ok, thank you both. what i was refering to though was not how Mary is depicted by different people, but how she appears to them. not skin tone alone, but ethnic appearence (race) as well. the features of an indigenous Aztec woman are very different from those of a Jewish woman from the Middle...
UV ~ yes, it does. well said. i have noticed this, too. one would have to be blind (willingly or unconsciously) not to see this. thankfully though, my Christian faith is not based on Christians, or on what happens in or with their churches. no church or denomination is perfect though, and a...
UV ~ Jesus says "poor in spirit". there were many wealthy disciples of Jesus who supported Him and His disicples out of their own means, and others who gave everything they had to the poor. money is not evil, neither is having money. the desire for (or love of) money is the *root* of evil, as it...
why not? i like it there. it's not too expensive, it's well-lit, and you can get just about anything. it's up to you if you want to shop there or not. but econimically i am way below the poverty line, and i like the place. i don't feel guilty for shopping there, or for supporting the company. if...
UV ~ i don't see it that way at all. yes, i have a low-paying job, but i see myself more as a sevant of God, of Christ, not an economic system or powerful bosses. i may lose my job tomorrow. but i know and trust that God can and will take care of us, with or without a paycheck. that is part of...
UV ~ to those who have been given more, more is required. those with less will not be held accountable for what they did not have access to, including the Gospel, in the same way as those who did.
because they don't want help, and many don't see Western secular democratic values as "helping" their societies. in Islam, politics and religion are ideally united, with Islamic law ruling the country, and governing every aspect of citizens' lives. this is seen by many Muslims as ideal, good...
i actually converted from Islam to Christianity, and never read the Bible growing up (in a nominally Christian home). i was surpised to finally read the Bible and see how linear, contextualized, and understandable its contents were. the Quran is very beautiful and wide in scope, but really has...
Morse ~ it's a very interesting read, and i've read it a couple of times as a believer, and learned a little Arabic to do so. there are many ways to interpret this verse (including that these "virgins" will be the spouses one knew on earth but young, beautiful, and virginal again in heaven), but...
Morse ~this is possible, though no Muslim will agree with this. the Muslim arguments is that the Quran has not been changed or corrupted in content one iota in the centuries cince it was revealed to Mohammad. in addition, i'd say the context of those passages supports the reading that virgins...
actually, virgins in heaven can be infered through the Quran itself, in Surah 55, ayat (verses) 46-56, and these passage are clearly not talking about grapes.