Protestantism

» pink101 - The Bible Speaks Of...

In response to The Bible Speaks Of... posted by paper_turtle:
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My mind is agile and that's for better or for worse.
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How do you make those little smiley faces?
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I'm not in a rut, but our discussion group is. I think it is because some of us want to control how others behave. I called in sweetness and niceties in another thread. Why do you come here? To have participants be sweet and nice?
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I like to be sweet and nice in relationships with people who are intimates of mine. For starters, I know their names and they know mine. We touch each other physically and we experience each others happinesses and pains. We share love with each other. My life is filled with people like that. I don't come here looking for companionship. It's good to have pleasant interactions none of which comes from being a fake. I come to gain intellectual reflections. Everything that goes on here is taking place in our heads. It's cyber space for crying out loud. What is there about that fact of reality that some of us fail to grasp?
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-- posted by pink101

» Migisi - Would we believe them?

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Yes, but those people are more than their stories, and confining them within their stories limits their larger significance.
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Indeed, all of us are more than the few lines written about us in our obituaries.
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Those people were all examples of ordinary people who did extraordinary things through faith.
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I don't think these legendary OT superheroes were just 'ordinary' folk we might have coffee with at the local diner. Not at my diner, anyway. And I don't think the OT writers intended them to be.
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They were meant to be examples to other ordinary people. This was the intent of those who composed/compiled the OT.
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If we were talking about the NT, I'd agree that Jesus' champions appeared to be ordinary guys. But were they really? Jesus supposedly hand-picked each one specifically, so I ~assume~ he saw something ~extra~ordinary in them.
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The psalms are highly personal, but the narratives contained in my other examples were not. We aren't told how those people felt about much of anything.
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The narratives were written by humans, not androids. Is it possible for a human to write even a narrative without interjecting personal feeling? For instance, you and I might observe a cat eating a bird. Depending on our feelings about that event, I might write "the vicious cat sank its dagger claws into the defenseless little bird, ripped it apart, and ate it" while you might write "the desparately hungry cat caught the bird, mercifully released its spirit, and took in its nourishment'.
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The "our" in your Bible is rendered "his" in both my NEB and NAB Bible. (The NAB is a Catholic translation.)
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Yes, it depends on which Bible version one prefers to use and trusts is the most accurate - or fits most with their personal POV. Another topic for a different discussion thread?
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People are biologically male or female, but within the psyche we all contain male and female characteristics.
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I don't think the ancient writers of Gen saw the human psyche as male and female. If they did, I don't think they would've admitted it - fearing it would undermine their patriarchal society and religion.
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A male-dominated religion promulgated the *idea* that God was male, because it reinforced their position of power. In addition, they wanted to differentiate between their God and the gods of other religions (especially those with female goddesses). That doesn't mean its so.
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I agree the ancient writers had an agenda/doctrine to promulgate and protect.
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For me, knowing the names of the plants and animals where I live makes them into something much more than stage scenery. They become friends, friends I care about and want to know better.
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I bet you're good with people's names too, committing face and name to memory, right? I wish I was. Sigh.

-- posted by Migisi

» Migisi - The Bible Speaks Of...

In response to The Bible Speaks Of... posted by pink101:

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How do you make those little smiley faces?
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Same as before... : plus )
It used to be a blue smiley. Suite must've upgraded their graphics.

-- posted by Migisi

» pink101 - The Bible Speaks Of...

In response to The Bible Speaks Of... posted by Migisi:
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:)
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Why doesn't that show me a smiley face?
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-- posted by pink101

» HeadZenCards - The Bible Speaks Of...

In response to The Bible Speaks Of... posted by paper_turtle:

1 Sam. 18:25 And Saul said, Thus shall ye say to David, The king desireth not any dowry, but a HUNDRED FORESKINS of the Philistines, to be avenged of the king's enemies. But Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines.

18:26 And when his servants told David these words, it pleased David well to be the king's son in law: and the days were not expired.

18:27 Wherefore David arose and went, he and his men, and slew of the Philistines two hundred men; and DAVID BROUGHT THEIR FORESKINS, and they gave them in full tale to the king, that he might be the king's son in law. And Saul gave him Michal his daughter to wife.

