I'm literally quoting Scripture, not relying on my own understanding as you do.


Everything is lawful to me.
1 Corin 10

"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?"

Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
Matthew 22

I suppose you must ignore these Scriptures to apply your judgemental lens?

I know the Scriptures, and I know what Jesus has called me to do. Your insistence that it is the opposite is just noise, not bearing out in truth.

Yes, the Bible changes the rules in the middle of the New Testament, but I consider that to be another point against the Bible's credibility. It says that cursed is he who changes a single dot of the scripture, and Jesus says he has come not to change the law, but to fulfill it. But now the religion is starting to spread to the Gentiles, and the church realizes some of their laws are making it hard for new believers, which limits their growth. What to do? Oh, I know! Let's change God's perfect law, so the Gentiles don't have to circumcise themselves as adults to join and such.

That seems pretty transparent to me. They wanted their religion to spread faster, so they made it more accessible. And if the old laws weren't necessary, why the Hell did God demand them in the first place? Is he perfect or not? Did the omniscient, timeless God of the universe change his mind?

The Bible is the Spirit's attempt to impact the physical realities. That is, humans are far more brutal in our past--we had issues of infant sacrifice, rampant murders, etc. The Torah Rules deal with addressing human actions. It was relational, dependant upon the situations unfolding as described. (Plus, the very important point that 1. Jesus fulfilled the law, so ALL I have to do to follow God is to follow Jesus. Which is to love God and love others. And 2. The Bible is full of parable and allegory.)

We need the whole story, fall and redemption. We need to strive for that redemption (the verses concerning the specific laws are about this, among other things) before we can fully understand that there is nothing we can do to deserve it, earn it. It is simply ours because it's been given to us, simple forgiveness. We can do nothing to lose access nor is anything required to experience that Oneness. All we can do is accept and experience. And, I think many have sipped and even gulped at that Life Water without knowing its name.

What is God? Love. What is love? That's something I ponder and delight in the many answers I find.

It's easy to call God the personification of love when you dismiss every example of his bloodthirsty and irrational behavior as allegory.

It is in the Oneness of the covenant between god, the spirits and man that true beauty is revealed to be as deep as the waters of an endless multiverse of platitudes, and Depok Chproaisms. This has been shown to me to be true; for just look at the birds and flowers and there is no need to wash one's hands before eating for that is as meaningful as a barren fig tree. Jesus IS love and love is Jesus. The symmetry is undeniable. 

Quote from: Blackleaf on April 11, 2023, 02:51:30 PMIt's easy to call God the personification of love when you dismiss every example of his bloodthirsty and irrational behavior as allegory.

Sounds like the personification of love to me. What kind of fucked up love did you get?

Quote from: Blackleaf on April 11, 2023, 02:51:30 PMIt's easy to call God the personification of love when you dismiss every example of his bloodthirsty and irrational behavior as allegory.

I have found humans to be bloodthirsty. And highly irrational.

I know God as much more than words. I can speak of my direct experience as much as to the Bible. God reveals mysteries even today, and it has always been just as easy to claim to be God's speaker as it is now, leaving it up to us to separate the wheat from the chaff.

However, is this underlying implication that I must be interpreting Scripture wrong, wrought from a stance of knowledge (I know exactly what is literal and what is figurative), in an attempt to demonstrate a futility (it is unknowable what is literal or figurative and therefore pointless at best and lying at worst), or some other supposition?

Quote from: the_antithesis on April 11, 2023, 11:41:31 PMSounds like the personification of love to me.

 🤦

YOU are the personification of love.

Quote from: Dreamer on April 12, 2023, 12:54:05 AMYOU are the personification of love.

I really hate that notion.

Quote from: the_antithesis on April 12, 2023, 02:11:19 AMI really hate that notion.

I couldn't resist sharing my thoughts when I read that. Realizing it was you, my friend, is icing on the cake.

I know elves and wizards as much more than words. I can speak of my direct experience as much as to the Trilogy. Gandal reveals mysteries even today, and it has always been just as easy to claim to be His speaker as it is now, leaving it up to us to separate the wheat from the chaff. As Gandalf says "I have found that it is the small everyday deed of ordinary folks that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love."

Quote from: Dreamer on April 12, 2023, 12:45:44 AMGod reveals mysteries even today,

Still befuddled by a woman's menstrual cycle....LOL...quite the god you fancy as all knowing.......

Quote from: Cassia on April 12, 2023, 07:27:55 AMI know elves and wizards as much more than words. I can speak of my direct experience as much as to the Trilogy. Gandal reveals mysteries even today, and it has always been just as easy to claim to be His speaker as it is now, leaving it up to us to separate the wheat from the chaff. As Gandalf says "I have found that it is the small everyday deed of ordinary folks that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love."

How apt to note the deep Roman Catholic roots of Tolkien so evident in Middle Earth.

The Lord of the Rings was a fundamentally religious and Catholic work; unconsciously so at first, but consciously in the revision.

Quote from: aitm on April 12, 2023, 08:33:59 AMStill befuddled by a woman's menstrual cycle....LOL...quite the god you fancy as all knowing......

I'm fucking befuddled by a woman's menstrual cycle. 😆 That bitch waltzes in whenever she wants, bogarts chocolate and ice cream, and generally screws up plans.

Humans had screwed up ideas about it, and God appealed for more grace. Of course the message was skewed in the translation.

C'mon, people can't even agree on things that are on recorded video.

The Bible isn't magical; it is not impervious to human interference. And that is true at every point, from thought to writing to transacting, translating, reproducing...

 

When I was a Messianic Jew, my best friend was as well. I was 12; she was 14. Our crimson tides were brutal, with endometriosis and ovarian cysts. One week, when we were both cursed with a visit from Aunt Flo, we decided to impose our own form of isolation upon ourselves.

We sang and danced, threw popcorn at each other, ate chocolate and cookies, and read through those verses again. We realized that, perhaps, this was a way to allow women a brief reprieve from their usual duties. Yes, it's absurd that some men were so freaked out about cleanliness and menstruation that women were referred to as unclean at this time. But how does a woman in ancient times, beset with such an affliction as my friend had, find the time, resources, and ability to care for her needs, in a violent and patriarchal society? What if he thinks that she needs time to be clean so she doesn't fuck up HIS world and body?

People are still fuckered about menstruation. It's us, not God.