How do you know Genesis was meant to be understood from a modern POV?

[crawfish]

....Jesus never got mad a hypocrites.....is this what you're saying?

patience is very good, but sometimes people need a good blasting. but you're right it shouldn't originate from pride. it should originate from love. Americans today have a very meek view of love....as well as justice, holiness, ect.

There was this one hypocrite in the bible...he claimed to believe that Jesus was the son of God, claimed to be devoted to him, claimed that he would never leave him. But when push came to shove, when things got bad, he denied that he ever even knew Jesus. Not just once, but three times. Jesus forgave this guy even before all this happened.

You may have heard of him before.

The person who claims to follow Christ, yet judges other Christians as hypocrites and refuses to have anything to do with them, is being the worst kind of hypocrite - the self-righteous one.

For the record, when Paul said "expel the immoral BROTHER", you realize he wasn't talking about a hypocrite who said one thing and did another. He was talking about someone who was having sex with his mother and BRAGGING about it. Whatever that guy was, he wasn't a hypocrite.

 

[Tinker Grey]

Well, technically, his father's wife. Given the wording, it was probably his step-mom.

Nevertheless, your point stands.

 

[theIdi0t]

It couldn't be both?

In the case of Noah's ark no, the Garden of Eden, no. Because a literal reading distorts the spiritual meaning, it allows for those who have a weak and dying faith to pursue thing like the wood that build Noah's ark, to waste millions of dollars on creationist museums, to avoid the renewal of their heart, it allows a person to read the book of Isaiah, and only come out with "Hey, look Isaiah wrote the earth was round".

Seeing this form of Christianity, in the beliefs of people I care about, disturbs me, and judging by these fruits, I'm in staunch opposition to literalism.

you don't believe in hell do you?

Sure I do, I see men in hell everyday, in a condition void of love, and filled with wailing and gnashing of teeth.

 

[crawfish]

Well, technically, his father's wife. Given the wording, it was probably his step-mom.

Nevertheless, your point stands.

Heh. "Stepmom" just doesn't have the same dramatic effect.

 

[Tinker Grey]

True, that.

 

[daniel777]

There was this one hypocrite in the bible...he claimed to believe that Jesus was the son of God, claimed to be devoted to him, claimed that he would never leave him. But when push came to shove, when things got bad, he denied that he ever even knew Jesus. Not just once, but three times. Jesus forgave this guy even before all this happened.

You may have heard of him before.

The person who claims to follow Christ, yet judges other Christians as hypocrites and refuses to have anything to do with them, is being the worst kind of hypocrite - the self-righteous one.

For the record, when Paul said "expel the immoral BROTHER", you realize he wasn't talking about a hypocrite who said one thing and did another. He was talking about someone who was having sex with his mother and BRAGGING about it. Whatever that guy was, he wasn't a hypocrite.

LOL, of course i would forgive my brother (now you all are just being silly)....that's the whole reason for the seperation...not because of hate, because of love.

The person who claims to follow Christ, yet judges other Christians as hypocrites and refuses to have anything to do with them, is being the worst kind of hypocrite - the self-righteous one.

... (and what's this say about you then?) you've called me a hypocrite, by your logic that makes you....well look above. why is it that the ones who yell "you're judging me" never judge themselves.

 

[daniel777]

In the case of Noah's ark no, the Garden of Eden, no. Because a literal reading distorts the spiritual meaning, it allows for those who have a weak and dying faith to pursue thing like the wood that build Noah's ark, to waste millions of dollars on creationist museums, to avoid the renewal of their heart, it allows a person to read the book of Isaiah, and only come out with "Hey, look Isaiah wrote the earth was round".

the literal does not distort the spiritual meaning, it exemplifies it. it proves that there is meaning in everything and that what has been is part of a grander plan to bring about what is to come, and ultimately glorify the Father...and i can come out of the book of isaiah with more than "the earth is round"...it seems you're confusing Isaiah with genesis.

