Thou Shalts and Thou Shalnts

Absolutely.I think this is important to discuss because IMHO it's the key point of all of the Judaic religions as well as almost all of the different religions and moral systems out there.IMHO, 99.999% of all Christians totally misunderstand that message as laid out in the Bible. Yet it is explicit from the very beginnings right through to the end. The story in Genesis of Adam & Eve and the Garden of Eden is not one of a Fall, but of establishing the fact that there are good and bad choices and that we have a responsibility to TRY to make good choices.That's a really simple statement, GOD says "You know right from wrong!" It's then left up to the individuals to act on that knowledge.But then there are the rules, and as you say, the Bible, particularly the Old Testament, is filled with them. Society, like every bureaucracy, likes specifics over generalities any day. It was no different 3000 years ago than it is today.So they created RULES. Unfortunately, they also noticed that RULES don't have anything to do with what is RIGHT or WRONG. Right and wrong can only be determined within context.That led to discussions of what the rules really meant. What is work on the sabbath? What makes a contract valid? What is murder?Those questions are reflected in the Talmud, a body of work many, many times larger than the Bible. Even there no answer is found, there is support for almost every point of view.Enter Jesus and the NT.The NT is an attempt to move back towards the original concept. Jesus message is an enforcement of the original message. It is an attempt to reduce all the rules to their basics, "Love GOD and Love others as you Love yourself". It is an attempt to return right and wrong to individual responsibility, but with one big difference.The message of Christianity is "Just try. God knows you probably won't get it right. He doesn't really expect you to. But She does expect you to try to do what's right."

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

And I've answered in other places.Love God with all YOUR heart, mind and soul.That is a relative limit. It is based on individual capabilities, not some absolute limit.God expects man to try. As Paul said, "Run the race", "Fight the good Fight". It says nothing about succeeding, nothing about limits, it says try your best.That's all, try.GOD knows mankind cannot succeed, that all we can do is try.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

But IMHO there certainly IS Biblical support. The statement stands on its own.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

Following up in the other thread. Just wanted to make sure you know I'm not ignoring you.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

Well, according to Matthew 25 it's not hard at all.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

On these two hang ALL the Law, and the Prophets.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

It's really that simple.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

Paul was not Jesus.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

Paul was building a franchise. He was a great Spin doctor, more than willing to play fast and loose with the facts to help the concession. He was a Carny Barker, "Step right up and see the two headed woman".His job was to get them in the tent.He was also very wrong about much that he preached. There were many parts of the Christian message he never quite got. For example, he always expected the end of the world within HIS lifetime and that clouded and colored much of his preaching. His view on woman, marriage and kids are a good example of being colored by the short term view.He was also at heart a converted Rabbinical Jew, a fanatic then, a fanatic after. He could never view the whole spectrum as did Jesus, rather his vision was limited to black and white, Paul's way or the highway.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

I certainly don't think so. God inspiring the writers dos not address the issue of accuracy or correctness at all.There really is nothing to indicate that the Bible is accurate and there is very strong evidence that the Bible is not accurate in specific cases.The Bible is but an anthology of anthologies. We know for a fact that it contains specific errors. Since we know there are some errors, then we cannot approach it in any way except on a tentative basis to be verified by external sources.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

I'm not quite sure what you're saying there, but a discussion seems possible since we're at post 78. I'm also not sure about that. While it is certainly subjective, I do believe that not all subjective concepts are born equal. For example, there are two different creation stories, two differnt flood stories, several versions of the commandments, the Gospels, the Pauline treatises. The Creation stories, the Conquest of Canaan, the Exodus. The world we live in, other religious efforts such as creeds and writings, common sense, consistency of message.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

Lots of questions, most I've discussed in other areas so may be OT here.Let me jump to what seems to be the heart of the matter and then if you wants more specifics, let's see if we can knock them down on at a time. As I've said in other threads, we can't know that for sure. But does it even matter?If Jesus never lived and is no more than a tale told round the campfire, does it really matter?

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

The question from my perspective is Paul being interpreted accurately.That requires looking at what is said within the constraint, limitations and purpose of the material.Paul was building a franchise. He was a fanatic. He was a Spin Doctor, perfectly willing to mislead if it was helpful to building the franchise. A good exaample is the "Un-named God" incident.He was also operating from major misunderstandings. Paul never had a great handle on what Jesus message was all about or Christianity. But he was important.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

Well, part of the judgement can be based on the fact, not interpretation, that Paul, simply got things wrong. For example, he expected the Second Coming to be during the lifetime of those he was addressing. Didn't happen. Paul was wrong. And those parts of Paul's writings that were based on his false assumption are necessarily suspect.There is also his own testimony that he was willing to Spin Doctor, to play fast and loose with facts for his own purposes. A good example as I mentioned is the "Un-Known God" incident. He was perfectly willing to use extra scriptural references to further HIS personal agenda. I don't think I've made that assumption. The Bible is a Canon developed to support a religion. Religions have little to do with GOD. They are but a construct of man. They can help us as individuals to develop our own understanding of GOD, but we must always remember that they have no validity on their own. The Bible, like religion, can never be more than a Map, and an imperfect one at best.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

The same way you test any map, by how closely it correspondes to reality.The Creation Myths don't correspond to reality. So they are false.Damning all but a few syncophants presents us with a God who is vapid, mean and without any redeeming characteristics.Knowing that man cannot succeed yet setting the bar at that point shows a God that is stupid and petty.You test messages against reality.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion