Promises and Secrets

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A website for those not afraid to examine their beliefs, compare them to the real world, and make sure they fit.



Bible: No Longer Applies?

VIEWPOINT



The Bible is a controversial manuscript claiming to be the story of creation of the universe and the relationship man has with God. It provides advice that promises to help men lead satisfying lives and points out error that can cause men grief.

FACT



The Bible is a collection of stories about people and historical events. Not everyone accepts the claims of the Bible, though many archaelogical findings verify the existence of some of the articles, buildings, and people mentioned.


BLUE VIEWPOINT



Does the Bible have any life lesson value to modern man?

The only thing that man has today that he did not have thousands of years ago is technology. Nothing has changed except for the speed with which man can get himself into trouble. The Bible is a guide book that steers us past the pitfalls of life - if we care to listen.

For some - no

A very intelligent man who believes that evolution is a fact once commented to me about the origin of a human moral compass. He said that any normal person knows that it is wrong to kill. I agreed, sort of, but then asked him where the concept came from. He said that people have figured out that it must have been a natural community development because of the pain caused by the action. That makes sense, but it is not provable and has no basis in fact. The psychologists have hypothesized that this must be how things developed. That doesn't even fit the case for evolution. What happened to survival of the fittest? One day people just saw that it was better not to kill, so everyone thought it was a good idea? So, who gets to decide, when some disagree, which is enforced? The strongest?

For others - yes

The answer for a believer in God is much simpler. God told us what is right and wrong through His word. First, in its own right, killing is not necessarily wrong. We kill to eat. However, murder - the killing of another human without justification - is wrong. The commandment is "You shall not commit murder" not "You shall not kill":



The phonetic spelling for the Hebrew term tre-sah (murder) is raw-tsakh' (sounds like rotsackh ending with the breathy 'h' sound, and it means to murder or slay). The Hebrew word for "kill" sounds like laharogue (la-ha-rohg). They are not the same word.

If you read the KJV, you see an incorrect translation of the orginal Hebrew. Killing is a method society uses to minimize problems in the long run, but this subject is a topic for another time. The point here is that we know murder is wrong because God told us it was wrong, and He has put that into our hearts. That's how we know. The same goes for child beating (this means beating, not disciplining with the rod or switch), stealing, homosexuality, and a huge list of things that modern society tolerates in the name of relative truth, even though God said not to do that.

So, there is a 50-50 chance...

So, does a book from the Creator of the universe that tells us how to live by His will still apply to us? I am a believer, so I say, "Yep." For believers in God, the book applies to believers and non-believers. Non-believers act in a manner that shows that they do not think it applies to them. This brings an interesting thought to mind. If believers are right, think about the panic when the non-believers learn that they are in trouble and it is too late to change their ways. If non-believers are right, there will be no difference in the way the world is going other than a continuation of the slide into socialism that has proven itself not to work anywhere in the world it has been tried.

This site discusses the side of the believers

However, that brings up a question about the applicability of the Bible that has been answered in many ways by the different churches out there today. This question is for the believer side of the issue, but if they are right, will also affect the non-believer side. The Bible comes with a major division between what we call the Old and New Testaments. Do they both apply to modern believers?

There is a growing number of believers who feel that the Old Testament does not apply to those who believe in Christ. They feel that the New Testament is a softer, gentler application of God's rules, if there are any that they even feel still apply. Yet, as you can see from many of the other pages on this site, in order to believe that, you must ignore the words and actions of Jesus, James, John, and Paul. Paul applies the law to the Corinthian church (1 Corinthians 5:1
1It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that even pagans do not tolerate: A man is sleeping with his father's wife.

, a law from Leviticus 18:8, and a Gentile congregation) with no qualms and even tells them to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread (1 Corinthians 5:8
8Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

1 Corinthians 5:8)

So, very quickly, for believers, the Bible still applies to us - both Testaments. And if God is in charge like we believe He is, the non-believers will soon believe - one way or another. Even if somehow He is not really there, I prefer to err on the side of belief. Either way, I lose nothing. The stakes are too high to do otherwise.






Disagree? Find an error? Contact us at glenjjr@gmail.com and give us your view.

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