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Post by xpistissopheiax on Mar 28, 2014 23:56:30 GMT -5
to someone that the Bible isn't perfect? I can't think of a really great way to explain it without sounding like a jerk. Or maybe is there any particular contradiction that you find so glaringly obvious that is really hard to try to explain way?
I don't really think it's necessarily something I need to do, but if someone is teaching a lot of the demi-urge it does seem appropriate.
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Post by Soulgazer on Mar 29, 2014 18:01:19 GMT -5
No, there is absolutely no way. I have tried the contradictions, the scholarship and the history, all to no avail. It's called "cognitve dissonance", when a person's belief in something is so great that evidence to the contrary actually reinforces the belief.
We, as Christian Gnostics, and this is just my opinion, are here to catch the sleepers as they awake. It's up to God to wake them.
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Post by phantasman on Mar 30, 2014 11:03:02 GMT -5
I have found that the best I can come up with is that the Bible shows us how to find the perfect truth, in a world of imperfection. Since the Bible is in an imperfect world (Aeon), it cannot be the only perfection in it. But it does teach us how to obtain perfect knowledge, which resides in the spirit (Aeon). Words are physical, messages spiritual. We seek the latter, which cannot be changed (by men).
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Post by xpistissopheiax on Mar 30, 2014 16:43:29 GMT -5
Someone on my Facebook was ranting about how "unChristian" and un-Biblical the new "Noah" movie was. I pointed out the news article about the Babylonian tablet that has an older version of the story where the ark is round and the "gods" are trying to kill mankind b/c they are too noisy. Their response was that Moses obviously knew about it or something >_< I think you're right, if someone wants to believe something there like this there is just no getting them to even consider another perspective.
Is there any reason in particular that Protestants are so dead-set on believing that everything in the Bible is 100% literal history? Is this because of tensions between Catholics and Protestants? Or is there another reason for this?
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Post by Soulgazer on Mar 31, 2014 8:54:08 GMT -5
Someone on my Facebook was ranting about how "unChristian" and un-Biblical the new "Noah" movie was. I pointed out the news article about the Babylonian tablet that has an older version of the story where the ark is round and the "gods" are trying to kill mankind b/c they are too noisy. Their response was that Moses obviously knew about it or something >_< I think you're right, if someone wants to believe something there like this there is just no getting them to even consider another perspective. Is there any reason in particular that Protestants are so dead-set on believing that everything in the Bible is 100% literal history? Is this because of tensions between Catholics and Protestants? Or is there another reason for this? It has it's roots with Martin Luther, and has been growing ever since. Historically, it is important to remember that in it's inception the Bible was compiled by Catholics to promote catholicism, under the ultimate authority of the Bishop of Rome who was then part of the government of one of the most powerful empires the world had ever seen. "heresy" wasn't just a theological difference of opinion, it was treason against the Empire itself. In the Sixteenth century, the empire was gone, and the only remains of it's absolute power was the Church in Rome, which now had no teeth except for psychological intimidation; the bugeoning Protestant Catholic movement was well versed in these tactics, being started by Priests. Having Seperated themselves from Rome, they no longer could call the traditional cry of "the Pope says", but instead COULD make a minor adjustment and say "The Bible says". When here in the americas, the uneducated evangelists spread "the word", ---- the old Catholic priests of the previous centuries knew very well, having access to vast libraries, which testimonies in the New Testament were questionable, the differences between the Septuagint and the Hebrew, and the differences in multiple interpretations, but the new evangelists did not----- however, they had inhereted by osmosis the phrase of authority of their predecessors "the Bible says". |
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Post by phantasman on Mar 31, 2014 11:08:29 GMT -5
I agree. We always assume that when we hear that God created the heavens and the earth, we see the earth as this orb in space with nations all over it. But the mindset of the time was that the earth was a plane with all things above it and below it. A flat land surrounded by sea. Where the sun and stars moved around us. They may see the earth covered in water, where it would be hard for us to imagine it now. I'm sure the advent of exploration may have had some toll on beliefs.
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Post by Soulgazer on Mar 31, 2014 13:31:39 GMT -5
I agree. We always assume that when we hear that God created the heavens and the earth, we see the earth as this orb in space with nations all over it. But the mindset of the time was that the earth was a plane with all things above it and below it. A flat land surrounded by sea. Where the sun and stars moved around us. They may see the earth covered in water, where it would be hard for us to imagine it now. I'm sure the advent of exploration may have had some toll on beliefs. The sad part of the lower american form of Christianity, is that it indoctrinates adherents to look down upon education; thus we have many americans who have no idea of the mechanics of the solar system, and a mistrust of science in general. Many scientist are accused of "trying to diminish Gawd's word" in their daily pursuit of knowledge, happily going about their business with no awareness of the sentiment against them, while their detractors are convinced that they are part of some great Satanic conspiracy. |
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Post by xpistissopheiax on Mar 31, 2014 19:41:20 GMT -5
I agree. We always assume that when we hear that God created the heavens and the earth, we see the earth as this orb in space with nations all over it. But the mindset of the time was that the earth was a plane with all things above it and below it. A flat land surrounded by sea. Where the sun and stars moved around us. They may see the earth covered in water, where it would be hard for us to imagine it now. I'm sure the advent of exploration may have had some toll on beliefs. The sad part of the lower american form of Christianity, is that it indoctrinates adherents to look down upon education; thus we have many americans who have no idea of the mechanics of the solar system, and a mistrust of science in general. Many scientist are accused of "trying to diminish Gawd's word" in their daily pursuit of knowledge, happily going about their business with no awareness of the sentiment against them, while their detractors are convinced that they are part of some great Satanic conspiracy. Attacking science has got to be a losing battle in the long run. |
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Post by phantasman on Apr 3, 2014 8:28:12 GMT -5
The sad part of the lower american form of Christianity, is that it indoctrinates adherents to look down upon education; thus we have many americans who have no idea of the mechanics of the solar system, and a mistrust of science in general. Many scientist are accused of "trying to diminish Gawd's word" in their daily pursuit of knowledge, happily going about their business with no awareness of the sentiment against them, while their detractors are convinced that they are part of some great Satanic conspiracy. Attacking science has got to be a losing battle in the long run. I find it interesting. Maybe because I see a difference between matter and spirit. Matter (Universe) appears so large. But we haven't even experienced the true spiritual, which may be a billion times larger in what the mind conceives, not necessarily in three dimensional distance. Then there is the God Particle. How small can a make up go? How tiny can a seed be? If all of this matter was created by gods, they were very complex. We obtained the ability to figure out the complexity in Eden, and understand the ignorance of it as well. Now, to imagine that the perfect Father is beyond all of that...........is another matter. One that seems incomprehensible. |
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