How much of the Bible do you believe in, or not believe in? There are those that will interrupt verses in the Bible the way they want to, not the way they are written, and those that fully understand what is written and accept what is written. Bible verses talk about many things of life. Christians are suppose to, and note the words "suppose to" go by what the Bible says, but many, many do not or very little.
Ok, I'll make a reply to my thread: The first time I started to read the Bible, in the Navy, it really scared me about what God can do. And, I mean..........it really did scare me! But, as I read on, it didn't scare me so much. I didn't read the entire Bible, but what I did read was highly interesting. When I was going thru Basic Training in the Navy, I applied for, and got, to be a Protestant Petty Officer. This meant that: 1. I didn't have to stand any Barracks Watch until the night before graduation and, 2. It was my responsibility to get all of the Protestants in my Company together to go to church on Sunday AM. Back in the late 80's and early 90's, I took two different travel trips, for three months each. I'd say a pray, for safe traveling, before I left each motel. Well, I'm still here to talk about it! During the 22 years before I met my wife, I didn't attend church or even read the Bible. After meeting her, both of those changed. I found out that the Bible is against certain things in life. The verses don't talk about being totally open-minded and that's probably the reason neither of us are. Now, what I sort of dislike is those that interrupt Bible verses to suit what they personally think, not what is really written.
You mean "interpret", right? There are a lot of ways in which that can come about, and most of them are unintentional, I think. It starts with the reason why someone is going to the Bible, to begin with. If someone is going to the Bible in order to find support for something he plans on doing anyhow, or to support a point of view that he already holds, then he will probably be able to find something that accomplishes that purpose, although it might mean taking it out of context. As is the case in much of what I say, please don't think that I am offering a holier-than-thou answer because I have done this often, and I have sometimes discarded relevant passages that didn't make my point. However, for a true understanding of Scripture, you should allow the Bible to create your worldview rather than looking to it to support your worldview.
Well, Ken, wife and I keep getting hit with the "judging" thing toward folks. There are those that will say the Bible states in Matthew 7:1-5 about judging others. There are those that take that scripture literally and say people aren't suppose to judge others. Well, if we don't judge others, we could very well get around/associate with those that we shouldn't. As for myself, I can't count the number of times I've been judged for having been involved in rodeo. But, at the same time, I've judged those that dress up in western attire, just to go to a nightclub. Have absolutely no interest in rodeo, horses or anything western. Wife and I have been judged as being rich, because we own a powerboat. People nowadays judge those that don't dress, or look like, what the general public thinks they should. The 10 Commandments are in the Bible, but just how many Americans follow any of those Commandments? Most of the time, many-to-most don't.
Unless you stop reading after verse one, this passage doesn't tell you not to judge. It tells you to judge others in the same way in which you judge yourself. The totality of Scripture tells us that we will indeed be judged, and we are also told to have discernment, so we know that we will be judged. The passage is telling us not to be hypocritical in the way in which we judge others, and not to do so unless we have first judged ourselves.
As far as judging is concerned, let's be clear in what Jesus said: “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. If we read that in context, it seems to say to me, correct me if I'm wrong, when one judges, be careful not to do the same thing, because the same judgement one makes will likely be the same judgement that comes back. I do not necessarily think it is wrong to judge, as long as its done in the correct way, and that is if one is trying to be of help, and not in a vicious manner to attack someone, especially if its a minor issue, such as about their dress, their weight, looks, or other things of a trivial nature.
Does this mean you'll stop judging those who are inked? If we want strict biblical adherence, we would follow the dietary laws in Leviticus and go to church on Saturday (the Sabbath.)
It's an interesting admonishment to clean up our own act before we start telling others what is wrong with them. And it may be telling us that we judge others in order to avoid looking at our own shortcomings. I think once we honestly wrap our heads around our own behaviour, we approach others in a helping manner and not a criticizing one.
Well, John, there will always be those that will criticize others............and that includes those that have multiple tattoos on arms, hands, legs, back, neck, face and even head. As well as saying the "F" bomb with every sentence they speak. Just ask Ozzie Osborne about the "F" bombs he continually uses.
When my oldest was about 9, I Quoted, 'spare the rod, spoil the child', occassionally. Later she asked for clarification. I said, get out the 2x4 and make an attitude adjustment, or something like that ; ) She looked surprised and said she always thought it meant, put the rod down and spoil the kid a little. Interpretation?
Mary, I trust your child has been set straight by now on the meaning of Proverbs 13:24. Cody, your post on the Bible raises an interesting and important issue. A quick check of religious view polls will reveal the increasing trend of Americans not respecting the divine authority of the Bible. Sadly, this is not only reflected by the growing number of Atheists, but by Christians themselves who discount parts that they either don't like or don't understand. But why? The Bible has always had its sceptics, but respect for its inspired scientific, historical, and moral truths has declined significantly over the past 60 years. I believe, based upon studies, that this is most attributed to 3 reasons: First, we've taken the Bible and prayer out of the nation's public school system. For nearly 300 years, we had the Bible, New England Primer, McGuffey Reader, and Blue Back Speller shaping our society's moral values with Biblical principles being taught in the colonies and public schools. This has been entirely replaced with secular values and principles. Add politically correct, cultural pressures and we now have a majority of people embracing homosexuality, abortion, and other relative moral values that effectively discount the Bible's objective moral standards. Second, we have revisionist history occuring in the public school system and throughout the media denying America's Christian heritage, thus undermining the two primary principles our country was founded upon: belief in God and Christian virtue (evidenced by Congressional Proclamations, Presidential speeches, and founding fathers' writings). The Bible, which was once considered the most important, relevant, book of truth by our founding fathers and society has now been deemed not applicable to our nation's governance, cultural values, or people's learned behavior. Third, we have replaced the teaching of God's special creation with Darwinian evolution in the public school system, media, and throughout society. This choice of man's word over God's word in how we interpret the actual scientific evidence has had profound impact upon our society's religious beliefs. A majority of people today now reject the Genesis account of creation and the global flood, thus denying the inspired, inerrant, truth of the Bible. Anyone should be able to recognize that if some parts of the Bible are unimportant, irrelevant, or outright wrong, then it must not be the inspired word of God. And if that's the case, why should anyone believe the Gospel message of a virgin birth, death, and resurrection of God in human form? The result of the above 3 factors has attributed not only to an increasing disbelief in the Bible's authority, or inspired truth, but to a total rejection of the Christian faith itself. Because of this, I enjoy studying Christian apologetics. The more I study the Bible's scientific, archaeological, historical, and prophetic details, the more it amazingly reveals itself as Divine truth. I don't expect Atheists to embrace this reality, but Christians should. If the Bible isn't inspired by God, then it's no better than all of the other man-made world religions. If it is, then Paul's writing of 2 Timothy 3:16 should be taken to heart: "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,"
Some epople open their minds so much that their brains fall out. I try not be too radical about anything,including religion.
@Marie Mallery The quote above which you posted (by Cody), seems to state that as a religious "provider" he was exempted from some duties typically required of all "grunts". It is not clear if that is/was the reason for seeking such separation, but if it was, it's shameful. Frank
@Marie Mallery Well, not at all certain why @Beth Gallagher found this to her liking. I thought I'd put it in "tactful" wording, but here it is all bawdy: Military involvement in religion to purposely avoid the dismal existence of the newly-inducted is shameful. Understand this time? Frank