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10 Questions Intelligent Christians Must Answer

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  • Originally posted by Bosh
    Right, the OT is a lot like the Iliad. If people viewed the OT as "these are the stories that Jesus' people told, some true some biased some pure myth, before he came along and straightened things out" that would make some degree of sense. But it seems that Jesus took the OT a lot more seriously than that. If you consider the OT as an equivalent to the Iliad then a lot of the NT. If you think that there's a real difference between the OT and the Iliad, what is the difference exactly?
    I meant only that they are both examples of the products of folk traditions. My position on scripture is "it might not be perfect, but it's the best source available for the material it covers." Until such time as a report is found which appears genuinely more accurate (as opposed to "more exciting to jerkoffs with conspiracy theories coughNAG HAMMADIcough"), we should make the best of what we have, same as with any other primary source. That's just my opinion, not the church's, mind you.

    I don't freak out when someone claims X or Y did/did not happen; that's the least relevant and important part of scripture anyway. The moral lessons, and the theological underpinnings thereof, are far more valuable. The parts that Jesus "took most seriously" were Mosaic Law, which I imagine were preeeetty accurately passed on, seeing as they were in active use the whole time.

    Bear in mind that, as an Orthodox Christian, I don't have the same...attachment to scripture as Protestants or even Catholics. It's still canon, of course, and used extensively in our services, but we don't have the insistence on literalism because we don't rely on it exclusively. It's regarded as the manifestation of church tradition, which is historically true; the New Testament as we know it didn't exist for the first five hundred years at least. Which books were considered canonical was decided by a slow, informal consensus that took centuries. The early Christians might have had any number of books in their individual churches, some of which may have been not only non-canonical but blatantly heretical.

    WRT the New Testament at least, the church created the concept of scripture based on the tradition it had inherited. Dunno about the OT, since I never took as much interest in it, but my policy's the same: I follow the tradition it represents, while accepting that our account of it might have acquired glitches over the years.
    1011 1100
    Pyrebound--a free online serial fantasy novel

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    • Originally posted by Spiffor
      First I was convinced
      it was a poor effort
      I couldn't imagine
      you so couldn't be arsed like that.

      But then I spent quite a moment
      Just thinking how you worded it
      And I've seen it
      I've seen the irony of it
      I must confess that I do not get the reference, if there is one in that.

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      • Originally posted by Kuciwalker
        I must confess that I do not get the reference, if there is one in that.
        Serious tiredness + starting a post with "First" ==> lame-ass attempts to write something that rhythms like "I will survive"
        "I have been reading up on the universe and have come to the conclusion that the universe is a good thing." -- Dissident
        "I never had the need to have a boner." -- Dissident
        "I have never cut off my penis when I was upset over a girl." -- Dis

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        • I should have picked up on that, actually.

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          • Originally posted by Kuciwalker
            The arguments it puts forward were addressed thousands of years ago.
            And the answer is??///
            //////////////???????///???
            APOSTOLNIK BEANIE BERET BICORNE BIRETTA BOATER BONNET BOWLER CAP CAPOTAIN CHADOR COIF CORONET CROWN DO-RAG FEDORA FEZ GALERO HAIRNET HAT HEADSCARF HELMET HENNIN HIJAB HOOD KABUTO KERCHIEF KOLPIK KUFI MITRE MORTARBOARD PERUKE PICKELHAUBE SKULLCAP SOMBRERO SHTREIMEL STAHLHELM STETSON TIARA TOQUE TOUPEE TRICORN TRILBY TURBAN VISOR WIG YARMULKE ZUCCHETTO

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            • Originally posted by Provost Harrison


              Yeah, whatever...it is because of this kind of nonsense why I am disparaging of religion...
              Oddly, it was because of nonsense from folks like Dawkins that made me more of a believer.
              “As a lifelong member of the Columbia Business School community, I adhere to the principles of truth, integrity, and respect. I will not lie, cheat, steal, or tolerate those who do.”
              "Capitalism ho!"

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