Questions by Non-Christians (Archived)This forum is for non-believers seeking to know more about Christianity. This forum is NOT for Apologetics or debates.
What would you guys say the best translation of the Bible is? .
I am not a expert on the translations of the bible, but i personally prefer the King James version and the New international version. At www.biblegateway.com you can read the bible in any version.
There is a lot to learn. I suggest (if your interested) that you start at the gospels,and then study the Messianic passages(the prophecies of the coming of the Messiah) to get a basic knowledge of the bible.
May i suggest the book "Messiainc Christology", by Dr. Fruchtenbaum?
Saying something is "just that simple" is not exactly a good thing. In my eyes, calling any religion simple .... is belittling, you are degrading your own religion. Because of this, if there is not already a "Dummies Guide To Christianity," you can bet there will be.
There are many levels of understanding anything; e.g. One could say that one can send a rocket into space by accelerating it to such a speed and in such an orbit that the centrifugal force balances the force of gravity. As far as I know that is more or less true, but please don't ask me to actually do it!! On a more practical level it is actually far more complicated.
So too with Christianity; what Kamtre wrote is true and a workable introduction for someone wanting to get started. Simple? Of course simple. But how else does one start. It is to be hoped that people will go on form there to grow in both understanding through their lives.
For a really basic start how about: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3.16) Or on another level try a large systematic theology textbook. The fact is they are both ultimately true.
Last edited by mark2; 10th October 2005 at 06:40 PM.
What I should tell people is to read the gospels and all the other new testament stuff about Jesus, and then dicide what to do according to just what is in there.. but it takes about 1-2 hours to read a full gospel and the new testament in its entirety would take 2 full days of reading.. The problem is that most people don't have that spare time to read all that stuff that they really don't care much about (usually) anyways.The whole purpose of my essay was to bring people knowledge that would usually take days of reading. I didn't mean people to ask all these questions regarding doctrine and stuff.. all i meant was to paraphrase all the basic christian stuff.. so, if any christians out there can answer questions people post, i'd be grateful.. thanks
Being a Christian means following Jesus and obeying His
teachings as revealed by His Church and the Scriptures
determined by His Church. Unfortunately, one cannot just
boil it down to what Kamtre has done - you cannot just
grab a couple verses from the entire Bible and say - there
that's all you have to do to reach Heaven. That's why Christ
gave us His Apostles and His Holy Church, to guide us on the
journey home. (Mt 16:18-19)
What about these Scriptures Kamtre:
14What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith
but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? 15Suppose a
brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16If one
of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well
fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?
17In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by
action, is dead. 18But someone will say, "You have faith;
I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I
will show you my faith by what I do. 19You believe that
there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—
and shudder. 20You foolish man, do you want evidence
that faith without deeds is useless? 21Was not our ancestor
Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he
offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22You see that his faith
and his actions were working together, and his faith was
made complete by what he did. 23And the scripture was
fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited
to him as righteousness," and he was called God's friend.
24You see that a person is justified by what he does and not
by faith alone. 25In the same way, was not even Rahab
the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when
she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different
direction? 26As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith
without deeds is dead. (James 2:14-24)
Or,
34"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who
are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom
prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was
hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and
you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you
invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was
sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came
to visit me.' 37"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord,
when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and
give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a
stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?
39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did
for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
41"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you
who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil
and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you gave me nothing
to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I
was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed
clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison
and you did not look after me.' 44"They also will answer,
'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger
or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?' 45"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do
for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'
46"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the
righteous to eternal life." (Mt 25:34-46)
It is more than knowing Jesus is Saviour or believing He is
God or even proclaiming He is God - we must show our faith
by loving Him and our neighbors. If we don't, we will not reach
Him in glory. And He has given us all we need to do so in the
Scriptures and teachings of His Church.
What would you guys say the best translation of the Bible is? I personaly would like one that is closer to the literal Hebrew.
One that has all the books in it, the Revised Standard
Version - Catholic Edition (RSV-CE) is the closest to
the original languages of Hebrew and Greek.
Thanks for sharing your paper with us! I know you are an influence for Christ in your school and among your friends! Jesus told us to count the cost before commiting to HIm! Living for HIm is forever, now and for eternity! He actually is the initiator of our salvation and completes it. Our part is to submit to His authority! Such a great thing to belong to HIm and live bravely for HIm! You are especially blest to be His!
There is no ‘best’ version or translation. They all have some good and bad points. The best version for you is the one that encourages you to read it and let the Holy Spirit interpret it for you. Naturally I have my preference but to say it was best for everyone couldn't possibly be true. Since I am a protestant, I naturally go for one with the 66 books in it and not the Deuterocanonical books which the Church doth read for example of life and instruction of manners; but yet doth it not apply them to establish any doctrine. As a young Christian I started with the Good News Bible (TEV) and as I progressed went on to other versions; but now I use the KJV almost exclusively because it is easiest to recall to memory; has wonderful turns of phrase and has the most tools associated with it.
Nor can Christianity be made easy - Jesus warned his disciples that the road would be tough, hard not very happy but the rewards for those who persevere are great.
Why would you even want to go to heaven when God comes down to be with men in the new earth ....
The problem is in listening to fables of men's tradition taught in 'bible schools' ,people then have not much shance to ditch the indoctrination and see wht the scripture really says ...
Only spirit goes to heaven , men all go to hell when they die , even Jesus did :-
Ac 2:31 He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption.
The way out of hell is only by resurrection TO THE BODY, just as Jesus showed all his followers that he was NOT spirit after resurrection ... only later was jesus translated to spirit and ascended to heaven to fulfill his role there
That which is in hell is SOUL, not spirit , read the scripture, stop listening to men who do not have all truth of God to give ...
Heb 8:11 And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.
Joh 6:45 It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.
Linear Mode
