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Wisdom and morality can indeed be found in the Bible.

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ORIGINAL: Arturas

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ORIGINAL: SerWhiteTiger

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ORIGINAL: DaddySatyr

FR

[image]local://upfiles/1271250/B640C1CCBC8D48BD873FE53AA92F5B44.jpg[/image]

Holy shit. That's a picture of the Bible! That proves it happened!!

It is certainly a Bible. A collection of different books offering ancient history, wise teachings and a morality, none seeking to prove anything since presumably God does not need to prove anything to us, and I believe that is so, but instead is meant to expand on what each man and woman already know from birth, the knowledge of right and wrong. It is one of many each offered by different religions as a moral code for living. I've read it and I especially recommend the "Book of Proverbs" for a source of wisdom. Wisdom and morality can indeed be found in the Bible.

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ORIGINAL: MasterCaneman

I wasn't gonna comment on this topic because I have a personal thing about mixing religion and pleasure, but I do have a pertinent story to relate. I heard this from of all people, a Mormon bishop. He was a decent guy, and he wasn't trying to convert anyone, just talking. The word "bible" is simply Greek for "book", and it is at its heart a compendium of anecdotes, lessons, and history that had been accumulated some five thousand years ago. He said that it was started when people first figured out how to write, and they started writing down their oral traditions.

Over time, it started reflecting the then-new monotheism that was starting to appear, and eventually became the go-to source for things relating to that. He told me that the book we're reading now bears little resemblance to the "original", which itself wasn't as much a book as a collection of other books. Some were included, some weren't. The modern Holy Bible can therefore be rightly compared to a Reader's Digest Condensed compendium, more than anything else.

It became "holy" because it was used as a gathering place for all the myths, lore, and legends of the region and since a lot of the polytheistic gods were "old news", so to speak, it became the home of the "new" monotheism. Interesting parallels can be drawn with some of the morality tales that were co-opted from the polytheistic pantheon to the new monotheistic religions that started appearing around that time.

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ORIGINAL: MasterCaneman

I wasn't gonna comment on this topic because I have a personal thing about mixing religion and pleasure, but I do have a pertinent story to relate. I heard this from of all people, a Mormon bishop. He was a decent guy, and he wasn't trying to convert anyone, just talking. The word "bible" is simply Greek for "book", and it is at its heart a compendium of anecdotes, lessons, and history that had been accumulated some five thousand years ago. He said that it was started when people first figured out how to write, and they started writing down their oral traditions.

Over time, it started reflecting the then-new monotheism that was starting to appear, and eventually became the go-to source for things relating to that. He told me that the book we're reading now bears little resemblance to the "original", which itself wasn't as much a book as a collection of other books. Some were included, some weren't. The modern Holy Bible can therefore be rightly compared to a Reader's Digest Condensed compendium, more than anything else.

It became "holy" because it was used as a gathering place for all the myths, lore, and legends of the region and since a lot of the polytheistic gods were "old news", so to speak, it became the home of the "new" monotheism. Interesting parallels can be drawn with some of the morality tales that were co-opted from the polytheistic pantheon to the new monotheistic religions that started appearing around that time.

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ORIGINAL: BenevolentM

I have been wondering if I've been here too long. I suspect I am infected. Perhaps you can pray for me. I am wondering if the Lord sent you here to relieve me. This is a place where many spiritual battles have been fought.

Jesus is Lord

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ORIGINAL: kdsub

I’m sure you mean well my friend but God is best found rather than shown.

Butch

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ORIGINAL: BenevolentM

There are many who are skeptical of religion in general and Christianity in particular. Some say it is a fraud, a pack of lies. The problem is if you are committed to the truth, you will find falsehood every where you look. Falsehood is to be found every where. You find that truth is a priceless commodity. It can be found everywhere and no where.

Perhaps there is no truth. It all depends on whether or not you believe in sophistry. Truth is abstract and metaphysical, yet it clearly exists. Is the interest here to oppose Christianity genuine? There is a clear motive to reject it. Christianity rebukes you. If you reject Christianity because it rebukes you, then you must believe that truth is relative and a matter of opinion, but is this true?

Sex is mysterious and strange. Why should it mean so much? Why is it as compelling as it is? The problem with sex is that it is a corrupt form of love. Do we have any objective reason to believe it could attain perfection beyond perfection? It is bound to this world. To embrace it fully is to accept less than what could be. If you accept it fully you fully accept a corruption. From this corruption a weed will grow.

Why is this important? A weed here or there will not jeopardize the harvest. Weeds everywhere will. Atlas, no matter how hard one works, the field will always have a few weeds in it, but this is no excuse not to remove them since a weed here and there will not jeopardize the harvest. Weeds everywhere will.

Hence, the belief that if you embrace it fully you are screwed.

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ORIGINAL: TigressLily

... lovingkindness, mercy and charity toward others. It starts at home within one's own family. Then you can look toward extending this outward to the family of mankind (your neighbor). ...

Look into your own heart first, then form your message to fit the audience, not the other way around. ...

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diana_(mythology)

The celestial character of Diana is reflected in her connection with light, inaccessibility, virginity, and her preference for dwelling on high mountains and in sacred woods. Diana therefore reflects the heavenly world (diuum means sky or open air) in its sovereignty, supremacy, impassibility, and indifference towards such secular matters as the fates of mortals and states. At the same time, however, she is seen as active in ensuring the succession of kings and in the preservation of humankind through the protection of childbirth.

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http://biblehub.com/kjv/acts/19.htm 34-6

... Great is Diana of the Ephesians. And when the townclerk had appeased the people, he said, Ye men of Ephesus, what man is there that knoweth not how that the city of the Ephesians is a worshipper of the great goddess Diana, and of the image which fell down from Jupiter? Seeing then that these things cannot be spoken against, ye ought to be quiet, and to do nothing rashly.