I'm not gonna lie

[Darthmagic 0]

quote:

Originally posted by GhostAnime:

quote:

Originally posted by Darthmagic:

quote:

Originally posted by GhostAnime:

quote:

However, it doesn't explain some very fundamental human questions as in how we came to be and why are we here? for that you have to look elsewhere.

that's because those aren't really scientific questions. those are just things that we naturally ask as human beings.

 

you can ask 'well why does gravity exist? why can't we just fly?' but I'm sure God isn't going to tell me that either.

 

You are right. As i said earlier. some things can't be put under a microscope.

and my question is why should they be? why are these questions important?

 

because humans have a need to feel meaningful. they don't want to feel like 'just another living thing' thus, in my mind, i believe we create a meaning through religion.

 

I'm not sure how to explain why an intelligent sentient being would want to know what purpose they served and why they are here. I just don't. Could it be that we feel that way because we are not simply 'just another living thing'. I'm not sure if u have children, but if you do. Could you say that your pet monkey should have the same rights, and privileges as your 5 year old daughter? If the house was burning and your daughter was upstairs in one room and the monkey was closer to you, say downstairs in another room would you simply save the monkey because it is closer and more rational to do so? I'm not trying to be disrespectful in any way. all i'm saying is that we are not 'just another animal' we are more than that. I am still happy that some things are and forever will be beyond the scope of science.

[TheREALBrooksThompson 157]

quote:

Originally posted by Darthmagic:

 

Those are all very good questions. I'm not an expert but here are my two cents. there are many things in the bible that are difficult to understand unless you actually study it. a cursory reading of the bible is almost worse than not reading it at all. That's why many come up with "contradictions" and the like. the more u study you will find out when and why certain laws/ ordinances were put in place. then u can as it says "put line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little, there a little" to understand its fullness.

 

Second, the bible is unlike any book in history. It is spiritual (yes other books claim to be spiritual that's not my point). It has to be read prayerfully. The best way to understand something written is to hear from the author. Though the books were "written" by many men over thousands of years it is astonishingly single minded. the reason is that it was "god Breathed" or inspired by the spirit. that's why it says "The carnal man cannot understand many things about the bible because spiritual things are spiritually discerned."

 

The other thing is revelation, sometimes it is not time for something to be revealed. Many have testified to the fact that no matter how many times you read it there is always something new being discovered. something not "seen" before. Everything happens in due time. so if u don't get it all. give it time.

 

As i said i am not an expert, but i hope this helps you on your journey to understand the bible.

 

I'm still not gaining much understanding here. So if there are laws in the bible that had their time and place and can be understood in their own context but are not necessary to be followed today, what differentiates those laws from the ones that are still followed today?

 

Are they in a different part of the bible? Are there certain books of the bible that are to be read in a historical context while others are to be read and applied to modern life? If so, which ones are which?

[Darthmagic 0]

quote:

Originally posted by GhostAnime:

quote:

Originally posted by Darthmagic:

quote:

Originally posted by GhostAnime:

quote:

However, it doesn't explain some very fundamental human questions as in how we came to be and why are we here? for that you have to look elsewhere.

that's because those aren't really scientific questions. those are just things that we naturally ask as human beings.

 

you can ask 'well why does gravity exist? why can't we just fly?' but I'm sure God isn't going to tell me that either.

 

You are right. As i said earlier. some things can't be put under a microscope.

and my question is why should they be? why are these questions important?

 

because humans have a need to feel meaningful. they don't want to feel like 'just another living thing' thus, in my mind, i believe we create a meaning through religion.

 

I heard a pastor once say, "keep telling children that they are nothing more than animals and they won't disappoint you". Sadly, as we look at our society and the brutality with which we treat each other its kinda hard to contradict that statement.

[TheREALBrooksThompson 157]

quote:

Originally posted by Darthmagic:

quote:

Originally posted by GhostAnime:

quote:

Originally posted by Darthmagic:

quote:

Originally posted by GhostAnime:

quote:

However, it doesn't explain some very fundamental human questions as in how we came to be and why are we here? for that you have to look elsewhere.

that's because those aren't really scientific questions. those are just things that we naturally ask as human beings.

 

you can ask 'well why does gravity exist? why can't we just fly?' but I'm sure God isn't going to tell me that either.

 

You are right. As i said earlier. some things can't be put under a microscope.

and my question is why should they be? why are these questions important?

 

because humans have a need to feel meaningful. they don't want to feel like 'just another living thing' thus, in my mind, i believe we create a meaning through religion.

 

I heard a pastor once say, "keep telling children that they are nothing more than animals and they won't disappoint you". Sadly, as we look at our society and the brutality with which we treat each other its kinda hard to contradict that statement.

 

Even with all our modern day problems, life is certainly less brutal now than it was during the crusades.

[GhostAnime 50]

quote:

I'm not sure how to explain why an intelligent sentient being would want to know what purpose they served and why they are here. I just don't. Could it be that we feel that way because we are not simply 'just another living thing'.

I've yet to see any evidence to say otherwise. I don't think our brains make us any more special than animals with better survival instincts in the wild. They're just different ways of living and satisfying ourselves.

 

quote:

I'm not sure if u have children, but if you do. Could you say that your pet monkey should have the same rights, and privileges as your 5 year old daughter? If the house was burning and your daughter was upstairs in one room and the monkey was closer to you, say downstairs in another room would you simply save the monkey because it is closer and more rational to do so? I'm not trying to be disrespectful in any way. all i'm saying is that we are not 'just another animal' we are more than that. I am still happy that some things are and forever will be beyond the scope of science.

What is this supposed to prove? Obviously I'm going to save what's mine more than a random animal, but that doesn't make the animal 'less' in any way. it just makes them less to me.

 

This doesn't answer the question of a want to feel meaningful. You throw out the possibility that maybe it's because we are; well, what if I also threw out the possibility that since it's at the very least natural (and it is; kids ask about this stuff a lot of the time), then wouldn't it also be possible that religion is conceived and used to satisfy our needs? if it is natural, it is imminent that religion will arise in every culture of the world (and it pretty much has considering almost every society despite being separated through mountains, oceans, and distance still have a universal 'god' they look up to).

[Darthmagic 0]

quote:

Originally posted by Jackie Treehorn:

quote:

Originally posted by Darthmagic:

quote:

Originally posted by GhostAnime:

quote:

Originally posted by Darthmagic:

quote:

Originally posted by GhostAnime:

quote:

However, it doesn't explain some very fundamental human questions as in how we came to be and why are we here? for that you have to look elsewhere.

that's because those aren't really scientific questions. those are just things that we naturally ask as human beings.

 

you can ask 'well why does gravity exist? why can't we just fly?' but I'm sure God isn't going to tell me that either.

 

You are right. As i said earlier. some things can't be put under a microscope.

and my question is why should they be? why are these questions important?

 

because humans have a need to feel meaningful. they don't want to feel like 'just another living thing' thus, in my mind, i believe we create a meaning through religion.

 

I heard a pastor once say, "keep telling children that they are nothing more than animals and they won't disappoint you". Sadly, as we look at our society and the brutality with which we treat each other its kinda hard to contradict that statement.

 

Even with all our modern day problems, life is certainly less brutal now than it was during the crusades.

 

Really? Not sure about that.

[Secretly Space Jesus 670]

quote:

Originally posted by Darthmagic:

Really? Not sure about that.

 

Seriously?

[GhostAnime 50]

You would really prefer to live in the times where people killed themselves over religion, killed anything different, beat their women mercilessly, have hundreds of laws that make no sense whatsoever.. over today?

 

What makes today worse, or just as bad exactly?

[TheREALBrooksThompson 157]

I'd like to hear the explanation for that as well.

[Darthmagic 0]

quote:

Originally posted by GhostAnime:

You would really prefer to live in the times where people killed themselves over religion, killed anything different, beat their women mercilessly, have hundreds of laws that make no sense whatsoever.. over today?

 

What makes today worse, or just as bad exactly?

 

Today we kill people over oil, drugs, power and money. We get capped simply because we were in the wrong place at the wrong time. I'm not defending what misguided people did in the past. But don't pretend our world today is a safer place.

[GhostAnime 50]

quote:

Today we kill people over oil, drugs, power and money. We get capped simply because we were in the wrong place at the wrong time. I'm not defending what misguided people did in the past. But don't pretend our world today is a safer place.

Are you aware the amount of people that died in the crusades, or in those times due to religion?

 

I assure you, it isn't anywhere as close to gruesome as today. You also have to remember, that tolerance was also at a low and corruption was a high. Yes, we still have corruption here, but it's not like we don't enjoy more freedoms than non-authority people had back then.

 

The past was bad. Like, real bad. It's bad today, but.. the past is like hell. Women were basically property and constantly died of child birth, and almost all of your life was due to work with little reward. The only people who would be as happy as we are today back then were rich.

[Secretly Space Jesus 670]

quote:

Originally posted by Darthmagic:

But don't pretend our world today is a safer place.

 

It is a fact that the world is safer today than it was during the Middle Ages, by an astronomical amount, in fact.