Owen i am on your side in this one. I went to catholic schools for 13 years and it kinda ruined it for me. I still claim to be catholic just so i don't have to hear it from everybody about not believing in God. i seen some pretty f**ked up things happen so i have a hard time believing it. What really pisses me off more is seeing people who claim to be "religious" they go to church then do drugs and have sex with random people the same day. I'm not saying i will never find God but i am saying right now, I am not buying it. i will never tell anything to anyone about their beliefs about God. So don't try and push you beliefs on me.

Well ....... In the beginin' ..... God created all. Man (Adam) and Woman (Miss Eve) .... thay sinned against God .... purdy well screwed it up fo all of us ........

Thats just the way it is ..... I ain't pushin' nuthin' on none of ya'lls ...... I'm on ya'lls side 'bout it bein' a purdy dawg-gone mess we have here on planet Earth ..... I'm screwed, he's screwed, she's screwed ...... But ..... thru the salvation and forgiveness of our Heavenly Father ..... we gots a sho-nuff good deal that awaits us ....... Ain't no-body gots a very good concept on what it is gonna be ..... but I do believe and it is free to all that accept .... do it sho-nuff put the change on everyone that believes .... I don't thank so ..... but it will give that person a position to be who he is ....

Good Luck to ya'lls and it's mines desire that We all can come to a better understandin' ......

DMD, you seem to be a sensible guy by the posts I've read you typing on. You've caught some ridicule for just speaking for that of reason. You seem like a good guy. You would fit in good here in East Texas where we might just beat you with the bible . It gives me great sadness to read what you previously typed. I pray that you experience something truly divine in your life. Tell does this make your scratch your head to know that someone that does not even know you genuinely wishes for the best things to come in your life? A life of the flesh without hope is not much of a life at all, is it? My hope is that you think back to these words typed one day soon and say WOW!!

For the other comments made on thread. Most you guys are still young, as many on this forum much older and wiser than I will agree, but your perspective will absolutely change in ten or so years.

The story Brooks is typing about is worth reading whether you are a believer or not. Adam and Eve, and the sins against God.

DMD no worries on the long post you spoke your mind very well. Mass religion and tv evangelist make it very hard to tell someone about religion. Alot of so called religions are way to happy go lucky and make promises that the bible or God dont back up. This is a very touchy subject and even harder being typed and not talked but the Lord never promises us greatness here on earth or wealth or health as alot would have us to believe. I try to live my life right and believe me I fall short but even if i was perfect does not guarntee me a great life here on earth the reward is in heaven. If and when you decide you wanna get some spiritualness in your life find you a small congregation of believers and dont take any mans word for what the bible teaches read it for yourself and if you find fault with what is being taught talk to the teacher and correct him or him correct you. I hate to hear people say that they have there interpretation of the word that just cant be so it was written with one meaning for us to live by.

Ok deal

Lets hear what he has to say and try to come to an understanding before such comments whether true or not.

Maybe so. If I read a book that was in great of length as the Bible and thought it was contradicting. I will be able to give you multiple reasons/examples of why I thought it to be contradicting. I would not have to Google search it. Sounds to me like something that was heard said.

Trying to spend a little time with my wife while the kiddo is away. I dont have to google search anything. No need to get defensive. I just had to sit the through the movie "blue valentine", have a little sympothy.

And yes I will have to do some research to get the exact readings, but alot of the stuff in genesis is contradicting, and well as how long certain events took place. How many sons did abraham have?

8

In Owen's defense, I have to say that there is nothing wrong with using other's information as a basis for learning about stuff like this. Most of what makes me raise my eyebrows has come from what other people discovered, not myself, and in a day where information is everywhere, you'd be dumb not to use it to open windows. Almost all of what we know has been learned from those before and around us.

