NOT trying to be controversial, but these are the questions I joined to ask....

[ulrichburke]

Dear Everyone.

Wasn't always a Christian because I believed in science and thought the Bible didn't have anything to do with Science. Then I realised it DID - in a way. These are just my own thoughts so they're probably naive - but Adam and Eve, for example, and the Garden of Eden....

If you were from another realm and you wanted to explain to a primitive bunch how their world started, you'd condense the original tribes into two people to make it easier to focus on (Adam and Eve.) And of course they'd look after the animals - they'd be farmers, right? And the Garden of Eden? Gondwanaland. Fits perfectly. Starts off as one Garden (one single continent) and splits up to Fill the World (the 'go forth and multiply' bit!) So SOMEONE understood the Gondwanaland concept many centuries before Science discovered it. Which fascinated me. Then I discovered if you made the Ark of the Covenant exactly like the Bible says, you get a weird kind of radio transmitter. And a load of other bits, too many to go into here. So I do believe there were mighty beings around then.

Thing IS - and this is where someone here could help me - I'm disabled. Cerebral Palsy, Hydrocephalus, Dyspraxia, Asperger's. God's perfect so, naturally, He has a problem with anything that isn't - and that sure includes disabled people (Leviticus 21). All the people he doesn't want in His Church have disabilities (crushed stones - OWCH! - and the like.) And when Jesus cures people's disabilities, He says He's curing their 'sins' or the 'sins of the father that were visited on the son'. I got all mine at birth so I guess mine count as those. (Leviticus also - interestingly - tells us how to prepare God's burned offerings. Do any Churches still do those? If they don't, aren't they breaking God's word?) Mind you, most of the stuff I cook could indeed count as burned offerings.....!! So as I'm disabled, according to Leviticus I'm basically not allowed in Churches, right?

Second to last thing - I keep hearing this 'The Devil Rules in Hell' bit. And that to get to Heaven, we must follow the path through Lord Jesus. Thing IS - according to the Bible (Revelations) JESUS has the keys to Heaven AND Hell. Which actually WORKS - when Azrael was kicked out of Heaven he didn't fall to Hell, he fell to Earth, right? Which means Earth is where the Devil resides, tempting all, not in some fiery pit beneath us (unless you count the Earth's core as that - I've read our core's hotter than the Sun!) So we start off being tempted, find Jesus, follow His Word, go up to Heaven. That makes sense. BUT - I keep reading this 144,000 thing in the Bible. That only 144,000 go to Heaven, the rest are ashes to ashes. And that's the 12 Tribes of Israel, 12,000 from each Tribe. So if you're not a member of one of the Tribes, basically you're not going to get to Heaven at all am I right?

Last thing. I know God created us, so He's got the right to take lives away too. And as He wrote the Bible, through his Chosen ones, we've only got His side of things. You never REALLY hear Azrael's side - bit like having a court case where you only hear the plaintiff, not the defendant. God kills 2,038,344 people in the Old Testament (give or take a few cities!) and doesn't seem to mind a bit of rapine (Judges, various verses!) Azrael's kill count? - Er - 10, as far as I can find out!

My fave part of the Bible? Song of Solomon, King James Version, one of the saddest things I've ever read. And one of the most beautiful. Movie wish? REVELATIONS!! Think of Revelations done with full-on special effects. You start off with John of Patmos walking along, musing about it all - and go into his mind in top-class special effects. The Seven Bowls, all the various monsters, the Four Horsemen (which Jesus led, along with chucking the Seven Bowls at us!) - that would make a magnificent modern movie, no? The Passion of the Christ showed how relevant Jesus still is to us, imagine a full-on Revelations done as the sequel!

Song of Solomon? I'd love to see that done as a Miyasaki (Studio Ghibli) style movie - it could be epic and sad, all at once.

Well, the above's the reasons I joined this site. I'm NOT trying to be controversial - promise - it's just I've read the Bible - KJV - all the way through (OK, so I skipped a few pages of 'begats'! But I reckon I've read over 85% of it more than once) And those are some of the questions I keep hitting. Especially the disability ones, as they strike close to home with me. But I do think all the bits that translate into oversimplified science, or science seen by people who'd no idea what they were looking at (hence calling it 'Miracles!) proves that SOMETHING/ONE was around back then.

