BellaOnline Forums Religion and Spirituality Bible Basics Comments Please....

When the dead sea scrolls were discovered in 1947, this issue was laid to rest. When the book of Isaiah was translated it was found to be 98.5% accurate to the word for word translation of modern Bibles. The only differences being in spelling and having no effect on the meanings of the texts. God protects His Word. Jesus said, " Heaven and earth will pass away but My Words will never pass away."

I am sorry Alexandra. I cannot accept your religion. I can most assuredly accept your views but not your religion.

I know that Jesus was dark haired and dark skinned and I do not agree with the "Western depiction" of him being light skinned and blonde hair.

I do believe in the Bible as being the Word of God, I do believe He died for my sins and I do believe He rose from the dead.

As for him being unseen and unwitnessed, the Bible is full of people who have seen Him, witnessed Him and have been witnessed to by Him.

I am sorry for you if you do not believe this and I will pray that you do indeed come to know Jesus before God calls the Holy Spirit up from the earth.

It doesn't matter what Jesus looked like in the flesh. Only the carnal minded concern themselves with such things.

Given that my religion is a quasi-philosophical one, and much that Jesus spoke of echoes certain passages in our sutras, believe it or not, there are aspects of it that you probably would accept, if you were to study it in depth...The only thing you might have issue with, is that Buddhism does not subscribe to a God-head. But much of what the Buddha taught is also advocated by Jesus.



Well, I thank you for your concern, but as I used to be a christian, but ultimately saw things in a different light, I hardly think I'm going to change my mind back again. But you do what feels right, and I will recite mantras and make offerings for you, that you might broaden your scope and learn as much about Buddhism as you know of Christianity. At least then, you'll have a two-edged sword....!
With much metta and Karuna.

Alexandra,
If EVERYTHING in your religion was EXACTLY the same as what Christ taught but you still did not believe in Christ's ressurection, then your faith would be false and your worship in vain because there would be no redemption for sin and sin would still be upon you. Jesus died for our sins so sin is a critical issue.

but not EVERYTHING is EXACTLY the same. For a start, even though the fundamental central core message is the same, it leaves God out of the equasion. God came into it later. So My worship is as valid as anyone elses. it's just not toward anything but my fellow Human being.

God is the reason for the central core reason that you speak of. If He came into the equation later, it's because people chose to do that.

God was there from the very beginning. In fact God created the very beginning.

prove it.

no, I mean really. Don't just say 'because the Bible says so' and use that as your only source of evidence....

prove it.

Hang on....

I have just realised where I am.
I made a promise some time ago to the Bible Basics Moderator that I would treat her forum with respect. She requested (even in her forum rules) that she did not wish to see arguments or contradictions to the bible arising here, and requested that the book not be challenged or disputed. All well and good....

I promised her I would evaluate my words and discussions accordingly.

What I am about to say is purely as a comment, it's not intended to be defamatory or argumentative.

A great many threads in the Christianity and Bible Basics forum are either started by, or greatly contributed to, by Non-Christians (be they atheist, agnostic or of another following) and this is how discussion is generated. That's essentially what a forum is for. Discussion, verbal engagement and debate. Without these kinds of exchanges, discussion and debate on a forum whittles away to nothing. if everyone on a forum is of a like mind, then the conversation very quickly degenerates and dwindles away to nothing....

I would be very happy to transfer this discussion to the Buddhist forum, but there's a catch: Those wishing to continue this discussion would have to be as informed and cognisant of Buddhist doctrine as I am of the Christian Bible.

And that's where the problem arises.

The Buddhist forum is not much frequented by such discussions, because it seems to me (and this is only my perception - inform me if you think I am mistaken) many Christians either shy away from learning more about Buddhism, or prefer not to, intent instead, on just receiving all of their religious and sopiritual knowledge and instruction, from one source.

But the Buddhist doctrine thrives on discussion and debate. Buddhism refuses to rely on faith or belief, prefering instead to recommend that all teachings - notwithstanding their origin or provenance - be subjected to the highest and most detailed scrutiny possible. so in Buddhism, it's not a case of have faith - it's a question of find indisputable proof and enhance your knowledge....

I would be pleased to open up a new thread in Buddhism to continue the above discussion, but only as long as those engaging in this discussion would be able to appraise the discussion as much from a Buddhist perspective as from a Christian one.

The same rules of respect, rudeness, courtesy, insults, poor language, politeness, etc..apply on the Buddhist forum, as much as they do on any other forum. It's a question of acceptable constructive and positive social interaction - it has nothing to do with a person's belief or faith, religion or dogma.....

But I will create a 'transfer' thread to the |Buddhist forum now, and hopefully continue this discussion there.

I am also posting this message on other Bible basics/Christian threads, where my participation has entailed lively discussion on theological matters.....

Alexandra... I will intervene if I think it is necessary. So far so good!!