as well, no one chooses to be born. Do everyone alive is forced into this life to make a choice at the threat of eternal punishment for making the wrong choice. You are forced against your will to play this game of believe or be tortured.

So god creates a rule then incarnates himself as a solution to create a loophole in that rule but never foresaw not making the rule to begin with. If you know that sin is the possible nature of your creation then why would you not foresee that possible outcome. God is innept.

However all this reeks of human invention which is why it's so convoluted.

1 Reply

@cicerone imposter,

cicerone imposter wrote:

It's so obvious with its many errors and contradictions.
Start with the age of earth; bible 7,000 vs science 4.5 billion years. Then study the contradictions on "thou shalt not kill."

I won't seek to adjust your attitude towards religion. It has shed more than enough blood to warrant whatever scorn you need to direct.
But you really should adjust your understanding of the bible.

The Hebrew word for day (yom) does not necessarily mean a 24 hour period, but rather an indefinite time period, just as in the expression "my grandfather's day". An intelligent reading of Genesis allows for however many zillions of years were necessary.

Also, the command is "thou shalt not murder".

Perhaps the preachers you have met have some other agenda.

1 Reply

@TheCobbler,

Quote:

Rational is the root of self deception.

Right.
Try real hard to not be rational.
Or, perhaps it is easier than you think.

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@Krumple,

God knew before hand that man would sin. He then sends his "only begotten son" to die for a few hours to save man kind.
What's wrong with this picture?

3 Replies

@cicerone imposter,

cicerone imposter wrote:

God knew before hand that man would sin. He then sends his "only begotten son" to die for a few hours to save man kind.
What's wrong with this picture?

God created Adam and saw that it was good but didn't realize the built in flaw would eventually piss him off.

Banishes them from the garden and curses Eve to have the pains of child birthing. But you are suppose to bless not curse your enemy. I guess god is always exempt from the rule.

Why was he so inept? To make the tree of knowledge so easily accessible? If he knew it was so bad for them why not put it somewhere they couldn't get to?

Hes like a parent who leaves their loaded gun laying around.

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@cicerone imposter,

Quote:

God knew before hand that man would sin. He then sends his "only begotten son" to die for a few hours to save man kind.
What's wrong with this picture?

Maybe it had something to do with what he did before they killed him? Do ya think?

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@neologist,

“And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.”

Sounds beautiful but...

When in history did it take a thousand years (or zillions) for the earth to revolve a single rotation? At no time (within the last few million years) did the earth revolve that slowly.

A day is clearly defined here.

The way God perceives a day and the actual time it takes for a day to occur may differ but the parameters of a day were clearly defined for human understanding.

It seems you are simply trying to twist the scriptures to fit science so as to avoid the truth that the scriptures are scientifically errant.

Had the scriptures called days "ages" and not used the light and dark, day and night language then maybe your argument might hold some water.

If it took seven thousand years for God to create the universe it would still be short a few billion years that the universe has existed.

Even figuratively the science of the Bible is seriously lacking.

Why not just admit it that the God of the Bible did no know much about science?

If the science of the Bible is severely lacking, what would prompt us to trust the psychology and legalism of the Bible as a standard for living?

I am not saying there is not some truth in the Bible but CI is right, there are contradictions that any true God should be able to pick up on.

Also, doesn't making a day, zillions of years, detract from supposed God's 7 day miracle?

And what do we say to the literalists? lol

2 Replies

@TheCobbler,

Good points, especially about the rotation of the earth. God made day and night. LOL
So many errors and contradictions in the bible, and yet the religious people of today ignore scientific facts in favor of their imaginary god that doesn't exist.

0 Replies

In my series Some Religious People Are Wonderful:

https://m.facebook.com/joel.tooley/posts/10155350764828888

1 Reply

@Olivier5,

Well articulated observations, thanks for sharing.

Blessed are the peacekeepers (likewise, cursed are the war mongers).

1 Reply

@TheCobbler,

I'm a rationalist, but his account of demonic activity rings strangely true, as if there was darker and deeper forces at work here, beyond normal politics. Trump is invocking the mindless hatred of the masses as if it was an underworld demon. We know that crowds, when in a fury, can do almost anything, however disgusting.

Scary...

2 Replies

What good does religion offer the world today?

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