Points to Ponder

If Jesus was the high priest of some local bigwig in Salem wouldn't that make the bigwig his daddy?

 

The Bible states that no one has ever seen God. After Abraham sold his "soul" for riches and fame in Genesis chapter 18 he bargains with God for the lives of the folks in Sodom. In Genesis 18: 22-23 it says that Abraham stood before God blocking God's way. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis 18:22-23&version=NLT;RSVCE;CEV;MSG;NKJV

How could such a thing have happened? If no one has ever seen God as it says in 1 John 4:12 and 1 Timothy 6:15-16 who was the old coot Abraham flapping his jaws with? https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1 john 4:12&version=NLT;RSVCE;CEV;MSG;NKJV

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1 Timothy 6:15-16&version=NLT;RSVCE;CEV;MSG;NKJV

 

Metaphors WoG. Metaphors... Abraham was a man, and when Abraham "stood before God blocking God's way", it is saying that he was questioning Gods will and was contemplating doing what he could to prevent the action(s) God had planned. Just my opinion of course...

 

Did rainbows exist before Noah's flood?

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis 9:9-17&version=NLT;RSVCE;CEV;MSG;NKJV

Can you see a rainbow in the night sky? Why did God need a reminder not to drown all life again?

 

When Jesus supposedly fed the crowds with fish and bread they didn't bother to count the women and children. The first time, Matthew 14:21, there were about five thousand men. The second time, Matthew 15:38, there were about four thousand men.

So why didn't the number of women and children matter? Is it more important to include the number of men than it is to mention the member of women and children? Is men's hunger more noteworthy than the hunger of women and children?

The stories remind me of the story about how the crazy old coot Abraham kicked his one-time flame Hagar and their kid Ishmael out into the desert with just a crust of bread and one small water bottle to live or die. In the meantime the scumbag went all gaga over a couple of guys who showed up at his fleabag tent. He broke out a feast for them but didn't give a damn about his own kid and former lover. The guy was rotten to the core.

 

Just out of curiosity.... why do you have such a negative opinion of Abraham?

 

Abraham is cited as the originator of the God character. You know the phrase = the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. All three of those characters were garbage and had no redeeming qualities. So anyone who worships the deity they came up with is insane. Abraham was about as religious as a tree stump.

 

There you go making more assumptions.... How do you KNOW what I am alleged to know? What is it that I am alleged to know? Are you a mind reader?

 

Jesus Christ, just because a writer uses the word "you" in a comment it doesn't always means that he's referring to a specific person. Making comments on internet forums is like playing poker. You're supposed to have jacks or better to make the initial bet. So if you, Incorporeal, don't fully understand the English language and idioms you, Incorporeal, might wish to take up another way to pass your (Incorporeal's) time. That way you won't get your (Incorporeal's) feeling hurt.

 

I will keep that in mind. So the next time you make an address to me make sure you handle it in the same fashion as you demonstrated above. BTW: In your last sentence above ... who is the "you" that you mentioned without identifying the 'you' when you made mention of the 'you'?

Just for the record... my feelings were not hurt... so there is some more of that presumptions that you like to play with.

 

Acts 16:3 is a hilarious verse when you think about it. Those writers had a wicked sense of humor.

Acts 16:3 (ERV) = "Paul wanted Timothy to travel with him, but all the Jews living in that area knew that his father was a Greek. So Paul circumcised Timothy to please the Jews."

Now imagine the scene. Paul is cozying up to his buddy Timothy and telling him what a wonderful time they will have traveling the dusty roads of what's now Turkey. But there's a slight problem. While Tim's mother was Jewish his daddy was a Greek. The believers liked Tim and thought that he was a swell guy but the Jews had a problem with him because his daddy was a Greek.

Now Paul, who said that he was all things to all people, came up with a solution. He told his new buddy Tim that he would circumcise him so that when the Jews mentioned his Greek daddy all he would have to do is to whip it out and everything would be cool. And Tim, being the agreeable guy that he was, told Paul to start slicing. Of course Paul had to suck the bloody wound as part of the ritual.

Someone should make a movie about it.

 

Jesus was always making wild promises. A classic example is found in Matthew 19:28-29.https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew 19:28-29&version=KJV;RSVCE;CEV;MSG;NKJV

In this passage his promises his minions power and riches and eternal life. They will get to sit on thrones and judge the twelve tribes of Israel. And if they had kicked their families to the curb they will gain a hundredfold return and eternal life for their devotion to him. So if a guy was married he could, per the promise get 100 replacement wives to make up for the one he had abandoned. That's a variation of the Abraham/Hagar/Ishmael story were Abraham gained fame and fortune for kicking Hagar and Ishmael to the curb.

