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All over the place:
"How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,
Nor stand in the path of sinners,
Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!
2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night." Ps. 1:1-2 (NASB)
"8 This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success." Josh. 1:8 (NASB)
"6 These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up." Deut. 6:6-7 (NASB)
"3 He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord." Deut. 8:3 (NASB)
"18 I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book; 19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and i]">[i]from the holy city, which are written in this book." Rev. 22:18-19 (NASB)
Already addressed. Of course there are instances where clothing is important (for symbolic reasons, in these passages). It doesn't matter because the point was that there were indications that it was ultimately irrelevant, which is exactly what we'd expect from the Creator. He doesn't care about clothing (because he can see through it), which is why Adam/Eve were created naked and then told to multiply.
I don't think you understand. I'm talking about the human concept of family where the family unit is valued more than anyone else in the world. This idea is repudiated all over Scripture, by Christ, the apostles, etc. Lot also repudiates the concept of family when he offers his daughters to the Sodomites. The reason Lot offers them his daughters is because he considers the men to whom he's shown hospitality for the night to be his sons (Lot values everyone equally).
Scripture says that man's heart is evil from his youth. I think you're mistaken about God's law being inside of a natural human heart.
All over the place:
"How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,
Nor stand in the path of sinners,
Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!
2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night." Ps. 1:1-2 (NASB)
"8 This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success." Josh. 1:8 (NASB)
"6 These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up." Deut. 6:6-7 (NASB)
"3 He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord." Deut. 8:3 (NASB)
"18 I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book; 19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and i]">[i]from the holy city, which are written in this book." Rev. 22:18-19 (NASB)
It wouldn't really have to be the most popular genre, but it would have to have been a common genre and all religious saga's and cultic texts which we have from the ancient world are mythical.Why would it have to be the most popular genre?
Your point was that God sees clothes as irrelevant, and now it's irrelevant except where it's symbolically important?
I will also point out that after Adam and Eve did eat the fruit, they felt naked and ashamed about that fact, and so God sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves.
Except where Jesus charges John to care for his mother,
Scripture also says that mankind also has a conscious and knows right from wrong, regardless of whether or not they actually follow what is right.
None of those passages are talking about the Bible, nor say it should be taken more seriously than anything else in life.
Mythical isn't exactly a genre, though. It comes with what they wrote about. If it's an old religious text of course it's going to be defined as mythical.It wouldn't really have to be the most popular genre, but it would have to have been a common genre and all religious saga's and cultic texts which we have from the ancient world are mythical.
This question is for both those who believe the Bible is the word of God and those that don't: if the Creator of the universe wrote a book, what would it look like? What are your criteria? I'll name five:
1) Clothing is irrelevant
2) Family is irrelevant
- Since the Creator can see through everyone's clothing, somewhere in the book it will be indicated that clothing is irrelevant and that the Creator doesn't care whether or not you wear clothing
3) Fulfilled prophecy
- Since the Creator created everyone and values everyone equally the book will indicate that family, at least as understood by natural human beings, is an irrelevant and, indeed, evil, concept.
4) Literary complexity
- In this book there will be predictions of events that will pass many years after they have been written. These predictions will be extremely accurate and all of them will come true
5) Radical concept of morality
- Since the book was written by the most intelligent being in existence, it will display a great literary complexity and artistry that will make itself known to those who diligently study it. This literary complexity could involve the use of numbers or it could involve complex literary devices
I would strongly suggest that the Bible fulfills all five of these criteria and that this is powerful evidence that indeed it is the word of God.
- Since the Creator created everything and everyone and can see things that no-one else can (i.e., through clothing), the book will suggest a concept of morality that is far different from the morality that a natural human being is familiar with. The reason for this is because the Creator obviously has a radically different perspective than a natural human being
Thoughts?
Hi,
Are you saying God can't make his words clear in his book? God doesn't argue over interpretation, human beings do.
I think God can make the meaning clear to anyone who's really sincere.
I already answered. A book is practical as a record of events that have transpired. It's also practical if you want to show the eternal and unchanging nature of your word (and God apparently does). Remember he says that his words stand firmer than heaven and earth.That's nice.
Why write a book or send a messenger at all then? Why not just skip straight to the part where he delivers his message to you (or everyone) clearly and consistently?
There's some rather obvious conclusions here and I'm curious to see if you reach them.
I already answered. A book is practical as a record of events that have transpired. It's also practical if you want to show the eternal and unchanging nature of your word (and God apparently does). Remember he says that his words stand firmer than heaven and earth.
And yet it's completely open to interpretation...incomplete and flawed.
If you really think it's "unchanging" you need to look more into the history of your book. It's gone through more changes than I care to count.
So those conclusions I spoke of...let's look at some shall we?
1. God doesn't want his word to be "clear" to everyone.
2. God doesn't really care if you get his message partially, entirely, or clearly.
3. God isn't all that effective at communication (I call this the "impotent god")
4. God doesn't write books (and yours isn't his)
There are other conclusions to draw, of course, but those are a good start.
Anything is open to interpretation, obviously. But I would say that God isn't going to withhold the truth from anyone and so if someone really wants to know he'll show them.
But I would argue that Scripture is pretty clear in and of itself. I'd invite you to give examples where it isn't.
I disagree with all of your conclusions. Also, I would like to see examples of the countless changes you claim it's been through.
Right, well I hope that you know that when I said "anything" I was using hyperbole. Obviously the Bible contains statements about morality, science, history, symbols, etc. Clearly such things are open to interpretation.Everything is not open to interpretation.
Look at the sentence above. There is literally just one interpretation of it.
Certainly an all powerful god could've been just as clear as that sentence was in delivering his message to everyone. Yet he wasn't, and isn't.
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