So yea, I do believe in the Bible. I've also read books (like the Apocrypha) that SHOULD have been included - and come to the conclusion the Bible's one of a set of books and the others were kept from us by various rulers, Roman and others.. And of course bits and pieces were added over the centuries (or edited out, or changed from what they should've been, to suit a then-ruler's purpose....) So we've got a magnificent tapestry with moth-holes in. Wish I understood enough to know what should go into those holes to complete the picture.

But would sure love Revelations to be done as a movie - that would be the Oscar-winning blockbuster to end 'em all, literally, right?

Yours respectfully. Thanks for reading (if anyone does!)

Chris.

 

[Who Me]

All the people he doesn't want in His Church have disabilities

No you're reading leviticus where it specifies perfect sacrificial animal and perfect priests.
There is nothing in Jesus's sayings that says the deformed cannot enter church or his presence.

I've read our core's hotter than the Sun

As the sun is a constant nuclear explosion, that temperature would melt the earth, all of it into flag.

only 144,000 go to Heaven,

This is where a little knowledge is dangerous.
Revelation is a series of word pictures, not literal descriptions.
Do you really think Jesus literally stands with a sword projecting out of his mouth or that he stands on God's throne in the shape of a dead lamb?
Word pictures.

You never REALLY hear Azrael's side

Biblical reverence please, otherwise ignore.

Movie wish? REVELATIONS!! Think of Revelations done with full-on special effects. You start off with John of Patmos walking along, musing about it all - and go into his mind in top-class special effects

Fact. Patmore was a prison Isle where the prisons worked in quarries. John would not have wandered anywhere.
I agree revelation would make for an interesting film, but the arguments over what it means would as they are here, be endless.

 

[Davidwb54]

Well I'm new here and also tend to ask controversial questions, but so far have gotten no responses. But maybe the notifications here don't come up unless you are directly replying/ quoting someones comment? But If that's true then guess I'll never get a response since always thought it a bit rude to point out what someone said especially if you're disagreeing with them, but that's just me.

But you don't seem to have a problem with that and sure you'll be welcome here in spite of any controversies you might bring up.

Anyway good luck...

 

[budsmamalynn]

Dear Everyone.

Wasn't always a Christian because I believed in science and thought the Bible didn't have anything to do with Science. Then I realised it DID - in a way. These are just my own thoughts so they're probably naive - but Adam and Eve, for example, and the Garden of Eden....

If you were from another realm and you wanted to explain to a primitive bunch how their world started, you'd condense the original tribes into two people to make it easier to focus on (Adam and Eve.) And of course they'd look after the animals - they'd be farmers, right? And the Garden of Eden? Gondwanaland. Fits perfectly. Starts off as one Garden (one single continent) and splits up to Fill the World (the 'go forth and multiply' bit!) So SOMEONE understood the Gondwanaland concept many centuries before Science discovered it. Which fascinated me. Then I discovered if you made the Ark of the Covenant exactly like the Bible says, you get a weird kind of radio transmitter. And a load of other bits, too many to go into here. So I do believe there were mighty beings around then.

Thing IS - and this is where someone here could help me - I'm disabled. Cerebral Palsy, Hydrocephalus, Dyspraxia, Asperger's. God's perfect so, naturally, He has a problem with anything that isn't - and that sure includes disabled people (Leviticus 21). All the people he doesn't want in His Church have disabilities (crushed stones - OWCH! - and the like.) And when Jesus cures people's disabilities, He says He's curing their 'sins' or the 'sins of the father that were visited on the son'. I got all mine at birth so I guess mine count as those. (Leviticus also - interestingly - tells us how to prepare God's burned offerings. Do any Churches still do those? If they don't, aren't they breaking God's word?) Mind you, most of the stuff I cook could indeed count as burned offerings.....!! So as I'm disabled, according to Leviticus I'm basically not allowed in Churches, right?

Second to last thing - I keep hearing this 'The Devil Rules in Hell' bit. And that to get to Heaven, we must follow the path through Lord Jesus. Thing IS - according to the Bible (Revelations) JESUS has the keys to Heaven AND Hell. Which actually WORKS - when Azrael was kicked out of Heaven he didn't fall to Hell, he fell to Earth, right? Which means Earth is where the Devil resides, tempting all, not in some fiery pit beneath us (unless you count the Earth's core as that - I've read our core's hotter than the Sun!) So we start off being tempted, find Jesus, follow His Word, go up to Heaven. That makes sense. BUT - I keep reading this 144,000 thing in the Bible. That only 144,000 go to Heaven, the rest are ashes to ashes. And that's the 12 Tribes of Israel, 12,000 from each Tribe. So if you're not a member of one of the Tribes, basically you're not going to get to Heaven at all am I right?

