Ok, admittedly the talk of this priest buying a damn expensive house was irrelevant, (which is the meaning of 'tangent'). It was merely a humorous point showing priests to be well looked after by preaching to god even though jesus did not like the rich particularly. (probably because he was poor).
However most of the thins i post are not irrelevant but are there to analyse and question the beliefs you adopt on a 'as we go along' basis.
I am not saying the bible is contradictory, on the opposite I feel it is the word of God.
It's always 'the word of god', until it is shown to be a contradiction or have other blatant fault the religious folk can't answer in which case it becomes a metaphor.
We are always talking about a detail of the bible that doesn't seem right to you.
Having analysed it in depth, and continuing to do so- plus having read the original sumerian texts, of course i'll find things that don't seem right. The bible is inundated with conflicting stories, contradictions, problems that can't be answered which must therefore be metaphors. You mentioned personal relationships... I have a very personal relationship with two people: my wife and my daughter. I can tell you everything about both of them, and yet here are people claiming personal relationships with a being they know nothing about, based on the writings of ancient people who didn't even know what caused earthquakes, when they can't even form a basic agreement. Every little section forms its own unique belief based on the same or similar texts and calls the other wrong. And yet among all that it takes only one simple question and the religious people "ummm" and "uhhhh" for eternity.
Question: How much of what
you believe is based on your own analysis? How much of what you believe is based on what your parents, priests or friends said?
I don't really care what anyone says, including god/jesus or the holy mushroom- i
cannot just accept something of this context through faith. I require proof of such. Don't blame me, blame god- i am made the way i am, and i can't change that. The only available evidence i can see are texts dating back to a time of
primitive people. All of which are so highly questionable and so full of holes it's ridiculous.
As i analyse and go along with these texts i hear the religious folk shouting: "accept jesus", "repent your sins" etc etc. All of which
are 'tangent', all of which are completely pointless. It seems so few people are interested in truth as much as they are interested in spouting something their parents/priests told them. Ok, trusting others may seem important- but it does have its limits.
However, sin is still there. All humans have sin in their life
Sin is irrelevant. Stating there's sin in the world is not an answer to the blatant problems with the bible, nor is it any validity to the presence of a god.
All throughout history there have been 'spokespersons' for peace. I see this as being no different. Imagine a race of beings always in conflict- always showing much hatred for others and never accepting the fact other people believe other things, (neither of which need be true). It's no surprise some people stand up and argue about the fact we are a volatile species and try to dampen our humanity. In this particular case it comes down to basic threats, which works best but shows that very nature of human aggression.
Absolutely nothing has been achieved. Whether life in this supposed 'heaven' is full only of you decent christians, this particular life and world is full of shit and will always remain so. You can eagerly await your next life- some of us really are more concerned about this one.
"for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," (Romans 3:23)
Quite simply put, this quote, and all others you've put are the words and expressions of men- primitive men.
This is the good news, that all may receive eternal life in Christ Jesus, it is the only solution for sin, it was God's secret plan to send His Son to die for us, so that none should perish. God designed hell for the Devil and his angels, not for you. He loves you, but your sin has made a gap between you and Him. Only Christ fills that gap.
We'll talk when you've finished preaching at me. I can hear exactly the same thing at any church on the planet if i really wanted to.
