Christianity ruins families.

[MrFun]

Sounds *exactly* like every single atheist I've ever known. Out of all the people I've ever met (Jews, Muslims, Christians, liberals, conservatives, etc) atheists are hands down the most hateful of the bunch. So, by your logic atheism = hatred & intolerance.

I could also, but your same logic, conclude that if I ever met an atheist who *wasn't* full of hate that he must not *really* be an atheist.

But of course I'm not an idiot, so I don't jump to such short-sighted conclusions.

QFT

[Jon Miller]

No. You are only called to serve God's will and worship him:

Matthew 28:18-20
And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.

Mark 16:15-16
And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

Mark 6:11
And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear you, when ye depart thence, shake off the dust under your feet for a testimony against them. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment, than for that city.


For you to claim that you can determine your own means of serving God... is that humility?

You are doing the wrong of the fundamentalist. Quoting verses, and not understanding the narrative.

Jeremiah 10:23
O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself, it is not in man who walks to direct his own steps.




Note the sequence of events... the golden calf was built and worshiped while Moses was receiving the Commandments. The people of Israeli had not yet received the prohibition against idolatry yet they were punished for a crime they did not yet know was a crime!

They still had instructions from Moses (and before...) which they were not obeying. The 10 commandments was a particular list of instructions "This is what is important for you". Not some crazy, never before told to them, new statements.

yes.

Deuteronomy 13:6-10
If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers;
Namely, of the gods of the people which are round about you, nigh unto thee, or far off from thee, from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth;
Thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him:
But thou shalt surely kill him; thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people.
And thou shalt stone him with stones, that he die; because he hath sought to thrust thee away from the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.

Or take Aquinas in Summa Theologica:
I answer that, With regard to heretics two points must be observed: one, on their own side; the other, on the side of the Church. On their own side there is the sin, whereby they deserve not only to be separated from the Church by excommunication, but also to be severed from the world by death. For it is a much graver matter to corrupt the faith which quickens the soul, than to forge money, which supports temporal life. Wherefore if forgers of money and other evil-doers are forthwith condemned to death by the secular authority, much more reason is there for heretics, as soon as they are convicted of heresy, to be not only excommunicated but even put to death.

Why don't you understand the narrative in the Bible, instead of just quoting versus you don't understand?

And yes, there are lots of different views by theologians. That is because religion is complicated and difficult to understand like science/joyce/faulkner/etc, not simple like Dick and Jane/etc.

JM

[Ben Kenobi]

For you to claim that you can determine your own means of serving God... is that humility?

Everyone has their own callings, that's a reference to Ephesians 4:16. Christ is the head, and we are the Body of Christ. As the body has many different functions so does the body of Christ. Think of it like cells in the body.

Note the sequence of events... the golden calf was built and worshiped while Moses was receiving the Commandments. The people of Israeli had not yet received the prohibition against idolatry yet they were punished for a crime they did not yet know was a crime!

Wrong. They were told in the time of Abraham, "you will be my people, and I will be your God".

As for deuteronomy,

But thou shalt surely kill him; thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people.

Romans 12:19-21

Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head

As for Aquinas, he was wrong that heretics, those who have turned against God should be killed. Excommunication, expulsion from the body of Christ is both necessary for manifest unrepetent sinners, and sufficient.

[Al B. Sure!]

Ben:

Why the contradiction between Romans 12:19-21 and Deuteronomy 13:6-10?

And you still haven't responded to Jeremiah 10:23. How are you not directing your own steps by determining how to serve God? There is only one way to serve God and that is by worshiping Him, spreading His Word, and following His laws and commandments.

[Jon Miller]

Ben:

Why the contradiction between Romans 12:19-21 and Deuteronomy 13:6-10?

And you still haven't responded to Jeremiah 10:23. How are you not directing your own steps by determining how to serve God? There is only one way to serve God and that is by worshiping Him, spreading His Word, and following His laws and commandments.

You are reading verses and not understanding. There isn't a contradiction (I agree that there would be if they were both the words of people of God at the same time/place/audience, but they aren't).

JM

[Ben Kenobi]

Why the contradiction between Romans 12:19-21 and Deuteronomy 13:6-10?

There's no contradiction. Deuteronomy applies to the Israelites. Are you an Israelite? No.

Then Romans applies. The Israelites are God's chosen people. We are not. We do not have their rights granted to them in the OT.
'

And you still haven't responded to Jeremiah 10:23. How are you not directing your own steps by determining how to serve God? There is only one way to serve God and that is by worshiping Him, spreading His Word, and following His laws and commandments.

Where did I say that I chose my calling? I didn't. Christ chooses your calling.

[Al B. Sure!]

Where did I say that I chose my calling? I didn't. Christ chooses your calling.

And how does he do that?

[Ben Kenobi]

And how does he do that?

Everyone has their talents and their spiritual gifts.

Then he provides an opportunity for you to use them.

[Al B. Sure!]

Everyone has their talents and their spiritual gifts.

Then he provides an opportunity for you to use them.

And this is not directing your own steps, how?

[Princess Peach]

Everyone has their talents and their spiritual gifts.

Then he provides an opportunity for you to use them.

Was your gift the gift of trolling and creating stupid arguments? You are very good at it. Good thing Christ let you have access to the internet.

[DaShi]

Bad form. Princess Peach should relate everything to Super Mario Bros.

[giblets]

Was your gift the gift of trolling and creating stupid arguments? You are very good at it. Good thing Christ let you have access to the internet.

It's all part of His plan to make His followers look like a bunch of morons.

[Ben Kenobi]

Albert.

Some people have god-given talents. They can sing. They can play baseball. They are intelligent and quick learners.

This has nothing to do with us, and what we choose for ourselves. This is what we get to work with. These are called 'talents'. God asks us to look at these as gifts, that someone who has considerable talents will be expected to make more of them than someone who does not have as many. However everyone gets something.

Then there are spiritual gifts. These include things like speaking in tongues and interpretation. These are in 1 Corinthians 12:27-30. There's a whole list of them.

Wisdom
Knowledge
Discerning of spirits
Speaking in tongues
Interpretation of tongues
Prophecy
Faith
Working of miracles
Healing

These are supernatural gifts.

Everyone has some form of these. They can also be acquired in a shadowy sense through study and prayer and application over time. There are examples of people who have manifested a particular gift and then lost a particular gift, in the sense that it is no longer manifest.

Your calling, is a particular occupation, which applies both your god-given talents and your spiritual gifts. There's a process called discernment that we all go through to gain better knowledge and understanding of our own abilities, as well as their proper use.

I'm not a spiritual director Albert. But yes, God can and does call us to certain tasks.

[Ben Kenobi]

Was your gift the gift of trolling and creating stupid arguments? You are very good at it. Good thing Christ let you have access to the internet.

I'm sorry. I'm not going to tell you what mine is. This is very personal.

[Asher]

He gives tremendous priest head.