A couple of weeks ago I blogged on a number of occasions about the bible and my thoughts on how we should study it. Well today I’d like to give you a few more of my thoughts on this. I hope you find them helpful.
Not Just a Verse but a Whole Book
When you read a book, you don’t just read one paragraph from it and try to work out the rest of the book based on that one paragraph or chapter. Therefore, just as we read any other book from cover to cover to get the whole story and all the information, so we should do the same with the bible.
Yes there will be verses in it that speak or shout out at you, but that shouldn’t stop you from reading the rest of that chapter or indeed the whole bible.
How can we understand all God has to tell us if we are selective about what we read? Read the whole bible to gain context and meaning to each verse as there’s a message there if only we take the time to understand it.
Focus on God
Don’t ever forgot why you are here. You are here because God placed you here. He placed you here on this earth so you could do His work. We may have our own plans for our life, but the only way we can achieve all we can is by doing God’s will, His plan for our life.
John 5:39 (The Message)
You have your heads in your Bibles constantly because you think you’ll find eternal life there. But you miss the forest for the trees. These Scriptures are all about me! And here I am, standing right before you, and you aren’t willing to receive from me the life you say you want.
You can read the whole bible and understand it all, but if you do not know God, there is no point. In other words, we must have a personal relationship with God to truly know and understand His word, so that we can apply it to our lives.
So, when you read the Bible think about God, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free!
The Distinct Dot 
You’d think a smart god would write a better book, or at least not make it contradict itself. But I agree, read the bible, compare the gospels, the OT; then realize that this god isn’t such a nice guy as Christians that think they have a special authority on your religion would have you believe.
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At least you agree that we should all read the bible. Maybe if your weren’t so sceptical and were open to listening to what God has to say to you through His book, you may find peace and understanding in the bible.
True Christians DO NOT think they have “a special authority on” our reglion, we simply are totally in tune with God and are doing all we can to do all we can to extend God’s message of love to others.
Please do not prejudge all Christians based on some preconceived ideas you yourself have, we most certainly are not all as you seem to link.
I ask that my Christian friends will pray for you, as I will, so that you may come to know and understand God as the most loving and giving God there is.
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I think the quote you’ve chosen is perfect;
“You have your heads in your Bibles constantly because you think you’ll find eternal life there. But you miss the forest for the trees…”
Personally I don’t feel that the actual words of the Bible are all that relevant, it’s a personal interpretation of a what is essentially a personal relationship between you and God, and like you say, it can be applied to our unique situations/lives if that’s what we choose to do. We don’t see the wood for the trees when we assume that “a smart God would write a better book”… as I’ve always understood it, the Bible is inspired by, and not written by, God anyway. As soon as you as you get any group of people telling a ‘story’ you’ll get contradictions and personally, I find that this is what gives the Bible the depth it has. In terms of deciding if God is a ‘nice guy’ or not… I don’t feel its entirely appropriate to make this sort of judgement based on a text… Christianity is a religion of incarnation – I’d like to judge God as a ‘nice guy’, or not, based on real lives, on lived day-to-day experience.
Oooh, that was a bit of an epic response – sorry! Great post Dot 🙂
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Great response Hannah – you said what I wanted to say, so much more eloquently! Thank you for your continued support with my blog, and thanks for the comments. .x
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@dot12b: Lots of ex-Christians agree that there’s no better way to get rid of the Christian belief than to read the bible. It’s a wonder that believers can read it and still think god is good. So read it without the blinders on.
“True Christians DO NOT think they have “a special authority on” our reglion, we simply are totally in tune with God and are doing all we can to do all we can to extend God’s message of love to others.”
I love how you assume that you are a “true Christian” as if you could judge who is and isn’t. And saying that you are totally in tune with your god implies that you don’t buy into the whole “man cannot possibly understand the Christian god” thing that I hear many Christians ascribe to. From the sounds of things, you seem to think yourself a prophet.
“Please do not prejudge all Christians based on some preconceived ideas you yourself have, we most certainly are not all as you seem to link.”
I didn’t do that, I just pointed out how some Christians seem to think they know better than other Christians when in actuality they just make stuff up (even if it contradicts the things in the bible) then lecture others.
