Lots of people claim to believe the Bible. Some even claim to have read it. But most are ignorant of the different types of material in the Bible, when the various "books" were written, who wrote them, or what the Bible actually teaches.
Everyone without exception, including those who read the Bible literally and believe the Bible contains no error of any kind and is God's unchanging word to the world, takes the bits and pieces from the Bible which suits them and ignores other bits and pieces which doesn't fit into their theology.
"From the Sources" will be an occasional study in which we do little more than quote from the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament; from the actual sources.
You might be surprised.
[Note: Quotations are from The New English Bible]
FTS 1
Leviticus 3:12-17 - This section of Leviticus discusses how to deal with animals brought as sacrifices to the Lord.
If a man brings a goat as an offering to be sacrificed to the Lord, the fat from the entrails, the two kidneys, and all the other fat must be burned as a pleasing odor to the Lord.
v. 17 - “The priest shall burn this at the altar … All fat belongs to the Lord. This is a rule for all time, from generation to generation wherever you live: you shall not eat any fat or any blood.”
[Notice there’s no disclaimer about a later human sacrifice by a certain Jesus which would nullify this “rule for all time.”]
So, you must obey if you care about pleasing God.
Matthew 5:17ff - Jesus said, “Do not suppose [as St. Paul taught] that I have come to abolish the Law and the prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to complete. I tell you this: so long as heaven and earth endure, not a letter, not a stroke, will disappear from the Law until all that must happen has happened.”
That’s pretty clear. Those who do not keep the entire law will, Jesus says, “have the lowest place in the kingdom of Heaven, whereas anyone who keeps the Law, and teaches others so, will stand high in the kingdom of Heaven."
If you are a Christian, you must ask yourself if you’ve been keeping the Law. And you cannot claim that Paul said his Christ superseded the Law and the Law was no longer in effect, because Paul, nothing more than an itinerant preacher, cannot nullify the teachings of Jesus, the Lord!
We'll find another surprise as we go along. Paul wrote several of the earliest books in the New Testament. The Gospels were created a generation or more later. Paul knows essentially nothing about Jesus' life and ministry and shows no interest in it. Which is probably one reason there are so many contradictions between what Paul taught and what Jesus taught. Of course, Paul never met Jesus and never knew him and the Gospels hadn't been written when he was wandering the Mediterranean preaching about his "Christ," so he was at a disadvantage.
5 comments:
Saul became Paul
before Christ became white
James said "my brother,
led by the light"
Saul said the form
was the absolute way
With blood on his hands
he led them astray
Avatars and shaman
priests and the prophets
All tip a cap
but some merely doff it
Welcome back to blogging!!
They don't even pay attention to what contradicts the other stuff.
I read your poem "Gold"--thanks, I enjoyed it.
Dear Blogger,
Why do you confuse us with facts and contradictions? Every word in every written bible is God’s word.
we all know HE wrote in English with a special writing instrument HE created to write on stone. He originally gave the first copy to some unknown Jews, as Jews wrote and read HIS language. In later years, others wrote in their own vernacular and, changed anything they did not like, but most people couldn’t read or understand what it all meant. They left the meaning to be explained by their Roman rulers and leaders, who decreed them to be holy words, enforced by the rulers. They were all adult men, many dominated by their sex starved mistresses, They got rid of circumcision, allowed bacon, and other tasty products from pigs especially all meat hot dogs, and reduced the forbidden dietary laws and eventually got rid of them. They sat around drinking wine and the subject of sex came up, so the changed a lot of rules to fit in with their own shared fantasies, so they could control others or condemn other’s activities to spread their own preferences. Soon they empowered Lay leaders to grant special favors so guilt could be forgiven by them for small donations to their favorite charities. That is how the term, “charity begins at home” came about and the Golden rule was changed to “ do unto others what you would like to do to them and vice versa, preferably in private. Confession was started to spread the word on anything that seemed to be generally enjoyed and shared by friends. The unexpected consequences led to the spread of some unpleasant diseases and led to new branches of medicine. It also led to the creation of thousands of different religious rules being improved in the Americas and the spread of Anti Semitism, as Jews tried to keep the teachings of Jesus alive within their own religion by marrying only Jews, which led to the goal of the Romans, and all under their rule, of getting rid of the Jews, It worked well but eventually a more popular morality began to spread around the world. The French began to write “forbidden” books and they spread to every land, with pictures, as literacy began to spread worldwide. It even reached the Orient when Marco Polo smuggled them into China and that led to exporting to the New world and eventually California and Hollywood, It is probably responsible for the growth of video as inventors sought new markets. This has led to the modern world we know today and the decline of old time religion and growth of birth control. Entire new branches of medicine specialized in behavioral behavior with emphasis on erectile problems, to be cured by ladies on TV offering advice and possibly services soon. The new national anthem being promoted is “Happy Days are here again”
Welcome back to MJ too! It’s good to know there are still many smart people left who also vote!
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