Last thing. I know God created us, so He's got the right to take lives away too. And as He wrote the Bible, through his Chosen ones, we've only got His side of things. You never REALLY hear Azrael's side - bit like having a court case where you only hear the plaintiff, not the defendant. God kills 2,038,344 people in the Old Testament (give or take a few cities!) and doesn't seem to mind a bit of rapine (Judges, various verses!) Azrael's kill count? - Er - 10, as far as I can find out!

My fave part of the Bible? Song of Solomon, King James Version, one of the saddest things I've ever read. And one of the most beautiful. Movie wish? REVELATIONS!! Think of Revelations done with full-on special effects. You start off with John of Patmos walking along, musing about it all - and go into his mind in top-class special effects. The Seven Bowls, all the various monsters, the Four Horsemen (which Jesus led, along with chucking the Seven Bowls at us!) - that would make a magnificent modern movie, no? The Passion of the Christ showed how relevant Jesus still is to us, imagine a full-on Revelations done as the sequel!

Song of Solomon? I'd love to see that done as a Miyasaki (Studio Ghibli) style movie - it could be epic and sad, all at once.

Well, the above's the reasons I joined this site. I'm NOT trying to be controversial - promise - it's just I've read the Bible - KJV - all the way through (OK, so I skipped a few pages of 'begats'! But I reckon I've read over 85% of it more than once) And those are some of the questions I keep hitting. Especially the disability ones, as they strike close to home with me. But I do think all the bits that translate into oversimplified science, or science seen by people who'd no idea what they were looking at (hence calling it 'Miracles!) proves that SOMETHING/ONE was around back then.

So yea, I do believe in the Bible. I've also read books (like the Apocrypha) that SHOULD have been included - and come to the conclusion the Bible's one of a set of books and the others were kept from us by various rulers, Roman and others.. And of course bits and pieces were added over the centuries (or edited out, or changed from what they should've been, to suit a then-ruler's purpose....) So we've got a magnificent tapestry with moth-holes in. Wish I understood enough to know what should go into those holes to complete the picture.

But would sure love Revelations to be done as a movie - that would be the Oscar-winning blockbuster to end 'em all, literally, right?

Yours respectfully. Thanks for reading (if anyone does!)

Chris.

Please find a Bible believing church to become a part of, with a good and knowledgeable preacher and teachers. You are deep, deep with good questions, much deeper than I can answer. But a good church with a pastor and programs to help new Christians can help you.
Jesus loves ALL, saves ALL that truly asks and receives his gift of salvation. Turns from their sinful ways to follow and obey Him. In his word it says whosoever….it means ALL. The sick, the infirm…..whosoever!

 

[NoahK]

Dear Everyone.

Wasn't always a Christian because I believed in science and thought the Bible didn't have anything to do with Science. Then I realised it DID - in a way. These are just my own thoughts so they're probably naive - but Adam and Eve, for example, and the Garden of Eden....

If you were from another realm and you wanted to explain to a primitive bunch how their world started, you'd condense the original tribes into two people to make it easier to focus on (Adam and Eve.) And of course they'd look after the animals - they'd be farmers, right? And the Garden of Eden? Gondwanaland. Fits perfectly. Starts off as one Garden (one single continent) and splits up to Fill the World (the 'go forth and multiply' bit!) So SOMEONE understood the Gondwanaland concept many centuries before Science discovered it. Which fascinated me. Then I discovered if you made the Ark of the Covenant exactly like the Bible says, you get a weird kind of radio transmitter. And a load of other bits, too many to go into here. So I do believe there were mighty beings around then.

Thing IS - and this is where someone here could help me - I'm disabled. Cerebral Palsy, Hydrocephalus, Dyspraxia, Asperger's. God's perfect so, naturally, He has a problem with anything that isn't - and that sure includes disabled people (Leviticus 21). All the people he doesn't want in His Church have disabilities (crushed stones - OWCH! - and the like.) And when Jesus cures people's disabilities, He says He's curing their 'sins' or the 'sins of the father that were visited on the son'. I got all mine at birth so I guess mine count as those. (Leviticus also - interestingly - tells us how to prepare God's burned offerings. Do any Churches still do those? If they don't, aren't they breaking God's word?) Mind you, most of the stuff I cook could indeed count as burned offerings.....!! So as I'm disabled, according to Leviticus I'm basically not allowed in Churches, right?