“I ask that my Christian friends will pray for you, as I will, so that you may come to know and understand God as the most loving and giving God there is.”
So you are praying for god to change my mind? Do you not believe in free will? I’d rather you convince me with good arguments instead of relying on “magic” that’s been proven to have no actual effect.
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@Hannah: “I’d like to judge God as a ‘nice guy’, or not, based on real lives, on lived day-to-day experience.”
The problem with that is that all Christians have a different story about what god is like. Some think that god hates homosexuals (or homosexuality), condoms, women, Swedes and New Orleans, and many of those have heard the “actual” voice of your god telling them that.
So you see the problem, do you not? Since the Christian god can’t be bothered to do miracles (a la the OT) anymore, we are either bound to read what the actual book says, or listen to the people who claim to hear voices in their head.
I realize that you chuck out the literal reading of the bible because you, unlike the author of this blog post, realize that he was quite a monster in the OT (but you probably think that the NT is all sunshine and unicorns, even if that’s not quite the case). That’s a good first step.
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There is no use trying to have a discussion with you Korky as you intend to twist and change everything we say to you. Just for the record though, I most certainly do NOT think of my self as a prophet! You obviously don’t know what a prophet is!
I also certainly do dont judge who is a Chritian and who isn’t, as ultimately the only person who has the right to do that is God.
Mind you I know who and what I amd, as does Hannah, and as such we need not justify our true beliefs to you or anyone else.
Respect others and their beliefs, we do!
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Another Christian too scared to actually have a discussion. How predictable.
You claim to not judge who is and who is not a Christian? That’s fine by me, but then I’d stay away from language like “true Christian” if I were you.
And why should anyone respect another person’s beliefs? And what does that even mean? Is disagreeing with a belief disrespect?
By the way, the bible clearly states that you should be able to justify your beliefs. But I guess people that pick and choose from the bible don’t care about things like that.
If you don’t claim to be a prophet, how did you come by the knowledge on how to read the bible? The bible itself doesn’t say anything about that, so clearly you have another source. That source, one would assume, would be your god.
If your god talks to you with the intent of you instructing others about the religion, that would make you a prophet by definition.
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A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another (John 13:34) – It does not sound like that’s what you are trying to do.
This is certainly not a discussion we are having, it seems to be more of an attack or confrontation by you on what Christians believe, say and do, and that is not something I am going to get involved in.
My views are based purely on my Christian experience and I share them simply to help other Christians who have had o are having similar experiences to myself. If you don’t like my views you do not need to read them, as you are not going to convince me God is not a great God. I have experienced His greatness in my life and pray others could experiences similar if they just let God into their lives.
I pray you may find peace in your life as to me it soundslike you are far from happy and at peace with yourself let alone others.
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“It does not sound like that’s what you are trying to do.”
What does this have to do with anything?
“This is certainly not a discussion we are having, it seems to be more of an attack or confrontation by you on what Christians believe”
Yes, that’s a typical trick: acting offended or calling a conversation “attack”. Is it really that hard to defend your own blog post? If you can’t defend your opinions, then it’s logical to assume that they could need some polishing or upgrading. Personally I like discussion because it reveals limitations in my reasoning or my own beliefs. Perhaps you are a person that do not like to change your beliefs no matter what, in that case I apologize. But beware, if you only “discuss” things with yay-sayers and people in your church, you will never get an intellectual challenge, and that’s not a good thing, right?
“My views are based purely on my Christian experience and I share them simply to help other Christians who have had o are having similar experiences to myself. If you don’t like my views you do not need to read them, as you are not going to convince me God is not a great God.”
So you are not at all worried that you have been mistaken in how you read the bible? If you are not an expert (I have no idea if you are), how can you know that your advice don’t serve to drive people away from god? I know that if I read this blog and discovered that the author can’t even defend his point of view, then I’d think twice about following his or her advice. Wouldn’t you?
When you say that nothing nobody can ever tell you will change your mind… wouldn’t that mean that what you practice is blind faith?
“I pray you may find peace in your life as to me it soundslike you are far from happy and at peace with yourself let alone others.”
That is a great way of being both condescending (“I will pray for you so that you will see the light I have seen”) and insulting at the same time, but I will turn the other cheek and forgive you
I’m a bit disappointed that you were not able to answer any of my questions. Do you not care about being able to justify your beliefs as commanded in the bible?
