[Faith-talk] a distressing book

qubit lauraeaves at yahoo.com
Tue Dec 30 08:57:09 UTC 2014 

Hi all --
This is an interesting thread. I haven't been keeping up on my email every 
day. I have some thoughts that I haven't seen anyone else make.

Has anyone else considered that truth is many faceted and infinite and what 
you think is "true" just depends on your situation and personal perspective? 
Of course people make mistakes in judgement, but there is an analogy that 
I'm sure everyone has heard about the 5 blind men and the elephent, and each 
is trying to determine what an elephant is like.  One grabs the trunk and 
says it's like a snake; one grabs an ear and says it's like a fan; one grabs 
a leg and thinks it's like a tree trunk, one leans against its side and 
thinks it's a wall, and of course there is the guy in back who grabs the 
tail and says it's like a rope.
They are all somewhat right, but also don't comprehend the whole creature.

While I do believe the bible is true, I don't think all people who read it 
are equally right.  I also think the Bible is not complete -- flame away if 
you want, but look at the dead sea scrolls and such.  Certainly any 
information beyond what is in the bible would be fascinating.  I also think 
there are non christians who have the "light of Christ" or holy spirit in 
them without knowing it, and behave like christians should.

But that's not news.  I don't necessarily believe in the possibility of a 
unitarian or single true church that combines all the existing churches, 
unless Jesus himself appears himself to the whole world and can resolve all 
the disputes over doctrines.
Meanwhile,  there is that story in the gospels about the disciples rebuking 
someone for trying to cast a devil out of someone in the name of Jesus, but 
he wasn't one of them, and Jesus rebuked the disciples  for this, because 
all who were with him whether one of the disciples or not, were for him.
Tolerance.

Has anyone also read about some of the non Christian religions in the world 
such as eastern religions etc? They argue a little with Christians over 
doctrines, but they also have some beliefs and practices that can be 
helpful, and even agree in many ways with christianity. I also look back at 
history and believe that many of the doctrinal and philosophical clashes 
between groups of people develop as a result of hyppocrasy on the part of 
believing people.
I wonder how race relations in america would have been different if some of 
the so called christians who claimed that slavery was right because of 
misuse of some verses in the bible, and that the african people needed to be 
christianized.
I know, that was done mcenturies ago, but the aftermath still goes on.
Well, at least Martin Luther King Jr was a great Christian.
And the lds are often called nonchristian because of doctrinal beliefs and 
strange history, but they are very much christian.
Well i'm rambling. If anyone wants to discuss anything specific or share 
verses and such about what the bible says about certain things, I'm a reader 
and love to chat. If this isn't of interest here, I'll spare you any long 
rambling.

I hope you all have a blessed and happy new year.
--le



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Timothy Clark Ministries via Faith-talk" <faith-talk at nfbnet.org>
To: "Brandon A. Olivares" <programmer2188 at gmail.com>
Cc: "Faith-talk,for the discussion of faith and religion" 
<faith-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Tuesday, December 30, 2014 12:44 AM
Subject: Re: [Faith-talk] a distressing book


i respect that argument however, i strongly disagree with it.
Timothy Clark Ministries



  http://www.timothyclarkministries.blogspot.com

On Tevet 8, 5775 AM, at 1:40, Brandon A. Olivares <programmer2188 at gmail.com> 
wrote:

