Why read the Bible literally: take two

What does your Christian faith rest on? 1)Would you agree that the universe was formed at Gods command, or do you see Him as a disinterested bystander?
2) Was the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ a necessary literal event?
3) Does God expect theological understanding and a personal relationship with us, or is He merely content to give us good philosophical guidence and then allow us to run along and evolve into better and better creatures? What role is He expected to play in the future of humanity? A bygone philosophical icon of moral example and direction or a Savior that will ultimately be needed by all of fallible humanity? I believe the latter. What about you, Jar?This message has been edited by Phatboy, 07-01-2005 05:44 AM

The Hebrew word for "day" can also be used to mean "age". Thus, In the age that you eat of it, you will die. Prior to the "Fall, there was an age of innocence. After the Fall, the Age of conscience was born. Later, Jesus broke it all down to two commandments. 1) Love God
2) Love your neighbor. By doing these two things, many less people would die in the age that we live in.
America was not deemed to be wealthy in order to be selfish. If we had spent 80 billion dollars (twice) on humanitarian world needs rather than Iraq, we would be in a safer place.

The basic idea about Heaven is that God Himself is the focus of attention and adoration rather than that hott angel with the little curve. Sex will be transcended in Heaven as everyone will be in such a state as to be feeling good enough without it. Additionally, it will serve no needed function. does that make any sense, Charles? Of course we are speaking hypothetically since neither of us has as yet been to heaven.

But how do we know who the devious ones are? Those who have facts to lead us, or those who do not see and yet believe? Is God the tricky one or could it beeeeee?

But He won't do everything that is needed to make you believe (If you could be made to do so) Its like the teacher in school who drops a lot of hints yet waits for the students to finally have the "ahaa" moment and connect the dots. The teacher, capable of answering any and all problems, does not finish them but lets the students decide on the best answers.

Steve8, check out this page on the Nicene Creed. It explains a lot about why gnosticism is widely considered heretical as well as the attributes which the early church considered as important to unity.

Hello, Steve8! I have a few questions in my mind that I will try and get out in this post to stimulate your thinking process.I am a definite believer in God. Also in His Son, Jesus Christ. Had the Bible never been written, I feel confidant that God still would have reached me. (I never found Him, you see. He found me.)1) Why do Biblical stories have to be literal? Why can they not be true in the sense of meaning yet parables in the sense of actuality?2) What if God foreknew that Biblical literalism would be a source of future controversy among people, just as He foreknew that the Pharisee Jews would clash with Jesus over scriptural literalism?3) Why does "proving" the points you raise mean anything to your faith...or ours? Is not the main issue and cause to "prove" that Jesus Christ lives in your heart? If you shine like a light, people may not respond, but they cannot deny that you have a powerful energy source! If AiG were such a powerful source, scientists the world over would be examining the data with enthusiasm. Apparantly, they are not impressed.4) We as Christians need to ask ourselves what the most effective way of sharing Jesus Christ is with the people whom we interact. Some, such as my good friend Brian, are totally unconvinced. What do I do? Wash my hands of "him" and find a "dumber" audience? Or...perhaps in the spirit of EvC, we continue to talk back and forth and approach topics from ever evolving angles of thought.My point is that AiG has nothing for these guys here at EvC...but Jesus Christ does! Ask yourself how to communicate the message that you want them to understand.

Thats funny! Anyways, this thread is getting over 300 so we have to shut er down. As Jar would say: WITCHING HOUR FOLK! Where do we go with a new topic?