How do Christians possibly rationalize these things?

[Didymos Thomas]

Surprize surprize no one is accountable, the perks of belonging to a committee which is not accountable either---what a revolting development!!!

What are you talking about?

[Zetherin]

Originally Posted by VideCorSpoon

Well I'm the one called "most christians" (I have the certificate that says so) and I gave Didymos the go ahead to give that statement to "every christians," my unpaid intern who gets me coffee two times a day.

I agree with Didymos on this one, Christians possess relativistic interpretations of the bible. And no one really takes the bible seriously in a fact sense. Even within the same sect.

I'm sorry, but that's not necessarily true

A denomination I'm very familiar with (Assembly of God) takes much of the Bible literally. I remember as a child they would take many of these Bible stories, not as metaphoric parables, but rather as truth. In fact, I remember one Bible lesson as a child that struck fear in me - it involved the death of the newborns (I forget which part of the Bible this is located), and the moral of the lesson revolved around the idea that the prospect of disobeying this God could lead to my life being taken and me going to hell.

So, I'm sure there are some denominations that don't take the book literally, but I'm more than sure there are those that do.

[Didymos Thomas]

So, I'm sure there are some denominations that don't take the book literally, but I'm more than sure there are those that do.

Some denominations have stated opinions of the literature, you are right about that. But stated opinions do not exert total mind control over parishioners. We should expect some difference among members of any given church regarding beliefs.

Of course, many people do take the Bible, the entire text, literally.

[Zetherin]

Originally Posted by Didymos Thomas

Of course, many people do take the Bible, the entire text, literally.

And so, the question is: How do they rationalize all of these horrible acts, then?

[Didymos Thomas]

How do fundamentalists rationalize their beliefs?

I guess I could try to explain their 'logic' as best as I understand. But I do not think such an attempt would be germane - many of them openly reject rational discourse regarding religion.

[Zetherin]

Originally Posted by Didymos Thomas

How do fundamentalists rationalize their beliefs?

I guess I could try to explain their 'logic' as best as I understand. But I do not think such an attempt would be germane - many of them openly reject rational discourse regarding religion.

I'm not even talking about rational discourse in a philosophic sense. I'm talking about a contradiction of the teachings!

I thought the concept of such religion was to love one another, treat others as you would want to be treated, kindness, no? Commandment #6 states "Thou shalt not murder (variations abound, yes, but the point still stands). However, if we take the Bible literally, we have God murdering people left and right, and even the acceptance of some humans murdering by God himself! I mean, you can obviously see the glaring contradictions of which I'm speaking - the list could go on. So, if taking this book literally, how then do these Christians practice a religion that outwardly supports all of these horrific acts? Many of the stories almost imply that we should murder those that we find as a threat.

Hell, even #9 on the Satanic Rules of Earth states: "Do not harm little children" (and yes, the pun was deliberate). How ironic is that? And #11 on the Satanic Rules of Earth states: " When walking in open territory, bother no one. If someone bothers you, ask him to stop. If he does not stop, destroy him". Sounds like God took a few lessons off of Satan, no? Honestly, having read alot of the Bible, and the satanic statements, rules of the earth, and many other satanic commandments, it seems as if being satanic is actually more logical and even generally kinder! And so, when I see a literal Christian regard the Church of Satan as evil, without even knowing much about the actual beliefs, it's disheartening to say the least.

Needless to say, if a so called 'literal' Christian actually tried to live a life that reflected the Bible, the person would find their new home to be a nearby state penitentiary, ironically as a result of the laws of a country that is supposedly God-born!

I love it!

[GoshisDead]

Commandment #6 states "Thou shalt not murder (variations abound, yes, but the point still stands). However, if we take the Bible literally, we have God murdering people left and right, and even the acceptance of some humans murdering by God himself! I mean, you can obviously see the glaring contradictions of which I'm speaking - the list could go on. So, if taking this book literally, how then do these Christians rationalize all of this horrific acts that take place?

Not sure why this is contradictory, does it ever say in any literature that GOD has to follow His/her/its own commandments?
In many spiritual traditions God/S are the Judges of humanity. Therefore s/he or her direct emmisary cannot murder, it would be called execution, or maybe even controlling collateral damage.

Also considering "contradition" in the concept of a "God's Plan" if there is one, any plan would follow a duration there cannot be contradition to a "perfect" plan. If the plan is to make a rule split yourself into three and then remake a rule at a certain point, that is the plan. It all works within the realm of its own logic. What is being discussed, however as pointed out in all the other incarnations of this same discussion is that some people are using a "logic" not suited for deconstructing a rivaling logic.

[Zetherin]

Originally Posted by GoshisDead

Not sure why this is contradictory, does it ever say in any literature that GOD has to follow His/her/its own commandments?
In many spiritual traditions God/S are the Judges of humanity. Therefore s/he or her direct emmisary cannot murder, it would be called execution, or maybe even controlling collateral damage.

Also considering "contradition" in the concept of a "God's Plan" if there is one, any plan would follow a duration there cannot be contradition to a "perfect" plan. If the plan is to make a rule split yourself into three and then remake a rule at a certain point, that is the plan. It all works within the realm of its own logic. What is being discussed, however as pointed out in all the other incarnations of this same discussion is that some people are using a "logic" not suited for deconstructing a rivaling logic.

Even if we don't address that God has to follow his own commandments, he still, in some cases, supports the murders taken place by a human. So, if the commandment is "Thou shalt not kill", it is contradictory. Why don't we all go around killing people and just say it's 'God's will'? Yeah, it's just silly to me.

You're more than likely right we are using a logic here that is not suited for deconstructing a rivaling logic, and I would equally make the same argument that we shouldn't use this same logic to even believe in this very rivaling logic! In other words, we can't say that the logic we are using to DECONSTRUCT all of this can be used to SUPPORT the very same thing. That would be a fatal flaw. No, if we don't use this logic to deconstruct then we sure as hell shouldn't be using the same logic to believe! If you disagree, however, then I don't see how you can say I can't use this same logic.

[boagie]

It is a seriously schizophrenic text!

[Didymos Thomas]

Contradictions abound in the Bible - regardless of which Bible you chose.

In Mathew and Luke, John the Baptist is Elijah reincarnated. However, in the Gospel of John, John the Baptist directly contradicts the words of Jesus (who says John is Elijah) by denying that he is Elijah and instead quotes Isaiah when answering questions about his identity.