Second to last thing - I keep hearing this 'The Devil Rules in Hell' bit. And that to get to Heaven, we must follow the path through Lord Jesus. Thing IS - according to the Bible (Revelations) JESUS has the keys to Heaven AND Hell. Which actually WORKS - when Azrael was kicked out of Heaven he didn't fall to Hell, he fell to Earth, right? Which means Earth is where the Devil resides, tempting all, not in some fiery pit beneath us (unless you count the Earth's core as that - I've read our core's hotter than the Sun!) So we start off being tempted, find Jesus, follow His Word, go up to Heaven. That makes sense. BUT - I keep reading this 144,000 thing in the Bible. That only 144,000 go to Heaven, the rest are ashes to ashes. And that's the 12 Tribes of Israel, 12,000 from each Tribe. So if you're not a member of one of the Tribes, basically you're not going to get to Heaven at all am I right?

Last thing. I know God created us, so He's got the right to take lives away too. And as He wrote the Bible, through his Chosen ones, we've only got His side of things. You never REALLY hear Azrael's side - bit like having a court case where you only hear the plaintiff, not the defendant. God kills 2,038,344 people in the Old Testament (give or take a few cities!) and doesn't seem to mind a bit of rapine (Judges, various verses!) Azrael's kill count? - Er - 10, as far as I can find out!

My fave part of the Bible? Song of Solomon, King James Version, one of the saddest things I've ever read. And one of the most beautiful. Movie wish? REVELATIONS!! Think of Revelations done with full-on special effects. You start off with John of Patmos walking along, musing about it all - and go into his mind in top-class special effects. The Seven Bowls, all the various monsters, the Four Horsemen (which Jesus led, along with chucking the Seven Bowls at us!) - that would make a magnificent modern movie, no? The Passion of the Christ showed how relevant Jesus still is to us, imagine a full-on Revelations done as the sequel!

Song of Solomon? I'd love to see that done as a Miyasaki (Studio Ghibli) style movie - it could be epic and sad, all at once.

Well, the above's the reasons I joined this site. I'm NOT trying to be controversial - promise - it's just I've read the Bible - KJV - all the way through (OK, so I skipped a few pages of 'begats'! But I reckon I've read over 85% of it more than once) And those are some of the questions I keep hitting. Especially the disability ones, as they strike close to home with me. But I do think all the bits that translate into oversimplified science, or science seen by people who'd no idea what they were looking at (hence calling it 'Miracles!) proves that SOMETHING/ONE was around back then.

So yea, I do believe in the Bible. I've also read books (like the Apocrypha) that SHOULD have been included - and come to the conclusion the Bible's one of a set of books and the others were kept from us by various rulers, Roman and others.. And of course bits and pieces were added over the centuries (or edited out, or changed from what they should've been, to suit a then-ruler's purpose....) So we've got a magnificent tapestry with moth-holes in. Wish I understood enough to know what should go into those holes to complete the picture.

But would sure love Revelations to be done as a movie - that would be the Oscar-winning blockbuster to end 'em all, literally, right?

Yours respectfully. Thanks for reading (if anyone does!)

Chris.

Relatively new here so I don't know how to reply to specific parts of a post. It seems a good part of your post is focused on your physical disability. So I'd like to discuss that a little bit:

Christ encountered a young man who had been blind from birth. People asked Christ what sin was it that made him that way. Christ's Reply, the blindness was not a result of sin. It was a way for God to show us what He can do.

Christ encountered another man (a paraplegic who could not get in to see Christ. The man had 4 friends who carried the man up to the roof, cut a hole in the roof and then let him down. Christ said You are healed because of the man and his friends. Again, sin wasn't involved.

Christ was surrounded by His followers. A woman who wasn't even Jewish told herself If I just touch his cloak I will be healed. And she was. Again, no sin involved.

In each case faith WAS involved.

There is one encounter that has stayed with me for some time now.

As Christ was walking He encountered 10 lepers and He healed all of them. Christ observed that He had healed 10 lepers, but only one turned back to Christ and thanked Christ for what He had done for him.

It bothers me because I believe even in today's world people are also not thankful for what God does in their lives.