Religion: pros & cons (Religion)

by Balance_Maintained , U.S.A., Thursday, October 16, 2014, 03:24 (3689 days ago) @ dhw

Sorry for the extended pause here. Life happened, as it so often does with me, and I was kept unavoidable busy. -
>DHW:This is a complete misunderstanding of my whole argument. My point was twofold: 1) The Bible is a collection of books written by and selected by fallible human beings. 2) It is wide open to interpretation, and consequently is of little value as a guide because humans can use it to justify whatever actions they wish to perform. This is not to say that it is not full of wise counsel, but “seek, and ye shall find” applies just as much to what you and I would regard as the baddies as it does to the goodies. I am therefore questioning the value of the Bible as a truthful record (e.g. how does the narrator of Job know what God said to Satan?) and as a book of moral guidance. Of course the blame for bad behaviour lies with people and not with God (if he exists). By the same token, I would argue that the credit for good behaviour also lies with people and not with God. As I wrote earlier, humans can lead moral lives without God - a statement with which you agreed.
> -1) I believe the bible to be the inspired word of God. Yes, it was penned by man, but done so under divine inspiration. The fallibility check is found in its internal consistency and prophecy. -2) It is actually not as open to interpretation as you might think, provided it is taken as a whole and not cherry picked.-3) Even the bible says that humans can live moral lives without knowing what they bible says. -->DHW: The rest of your post is based on the same misunderstanding, apart from one blip. You say there is nothing in the Bible that would have prevented me from marrying my wife - not even the bit about marrying within the faith, because 1 Cor. 7:13 and Romans 2:14 say it's OK. (I do admire your amazing ability to quote these relevant passages.) Sorry, but I can't find any passages in Deuteronomy that tell me to ignore Deuteronomy and read Corinthians and Romans instead. (Or are you saying that the OT is not the Word of God, whereas the NT is?) Besides, Cor. 2: 6: 14 makes it clear that my wife (who was a Methodist) should not have got herself “unequally yoked” to me (an “unbeliever” and so by definition unrighteous...thank you, Paul, for your tolerance). Again, my point is that you can find whatever you want in the Bible. Of course it's not God's fault. He didn't write it, and he doesn't interpret it for us.-
Well don't worry, just because you can't find them doesn't mean I can't. Jeremiah prophesied about a 'New Covenant' that would replace the Mosaic Law Covenant along with the reason why that covenant was being replaced: (Jeremiah 31:31,32). The New Covenant makes the old obsolete.(Hebrews 8:13) Covenants had to be sealed in blood (Hebrews 9:15-17). The New Covenant was sealed with the blood of Christ(Colossians 2:14). As Christ took over as a new high priest in the "manner of Melchizedek", the law had to change. (Hebrews 7:12)Christ was the end of the Mosaic Law. (Romans 10:4)And that is why you are not under the Mosaic Law Covenant found in Deuteronomy. -Additionally, consider this: 1 Peter 3:1,2;

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What is the purpose of living? How about, 'to reduce needless suffering. It seems to me to be a worthy purpose.