alright so 3 years of high school theology classes have jammed in most of the answers to yalls questions. first ,the reason the stories of genesis and other early old testament stories are not true or historical and are not meant to be taken literally. they are symbolic and need studying to figure these out. not sure who it was but whoever asked why peter didnt have a book in the bible was none of the apostles actually wrote any books. those who lived around the time of jesus and were witnesses believed that the judgement day Jesus was speaking of was coming soon after his death so they didnt write it down and just preached about it. as years went on and witnesses began to die off people started writing the books based on oral tradition. these writings were later sorted through by the church and compiled into books. muddawgchuck is right, the old and new testament do harmonize but to completely understand this it takes going to a year of scripture classes taught by a priest and im pretty sure not many people would volunteer for that. i can probably answer more of yalls questions if ya need any to be answered.
believe what you wanna believe and dont push beliefs on others im just trying to straighten out some misconceptions. and theres your daily theology lesson

Are the classes in theology that you speak of based on bible or science? Because bible and science of it are to me, two different schools of thought. Btw this is a real question. Not trying to corner you or anything.

Hagar was Abrahams wife...so why would ishmael not be considered his son?

Jacob saw god face to face
Moses as well
I forget who it was that said they saw God sitting on his throne in heaven
Job saw God, but im not sure in what form
Isaiah also saw the lord sitting on his throne
Amos saw God
There are also alot of references to God having hands

Hagar was his second wife. Sarah agreed to let him have a son with her because Sarah was barren. Hagar started off as a handmaiden to Sarah from egypt. Yes Ishmael is Abraham's son but not his son with Sarah who was part of the covenant with God. Before the sacrificing of Isaac Abraham sent Hagar and Ishmael away because Ishmael was mocking Isaac so he was also the only son with Abraham at that time.

Seeing God face to face does not mean he has bones. I dont really remember how Jacob experienced God but its been a while since ive studied that and its summer so i kinda forget some of the stuff i learned. also dont remember Moses experiencing God face to face just the bush. most of what i remember is God revealing himself through dreams or in spirit like as a voice or something like that.

haha so if your mad at your son and you "send him away" then he isnt your son anymore?

In Exodus is says.... Athe lord spoke unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend

By the way I love talking about this stuff, I find it fascinating.

whats the difference between a cult and religion?

The only connection between Jesus and David Koresh was God used the FBI to burn his ass alive!

You all realize that the Bible is nothing more than a reader's digest of oral stories, written down by men who molded the stories to conform to their own beliefs in that historical time context. They had no rational explanation for what was happening to them and the earth and things in general, so they made up a theme that could apply to all of it. We call it fiction today. A body disappears from a vault, so there must be supernatural stuff going on. Because writing in general was a new, advanced form of communication, anything that was written was given great importance, but which if written today would be fleeting, at best. There are many more "stories" that didn't make it into the "Bible" which we are only discovering now that contradict the Bible stories. Nevertheless, the Bible is still a good outline of how we should treat each other. Just don't take it too literally.

Here's what I don't understands ....

Fellers like Dguidrey, Owen, DDB, and DMD .... ya'lls type like ya'lls can actually .. "see out-side the box". Ya'lls appear on the typetalkin' forum to be somewhat educated, expirenced, intelligent, with alot of mentallty ........ mabe thats part of the problem ...... ya'lls git all off into a "logical" type reasonin' of thangs ..... Ya'll have all admitted to puttin' the Google to work fo you, in-which "man" wrote ...... Ya'lls typed 'bout carbon datein' ... once again .. "mans" handy work and so forth.

I'm a very simple minded indiviual which may be a blessin' .......

The cult in Waco, the mother here in East-Texas that bashed her kids haid in with a rock, the mother in Houston who drowned her kids ...... all based on some form of religion .....

I nor anybody else can really explain these tragic events other than it is some of the extreme "Sins" of our planet. It's always been goin' on and it will continue until the second comin' of Christ. Period. Except it. Enjoy it. Study it. Teach it.

Ya'lls have been blessed with such a talent ...... Do not waste it ..... and dang sho-nuff don't deprive yore children of it !!!

I'm sorry ........ but Mallards are Mallards ..... Skwerrls are Skwerrls .... and Christ Jesus is in fact the Son of Man. He is the way that yore soul will git to the Promised Land. You Will See ... Someday .....

But at some point if I do see the light and honestly believe, and god does exist, and I ask for forgiveness of my blasphemy and disbelief, then I will in fact be forgiven. Or so the bible says, but heaven will not last forever.