Posted on 07/20/2007 12:30:45 PM PDT by my_pointy_head_is_sharp
Sorry buddy - but YOU called me a "God-hater", God didn't. For your information I am a Christian and always have been. When I point out verses in the Bible that contradict each other - that does not make me a "God-hater".
Who are you to decide who is a Christian and who is not? All your talk does nothing but avoid the issue of the contradictions in the Bible - of which there are many.
I have no problem with them because I know that God will judge each person one at a time. He will not base his judgment on whether someone has found contradictions in the Bible or not.
For instance - Matthew says about the death of Judas: "And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself."
The Acts of the Apostles says about the death of Judas: "Now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out."
Obviously both of these versions cannot be correct. he either hung himself OR he fell and "burst asunder".
Me pointing out this inconsistency does NOT make me a "God-hater". Are we just supposed to pretend these contradictions don't exist?
I do not believe God will judge us on whether we noticed an inconsistency in the Bible or didn't.
You, of course, can believe whatever you want.
As I said in my previous post - it is not up to you to decide if I am saved or not. That is God's decision, not yours NOR yours based on which Scriptures you decide are important or which you decided aren't.
Luke 14:26 says: "If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple." yet John 4:20 says: "If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar" and John 3:15 says: "Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him."
So first Jesus says you MUST hate your brother or you "cannot be my disciple" and then says if you hate your brother you are a "murderer".
I have no problem with these inconsistencies, becaue I know what Jesus meant by these statements - but I am not a Bible literalist. Those who insist that the Bible means word for word exactly what it says and is NOT open to any interpretation must have a bit of a problem when the words of Jesus say two opposite things.
Your opinion that I am a "God-hater" means nothing to me (or to God). It is not your place to make that decision. That is between me and God - not you.
Then that makes it even more apropos.
My point is that I will be judged by God - not by a fellow Freeper.
No, it doesn't. It means you are learning, unless you point them out to try to disprove God.
Many times contradictions can be explained the more one studies. Unless you point them out and ask how could you learn?
For instance - Matthew says about the death of Judas: "And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself."....The Acts of the Apostles says about the death of Judas: "Now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out."
There are two thoughts on that (that I know about). The money Judas threw down was used to purchase the field. It didn't mean that he himself purchased the land.
Judas repented and hung himself but in Acts it tells us his "bowels gushed out". The two thoughts are that he hung there and rotted until that pleasant event happened or that he had help in his hanging by being slit open. The religious leaders at the temple couldn't have word get out about what they did so they aided Judas. I don't know which reason is correct but I do know that both events, the hanging and the "bowels gushing" happened.
Luke 14:26 says: "If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple." yet John 4:20 says: "If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar" and John 3:15 says: "Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.".....So first Jesus says you MUST hate your brother or you "cannot be my disciple" and then says if you hate your brother you are a "murderer".
I had a difficult time with that one too. It just didn't make sense and when that happens it should throw up a red flag, as it has with you. Jesus also told us to honor our parents. You can't honor something you hate. The word "hate" has to be mistranslated from the manuscripts. This is evident when you take that same verse given in another gospel - Matthew 10:37
He that loveth father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he that loveth sonor daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.
To me, Jesus is telling us that we must love Him more.
...Ping
>>For your information I am a Christian and always have been<<
As I’ve shown you with abundant scriptural examples, one cannot claim to be in Christ, and at the same time reject the sufficiency and inerrancy of God’s word.
To be a Christian is to do the Lord’s will. The Lord’s will is found in His word. If you disbelieve the truthfulness of His word, you disbelieve Him. You can’t have it both ways.
To be a Christian is to have a yearning love for God’s word. A hunger and thirst for righetousness. You seem bent on disproving it, rather than growing through it.
Re: Your Judas contradictions - I’ve always understood the Acts passage to expound further on Judas’ hanging and describing a possible rope-breaking, or tree0limb breaking, in which his body fell to the ground and split open. John Gill has a good explanation of this in one of his commentaries. You ought to check it out.
Re: The inconsistencies that you see in Christ’s words on hate. You’ve taken the texts out of context, and have ignored the audience. Christ’s point in the first passage is that He is to be the priority in every Christians life. We are to love Christ more than we love the members of our own family.
Christ, by expounding on the 6th Commandment to include murder in the heart, does not contradict the earlier passage. God the Father wrote the 10 Commandments, God the Son fulfilled them - God cannot contradict himself.
I believe I already address the other contradictions that you’ve seen in Scripture.
For any other clarification, please refer back to my earlier posts - I’ve said all I can say to you on this topic.
One cannot claim Christ, and reject his word in the same breath. You have some serious soul-searching to do.
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