Melody said:
I pray...and I listen for the answer.
do you hear an audible voice?; are you having visions?
I also believe God gave us a brain for a purpose. I read....*a lot*....and not just "christian" books. I listen to people here on the RF. I spend time reading the Bible. I talk to those knowledgeable in Scripture. It's not any one thing.
i read alot too; i accept many things that i like and i reject many things that i dont, or i will remain neutral on certain issues too; however, i do not assert that any of the things that i read are infallible truth; there are errors in every text, because there is no perfect text
It's not that I disespouse certain portions of the bible but rather I look at the reason for those sections. For example, many people like to use Leviticus when dealing with tithing and homosexuality. Leviticus is the set of laws that God set down for His Chosen people -- the Hebrews. It was part of their covenant. As such, it has nothing to do with my life. I am not Hebrew and this covenant was not made with my ancestors. I follow the teachings of Christ who said that He is the fulfillment of the law. Other parts of the OT are small slices of the history of God and His chosen people.
why do you suppose that the god of the bible would wish to kill homosexuals? the god of the bible is unchanging, no? did the god of the bible change?
I've read the OT books but probably spend most of my time in Psalms. The new testament is where I find my rules for living.
in that case, what about these rules as Paul presents in these verses?
1 Timothy 2
11 A woman must quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness.
12 But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet.
13 For it was Adam who was first created, and then Eve.
14 And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression.
(NAS95)
in regards to NT rules for living, do you obey these rules?
I will keep that in mind and I am more than happy to have a discussion on that basis. It helps me to clarify my own beliefs when I have to put them into words and not just "feelings".
i find that journaling helps me alot too
I would probably have to agree with you. When I say a belief system is wrong, and I would never do that unless I was in a situation such as the RF debate forum, I measure it against my own belief system. If I thought another faith was right, then mine would be wrong since I believe Christ is the *only* path to salvation.
i like to look at it moreso as a matter of perspective; we each have incomplete perspectives which can compliment one another
for example: lets say four different people witness a bank robbery; one person is directly behind the desk getting robbed, while another is watching through the outside glass door; still another is viewing the robbery from under a table ten feet away; and still another is viewing it from a balcony on the second floor
when each of these witnesses go to court, they will each testify something a bit different, because they each have unique vantage points; they will all tell slightly different stories; one saw a gun and the other didnt; one heard a voice and the other didnt; one saw a mask and the other didnt, etc; this does not mean that any of them are necessarily wrong; they just have different perspectives
so also with religious/irreligious views; when debating ontological god concepts, there is an even greater amount of theory and conjecture than what is in the above example; if i ask for proof for someones religious belief, im typically simply offered even more theories; i suppose some things can be proven to be right or wrong in life (if you record events with video cameras), but religious theories can be debated to no end, because they simply lack physical evidence; and if one claims to have evidence, it is often something exclusive to the one presenting it, which can be interpreted any number of ways anyway
I can't hand you any physical proof. It is just something inside me that says "this is right. this is truth." All I can do is live by that truth.
i applaud you for living by your truth; i just believe that the individual truth that we each have is rather subjective; although i will often measure various aspects of the world by the truths that i know, i also endeavor to allow my incomplete understanding of these truths to be enhanced by the world around me