Moses

Every time a Hamas fighter dies an angel gets its wings and the state of the world is improved. It’s like Nazis dying. No one says “oh but won’t killi...

Hamas will be genocided and the world will be better for it. At this point Israel has no choice but to go into Rafah. Who only puts out 80% of a fire?...

I’m not sure what you’re getting at or what your point is in bringing up the Philippines or that the US was a colonial power in 1941. Surely in 1941 t...

In the Muslim and Jewish traditions God is not omni-benevolent. Yet theodicy still exists; see book of Job. One can be good without omni-benevolence. ...

Ok bro. It's nice to hear your Christianity is built on pure reason. You're a sharp one. :up:

Sure, man. Just remember that the foundation of your faith is revelation, not reason. The figure of Jesus Christ, who is 100% God and 100% man, is you...

No, because philosophy concerns human reason whereas God is conceived of as beyond human reason. The moment we start philosophizing a God who neatly f...

True. In addition, it is this life that determines our ultimate fate in the next. Jesus raises the stakes. Dumb Christians read Jesus like a peace-and...

As with any text some readings are deeper than others. Some readings of any given text could be idiotic. Just because there might be several ways to i...

Such texts? Does that apply to this post? I will interpret it as "I'm too intellectually lazy to actually read the Bible and try to understand it." No...

Cain is not a founder of the Hebrew people. You're grasping at straws here.

Cain was immediately condemned and sentenced, by God, to a life of misery. Some endorsement of murder that is.

The OT was written roughly between 10th century BC and 4th century BC. It contains very bloodthirsty rhetoric but also very morally advanced literatur...

Always a pleasure to read your posts. I always pick up some history. I can't add to your historical understanding but maybe I can provide a countepoin...

I mean if he is not God/divine some of his teachings are way out of line, such as his teaching in John 6 that he requires his followers to consume him...

I agree with most of it -- the first 4 parts are fine. I get a little skeptical when you tell me that Jesus is speaking "figuratively" about the right...

If JC is a man he is absolutely batshit insane.

It is drawn very directly from scripture. See Mark 12:28. I believe it is the most important teaching in the NT. Many Christian denominations consider...

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How do I gain such conviction? I would have to be delusional to have such conviction. I have no idea; I'm throwing in with the notion that there is an...

Here is where I would disagree. I've never been in a car crash but I still wear a seatbelt. The stakes are very high if you're wrong here. If I'm wron...

Maybe there's a resurrection, maybe there's heaven/hell, the key idea is that the righteous and wicked will be judged accordingly at some point. The i...

I'm talking about the afterlife or the fate of the soul. Sure, but what does that mean? The Ancient Greeks apparently had no issues killing disabled b...

Gotcha. Now I understand what you're saying. Yeah, I would need to dig into Job again to answer your question better, but thanks for giving me a reaso...

I read book of Job as a theodicy. It seeks to answer the question of why bad things happen to good people. Job is righteous, yet misfortune befalls hi...

There is conceived to be a general connection in the OT between acting good and living longer although this connection is not regarded as axiomatic......

Initially when I read the Gospels I thought of JC as a nihilist in this sense i.e. this world doesn't matter, it's all about the next. But upon furthe...

I don't think the Gospels are meant to be viewed as a complete moral framework in and of themselves. Jesus specifically says that he did not come to a...

I broadly agree with your take on the Jesus gospel. How did Paul corrupt that message? It seems we're always taking some leap of faith whenever we vie...

This is Jesus thinking that applies regardless of whether the apocalypse/rapture is near at hand at not -- we're all going to die and what's far more ...

Absolutely, the call to non-violence is not universal. The devil is not treated as something to passively give in to. When I hear "turn the other chee...

If he is a man then he is a holier-than-thou nut. The Pharisees give to charity, JC just criticizes the manner in which they give. There's a lot of ma...

Certainly in contrast to the Pharisees he does have an alternative vision. He spends much of his time criticizing the Pharisees, not really preaching ...

It's relevant in the case of Jesus because if he is simply normal saying these things he's pulling stuff out of his ass or he's delusional and very ce...

Jesus paints an ideal. Perhaps in an ideal world the righteous among us, with their pure hearts and proper means and perfect environment, never sin --...

I'm new to NT, but for me I just accept that there's some things we'll never know, such as what Jesus's last words on the cross were -- especially if ...

I'm just impressed by JC's teachings. It's not his apocalyticism that is salient for me. His social teachings are quite different from Jewish ethical ...

I'm not familiar with this first topic. Sure, and there were debates over canonical OT texts as well. Man chooses what is canon. Not everything in the...

Judaism and Christianity understand righteousness differently. Judaism understands righteousness through the lens of ethical conduct (i.e. action.) I ...

Sure, but what's different about Jesus is how he prioritizes. Love is the most important commandment. Normal Jews don't speak with such certainty but ...

I've been reading the NT lately and I agree with Lewis's point. It's a shame that so many in this thread have tried to bypass it by saying insubstanti...

It is surely true that religious doctrine was written by man. The question is whether God exists and what is the range of feasible possible interpreta...

This isn't about ability. Neither is it about me overcoming anything. It is about fundamentally framing/approaching the condition in a healthy way. Th...

I suppose those laws require interpretation and contextualization. In a way I agree with you. I understand that these laws need to be interpreted, con...

I'm sorry to hear that. Did you dive into the text to get the root of the issue? I'll likely write a paper on this to extrapolate on my views. Submit ...

I don't see mental health as a secular/atheistic concept. I see it as a human one. Mental wellness. You see things however you want; it's not your lif...

How would archaeology confirm or deny God talking with Moses? What would that even look like? Who knows whether it's true but I'm throwing in with it....

Sure they haven't killed themselves but how's their mental health? How do they view their own condition and place in society? That's the real question...

It's not about the authors to me. It's about the bigger picture message. I'm mainly looking for bigger picture themes to extract. It's a truth-claim r...

I would actually certainly be dead. Suicide. IMHO the greatest affirmation of the dignity of the disabled occurs in a dialogue between God and Moses b...