[Golfingnut]

Originally Posted by donb9006

I agree...the world is full of hypocrites...we ourselves fell prey occasionally. They call it relativism when you pick and choose which parts you're going to live by and follow. It's why there are 5000 sects of Christianity. It's a shame Jesus didn't write a book. Not even a note. It sure created confusion. Most of what is found in a particular sect is guesswork, much isn't found in the Bible one way or the other. It's conjecture.



It IS easier to live "your" life, your way, instead of having to live how someone else tells you that you need to live. One is free, the other is not. Most of religion are personal opinions. Someone elses personal opinion.



What are you looking for answers to? The Why of it all? There are no answers...that's why there are 5000 different sects of Christianity alone. Add all the other religions of the world, each different...significantly different...and you should begin to realize that nobody has the answers. Find the happiest, most successful, most loved person you can...ask them the secret.



It is bias...we naturally seek similar people. "Christians" all have (should anyway), the same basic take on things...how is that engaging? There are bitter "Christians" too...

Christians are former Jews who believe the messiah came...and followed him...creating Christians. It's why you have the Jewish Old Testament and the Christian NT.

Most atheists I know vehemently deny the existence of YOUR God. "The God of Abraham". Most are really agnostic and will admit...they just don't know either way, so won't just "go along" with the believers.



Good luck with that. There are at least 5000 groups all looking for the same thing. Picking and choosing what, and how to interpret things written decades to centuries after Jesus died. Remember, Jesus wrote nothing. His 12 wrote nothing. Any honest Biblical scholar will admit this. Almost half the NT is the work of Paul. And he never met Jesus.



You'd think that sometimes by how some act. All high and mighty. The golden rule isn't only a Christian thing. And it's pretty much the only rule we need. An entire society could run on that alone. Make altruism the national motto and you'd have quite a place to live.



Jesus didn't leave his speech nor any notes behind. Nobody took notes. How do you know what he said? It was written LONG after Jesus was gone.

You don't believe in God then? The OT is the God of Abraham. That's the original God that the Jews and Christians still worship. Be careful what you call mumbo jumbo! Some will take umbrage with that.



Welcome to the real world, full of hypocrites. The church is full of dogma, that's what drives people away. I've noticed more contemporary churches are moving away from the OT.



You are correct. EVERYTHING read in the NT was written long after Jesus was gone. There are other books you've never heard of because they "didn't fit in". They were removed. The texts have been rewritten, "interpreted". How many Bibles are there now?

While there are a number of versions to the Bible. There are 8 primary versions found in history:

Septuagint - 250 C.E. Written in Greek

Vulgate- 400 C.E. First version of the Bible which is canonized at the Council of Carthage in 400 C.E. Written in Latin

Luther's German Bible- 1534 C.E.

King James Version- 1611 C.E. This is the most widely used versions however it has large number of errors given that none of the writers had a decent understanding of Hebrew.

Revised Standard Version- 1952 C.E. Liberal translation into American English which used the earliest possible text

New International Version- 1960's & 70's C.E. This is a conservative, contemporary English version

Jerusalem Bible- 1966 C.E. This is the first version of the Bible to be commisioned by the Catholic Church since the 400's.

New Revised Standard Version- 1990 C.E. This is the most academic and scholarly version with the most accuartely possible translations of the orginal text.

Don, if you ever start a gathering by any name, please let me know when and where. Your information is without insult nor sarcasm and that is what I am searching for. You go brother.