A Bit Of A Hiatus But Finally Done It

[nailit]

A bit of a hiatus (lockdown, work, personal things etc) but finally read the Bible all the way through, again!
How on earth can anybody read this mess and believe its the word of (any) God is beyond me.
Read about a 3rd of it and left of for a bit. (TBH the unrelenting slaughter was getting to me a bit) Picked up again and read whole books at a time. The contradictions alone had me questioning, never mind the bloodshed etc (That was before I got to the new Testament).
Then the New Testament accounts doent agree with each other.
I tried.
The bible is a crock.
Different books, Different authors, different theologies.

Modern church...
We'll try to reconcile them all and call it the bible...
Good luck with that one.

[nailit]

//I hope we can continue without recourse to calling each other mentally I'll etc//
Fare play Theland. Im not above been obtusive at times and Ill admit it. Im well aware that I can be immoral at times.
But what constitutes immoral? How is it defined? And by whom?

[Theland]

Well there you go.
Choose a moral code.
Theonymous, Heteronymous, or Antonymous.

Most people in the Western Democracies choose Antonymous, bit fail to recognise this right in others reverting to a heteronymous code where that make the rules for others, but make their own rules for themselves.
BLM is a case in point. Heteronymous.
Personally I sign up to the moral code ordained in the Gospels.
It works for me.

[nailit]

//Personally I sign up to the moral code ordained in the Gospels.
It works for me//
LOL ok.
Except that you dont live by the precepts of the Gospels do you?
You think you do but you dont.

[Theland]

No indeed I don't.
I am a sinner, far from perfect, very far in fact.
It would be hypocritical of me to say otherwise.
There are many secular humanists /atheists who live far more godly lives than me.
(It was kind of you to notice).

[nailit]

So just to get this clear Theland....
You get your morals from the Gospels? Yes?

[nailit]

Or if you dont then where the f do you get ur morals from???

[Theland]

I recognise them as the ultimate moral authority, even though sadly I fall so short of them myself.

[nailit]

So you do actually recognize the gospels as your authorority on morality then?

[Theland]

Yes I do.
Jesus Christ is the ultimate moral authority as far as I'm concerned.

[naomi24]

God had no moral code that I recognise.

[goodlife]

“Faith is not a possession of all people.” (2 Thessalonians 3:2) The same can be said of the truth. Even when confronted with truth based on the Bible, many people deliberately ignore it. Yet, how precious it is! Jesus said: “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”—John 8:32.

One way to tell whether you are reading God’s Word to understand it is to answer two questions. What translation of the Bible do you generally use for Bible study? Why do you use it—because you know it is among the most helpful in making God’s Word understandable, or just because you have long been accustomed to using it?

[Theland]

I use two translations.
The
King James Authorised Version, and the New International Version.
Both fairly accurate and complement each other.

[nailit]

Theland, apart from the gospels, do you think that the rest of the bible is a moral frame work to live by?
(not laying any traps before you say that. Just trying to get an angle on where you are coming from re: morality)
Thanks.

[Theland]

If you take a single episode out of context, you can be forgiven for labelling God a monster.
For example, the genocide of the Canaanites.
It is only in the context of the whole bible, that justification is found.

[Theland]

Just as an aside, and apologies for digressing.
Many atheists but not all, insist, ''religion,'' is harmful to society.
Cast your mind back a few years to the USA.
The ten commandments carved in stone in various places, now torn down.
Prayers in schools, now banned.
Other measures also taken to ensure God was taken mourning the public arena.
So what happened?
Nature abhors a vacuum.
Now with Hollywood violence and filth, racist violence, black on black murders epidemic, drugs worse than ever, the list goes on and on and on.
Virtually every person now rejects objective moral authority, and adapts autonomous morality.
So is the USA better off without God?

[Theland]

Is atheism really scientific?

(Eighteen minutes of really nice music.)

https://youtu.be/8T9PXabU6MY

[naomi24]

//It is only in the context of the whole bible, that justification is found.//

To condemn a baby to a lingering death in order to wreak revenge on an adult is immoral on every level. The can be no justification for that.

[naomi24]

*There* can be no justification for that.

[goodlife]

Theland@ here is a clip, have a look what happened in Scandanavia.

https://www.jw.org/finder?srcid=jwlshare&wtlocale=E&lank=pub-jwb_201902_11_VIDEO

[Theland]

Gooodlife - Thank you. That is very interesting and demands that I look into, and consider this matter more carefully.
Time and health are not on my side, so I will not be devoting my efforts full time.
It is kind of you to make the effort to show this though.
I hope we can discuss further, the differences between our approach to God.