Back in the good old days, providing a sign meant doing some killing. You had to work in order for your signs to mean something. It meant trading the foreskins of your dead enemies for some man's daughter.

The wonder is who was the sicko who went around to the dead bodies collecting foreskins. Back then, I reckon you had to be sure not to kill your enemy in that area of the body so as not to disturb the foreskin.

Nowadays, we take our signs and wonders to mean seeing the light and the tunnel on our way out.

From www.godisimaginary.com:

Many Christians find the phenomenon of Near Death Experiences (NDEs) to be proof that "God" and the "afterlife" exist. As described in this article, an NDE contains these characteristics:

The sudden awareness that one has had a 'fatal" accident and not survived.

An out-of-body experience. A sensation of floating above one's body and seeing the surrounding area.

Pleasant feelings, calmness.

A sensation of moving upwards through a tunnel or narrow passageway.

Meeting deceased relatives or spiritual figures

Encountering a being of light, or a light (possibly a religious figure, i.e. Jesus, God, Buddha)

Being given a life review

A feeling of being returned to the body, often accompanied by a reluctance to return

Things like heart attacks, near-drowning and severe loss of blood can all trigger near death experiences.

NDEs have been experienced by thousands of people and have been widely cataloged in a variety of books. Many of these books are "spiritual" or "religious" in nature.

What is not mentioned is that there is a drug called Ketamine that produces all of the elements of an NDE when it is injected into normal, non-dying people.

In other words, an NDE is a natural, chemically induced state that the human brain enters.

The trigger for an NDE is lack of oxygen to the brain and body.

If you read scientific papers like these, you find that there is a completely chemical and completely non-spiritual reason for the features of every NDE.

Is this a direct proof that God is imaginary? No.

However, it is a direct proof that the NDE (which many people use as "indisputable" proof that God and eternal life exist) has no supernatural meaning.

We can scientificaly prove NDEs to be chemical side-effects rather than "a gateway to the afterlife" as many religious believers claim.

-- posted by HeadZenCards

» paper_turtle - The Bible Speaks Of...

In response to The Bible Speaks Of... posted by pink101:

People may behave any way they choose. I have no desire to conrtol anyone or anything. I gave up on that long ago.

I am who I am. If you find that so very sweet you can't bear it, and you think I have nothing of substance to say, then so be it.

peace and love,
Paper Turtle

-- posted by paper_turtle

» Migisi - The Bible Speaks Of...

In response to The Bible Speaks Of... posted by pink101:
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Works when it's within or at the end of a sentence line like this , but not stand alone. At least, I can't get it to show up stand alone.

-- posted by Migisi

» pink101 - The Bible Speaks Of...

In response to The Bible Speaks Of... posted by paper_turtle:
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I don't have a problem with you if you want to be sweet.
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It's when you want me to be sweet that I have a problem.
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Are you trying to get me to be sweet?
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Do you have rules on how others should act before you will recognize them?
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I didn't think so.
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-- posted by pink101

» Migisi - The Bible Speaks Of...

In response to The Bible Speaks Of... posted by HeadZenCards:

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In other words, an NDE is a natural, chemically induced state that the human brain enters.
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I've read medical journals about the physical causes of NDEs which confirm this. One doesn't need to be near-death to have an out-of-body experience. Ask Timothy Leary. (wink)

-- posted by Migisi

» paper_turtle - The Bible Speaks Of...

In response to The Bible Speaks Of... posted by pink101:

When have I ever asked you to be or do anything?
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Look, you know my history. I spent a lot of years in abusive situations. I resolved not to associate with people who will not respect me or my boundaries. I have no problem with an honest angry response, but I refuse to associate with bullies, or people seem to take pleasure in being obnoxius (I don't think of you that way, just so you know). I owe that to myself.
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I have spent hours, in real life, and on the 'net talking with people who can disagree (sometimes quite strongly) and still keep a civil tongue in their heads. It is possible to express anger without shouting or name-calling. I'm not saying you have to do that, just stating what is true.
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Frankly, all the recent argumentativeness has felt like wading in testosterone.
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peace and love,
Paper Turtle

-- posted by paper_turtle