Seeing this form of Christianity, in the beliefs of people I care about, disturbs me, and judging by these fruits, I'm in staunch opposition to literalism.

seeing this form of liberal christianity disturbes me too. I see it as people compramising Truth and compramising God for the sake of an easier rout. for the sake of themselves, and for the sake of others. these people will tell you that you can have mercy without justice, that you can have peace without war, and that you can have meaning without Truth. they deny their own depravity and the depravity of any one else as well...unless you tell them they're wrong. define "literalism".

btw you never clearly answered my question:
You don't believe in hell do you?

 

[shernren]

... (and what's this say about you then?) you've called me a hypocrite, by your logic that makes you....well look above. why is it that the ones who yell "you're judging me" never judge themselves.

For the record, he was talking about flaja, not you.

the literal does not distort the spiritual meaning, it exemplifies it. it proves that there is meaning in everything and that what has been is part of a grander plan to bring about what is to come, and ultimately glorify the Father...and i can come out of the book of isaiah with more than "the earth is round"...it seems you're confusing Isaiah with genesis.

How so? Out of the literal meaning creationists have drawn such scientific aberrations as created kinds, white hole cosmology, and runaway subduction. How do falsified theories "exemplify" spiritual meaning?

seeing this form of liberal christianity disturbes me too. I see it as people compramising Truth and compramising God for the sake of an easier rout. for the sake of themselves, and for the sake of others. these people will tell you that you can have mercy without justice, that you can have peace without war, and that you can have meaning without Truth. they deny their own depravity and the depravity of any one else as well...unless you tell them they're wrong. define "literalism".

btw you never clearly answered my question:
You don't believe in hell do you?

Methinks you are simply being afraid of what you do not understand. Liberal Christianity really isn't an easier route, certainly not with the amount of flak those people get from people like you. It requires lots of thought, hard work, and meditation to put into place. Hang around and browse through the fruits for a while before you judge. We aren't perfect (yes, that's the "we" of some, qualified, identification ) but God is with us as He is with all Christians.

As for believing in Hell. Depends what you mean. I'm sure all Christians here believe that the state of eternal separation from God is possible and can only be remedied by the saving work of Jesus Christ. And details aside, isn't that the essence of Hell?

 

[crawfish]

LOL, of course i would forgive my brother (now you all are just being silly)....that's the whole reason for the seperation...not because of hate, because of love.

So, you'd leave 'em alone out of love until they shaped up, eh? I have known people who use that pious view as an excuse to abandon people when they're going through hard times. You'd have a tough time convincing me that Jesus engaged in such behavior.

... (and what's this say about you then?) you've called me a hypocrite, by your logic that makes you....well look above. why is it that the ones who yell "you're judging me" never judge themselves.

With apologies to Shernren, I was not talking about ANYBODY in particular. I don't know you (or flaja) personally. I was pointing out the possible consequences of the attitudes that flaja was displaying. I was showing how Satan uses such attitudes to turn the church against itself. You may or may not display such attributes in real life - I have no idea, and I will not judge anyway.

I do judge myself. All the time. It is why I feel I must act with humility. It's interesting that, as a consequence of judging yourself publicly, the people who tear you down the most are the self-righteous ones who have hidden their own shortfalls. I tend to trust those honest enough to admit their sins more than those who pretend they have none.

 

[gluadys]

seeing this form of liberal christianity disturbes me too. I see it as people compramising Truth and compramising God for the sake of an easier rout. for the sake of themselves, and for the sake of others. these people will tell you that you can have mercy without justice, that you can have peace without war, and that you can have meaning without Truth. they deny their own depravity and the depravity of any one else as well...unless you tell them they're wrong.

Well, it is easy to beat up on a straw man that has no resemblance to the real thing. Perhaps you should develop some personal acquaintance with liberal Christians so that you can get a better idea of what they really do believe.