Our Mutual Joy

[Plane]

LOL...oh gezzz....

we are comparing NEWSWEEK to the BIBLE?

Give me a break.

That wouldn't be much of a comparison.

But Newsweek is putting the bible to use , and we can talk about how legitimate , or not , they are to do so.

[Xavier_Onassis]

we are comparing NEWSWEEK to the BIBLE?

Give me a break.



That wouldn't be much of a comparison.

=========================================
Indeed this is true.
The entire Bible is almost totally hearsay evidence. The New Testament was written around FIFTY YEARS OR MORE after the events it described. This is like having a trial where all the witnesses are talking about events that happened between 1933 and 1958.

The singular most important event other than Jesus between 33BC and 108 AD was the First Jewish-Roman War 66-73AD, which began with the expulsion of the Romans from Palestine and ended in the destruction of Herod's Temple (the one Jesus visited) and the erasing of Jerusalem from the map.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Jewish-Roman_War

This was a monumental event, but was followed by the Simon Bar Kochba Rebellion, led by a man who was considered the Messiah by many, many more people than Jesus was in his time.

Strangely, neither of these events is mentioned in the Bible at all. Paul says nothing at all about the destruction of Jerusalem. He died in 67AD, but books written after his death don't mention it either.


On the other hand, Newsweek mentions pretty much every significant event, bar none, that happened during the tie of its publication.

So yeah, you are right, there is no comparison.

Newsweek wins, hands down, for accuracy, evidence and thoroughness over the NT, and no doubt the OT as well. Not that Newsweek is nearly as good a news source as The Economist or Der Spiegel.

[Cynthia]

No Way...LOL
Newsweek wins hands down?.....come on....Xavier.

You speak with bias tongue!

I know, I know.....you are going to tell me that I do the same.

But, unlike you....I happen to believe the Bible wins hands down over NEWS of the Week. 

[Xavier_Onassis]

I happen to believe the Bible wins hands down over NEWS of the Week.

===============================
The Bible contradicts itself, as a google of the terms Bible and contradictions will reveal.

There is no evidence other than the Bible that Herod ever ordered the killing of first-born sons. That would be a major outrage to the Jews or anyone, but it just isn't there.

Newsweek is more accurate for today's news than the Bible is for historic events.

When the Romans obliterated Jerusalem and the Temple, the Ark of the Covenant, the most important single symbol of the Jewish religion was lost. There is not a single mention of this in the Bible. Nary a word.

Jesus was a rabbi, a priest in a religion which had a huge reverence for the written word. His mission was to bring the word of God to Mankind, especially the Jews, being as he only seems to have tried address the Jewish religion to other Jews. And yet, he wrote not a single word. It only mentions in the NT that he drew or wrote something unmentioned in the dirt with a stick--and that does not require even literacy.

[Cynthia]

I happen to believe the Bible wins hands down over NEWS of the Week.

===============================
The Bible contradicts itself, as a google of the terms Bible and contradictions will reveal.

There is no evidence other than the Bible that Herod ever ordered the killing of first-born sons. That would be a major outrage to the Jews or anyone, but it just isn't there.

Newsweek is more accurate for today's news than the Bible is for historic events.

When the Romans obliterated Jerusalem and the Temple, the Ark of the Covenant, the most important single symbol of the Jewish religion was lost. There is not a single mention of this in the Bible. Nary a word.

Jesus was a rabbi, a priest in a religion which had a huge reverence for the written word. His mission was to bring the word of God to Mankind, especially the Jews, being as he only seems to have tried address the Jewish religion to other Jews. And yet, he wrote not a single word. It only mentions in the NT that he drew or wrote something unmentioned in the dirt with a stick--and that does not require even literacy.

The Bible contradicts itself, as a google of the terms Bible and contradictions will reveal.

I am sure many of us would go running away from the faith that has brought us close to the Lord, if we felt that you were absolutely correct, XO.

Nice try, though.

Go ahead and argue. But you will never be correct on this one.

I am not one to argue faith.....it's not something one can truly debate, quite frankly with any sort of solution. ..I also don't think that a person who hasn't even given Christ a chance can win this debate, either.

 

I would defer to the millions of Christians who have chosen to believe in Christ....failed system/book/logic/etc.

There's more to this "story"...it's called faith.

[Xavier_Onassis]

Well, that is my point.

It's all about faith. Logic is futile. Reason is futile.

Jesus is one thing, the Bible is another, by the way.

[Cynthia]

Well, that is my point.

It's all about faith. Logic is futile. Reason is futile.

Jesus is one thing, the Bible is another, by the way.

Jesus is one thing, the Bible is another, by the way.
According to you, perhaps.

But, to me .....The Bible is the WORD of God according to the followers of Jesus Christ. The entire Bible--old and new.

Jesus is the only Messiah, as a Christian I speak.

 There is no "other way" btw....unless one believes that Jesus is not God. So be it. xo


I just don't agree with you on this. Jesus Christ is the only one to save the world.

I know that seems a stretch and sounds off the mark to someone like you...but to say that anything written in this day and age trumps the Bible....is so just stupid, imo.



It's all about faith. Logic is futile. Reason is futile.

and by the way, God gave us this gift of Logic which is not so futile--- when it comes to reason if one has faith.

You have not given Christianity a chance, Xavier...so, honestly, you can't criticize the logic or reason of any part of it.