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Now your just upsetting and insulting me – I blog because I want to, not to have to justify what I say or do to anyone.
If you knew my Christian experiences and knew me, you would know I am far from having what you have called a “blind faith”, so it is upsetting for someone who doesnt know me to make assuptions/statements about me that are way off target.
You really need to respect others opinions and stop being very confrontational. As I said earlier I blog because I because God has given me this opportunity to help others, should they wish to trust/believe my thoughts/advise, but everyone is free to disagree with anything I say and ignore it. My thoughts are based on what works for me and I know what works for me doesn’t necessarily work for others. Once again it’s down to accepting others for who and what they are, and what they believe. i.e. Respecting others.
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Dot – thanks again for your words through this blog. It is a powerful tool and as well as no doubt being therapeutic to you to write, is a daily encouragement and challenge to your readership. It is hard to put your heart on the page especially in this medium when it is open to comment – good or bad. I commend you for not just deleting ‘Korkys’ comments as would be very tempting to do. It is important to allow open debate however hard that may be.
Anyway, to my thoughts. If i’m honest, I struggle to get to grips with a lot of the Bible. I have tried many times to read it cover to cover or follow a ‘bible in a year’ plan but for various reasons have failed. This is a problem with me though, and not the Bible itself. I totally believe that the Bible is the inspired word of God and the fact that I don’t ‘get’ some of it does not lessen that fact. I know that despite following a daily inspiration book which gives thoughts on a verse or two, I sometimes simply take it as words and don’t spend time trying to listen to God’s promptings on the words itself. having said that, I have experienced Gods direct leading when I have been leading worship and preaching as He has often taken me in a different direction to what I have planned beforehand.
I think part of the problem is that people talk too much about Religion and the Christian faith part of things gets pushed to the side. There is a great book by Gerald Coates called Non-Religious Christianity which talks about stripping back to the basics instilled by Jesus himself, and moving away from the ‘add-ons’ that, just as in OT times, the establishments of different denominations have added in. It is these add-ons that have confused people and led to some antagonism towards ‘the church’. “You must do this…” “You must say this…” etc etc are things that are completely unhelpful to people struggling to get to grips with a belief. Also, many churches simplify their preaching to avoid the difficult contentious issues mentioned in Scripture. As such, when things are challenged the first response is to fight and then take flight, rather than enter discussion because we don’t fully understand things fully in some respects. Having said that, I accept this is a generalisation and I, like you, am certainly ‘proud’ to be part of a Church that doesn’t shy away from dealing with difficult issues and is happy to stand up and be counted for what we believe.
Korky – I haven’t addressed you directly yet and I don’t want you to think me rude for not doing so. I welcome the chance to enter discussion with people over beliefs, but it is difficult to have a discussion when one side is simply throwing negativity and showing no sign of even wanting to listen to the things being spoken of through this blog. You have taken a huge leap in describing Dot as a prophet. Sorry – there is a huge difference between a prophet and someone who acts and speaks on the guidance of God. Prophets are people who God uses to voice important messages for others from Him as shown throughout the Bible. People like Dot are simply people who listen to God as an individual and act on His leading. That may include sharing things such as the comments in this blog which others can take inspiration from – but that is a far cry from prophecy. I have felt the guidance of God when preaching but do not class myself as a prophet. Just someone who has been in the right place at the right time. But ‘Korky’, I don’t want to just dismiss you. Everyone’s comments are important and debate is important. But I emphasise “debate”. I also don’t want to presume anything about you but am sensing a lot of bitterness towards the Christian church which has obviously come into your heart for some reason. Please correct me if i’m wrong on that.
Dot – please be encouraged and do not lose heart. A faith blog is a hard one to keep up and running and leaves you open to attack on the things you hold dear. I pray for you in your faith journey.
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summary,
Korky attacks
blogger says- why are you attacking
ha! Korky replies , typical christian, can’t debate
blogger stays a christian,prays for Korky, Korky moves on to attack someone else proving how clever he/she is
poor korky
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“Now your just upsetting and insulting me – I blog because I want to, not to have to justify what I say or do to anyone.”