In Matthew 8:14-15 Jesus goes to Peter's house. Peter's mother-in-law was sick with a fever and Jesus touched her hand and she was instantly cured. She popped right up and got to cooking. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew 8:14-15&version=KJV;RSVCE;CEV;MSG;NKJV

The question is: Did Peter leave his wife and home to follow Jesus for fame and fortune like Abraham left Hagar and Ishmael? Or did Peter stay married to his wife and lost out on eternal life and wealth and power? After all, Jesus said that people have to kick their families to the curb and follow him if they wanted to be worthy of him. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew 10:34-39&version=KJV;RSVCE;CEV;MSG;NKJV

 

The story of the crazy old coot Abraham is a gold mine for examining other stories in the Bible.

Ishmael was his oldest son but the nut kicked him and his mother Hagar out in the desert with just a bread crumb and a glass of water to survive on. There's no passage where they ever reconciled but in Genesis 25:9 Ishmael showed up to help Isaac bury the scum.

After Abraham had kicked Ishmael to the curb the God character shows up in Genesis 22:2 and tells Abraham to take his only son, Isaac, and roast him as a sacrifice.

Now contrast that to the story of the prodigal son Jesus talks about in Luke 15:11-32. In that story the younger son left home, fell on hard times, returned home and his father welcomed him with open arms. The older brother was ticked off.

So in the Abraham story the crazy old coot kicks his older son out to die and denies that he even had him.

In the story Jesus tells about the prodigal son the younger son left to become his own man but his father always loved him and hoped that he would return. And when his son did show up all tattered and abused his father rolled out the red carpet and was beside himself with joy that his long-lost son had finally returned home.

Abraham, on the other hand, didn't give a rat's behind about Ishmael. Ishmael was a very forgiving guy. I know how I would have buried Abraham and it wouldn't have been nice.

 

That is a very colorful summary, however what does it all mean in relation to this thread? That you have an opinion?

 

Regarding the irony in the story involving Abraham, Hagar and Ishmael, etc., the Bible says “…which things are an allegory.” They should not be taken seriously if one cannot do so without avoiding confusion. That is not to say that there is no satisfactory interpretation, since we have seen plausible workings.

The issue of Jesus Christ = God is a regular stumbling block that does not warrant so much targeting as a source of contradictions/incongruities. In order for the Supreme Being to manifest as a human entity in the physical realm, some of the higher powers and capabilities must be relinguished. Thus Christ cannot have all the powers and features of God.

God’s preference for Abel’s animal sacrifice over Cain’s plant sacrifice can be interpreted as the cosmic mandate for progressive evolution, since animal life is much more highly developed and advanced than plant life. The ensuing jealousy and murder are secondary byproducts of the story, but they serve as examples of the subtle importance placed on the issue of getting due attention (favorable recognition).

 

Ref. Post #90: The Moses and Jesus stories are similar in one aspect because they contain examples where both of them told their followers not to be jealous of others who did acts comparable to theirs.

All of the other Biblical characters, including God, flew into rages when others showed them up. God even brags about being jealous as if that behavior gives him some special status.

 

And that seemingly ruffles your feathers huh? LOL

 

No, because the God character was simply a series of Assyrians and Babylonian Emperors who ruled the Middle East for centuries. That's why the God character comes across as a nut case.

 

True as that my be, the facts are that Christ was a prophet promised to act like Moses, the miracle worker, and he did so:

Deuter 18:18 I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, (i.e.; Moses), and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.


Note:
John 14:10 Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.

 

Unless you see that Christ was saying he personified Truth, as an ideal.h
Hence what he spoke was the same thing as Reality, itself, saying it.

Truth is the image of Reality, and the son born out of it..

 

Of course all of us recognize your comment as an opinion, as you have no means of showing PROOF of who or what the "God character" is. Such a shame.

 

Moses has dialog with God, talking to him face to face. The Bible states that no one has ever seen God. So who was Moses talking to?

 

See here: http://www.politicalforum.com/showthread.php?t=367875&p=1064159635#post1064159635
MR covered the same question rather nicely. do you like to cross thread often?

 

Paul said that women should wear veils to please the angels and to show that they were under the thumbs of their men.

1 Corinthians 11:10 (TLB) = So a woman should wear a covering on her head as a sign that she is under man’s authority, a fact for all the angels to notice and rejoice in.

1 Corinthians 11:10 (RSV) = That is why a woman ought to have a veil on her head, because of the angels.

I wonder why women stopped wearing veils to church. Maybe they don't care about pleasing angels anymore.

 

Read the whole chapter as opposed to cherry picking a single verse, and you might see that the covering of a womans head was a tradition. Pauls statement in the KJV read like this with strongs reference number for definitions:
"1Co 11:10 For this [SUP]G5124[/SUP] cause [SUP]G1223[/SUP] ought [SUP]G3784[/SUP] the woman [SUP]G1135[/SUP] to have [SUP]G2192[/SUP] power [SUP]G1849[/SUP] on [SUP]G1909[/SUP] her head [SUP]G2776[/SUP] because [SUP]G1223[/SUP] of the angels. [SUP]G32 "

By clicking on G1849, you will find that this was a permission for the woman to have the same free choice that the man enjoyed (the right or privilege to commune with or through the angels). IMHO,,, the earliest indication of a Womens Lib movement (LOL).
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