Major issues in reading the Bible.

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C

Chapel

Guest
#1
Hey guys!

It's been a while since I've been here in the chat room; I originally came here pretty much a hater of God, but understanding that the ONLY way I can find peace is through Him, I decided to make an honest attempt to give my life to Him.

I have to admit that this has been an extremely hard thing to do; attempting it has caused me a lot of stress, a lot of guilt, a lot of anger and sleepless nights. However I am not giving up hope just yet.

As I have studied the Bible, without even looking for them, I come across a great many contradictions, conflicts in morality from a God who is supposed to be "all good" (there are many examples of how God can be quite demented)...and things that on a simple scientific level...just don't add up. Again, these are not things that I am looking for, but... If you actually read the Bible these things are like a hand slapping you in the face trying to wake you up.

I have spoken about these things with people of God who pretty much just tell me "have faith that everything in the Bible is true, because it was inspired by God". But here in lies the problem...to have "faith" that the Bible is true seems to completely omit logical thinking, to chalk everything up to "magic" or to say that "God's action are ALWAYS good, no matter how bloody, no matter how seemingly cruel, no matter how hypocritical on a cosmic level they are...because He is God."

To not give consideration to these things is like a person shrugging their shoulders and saying "oh well; it's written in the Bible...no need to think, no need to question". But God gave us a mind to think, to analyze, to wonder. To not use this gift that God gave us is to be like mindless sheep, to become like the robots that He so claims that He does not want us to be.

It is difficult for me to type these things without seeming that I am trying to be insulting, but I promise you that I am not. There is just no other way to "say" them.

I come to the chatroom as a person who is in the pursuit of truth and possible answers, not as a "troll" or a person who is trying to stir up conflict. So if you choose to address this issue, I humbly ask that you please not attack me; that you try not to twist my words around to make them mean something they don't.

For those who may choose to reply, I graciously thank you in advance for your knowledge and wisdom.

The only reason that I do not give specific examples in this post is because doing so would make it entirely too long to read, but these are things which I will mention should this thread demand it.
 
Feb 7, 2015
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#2
I think this is excellent. If you do become a Christian, you will likely be an honest one, who came to follow Christ because you truly understood what you were following. This can't always be said of all Christians.
 
Feb 7, 2015
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#3
One good example of having faith, is to believe that SOMEHOW God either preserved all animal life through the flood, or He restarted some.... despite the fantastic things you read about a big boat.
 

azlightsout

Senior Member
Apr 20, 2016
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#4
I have read the bible about 5 times front to back and some part i still dont understand .
 
C

Chapel

Guest
#6
One good example of having faith, is to believe that SOMEHOW God either preserved all animal life through the flood, or He restarted some.... despite the fantastic things you read about a big boat.
In regards to that; if God saved two of each kind of animal on the ark. Wouldn't a lion eating a zebra, or a gazelle, or any other animal eating another animal, completely wipe out that species? And if God simply "recreated" that particular animal, then saving the animals 2 by 2 would have been pointless in the first place.

Also in regards to the flood...

If man had become so evil that God felt she needed to wipe them all out, then why leave any man living at all? Noah, his children, and all of their descendants, as a human where BORN naturally sinful. The world once again becoming a dark, evil, sinful place was inevitable as long as men maintain his sinful design. If God really wanted to eradicate sin, he would have eradicated man completely, and starting the world over with the way that he originally wanted us to be.

Oh...

So much I want to express!!!!
 
Jun 2, 2016
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#7
I have read the Holy Bible many many times but I have memory problems. The scriptures elude me but the Spirit does not. My heart is very keen to the Spirit and gospel seems to come to voice especially when I am with others. Understanding what you see or perceive to be and then look for answers in the Bible is generally conflict. I tend to look beyond what my eyes cannot see and my heart knows His love and so when I read the stories and passages of the bible my eyes do open up and I smile and just knowing what is written is enough for me to not struggle anymore. Jesus has carried such a burden for us all already and I feel free even though I am not as free as I think here on Earth at least I have Him to pray to and to have a heart to heart because he loves us so much; Much more than we are able to know. How powerful is that!

Keep reading that Bible brethren.

God bless
 
Feb 7, 2015
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#8
In regards to that; if God saved two of each kind of animal on the ark. Wouldn't a lion eating a zebra, or a gazelle, or any other animal eating another animal, completely wipe out that species? And if God simply "recreated" that particular animal, then saving the animals 2 by 2 would have been pointless in the first place.

Also in regards to the flood...

If man had become so evil that God felt she needed to wipe them all out, then why leave any man living at all? Noah, his children, and all of their descendants, as a human where BORN naturally sinful. The world once again becoming a dark, evil, sinful place was inevitable as long as men maintain his sinful design. If God really wanted to eradicate sin, he would have eradicated man completely, and starting the world over with the way that he originally wanted us to be.

Oh...

So much I want to express!!!!
You DO understand that God never intended for us to be perfect, don't you?
 
