Whatislove, as I read a couple of your most recent posts, though I didn't go back far still since it's late, it seems like I'm hearing conflicts. You read the bible but don't know if you believe...if Im right.
Sometimes we read the bible but we don't really study it. This is what I mean. Take the scripture where Jesus approached the fig tree....Matt. 21:19. When you read that, you may wonder why jesus cursed the fig tree. However, if you study and compare it you will see why. When Jesus approached the tree it had leaves and looked good....after when he approached the church, it looked good from a distance also. The tree didn't bare any fruit and the church wasn't baring any good fruit either....study it and you will see more correlations.
We sometimes have to really look and see what Jesus is teaching us. Jesus cursed the fig tree and he cursed the church because they were not bearing any good fruit.
Also, you said walking blindly. I don't walk blindly, I walk by faith. I have faith that what Jesus taught is the truth and it will be the light to my feet that guides me daily so that I don't step off the path and into satan's ditch. I walk by faith knowing that God is love and that I am loved by the beloved. I walk by faith knowing that when I do, my savior will be there for me and I will go to be with God and Jesus at the throne, just as the bible promises me. I walk by faith...knowing that God is my savior, my king and my father. I walk by faith knowing that I am the bride of Christ. I also walk by faith knowing that Jesus died on that cross so that I will be set free from sin and I can go before the throne cleansed and a pure, spotless bride.
I have read the bible. Once purely to understand the writing styles and direct meanings, and the second time was for study. I used my own interpretation and read forums and looked for better understanding when the text was confusing. I downloaded a Hebrew bible and translator to have a better understanding of certain passages from their more original language. (I know it wasn't all originally written in one language, but most of it was. )
As for faith, that's the issue.
Currently, I certainly don't believe in God(s) or the afterlife, etc.
Jesus existed, but all the miracles, divine beings, etc. in both the new and old testament are open to interpretation and which have no grounds in fact, or secondary verification (i.e. oter unassociated writers of texts)
Proposal...
If I were a writer writing about something/someone I believed to be amazing (figuratively or literally), what else would be more convincing or amazing than a miracle or miraculous events? If I believed in God, what better way to prove a super-natural being than super-natural events. Once stories are spread by text or by word, somethings can chang, and in the art of story telling most people can accept that stories are often if not always embellished to draw the attention of others.
We see this in other faiths i.e. Greek Mythology, Hinduism, Aboriginal/Native Faiths etc. etc.
I can agree with most of the events of the bible, but none of the miracles of (esp.) the old and the new testament.
Note: Christianity became much more prevalent amongst people of that time, long after the crusafixtion.
If I can't believe the miracles of the bible...
firstly, because there is no secondary verification of any of them.
secondly, because miracles do not (have not) occured today and been verified
thirdly, because Christianity is just like every other religion in terms of miraculous events and spiritual beings. The cannot be proven or disproven.
If this is what is required to become a religion, I could start my own:
Checklist:
Unverifiable source of inspiration and teachings. (Superman, spoke with me about the overworld.)
Check
Fellowship. (Comic book readers.)
Check
Some rules about good human/civilsed conduct.
"Live as you'd wish others to live amongst you"
Check
There you have it, my new religion.
It needs a name though...
I think I'll call it Marvelism. (Isn't it Marvel-ous? It teaches people to do good things, what could be better?)
It's the only way to eternity in the overworld, because you don't want to end up in the underworld with the Green Goblin and Kryptonium.
To join please give your heart and praise to the overGod, and thanks be to Superman for sharing this info. with us.
(I chose Marvel, because it's recent popularity at the movies.)
New Testament Logic
Prophecy (from old testament)
Jesus fills phrophecy
Jesus claims to be the son of the God from the old testament.
Jesus supposedly preforms miracles
Jesus dies on the cross.
Miracle, he supposedly rises again.
Therefore God exists, based on a singular source of potential heresay. Based on this (I don't care how many adherents a religions has) Marvelism is a realistic alternative to Christianity because there is no way of proving it's not a legimate belief.
As for your information about being a bride of christ, wonderful, but that's irrelevant discussion.
. That is logical and won't fail (or at least, I haven't see it fail). And THAT fails, I'd probably ask God what to do, perform some sort of miracle that couldn't be explained by any human means, and there you go.