So in other words you only want people that agree with you to read your blog? Well, I guess that’s honest enough. And I’m only reminding you what the bible says about justifying your beliefs, if you don’t think the bible knows what it’s talking about, that’s a point on which we can agree.
“If you knew my Christian experiences and knew me, you would know I am far from having what you have called a “blind faith”, so it is upsetting for someone who doesnt know me to make assuptions/statements about me that are way off target.”
So explain to me (and yourself) how is sticking to a belief no matter what others say, or what other evidence come up, not blind faith? I’d appreciate an answer instead of deflections. What is *your* definition of blind faith?
“You really need to respect others opinions and stop being very confrontational.”
How am I not respecting your opinions? You failed to answer a very similar question previously. Can you answer any question, I promise I won’t call it an “attack” or get offended and call you disrespectful. Isn’t that very adult of me?
“My thoughts are based on what works for me and I know what works for me doesn’t necessarily work for others”
How do you know this works for you? Isn’t it true that you will be judged after death? How do you know that you have done well before god has tallied your life? Are these not important questions? If you still refuse to answer any questions asked of you, at least answer them to yourself. Your own soul and the souls of others could be at stake!
“Once again it’s down to accepting others for who and what they are, and what they believe. i.e. Respecting others.”
If this is true, what did you mean when you said you would pray for me?
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All I can say Dot is keep writing. I might not agree with some things that you say, and I might not agree with some aspects of the church, but you write from the heart and that’s what touches me the most.
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@susetheslow: You forgot the part where dot can’t answer a single question. Perhaps you can do a better job? I have no problem debating several people at once. Why do you call it an attack btw?
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I’m going to break a blog rule of mine now. Korky – who are you and what right do you have to attack Dot in this way? You say you’re just questioning and not attacking – well you’re not questioning me and yet I feel totally uncomfortable with the tone of your posts. I get the feeling that even if your points were addressed you would not accept the answer. I once again say – I am happy to enter into debates with people who don’t understand what I believe. But what you are pushing on here is not a debate in any shape or form.
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“So in other words you only want people that agree with you to read your blog?” – No? I don’t even think you’re reading the answers you are getting any more Korky. If you bother reading things properly you will get the answers to the questions you are asking.
Just because you disagree with the post doesn’t give you the right to attack the author, we each have our own views etc.
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@Dan: Thanks for answering, I apologize for anything that came across as negativity for you. It might have been my frustration with not getting a single answer out of Dot that came through as “negative”.
Regarding the “prophet” thing, you will realize that I came to that conclusion based on the actual definition of the word (which differs a bit from yours) and the clues Dot had provided for me. My assumption was not unfair in any way, but I’m sure you can argue the opposite.
“Everyone’s comments are important and debate is important. But I emphasise “debate”. I also don’t want to presume anything about you but am sensing a lot of bitterness towards the Christian church which has obviously come into your heart for some reason. Please correct me if i’m wrong on that.”
Consider yourself corrected, I have had no bad experiences with church, or a priest. Also, before anyone (not aimed at you specifically) brings it up, I am not angry at your god.
It’s something I hear often from Christians, and maybe I do come across as bitter when all the reason I really have for wanting to discuss these things is curiosity and wanting to test my arguments against someone that disagrees. Only talking to people that agree with you is not a way forward.
This will come out sounding like a generalization, and I guess it is, but don’t you agree that many Christians will brand you as “rude” as soon as you say anything that goes against religion?
Also, feel free to point out where I “attack” and “offend” so that I can clean up my act. Personally I don’t think I’ve done too bad in the manners department, but I could be wrong.
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@Andrew Berry: ““So in other words you only want people that agree with you to read your blog?” – No? I don’t even think you’re reading the answers you are getting any more Korky. If you bother reading things properly you will get the answers to the questions you are asking.”
It’s my interpretation of what he’s saying. He he’s not here to justify what he writes, and he has also proven he’s reluctant to answer at all. How would you interpret that comment?
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Korky, just wondering if you have a blog yourself?
