Are you religious?

Pre-College Issues High School Life
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Seeing as I took an entire course entitled "Hebrew Scriptures," I think I am perfectly capable of making these arguments. There are distinct differences in the two stories -- the creation of Eve, for example.

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<p>Like I said before...the second is solely for the purpose of going into more definition on the creation of Adam and Eve. The first is a general creation story.</p>

<p>It's like reading Harry Potter, but from Ron's perspective. It's the same story, but different things are considered "important".</p>

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<p>Well, my point was mainly that you shouldn't assume I haven't read the bible. I see the differences as more distinct than you do, and it's not necessarily (as I assume you assumed) because I'm biblically ignorant.</p>

<p>To me, the role of God (outside of that of creator) is different in the two stories, as well. In one he is a father figure, while in the other he is a distant force. </p>

<p>I took the class two years ago, so I can't remember the other differences off the top of my head, but there are a few discrepancies. And for that matter, much of the Bible is open to interpretation -- including both creation stories.</p>

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<p>Also: what about the differences in the Nativity stories in the Gospels?</p>

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<p>i am still exploring what i am. i used to be athiest and it was, like many of you have pointed out, a direct revolt against christianity and organized religion and everything i felt that they represented.</p>

<p>maybe that's how everyone starts out -- rejecting something, whether it be christianity, atheism, the beliefs of your parents, of your schooling, in order to find what you yourself are. because let's face it, if you have to start the journey somewhere, why not start with what you don't want to be.</p>

<p>but rejecting religion, or anything, is not the end -- it's the beginning discovering what you believe in. many may explore and end up back where they began; many may realize that their beliefs evolve or don't encompass something mainstream like they had previously thought.</p>

<p>as of now i'm pantheist. but that's for now -- and it's only a title. my fundamental belief is that there is something out there and that it is rooted in everything (i like to refer to it as "the universe").</p>

<p>but spirituality is personal. that's why i don't discriminate against anyone based on their religious beliefs -- i've found more in common with my fiercely catholic friend than with my devoutly athiest one. after all, i'm not simply "panthiest." the op isn't simply "athiest/agnostic." and hisgracefillsme isn't simply "christian."</p>

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<p>sammielue21-very profound, and true.</p>

<p>magneticpoet-I'm sorry if I offended. But most of the people that I've met simply put down everything in the Bible without ever picking it up and actually reading it.</p>

<p>Maybe it's just the way I read...but the Bible isn't something that's contradictory. You have to read very deeply and several times to really understand it, which most people either don't or aren't willing to do.</p>

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<p>yo i beleve in religin cuz without it humans wuldn't have any morals. how can humans have morals if god wasn't there to give em??? nd anyway the bible says its the word of god so that is prety much convincing. god wrote it says it rite their so obviusly. dam u people just need to READ the bible. ignorants fools. my AUNT fell down the stairs 2 years ago, didn't break any bones. she prayed to god every nite and that day when she fell down god delivered. she knew it was miracle and so did i :). jesus amen!</p>

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<p>In English:</p>

<p>Hey, I believe in religion, becasuse without it, humans would not have any morals. How can humans have morals if God wasn't there to give them to the humans?(some unintelligible abbreviations). Anyways, the Bible says it's the Word of God so that pretty much proves my point. I lack a brain and am not able to understand the concepts of spellling and grammar. God worte it therefore it is automatically right because everyone knows than an all powerful God got bored one day and decided to write a book. Dang! You people just need to the read the Bible. You ignorant people. My aunt fell down the stairs two years ago, and didn't break a single bone. She had prayed to God everynight and that day when she fell down, God helped her. She knows that is is a miracle, and so did I. Amen Jesus!</p>

<p>I have many notes for you:
-Yo is not a word in the English language, maybe in Spanish though
-Cuz is not a word
-It is spelt religion, not "religin"
-You start sentences off with capital letters
-Bible and God are capitalized, because the are the anem of a book and a specific god
-Did you ever think that maybe morals were created by man?
-God did not right the Bible, man, who is fallible, wrote it.
-With the lack of beavers and wood in a sentence, the "dam" should be spelt like "Damn"
-You cannot justify something by saying that it is justified
-Ignorant Fools is redundant, making you sound ignorant, or a fool, but not both
-Just because you aunt has bones of steel, does not mean God helped here, but maybe radiation poisioning
-Despite Nick at Nite's attempt to fool you, it is actually spelt "night"
-What is "nd"?</p>

<p>Wow, you are truly ridiculous.</p>

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<p>religiously agnostic.</p>