Feb 7, 2015
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#9
In regards to that; if God saved two of each kind of animal on the ark. Wouldn't a lion eating a zebra, or a gazelle, or any other animal eating another animal, completely wipe out that species? And if God simply "recreated" that particular animal, then saving the animals 2 by 2 would have been pointless in the first place.

Also in regards to the flood...

If man had become so evil that God felt she needed to wipe them all out, then why leave any man living at all? Noah, his children, and all of their descendants, as a human where BORN naturally sinful. The world once again becoming a dark, evil, sinful place was inevitable as long as men maintain his sinful design. If God really wanted to eradicate sin, he would have eradicated man completely, and starting the world over with the way that he originally wanted us to be.

Oh...

So much I want to express!!!!
I noticed.
 

Dan_473

Senior Member
Mar 11, 2014
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#10
from what you've described of yourself, this may be a wise approach

looking at
PSALMS 22:1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?


did God forsake the writer? I say no, but the writer feels forsaken.


so the Bible is a record of people's experiences with God.


the Bible is inspired because God made sure that what was written and preserved was what he wanted us to read.
 

Dan_473

Senior Member
Mar 11, 2014
9,054
1,051
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#11
I have read the Holy Bible many many times but I have memory problems. The scriptures elude me but the Spirit does not. My heart is very keen to the Spirit and gospel seems to come to voice especially when I am with others. Understanding what you see or perceive to be and then look for answers in the Bible is generally conflict. I tend to look beyond what my eyes cannot see and my heart knows His love and so when I read the stories and passages of the bible my eyes do open up and I smile and just knowing what is written is enough for me to not struggle anymore. Jesus has carried such a burden for us all already and I feel free even though I am not as free as I think here on Earth at least I have Him to pray to and to have a heart to heart because he loves us so much; Much more than we are able to know. How powerful is that!

Keep reading that Bible brethren.

God bless

a hearty Amen to that, especially the Spirit and Heart things.
 
C

Chapel

Guest
#12
The "She" was a typo...sorry.

And from reading the Bible, God DOES want us to be perfect....Mathew 5:48. Though He knows we cannot be.
 
C

Chapel

Guest
#13
And he punishes us for not following his word or his rules and regulations perfectly.
 

Blain

The Word Weaver
Aug 28, 2012
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#14
Chapel when you begin to read the bible start with the new testament beginning with the four gospels, the old testament is more meat than milk it shows a side of God that you won't understand until you first read the new testament and actually get to know him
 
Feb 7, 2015
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#15
And he punishes us for not following his word or his rules and regulations perfectly.
If He does that, why does the Bible tell us not to get worked up when we see the "world" doing anything and everything, and getting richer and richer?

No, good and bad, both, come to people all over the world... believers AND unbelievers.


And, BTW, you will hear a lot of people throwing that word, "perfect" around, all day. One of the dangers of getting all hooked up on English translations, and trying to make "LAW" out of certain words we find, is like this word, they don't always mean what we think they do in our modern language.

"Perfect" actually means "complete", leaving nothing out... making sure to do all we understand to do.
 
C

Chapel

Guest
#16
Thank you Blain.

And I will most definitely read the New Testament again. In the first four books though; Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, all give an account of the life and death of Jesus Christ; but some of the accounts are not the same. I fully understand that these are tellings from different perspectives, but still, all of the "facts" should be the same. They are not.
 
Feb 7, 2015
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#18
from what you've described of yourself, this may be a wise approach

looking at
PSALMS 22:1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?


did God forsake the writer? I say no, but the writer feels forsaken.


so the Bible is a record of people's experiences with God.


the Bible is inspired because God made sure that what was written and preserved was what he wanted us to read.
Yes, Chapel, that verse would be an excellent one for you to do some external study on. Even here, many people think Jesus was asking His father why He had deserted Him.... when that is not the meaning nor intent of that verse, at all. In fact, when you discover why He said that, and where He took those exact words from, you will also read that very Psalm (22 BTW) openly and clearly states that Jesus was never forsaken for a moment.

We keep forgetting that the Bible was actually written to an ancient people, and that they knew precisely what Jesus was quoting when He said many things... including that particular statement.
 
Feb 7, 2015
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#19
Willie T....your are awesome brother!
You can easily check out many things like this for yourself. Google is a great tool for understanding many things we are CERTAIN are big problems in the Bible. JUST BE SURE TO READ A VARIETY OF ANSWERS TO YOUR QUESTIONS. There are almost two opposing answers to any question... sometimes more. You DO have to do some thinking, or you can too easily end up like the crazies at Westboro Baptist Church.
 

Dan_473

Senior Member
Mar 11, 2014
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#20
Thank you Blain.

And I will most definitely read the New Testament again. In the first four books though; Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, all give an account of the life and death of Jesus Christ; but some of the accounts are not the same. I fully understand that these are tellings from different perspectives, but still, all of the "facts" should be the same. They are not.

what is it that you're looking for in bible reading? hoping to find?



********************
I don't want to preach to you, but this is what did it for me

ISAIAH 55:1 Ho, every one that is thirsty, come to the waters

JOHN 7:37 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.
JOHN 7:38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.

for me, the living water thing trumps questions about possible contradictions


(which can definitely be interesting to explore)