Are you interested in putting your thoughts and beliefs out there for everyone else to read or are you simply content to pick holes in other peoples. It is very easy to be negative about the faith, it is in the nature of the beast that people will take opposite views, but to find the truth, or at least your own truth, I think that you have to concentrate on the positive, so how about giving us the benefit of your wisdom in a positive way
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@Amadan: Sorry, no blog (also, it’s not nice to pimp your own blog in other blogger’s comment section). I’m all for open discussion about anything I find interesting, though. Feel free to ask me about my likes and dislikes if you feel like it.
I must disagree with you, however. Truth is not found by just smiling, nodding and going along with everybody else. If your truth does not stand up to scrutiny, or debate, then it’s a good idea to update it, or change it, until it does. Don’t you agree that testing your beliefs is a healthy practice?
I’d love to give you my wisdom on anything you like, but I must warn you: when I give it, people will accuse me of being abrasive and offensive (perhaps it’s because English is my second language, or maybe the subject is too sensitive to debate at all). Would you like my opinions on gay marriage, abortion or the Large Hadron Collider?
I also don’t think it’s a question of being “negative” or “positive” about a belief (however, I can be both). Questions are at their core neutral (if you just read my previous questions, disregard my tone (as your guys seem to dislike) you will find that they are actually pretty good, and worthy of answers.
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Thanks “Korky” for responding and for apologising for your negativity. Thank you too for correcting me regarding perceived bad experiences with church. I’m glad that is not the case and apologise for that presumption.
I am glad you want to understand things about Christianity but maybe the fact you often have the words “bitter” and “rude” applied to you should tell you something more than you are understanding at the moment. And yes, it is a huge generalisation you make about being branded ‘rude’. I only find that label applied when someone does not have any perceived intention of taking any comments on board rather than anything that goes against their faith. And yes, I have purposely changed your word “religion” for “faith” as there is a huge difference between the two – religion is the cause of many problems over the centuries whereas faith is what is held by an individual. Many of your questions are difficult to answer – and before you say it, that is not a kop out at all. Faith is all about living as we believe God wants us to live and doing what we believe He wants us to do even if we don’t totally understand it or be able to explain it. And therein lies the problem. Only when you have totally decided to let God be in control of your life can you truly ‘get it’. That is where personal testimony is such a powerful tool rather than just randomly quoting Scripture. And that is where it is perceived you have been ‘attacking’ and ‘offensive’ to Dot because you have attacked her personal beliefs rather than just questioning Scripture. You are right, your manners have been ok. but just the nature of the questioning has been rather harsh if you don’t mind me saying so. Wanting to find things out about Christianity is great and I’ll pray for your searching (and that is not a patronising statement at all but a genuine statement from a fellow searcher)
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@Dan: I have noticed several Christians refraining from branding themselves as religious lately, now that you bring it up. Is that because of all the bad things churches and priests have been up to?
“Only when you have totally decided to let God be in control of your life can you truly ‘get it’. That is where personal testimony is such a powerful tool rather than just randomly quoting Scripture.”
So how is he in control of your life? I know for a fact that he doesn’t talk to all Christians (I call it a fact as I have spoken to many Christians that have told me this very thing). And I know that very, very few Christians actually follow all of Jesus’ advice (even if you just limit his advice to the sermon on the mount), so that would partly rule out the bible (not to mention the Old Testament).
Oh, and what do you mean by ‘get it’? Do you mean “understand what the bible really says”? Or, “understand the nature of god”? Just trying to clarify.
I don’t agree that personal testimony is especially powerful, but I do agree that it’s way better than quoting Jesus. There are two reason for why I don’t think it’s powerful at all:
#1: Humans can be mistaken. Testimony from UFO-abductees are from a non-Christian point of view just as credible.
#2 I have yet to hear one convincing testimony (which is a given, considering my current state of non-belief).
People often say “But he’s my friend/father/husband, he wouldn’t lie to me! So I will trust him to tell the truth about his experiences.” While it’s admirable to be trusting of other people, it’s not always wise (see #1). People may simply not know that they are giving you false information. Then again, people can just lie, and maintain that lie, because they have a lot invested in their beliefs, too.
Don’t take this the wrong way, but it’s a question I ask Christians now and then: Would you lie to save a soul?
What do you mean by “I’ll pray for your searching”?
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@ Korky: Lets help with some definitions here.
Fistly – A Christian is a follower of Christ, nothing more and nothing less.
Secondly – Christianity is NOT a religion it is a way of life.
