I have alot riding on Christ

[JonF]

What do you mean by "but your interpretation about the bible is a claim about the afterlife in of it self"?

You said you don’t believe that the bible is divinely inspired. This denies a claim about biblical heaven, since part of that heaven is that that God communicated it’s existence to people via the bible.

Well, I see the heart stuff in a metaphorical way. I believe that giving ones heart to Jesus means to honor and trust the relationship. It is not so much about believing certain iffy statements to be true.

How can you have a relationship with Jesus if you don’t believe any statements about him?

It is simple. The words good and bad are merely labels humans use to identify what is favorable or not favorable to them. I do not find favor in murdering becaue this would led to a society where I would not be safe; therefore, I believe murder is wrong. I do not find it wrong becaues there is some Moral Law or Code behind it, but because I logically reduce what is good for me, society and others. Some people do not come to the same conclusion and this is why humans have differences in morality.

The problem with this interpretation is “self” has no affect over how one perceives what is “good” or “bad”. So why hold someone responsible for acting out an action you perceive as “bad” if it isn’t their fault they don’t also perceive it as “bad”.

Yes, I do deny divine inspiration for the Hebrew Bible. However, I do believe the prophets and people of the Hebrew Bible point to God and indentify what they think God is like. They quite possibly could have experienced God in some way, but obviously there is no way to prove this in the modern sense of proving things.

This is where your argument gets circular. You have a problem with the Ten Commandments because the bible isn’t inspired. The bible isn’t inspired because it has statements in it (such as the Ten Commandments) that you have problems with.

Well, I am skeptical when I believe it is nearly impossible for someone to know what they say they know. That is why, in modern times, fundamental Christians resort to saying "have faith" when challenged with iffy statements about their faith. They believe that the more one believes iffy statements to be true about the Bible, Jesus and God, the stronger and firmer ones faith is.

Suppose the Christian God exist, do you think we could understand why he does what he does, and what exactly he is?

 

[jfer45]

You said you don’t believe that the bible is divinely inspired. This denies a claim about biblical heaven, since part of that heaven is that that God communicated it’s existence to people via the bible.

How can you have a relationship with Jesus if you don’t believe any statements about him?

The problem with this interpretation is “self” has no affect over how one perceives what is “good” or “bad”. So why hold someone responsible for acting out an action you perceive as “bad” if it isn’t their fault they don’t also perceive it as “bad”.

This is where your argument gets circular. You have a problem with the Ten Commandments because the bible isn’t inspired. The bible isn’t inspired because it has statements in it (such as the Ten Commandments) that you have problems with.

Suppose the Christian God exist, do you think we could understand why he does what he does, and what exactly he is?

If I deny divine inspiration, then I would also deny that God gave us information (via the Bible) about an afterlife.

I do in fact believe a few things about Jesus. After reading the Bible however, I have come to the conclusion that I have no idea if Jesus was God.

His actions are wrong in my eyes and good in his. The punishment or accountablility issue deals more with society and law than anything else.

I have no problem with the Ten Commandments whatsoever.

Can we know about God is your question? I do not know at this time.