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<p>@magneticPoet- you might have read the bible and "interpreted it" but to me, it seems as though you treat the bible as some literature or another novel that you analyze in class...Bible is not a literature, and you don't read the bible to extract literary devices or allegories or metaphors...the Bible is the living Word of God...it is FOOD. You NEED it to survive.</p>

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<p>Not really. I perfer not to eat paper. Not that there is anything worng with that, but it is not my favor. I perfer to eat paper clips.</p>

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<p>rmadden15, that was a satire. Those are the types of rebuttals my (religious) high school peers offer when the subject pops up. But your response was pretty funny... were you playing along? ^^</p>

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<p>HGFM, whether you want to admit it or not, the Bible is very contradictory. I've read it several times and I went to a Catholic school for nine years. I am not against Christianity, but it aggravates me when people refuse to acknowledge that there are contradictions. </p>

<p>For example, who is the father of Joseph?
"And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ." - Matthew 1:16.
"Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli." - Luke 3:23.</p>

<p>And how did Judas die? Did he hang himself or did his "bowels gush out"?</p>

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<p>maybe jake and joe were gay?</p>

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<p>^ Actually, that would be incest...</p>

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<p>^^ Lol, you are now amazing. I thought you were, because there is no way someone like that would even find this site. Lol, I am so gullible at times.</p>

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^In my experience, people who find that the Bible "contradicts itself" either aren't reading carefully enough or aren't reading at all, but rather following what everyone else says.

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Maybe it's just the way I read...but the Bible isn't something that's contradictory. You have to read very deeply and several times to really understand it, which most people either don't or aren't willing to do.

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<p>Oh no. When I said it contradicted, I meant in an analytical / historical way. Don't get me wrong, I just finished a full year of a Scripture course, so I've studied it a bit more than the average person. I'm just saying that there are "factual / numerical" contradictions. That do exist.</p>

<p>I personally don't think the Bible can be used as a historical account (or at least, it's not as important as the values it teaches).</p>

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<p>^ rmadden, Who are you talking to and what are you talking about? Lol. :p</p>

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<p>Yes I do. :)</p>

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For example, who is the father of Joseph?
"And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ." - Matthew 1:16.
"Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli." - Luke 3:23.

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Eh, that's the thing. There's books and websites on a list of contradictory biblical statements...and there's also those very contradictions that are supposedly refuted. It's pretty difficult to take in the bible in context; certain geneaological (sp), historical, figurative, and a bunch of other factors come in place, as well as some errors that probably have been caused by translation errors from original language or anything.</p>

<p>I'm not saying the bible has no contradictions (I don't hold that view), but someone with a different interpretation may view it that way.</p>

<p>Just a probable answer to your question I found online on newadvent:

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id to be the father of Joseph, while in Matt., I, 16, Jacob was Joseph's father. The most probable explanation of this seeming contradiction is afforded by having recourse to the levirate law among the Jews, which prescribes that when a man dies childless his widow "shall not marry to another; but his brother shall take her, and raise up seed for his brother" (Deuteronomy 25:5). The child, therefore, of the second marriage is legally the child of the first (Deuteronomy 25:6). Heli having died childless, his widow became the wife of his brother Jacob, and Joseph was the offspring of the marriage, by nature the son of Jacob, but legally the son of Heli. It is likely that Matt. gives the natural, and Luke the legal descent. (Cf. Maas, "The Gosp. acc. to S. Matt.", i, 16.) Lord A. Hervey, Bishop of Bath and Wells, who wrote a learned work on the "Genealogies of Our Lord Jesus Christ", thinks that Mary was the daughter of Jacob, and Joseph was the son of Jacob's brother, Heli. Mary and Joseph were therefore first cousins, and both of the house of David. Jacob, the elder, having died without male issue, transmitted his rights and privileges to the male issue of his brother Heli, Joseph, who according to genealogical usage was his descendant.

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apparently some ancient complex (and probably weird) jewish law states that the child of the second marriage is legally the child of the first or something; so legal issues...w/e that is.</p>

<p>So this is one of the times where I'll resort to a 5 year old cop-out and say that you cannot and probably shouldn't say someone's ignorant for something pretty sketchy/old like individual biblical interpretations...just like how you can't say "Oh this miracle happened how can you be agnostic zomg!!"</p>

<p>(Btw, nothing of what I said directed towards the person I quoted, just an example I saw to make a totally separate point/post on my own that has nothing to do with what he/she initially said or anything).</p>

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<p>Yeah, I love church and try to stuff my life with as much religious activities as possible. No joke....</p>