Those who call themselves Christians are those who have acknowledged their sin and accepted the fact that God loves us so much that He sent His Son Jesus (the Christ) to die in our place in order for us to have eternal life with Him (God).
This is possibly one of the most difficult for some people to grasp.
In his famous book Mere Christianity, C S Lewis makes this statement, “A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic – on the level with a man who says he is a poached egg – or he would be the devil of hell. You must take your choice. Either this was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us.”
Can you afford to make a judgement that will cost you for eternity?
Give God a chance . . . Read a portion of John’s Gospel every day for a month. Just a short portion – a few verses. Read it with an open mind and an open heart. One of the ways that God speaks to us is through his word but only to those who listen.
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@Annie: I don’t agree with your definitions, but I will keep them in mind when I talk to you.
“Those who call themselves Christians are those who have acknowledged their sin and accepted the fact that God loves us so much that He sent His Son Jesus (the Christ) to die in our place in order for us to have eternal life with Him (God).”
Who are you to decide who is Christian or not? I will agree to call anyone a Christian that themselves define themselves that way, and so should you.
C.S Lewis’ old LLL argument has long since been defeated by the addition of another L to the list: Legend.
Pascal’s wager (“Can you afford…” is so flawed that your fellow Christians on this blog should jump in and stop you before you make a fool out of yourself. That argument creates a false dichotomy, assuming that Christianity is the only alternative to disbelief.
I’m sorry, but those are weak arguments and not convincing to anyone that’s given it a bit of thought.
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Hey ‘Korky’ – I don’t think we’re going to get anywhere on here. Its hard to have a ‘conversation’ on the internet because you can’t tell the person’s tone of voice. What I may read as inflammatory may infact be a genuine question. I doubt we’ll get the chance to meet but just want to clarify something for you. You ask what i mean by “I’ll pray for your searching”. Simple. You are obviously searching for something and, like many people, even me in my past, you don’t know exactly what it is you are searching for. There is nothing wrong in that at all. I have gone through that search for myself despite being brought up in a church that believes in practising what it preaches. I needed to find my own faith and have done that over a long period of searching. During that time, many people prayed for my searching that I may find the truth I sought. So there is no hidden agenda in that statement of mine. No malice. No leaning in any direction. I will simply pray to the God I have found and who I know and love, that you will find peace and direction and…well, whatever it is your heart needs.
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It’s a wonder you talk to anyone on the Internet then. This reaction was not unexpected, however. People often say they treasure debate and discussion, but then they act in an opposite manner. It’s your choice, of course, though I was hoping that at least one Christian among you would be up for it.
If I believed that praying did anything, I’d ask you to stop; I wouldn’t want a god to cheat for my sake.
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Ok. I’m just going to make a general statement. (I hope). I have never and could never read the bible cover to cover my brain just couldn’t cope!! I call myself a Christain and try to live out my beliefs through daily life. Looking after others serving, giving, hospitality. I believe God has a plan for my life but reading and understanding the ‘good book’ is not for me, going to change his plan. Parts of the Bible which I have read and don’t understand, I have no problem with discussing as I think discussing the bible, is for me, the best way to understand it!! And also to understand others beliefs.
Dot there is nothing wrong your blog.
I lost track of the full debate going on.
‘Do unto others as you would have others do unto you’ & ‘turn the other cheek’
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@Korky: I do agree that testing your beliefs is a healthy thing, and I don’t think anyone who knew me would accuse me of smiling, nodding and going along?
As for your opinions on gay marriage, abortion or the Large Hadron Collider I would welcome them, but first let me give you mine so you have something to go at.
Gay marriage: Don’t have a problem with that.
Abortion: Personal choice
Large Hadron Collider: Love it
Also I believe that Ice cream should be a food group in its own right, but that is possibly less attractive as a subject for philosophical debate.
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Korky, This is someone’s personal blog where they are free to blog what they want, Dot is sharing how she see’s things and your responses come over as being insulting then in the fact that “christians” can’t debate. This isn’t a debate blog, it’s where Dot shares her thoughts. if you can’t respect Dot’s blog without coming across as insulting and bullying then please don’t post. You may think you are being the reasonable one, but my husband who has not faith read’s Dot’s thoughts everyday told me that you were “bullying” and should be stopped as everything you acccuse other’s of doing is what you are doing. If you continue, I would suggest Dot uses the wordpress Ip ban on you to allow the rest of us not to get upset on our friend’s behalf.
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@Louise: That’s remarkable, my Christian friend says that I’m as gentlemanly as they come. I’m afraid we are at an impasse and regret to inform you that another of your relatives is now required to weigh in on the matter.
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Would love to see them replying to this thread saying so, somehow I don’t think they would…
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@Andrew: Please don’t make me insult your intelligence by explaining the point I just made.
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Interesting conversation.
I disagree with you Dot, sort of.
I haven’t read the Bible from cover to cover and never would. I’ll tell you why. The Bible isn’t a book, it’s a library. It has some myth, history, poetry, law, biography and letters. I agree that they all contribute to the overall story and give context which is hugely important but I don’t think you need to have read it all to understand it.
I also think we need to remember where the Bible comes from (people wrote down the stories often long after the event), how it arrived in its current form (a committee fought over what should be in and out) and acknowledge that the Bible shouldn’t be the last word because the story of God’s relationship with humanity has continued since the cannon was closed over 1,700 years ago.
For me the Bible is the story of a developing relationship. It contains lots of points of view and like anything else those points of view will sometimes conflict or focus on what they think is the most important part. If that wasn’t the case we would have one newspaper and one tv channel because news would always be ‘true’ and ‘acurate’.
At the very least the Bible is an interesting read. If you believe in God it takes on a greater significance.
I also think that Korky has raised some pretty important questions, although I’d have to caution against feeding the trolls! 😉 You could ask the same questions of anyone who believes anything. You’re right about debate being important but if we were to have a conversation about the World Cup which I began by saying ‘I don’t believe it happened because the Time and the Post disagree about why England were rubbish’ you would rightly say that I was mad.
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Thanks Stewart for ur comments. I do not mind folk disagreeing with wot I have to say, and in fact am happy to hear others viewpoints such as ur own. I understand reading the bible from cover to cover is not necessarily the thing to do, I have never read it cover to cover as such, but have read it all over a period if a number of years and not in the sequence of the bible. It has worked for me this way but realise it’s not for all.
Just trying to share some suggestion of mine on how to study the bible, I but I realise it may have sounded as tho I meant reading it from cover to cover like a book but that wasn’t quite wot I meant. As u say Stewart the bible is just a part of our relationship with God as our relations with God, our faith, is something we develop each day though experiences and our knowledge of Christ increases.
Thank you.
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http://goldenbible.wordpress.com/ Just look at the first post you see, I think you will find I rather disagree with you’r point of veiw.
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Oh Korky Korky Korky. When will you learn. I am not running from this conversation but I dont feel we’re going to get anywhere with this online conversation. I don’t have to justify anything to you or anyone. And I’m sorry, but whatever you think about prayer, you cannot do or say anything that will stop me praying for you. I am actually turning from anger/annoyance to pity for you now. You heart appears so hard to any kind of genuine concern. Perhaps thats why you come across so bitter because you have pushed people away. There are many people who have commented on this post who all share a love for the One True God who are not deluded, brainwashed or anything of that nature. We are united in a love for a caring and compassionate God who, if you would only pull your head in for a brief moment and see, loves you no matter what you do think or say. Thats a truth and reality that you cannot do anything about. So I will continue praying in the hope that one day you will come to know God as I do. Until that day comes…….
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Thank you Dan for putting that so well to Korky.
On that note, I have now made the hard decision to close this blog post from any further comments.
I’m happy for comments on my blog posts, but many comments here by one individual are now no longer about the blog post and are in fact personal and confrontational comments about myself or others who have comments, so I can’t allow this anymore.
This is my blog, with my own personal thoughts and views and not a factily to be aggressive or confrontational to others expressing their own opinions. So regretably, this blog post is now closed.
P.S. Korky – Just like to correct you on one thing which suggests you have not read any of my other blog posts…this blog was written by a FEMALE not a male you as you referred to me in one of your earlier comments!
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Apologies – I omitted to say, a very very big thank you to all who took the time to comment on this post. I appreciate you taking the time to do so. Dot x
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Keep posting stuff like this i really like it
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