Do we have a duty to care for ourselves ? (moral, rejecting)

[Fluffy]

*Shouts* .............Please may we have some Christian input here?

*Puts on his Christian cap*

I think you have interpreted this passage completely correctly Michel, although in isolation it might be difficult to equate "defile" with "harm". However, when compared with other beliefs such as humans are made in God's image and God giving humans the gift of life, it is probably safer to make such a conclusion. Certainly suicide and capital punishment no longer look like viable options but it may be more difficult to argue against such things as self harming (as in cutting and the like) from a purely Biblical perspective.

[njcl]

as to the people who self harm im sure st paul was not refering to them being destroyers of gods holy temple,more like those who commited adultery or fornication and also it was a warning to those who sought to kill christians in those days

[john313]

while i do not believe Paul was an apostle or a saint, he did occasionally speak the truth on the level of the material world. We have a duty of taking care of our physical bodies, that is why God gave all those laws to Moses, that is why so many of the prophets were pro vegetarian. unfortunately Paul said these laws(laws supported by Jesus and his real followers) were weak and useless, so christians no longer follow them. These laws concerning diet and actions were there for our benefit, to protect our physical bodies and our soul, things were forbidden for a reason.

[njcl]

Originally Posted by john313

while i do not believe Paul was an apostle or a saint, he did occasionally speak the truth on the level of the material world. We have a duty of taking care of our physical bodies, that is why God gave all those laws to Moses, that is why so many of the prophets were pro vegetarian. unfortunately Paul said these laws(laws supported by Jesus and his real followers) were weak and useless, so christians no longer follow them. These laws concerning diet and actions were there for our benefit, to protect our physical bodies and our soul, things were forbidden for a reason.

WHAT??..st was not an apostle??................hes my chief and most favorite apostle,his epistles have stood the test of time in their power and ability to illuminate,very odd also that he went though all those beatings,whippings,stonings for a false cause

[john313]

Originally Posted by njcl

WHAT??..st was not an apostle??................hes my chief and most favorite apostle,his epistles have stood the test of time in their power and ability to illuminate,very odd also that he went though all those beatings,whippings,stonings for a false cause

i find it odd that he was called "the Liar" in the dead sea scrolls, yet so many christians believe him. why would that be??? he was an outcast from the real followers of Jesus. In the Gospel of Thomas, Jesus told his followers to follow James the Just when he was gone, not Paul the Liar. James, the vegetarian, was called the "righteous teacher" in the oldest nonaltered documents available called the dead sea scrolls. He also followed the Torah that Paul said was abolished(at least he followed it until Paul's friends killed him). James also followed the teachings of the prophets, which Paul said were weak and useless. Paul was a self admitted deceiver, theif, and persecutor of the followers of Jesus.
You will know a tree by its fruits........

[njcl]

Originally Posted by john313

i find it odd that he was called "the Liar" in the dead sea scrolls, yet so many christians believe him. why would that be??? he was an outcast from the real followers of Jesus. In the Gospel of Thomas, Jesus told his followers to follow James the Just when he was gone, not Paul the Liar. James, the vegetarian, was called the "righteous teacher" in the oldest nonaltered documents available called the dead sea scrolls. He also followed the Torah that Paul said was abolished(at least he followed it until Paul's friends killed him). James also followed the teachings of the prophets, which Paul said were weak and useless. Paul was a self admitted deceiver, theif, and persecutor of the followers of Jesus.
You will know a tree by its fruits........

im guessing your jewish so feel agrieved paul dismissed the old testament well i believe saul was a more fervent follower of judiasm than you,to the point of killing christians in fact,the old testament is a great book and i read it often,joshua being my fav prophet but paul was merely saying the deeds of the old testament,ie what jews observe are of no value next to following christ

[Sunstone]

**MOD POST**

Please stay on topic! The topic is whether we have a biblical duty to take care of ourselves.

[john313]

my apologies

[greatcalgarian]

Originally Posted by john313

my apologies

I was hoping to hear, to read, and to learn more on Paul from you guys other than those information provided on this link:
http://www.pbs.org/empires/peterandp...eps/index.html

Anyway, back to the thread, do we see animals hurting themselves or committing suicide? All living creatures strive to survive. Human being is the only species that has advanced (evolved) to such a state that, occasionally the genetic inbuilt of the 'force' to survival and to pass on the gene has somehow gone haywide and resulted in suicidal tendency etc.
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/suicide/
http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/factsheets/suifacts.htm
Or perhaps, those suicidal or self inflict injury are a sign of poor genetic heritage that signaled a poor product that will self destruct via suicide etc

Several other religions do consider suicide as being immoral and discourage the followers to ever contemplate the idea.
I do not think Christianity dealt much on suicide , though I may be mistaken.
Current suicide 'terrorists' in the Muslim world is not considered as suicide by the believers performing that act. They truely believe they are on God's command. Similarly early Christian died for the cause of their belief, sometimes putting their own life in danger or being killed is just a wrong belief that what they did is what God commanded them to do. I think Jesus did not want anyone else to die for the church except He Himself. To suffer for the church, YES. To die, NO.