I want to thank you all, with all my heart, for keeping me in your prayers. That's much more than I had expected... :wink:
cicerone imposter wrote:JLN, I think he's failed miserably if he's been trying to impress people on A2K. c.i.
maliagar may not have impressed a lot of us, but he has indeed made an impression on us. That, friends, is still the key to a good debate
I used to use that same defense for my penchant for punching my brother in the nose.
truth
I take it back. Maliagar HAS impressed me a bit (a little bit). I feel I should give him credit for a certain elan (e.g., thanking us for our prayers). I do wish he would use his obvious intelligence more constructively. He would make a good conversant on those occasions when we get serious about serious topics.
By the way, Craven. I'm sorry to have taken up your time about what turned out to be a simple confusion on my part, i.e., the missing "reply" icon.
Don't worry about it JL. It actually helped point out some display issues I need to fix.
Maliager really deserves our respect for having kept the discussion on topic in a civil manner throughout - even when most of us attacked his ideas. His ability to compose ideas is on par with some of the best on A2K. I actually look forward to more discussions with Maliagar on other topics. c.i.
You all are being so nice! I don't believe a word Maliagar has written (or believe he believes them!)and admire only the nutty chutzpah which produced his posts.
Well....maliagar makes us think, but I shall reiterate, he may want to cut down on the sarcasm. Sarcasm is related to pride, which, if I recall correctly, is one of the seven deadly sins. Being Jewish, I am exempt.
Exempt from pride, cav? Or sarcasm?
I'm Japanese, and I'm exempt too - from whatever! LOL c.i.
LW, I should clarify....I am just Jew-ish, i.e., go to the annual family gatherings, but won't set foot in a temple or accept Yaweh as my saviour, so I am exempt from both, heh heh.
Not as good as being tax exempt.
Is that anything like death exempt?
Last year I was, thankfully.
Is yahweh a saviour, strictly speaking?
dlowan wrote:Is yahweh a saviour, strictly speaking?
If you think of the Jews escaping Egypt, could be.
I read the first few pages of this thread and just quickly browsed the rest. (sorry)
If I may get back to the original questions posed by Frank:
There appears to be an underlying assumption in many of the other posts here that the christian bible is an all-or-nothing thing. The bible is a book put together by fallible men (some of whom had a definite and obvious agenda). That said, however, it would not be impossible for believers to feel that there is at least some "truth" within its chapters.
If someone believes in "god", and further believes that this god may have sent representatives to reach out to and teach human beings, he or she will believe in the truth of those teachings, but not necessarily as conveyed in the recorded documents of flawed human beings.
Compassion, Charity, Love, Honesty, etc. are ideals that seem to run through many organized "religions", including christianity. The man Jesus may have been teaching these basic ideals, and not all the rest of the "stuff" in the bible. This would make it entirely valid to call oneself a "christian" and, at the same time, not buy into the whole package of biblical diatribe.
(BTW, I do neither.)
I have been told that the most significant line of text in the new testamant is "Love one another." This would seem to suggest to me that the man, Jesus, was more interested in bringing people together than in dividing them, and that he would be more inclined to embrace his fellow human beings, diverse as they may be, rather than judge, ostracize and persecute them.