But, of course, the arm-chair quarterback will always think he knows best. ONe has to experience the faith to understand it. Then one will see that logic, heart and everything "being" is from God...our gifts. So, logic tells me that there is a God. The world is arranged too perfectly for there not to be a God. Logic, mathematics,  science are not separate elements from God's plan.

I don't want to get into an argument about religion here, but I have to say that it really bothers me when someone states their TRUTH according to his narrow mind. .....without experience and the insight into both sides, one can not be believed.

Truth = logic vs faith?

Welcome to the fight of all eternity.

I just happen to believe that there is so much more in life.

But, again......one can't see ..unless one is willing to see--the truth. 

[Cynthia]

 This author gives far more credibility than any Newsweek reporter. He explains that his journey was not a spiritual one, but walking the land to tell the story brought about more meaning than he imagined.



When did you go from being an author on a journey to being just a person on a journey?
When I went to Haran the first time, which is where God speaks to Abraham in Genesis 12 - and I had been to Mount Ararat and Eastern Turkey - we'd been driving for two days to get to this isolated town, which is one of the oldest cities on Earth. And I just felt this incredible connection to the land, like I just wanted to get out and roll around in the soil. I had this experience of them, going back to the story itself and reading about Adam and Eve. The word for Adam comes from the Hebrew word adama, which means soil. And suddenly that phrase, that is almost a cliché, but I remembered it from my grandmother's funeral - from dust you are, and to dust you shall return - it just had this powerful impact on me. It was like the Bible seems to understand that we come from these places. We carry these places around within us. And maybe - though I had said this was not about me and my God, this was not about me and my religion - that maybe this was going to be this emotional experience that I hadn't even realized I was looking for.

Are you a particularly spiritual person, or were you before Walking the Bible?
I actually was not before. I'm a fifth generation Jew from the South, and I would say that I felt this connection to my religion, but it wasn't a spiritual connection. And I assured everyone at the start that this was not that kind of a journey. That if anything, what drew me in was the geography and the politics and the simple question, "Is it true or not?" The story of Walking the Bible for me is that I went in looking for science, and came out craving meaning, in a nutshell. I went looking for all these rational questions, and could I make it connection with my kind of secular, rational world, and then I realized that was just this kind of crutch that I was relying on. And that what I really learned was that going into the desert, in particular, you have to learn to let go of those crutches and the civilized world, and open yourself up to something higher.

http://www.pbs.org/walkingthebible/interview.html

[Xavier_Onassis]

I saw that PBS show. It was interesting, but it didn't seem to affect me all that much.

I think some people are more easily influenced by this sort of thing. I am not one of them. As I said, I've read the Bible twice, and I really don't see what all the whoop-de-doo is about.

It IS easier to read than the Koran, but that is not a hard thing to do.

[Plane]

I saw that PBS show. It was interesting, but it didn't seem to affect me all that much.

I think some people are more easily influenced by this sort of thing. I am not one of them. As I said, I've read the Bible twice, and I really don't see what all the whoop-de-doo is about.

It IS easier to read than the Koran, but that is not a hard thing to do.

Don't give up, your sophistication can be developed, but the meaning of Scripture is only given as a gift , if you don't read it prayerfully you arn't doing it right.

[Plane]

When the Romans obliterated Jerusalem and the Temple, the Ark of the Covenant, the most important single symbol of the Jewish religion was lost. There is not a single mention of this in the Bible. Nary a word.

The Ark of the Covenant was never in Herods temple , mention of it in scripture stops more than a century previous to that.

[Xavier_Onassis]

The Ark of the Covenant was never in Herods temple , mention of it in scripture stops more than a century previous to that.

The fact that it is not mentioned is not proof that it was not there.

In any event, the destruction of the Temple and the entire city of Jerusalem was a MONUMENTAL event for Judaism, and yet the Bible mentions it not at all.

In Revelation is mentions that the destruction is prophesied, as is the destruction of lots of other things and people.

Also, the disappearance of the Ark is also a major omission in the Bible, whenever it occurred. But it is mentioned nowhere.
So as such, the Bible is not even a decent history of the Jewish religion, its main subject.

[Cynthia]

I saw that PBS show. It was interesting, but it didn't seem to affect me all that much.

I think some people are more easily influenced by this sort of thing. I am not one of them. As I said, I've read the Bible twice, and I really don't see what all the whoop-de-doo is about.

It IS easier to read than the Koran, but that is not a hard thing to do.

I can appreciated your views. I can.

This is not a topic that can be debated. So, I'll let the issue rest for now.

Nice winter we are having in NM. Snow!

[Plane]

The Ark of the Covenant was never in Herods temple , mention of it in scripture stops more than a century previous to that.

The fact that it is not mentioned is not proof that it was not there.

In any event, the destruction of the Temple and the entire city of Jerusalem was a MONUMENTAL event for Judaism, and yet the Bible mentions it not at all.

In Revelation is mentions that the destruction is prophesied, as is the destruction of lots of other things and people.

Also, the disappearance of the Ark is also a major omission in the Bible, whenever it occurred. But it is mentioned nowhere.
So as such, the Bible is not even a decent history of the Jewish religion, its main subject.

How did you fail to notice that Jesus mentioned it?

[Xavier_Onassis]

How did you fail to notice that Jesus mentioned it?

I am of the opinion that he didn't mention it at all.
Perhaps you can tell me where Jesus mentions the disappearance of the Ark in the Bible.