Another Big Big Thread of Religious Discussion

[Serenity]

Originally Posted by I_Like_Swordchucks

Ridiculous. How can you rationalize risking your own soul for the claim of saving someone else's?

Er... doing good is risking yourself for others? That's just basic morality.

Originally Posted by I_Like_Swordchucks

You think in too much black and white. You can't even come up with a verse to support that. The bible doesn't say there's only one of two situations you can end up with... it says we will be put through the fire and our deeds on earth will be tested, and we will be treated according to those deeds. Someone who put their faith in Jesus before they died but lived the life of a murderer is saved from eternal damnation, but has no reward. You could easily make an argument that one who lived a good life but doesn't put their faith in Jesus doesn't make it to heaven (as they cannot), but doesn't have that much of a punishment either.

Basic Christian theology is that there is Heaven and Hell, and that's it.

Besides, unbelief IS wickedness.

Originally Posted by 2 Corinthians 6:14

Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?

Originally Posted by I_Like_Swordchucks

First of all, if you look at the original language of this, the Law he speaks of in this verse doesn't not neccessarily mean Jewish law. It basically means the laws of nature and of morality and of good and evil. It doesn't mean the specific Jewish law such as don't eat pork. The laws that govern morality do not change. Evil is evil, and good is good. This does not include societal laws that governs how a government or a nation should be run. So yeah, your point falls flat again... so much for using the verse that you keep using to save yourself.

Oh, alright, sure. Jesus was talking about the laws of nature and morality.

Originally Posted by Jesus, Luke 16:16-17

The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it. It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the least stroke of a pen to drop out of the Law.

Yeah, keep telling yourself that. Why would Jesus lump together the Law and the Prophets if we define the Law as the "law" of morality? Besides, by that logic, the Old Testament wouldn't tell us to do anything that was immoral, but it specifically advocated RACE-BASED SLAVERY.

Originally Posted by Leviticus 25:42-46

Because the Israelites are my servants, whom I brought out of Egypt, they must not be sold as slaves. Do not rule over them ruthlessly, but fear your God.

" 'Your male and female slaves are to come from the nations around you; from them you may buy slaves. You may also buy some of the temporary residents living among you and members of their clans born in your country, and they will become your property. You can will them to your children as inherited property and can make them slaves for life, but you must not rule over your fellow Israelites ruthlessly.

EVEN AGAIN, why the hell would Jesus need to tell people that, yes, he isn't here to say that evil is good and good is evil? I mean, who the fuck would possibly think that?

Besides, you haven't offered any evidence to this "fact" that Law doesn't mean Law.

Originally Posted by I_Like_Swordchucks

He also made it clear you can't follow the first four without following the second six. It's like saying the brain is more important than your kidneys or your heart or your liver. You need all of them to live.

And if I can (hypothetically) replace my heart with a robotic one which is less likely to fail, and, thus less likely to cause my brain to die. This is perfectly acceptable, because my brain is more important than my heart.

Full of hatred? So if everybody loved their neighbor as they loved themselves, the world would be full of hatred? Seriously... that doesn't even make sense.

Because the only fucking verse in the bible is love thy neighbor as thyself. The goddamn ten commandments specifically advocate a lack of religious freedom, and blatantly place wanting somebody else's stuff on a similar level to actual crimes and wrongdoings, such as murder. Because, of course, if I look at my neighbor's wife and say "I'd like a piece of that" without actually doing anything about it, that's a crime. Declaring things to be thought crimes is the antithesis of goodness.

Originally Posted by I_Like_Swordchucks

I believe God is infallible. The Bible was written by men. You could easily argue for sexism with the book of Timothy without misinterpreting the Bible, I just think that Paul was wrong and that Jesus would have totally disagreed with him.

It would be far easier to argue for sexism in the bible by consulting the few stories in the Old Testament which are about a female lead.