Has anyone here looked into the total Historical Origins of your Religion ?

[Bigerik]

Originally Posted by merrylander

The Smithsonian recently acquired Jefferson's Bible, all 84 pages long. He went through the King James version and extracted what he liked and did a cut and paste job.

What people seem to forget is that the bible was written by men (well maybe Ruth wrote here own section) it was not faxed down from above. Then it got translated by more men, and selectively edited by Constantine's flunkys, so there it is.

Having attended Baptist churches for years with my ex, their view is that the Bible, is divinely inspired, and the translations up to the King James are perfect and infallible, and literally the word of God.

[Big_Bill]

Originally Posted by Bigerik

Having attended Baptist churches for years with my ex, their view is that the Bible, is divinely inspired, and the translations up to the King James are perfect and infallible, and literally the word of God.

Hello Bigerik,

I started off with great FAITH, but wanted to understand the whys and wherefores of the Bible and the teachings of the religion as well. So religions just teach one thing, and practice another. And some religions don't even try to pretend that they follow all of the teachings of the Bible, or the Ten Commandments, or their respective Holy Book ?
And they explain this with FAITH, or Gods directions to the founder of the religion ? DA!

So I went off and read the Bible several times for my own gratification, to try to better understand the 80% of the Bible that they never seem to touch on ?
Needless to say, my education lead me to many questions and a different point of view.

So here I am, with an understanding of the read Bible ? Then I went into every book on Christianity to seek the answers, only to find none ? So I went on to understand the origins of Christianity to better understand all of this, and let me tell you, too much knowledge can be very confusing ! Because the deeper I went, the more questions I had ?

So I am just curious to see if their is anyone out there that has had a similar experience ?

Bill

[d-ray657]

Originally Posted by Big_Bill

Hello Bigerik,

I started off with great FAITH, but wanted to understand the whys and wherefores of the Bible and the teachings of the religion as well. So religions just teach one thing, and practice another. And some religions don't even try to pretend that they follow all of the teachings of the Bible, or the Ten Commandments, or their respective Holy Book ?
And they explain this with FAITH, or Gods directions to the founder of the religion ? DA!

So I went off and read the Bible several times for my own gratification, to try to better understand the 80% of the Bible that they never seem to touch on ?
Needless to say, my education lead me to many questions and a different point of view.

So here I am, with an understanding of the read Bible ? Then I went into every book on Christianity to seek the answers, only to find none ? So I went on to understand the origins of Christianity to better understand all of this, and let me tell you, too much knowledge can be very confusing ! Because the deeper I went, the more questions I had ?

So I am just curious to see if their is anyone out there that has had a similar experience ?

Bill

I've heard that some who attend seminary come out with a much less literal understanding of the Bible.

Regards,

D-Ray

[neophyte]

Originally Posted by Big_Bill

Hello Bigerik,

I started off with great FAITH, but wanted to understand the whys and wherefores of the Bible and the teachings of the religion as well. So religions just teach one thing, and practice another. And some religions don't even try to pretend that they follow all of the teachings of the Bible, or the Ten Commandments, or their respective Holy Book ?
And they explain this with FAITH, or Gods directions to the founder of the religion ? DA!

So I went off and read the Bible several times for my own gratification, to try to better understand the 80% of the Bible that they never seem to touch on ?
Needless to say, my education lead me to many questions and a different point of view.

So here I am, with an understanding of the read Bible ? Then I went into every book on Christianity to seek the answers, only to find none ? So I went on to understand the origins of Christianity to better understand all of this, and let me tell you, too much knowledge can be very confusing ! Because the deeper I went, the more questions I had ?

So I am just curious to see if their is anyone out there that has had a similar experience ?

Bill

Kudos for your (no pun intended) good faith study of this matter. You appear to be well along the way of seeing it for just what it is....circle talk and mumbo jumbo. Well done.

[BlueStreak]

Originally Posted by neophyte

Kudos for your (no pun intended) good faith study of this matter. You appear to be well along the way of seeing it for just what it is....circle talk and mumbo jumbo. Well done.

I have a friend who possesses a Masters degree in Divinity. She got that when she was in her twenties. Now, she's a hair away from becoming an Atheist.

"The more you learn, the less sense it makes." She seems to think that the largest part of the religious thought process exists merely to sustain the organization, to leave the believer with no way out, sort of speak. "Leave the church and your life will become empty and meaningless? What's that all about? I'm happier now than I ever was hanging out with those people."

Dave

[finnbow]

Originally Posted by BlueStreak

"Leave the church and your life will become empty and meaningless? What's that all about?

Bingo?

[painter]

Originally Posted by Big_Bill

Hello Bigerik,

I started off with great FAITH, but wanted to understand the whys and wherefores of the Bible and the teachings of the religion as well. So religions just teach one thing, and practice another. And some religions don't even try to pretend that they follow all of the teachings of the Bible, or the Ten Commandments, or their respective Holy Book ?
And they explain this with FAITH, or Gods directions to the founder of the religion ? DA!

So I went off and read the Bible several times for my own gratification, to try to better understand the 80% of the Bible that they never seem to touch on ?
Needless to say, my education lead me to many questions and a different point of view.

So here I am, with an understanding of the read Bible ? Then I went into every book on Christianity to seek the answers, only to find none ? So I went on to understand the origins of Christianity to better understand all of this, and let me tell you, too much knowledge can be very confusing ! Because the deeper I went, the more questions I had ?

So I am just curious to see if their is anyone out there that has had a similar experience ?

Bill

Yes indeed! I read the bible from front to back. But spent time in the trenches to enlighten myself. Taught CCD classes, was president of a church ladies group whose volunteer work contributed to paying off a church expansion debt. And sadly...found that many who proclaim to be so called Christians...are not so much. Not that I expect perfection in anyone...but I did expect more than what I found.

I will add...sometimes we overthink a situation or problem.
With religion...faith is supposed to be the answer to all unanswerable questions.

[finnbow]

Originally Posted by painter

Yes indeed! I read the bible from front to back. But spent time in the trenches to enlighten myself. Taught CCD classes, was president of a church ladies group whose volunteer work contributed to paying off a church expansion debt. And sadly...found that many who proclaim to be so called Christians...are not so much. Not that I expect perfection in anyone...but I did expect more than what I found.

Organized religion, like politics, is a team sport. It's all about identifying with one's team while denigrating the others.

[d-ray657]

Originally Posted by finnbow

Organized religion, like politics, is a team sport. It's all about identifying with one's team while denigrating the others.

Not so much of the denigrating where I come from. Maybe that's why I have hung around. We have a pretty much "come as you are" attitude, and frankly, a pretty progressive social conscience. I found it interesting reading some of the early Social Principles of the Methodist Church. The church came out in favor of collective bargaining, against sweat shops and against child labor - and this was around the turn of the century. It's one of those churches Glenn Beck warned people off from.

Regards,

D-Ray

[finnbow]

Originally Posted by d-ray657

Not so much of the denigrating where I come from. Maybe that's why I have hung around. We have a pretty much "come as you are" attitude, and frankly, a pretty progressive social conscience. I found it interesting reading some of the early Social Principles of the Methodist Church. The church came out in favor of collective bargaining, against sweat shops and against child labor - and this was around the turn of the century. It's one of those churches Glenn Beck warned people off from.

Regards,

D-Ray

Are you sure you're not a Unitarian?