> I think there’s one truth, that all must find. I don’t think it’s 
> equivalent to the Bible, but that’s each person’s journey to find out.
>
>> On Dec 30, 2014, at 1:35 AM, Timothy Clark Ministries 
>> <timothyclarkministries at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> Brandon, i agree with you but what would you have truth take the form of? 
>> would you agree with gnostics who believe truth is whatever we make it, 
>> in other words you find your own “personal truth.”
>> these claims are ridiculously absurd and further more totally out of 
>> proportion to the truth. the truth isn’t what you make it. the truth is 
>> the thing that’s staring you all in the face. read the bible. god’s word. 
>> .
>> Timothy Clark Ministries
>>
>>
>>
>> http://www.timothyclarkministries.blogspot.com
>>
>> On Tevet 8, 5775 AM, at 1:32, Brandon A. Olivares 
>> <programmer2188 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Devin,
>>>
>>> I think it’s important to question. If there is a God, then he doesn’t 
>>> want children who blindly believe without finding out the truth for 
>>> themselves. Search, and be open to whatever form the truth takes.
>>>
>>> But just know that every author you read is biased in some way. You can’t 
>>> just read a few books and think that is the end-all be-all. You have to 
>>> figure it out for yourself. I started the journey when I was 10 years 
>>> old, and I don’t think it really ever ends.
>>>
>>> Brandon
>>>
>>>> On Dec 30, 2014, at 1:15 AM, Devin Prater via Faith-talk 
>>>> <faith-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Thank you so much.
>>>>
>>>> Sent from my iPhone
>>>>
>>>>> On Dec 30, 2014, at 12:08 AM, Timothy Clark Ministries 
>>>>> <timothyclarkministries at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> dismiss it.
>>>>> i say this for one reason.
>>>>> you’ll confuse yourself. you’ll give yourself more questions and you’ll 
>>>>> go mad searching for answers. eventually though, if you are persistent 
>>>>> enough, you’ll get there. question is, at what cost to your mental 
>>>>> faculties.
>>>>> i’ve been there, done that. because i’ve done it i can argue against 
>>>>> just about everything but, for most this is not a good path to try to 
>>>>> follow. it takes discipline and patients and a lot of both. if you 
>>>>> continue, be ready for lodes and lodes of sleepless nights.
>>>>> i say give it up if you don’t want to go through it. like i said, i’ve 
>>>>> been there, i’ve done that..
>>>>> Timothy Clark Ministries
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> http://www.timothyclarkministries.blogspot.com
>>>>>
>>>>>> On Tevet 8, 5775 AM, at 1:00, Devin Prater via Faith-talk 
>>>>>> <faith-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Hi all. For years I've saught the truth. For years I've looked and 
>>>>>> looked to find God, and just when I think I've found him, I'm not 
>>>>>> sure. First there was Gnosticism that challenged me the most. I 
>>>>>> studdied it, and even downloaded a few of the gospels, like of 
>>>>>> Thomas. Now don't get me wrong. I don't just flit from view to view 
>>>>>> on religion so easily. I soon emerged from that with the firm 
>>>>>> conviction that it was just not true, for Jesus wouldn't want just a 
>>>>>> little few to become children of God, and while the world is fallen, 
>>>>>> our main wish shouldn't be to get out of it and not live on our way 
>>>>>> through it. But there's a book called Satan's counterfeit 
>>>>>> Christianity that I found on iBooks. I started reading it thinking 
>>>>>> it'd give more about other ideas I should keep away from, but it 
>>>>>> basically reads that all knowledge me have of Christianity is wrong. 
>>>>>> It says that Catholicism is rooted in other religions, based on Babel 
>>>>>> or however you spell it, and that Protestantism is just an extention 
>>>>>> of Catholicism, just split and without the rituals and such. So, now 
>>>>>> what? But the book's only advice about learning the "true faith" is 
>>>>>> to read the Bible deeply. Well, I've been doing that for as long as I 
>>>>>> had a Bible to read, and the only thing I disagree with of most 
>>>>>> Christians is that the sons of God in Gen 6 were fallen angels, not 
>>>>>> sons of Seth. So, is this something I should keep investigating, or 
>>>>>> should I just dismiss it before I cause myself more confusion and 
>>>>>> ache as happened with Gnosticism?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Sent from my iPhone
>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>> Faith-talk mailing list
>>>>>> Faith-talk at nfbnet.org
>>>>>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/faith-talk_nfbnet.org
>>>>>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
>>>>>> Faith-talk:
>>>>>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/faith-talk_nfbnet.org/timothyclarkministries%40gmail.com
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> Faith-talk mailing list
>>>> Faith-talk at nfbnet.org
>>>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/faith-talk_nfbnet.org
>>>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
>>>> Faith-talk:
>>>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/faith-talk_nfbnet.org/programmer2188%40gmail.com
>>>
>>
>


_______________________________________________
Faith-talk mailing list
Faith-talk at nfbnet.org
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/faith-talk_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
Faith-talk:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/faith-talk_nfbnet.org/lauraeaves%40yahoo.com

More information about the Faith-Talk mailing list