Question For Christians

[steve_bank]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/613_commandments

There are 613 directives derived from the Old Testament. If it is the inspired word of god, which ones are Christians supposed to follow?

 

[Bronzeage]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/613_commandments

There are 613 directives derived from the Old Testament. If it is the inspired word of god, which ones are Christians supposed to follow?

The ones they want to follow. It's really no more complicated than that.

Any belief system or philosophy with come with inherent contradictions, which make it impossible to follow every stricture to the letter. Just as soon as someone says, "Thou shalt not kill," someone pops up with, "But what if Hitler were stabbing your sister and there was no way to make him stop, except to shoot him in the heart with a crossbow?"

This in turn, sets off a debate of whether one should risk one's own life to save the sister, which is a question of which life has more value, and whether such a thing can be weighed.

 

[steve_bank]

I am not looking to bash Christians, I want to hear what they have to say.

 

[Bronzeage]

I am not looking to bash Christians, I want to hear what they have to say.

Well, now you've heard from one. This is not really the place to record Christian's opinions.

Christians share one common trait with most other identifiable groups, which is they don't put a lot of thought into it. When compared to the total number of self identified Christians, the number who study the Bible, Old or New Testament, is actually a small percentage.

In Scripture, Jesus says, "I haven't come to change one bit of the law." Yet, in a few years, Peter decides dietary laws no longer need to be observed. When Paul began to minister to Gentiles, one of his first policy decisions was to declare circumcision to be irrelevant if one wanted to join a Christian church.

As with any other main stream religion, once Christianity became main stream, it was used by the current political powers to enforce social order. Christianity is not well suited to applications of power, what with the emphasis on forgiveness and love, and especially the part about all men being brothers. This requires a lot of picking and choosing, when mixed with politics.

 

[steve_bank]

You aren't going to tell me anything new about religion and group dynamics. All human groups develop a culture and power system. Self preservation as well.

The purpose of the forum is open dialogue. or am I missing something?

I know full well from experience how hostile Christians can be if you don't fit their landscape.

That being said , I want to see what Christians say. I doubt many will respond, few actually comprehend the OT in its entirety.

 

[Kharakov]

meh. Wow, I keep saying things and regretting it milliseconds later. But they're funny to me. Damnit.

 

[steve_bank]

Sorry my friend, to this day the Vatican has palace intrigue minus the violence. The Southern Baptist Convention is notorious for infighting. Christianity is about power and control, but that is another thread.

When I went to Catholic schools in the 50s/60s we were taught that the pope was the absolute arbiter on morality and rules.

A question to any protestant is out of the 613, why single out homosexuality so virulently?

One of the few things attributed to Jesus was reaffirming divorce. Seems to me fornicators and those whom divorce should be treated just as harshly as gays...

To me the answer is a Christian is anyone who says they are and they choose arbitrary moralities.

Witness the Christian support for Trump and an apparent pedophile.
I imagine in biblical times a child sex abuser would get stoned to death.

Even prominent Christians who appear in the media argue over which is an authentic Christians. Evangelicals reject both Catholics and Mormons as non Bible based. So again, what are the biblical rules? Which ones lead to heaven? No generalities, be specific.

 

[T.G.G. Moogly]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/613_commandments

There are 613 directives derived from the Old Testament. If it is the inspired word of god, which ones are Christians supposed to follow?

It doesn't matter. Christian is just a label and can be applied to anything one wishes, including self, and for no other reason than that's what you want to be called at the moment.

My dogs are christian because they never take the Lord's name in vain.

In practice a christian is someone who claims membership in the easiest religion ever invented. Anyone can be christian because there are no rules governing membership.

 

[Tigers!]

Mark 12:30-31New International Version (NIV)

30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.
31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”

 

[Bronzeage]

You aren't going to tell me anything new about religion and group dynamics. All human groups develop a culture and power system. Self preservation as well.

The purpose of the forum is open dialogue. or am I missing something?

I know full well from experience how hostile Christians can be if you don't fit their landscape.

That being said , I want to see what Christians say. I doubt many will respond, few actually comprehend the OT in its entirety.

As I said before, you won't find a lot of them here.

However, if you understand the Old Testament in it's entirety, I'm sure there are Christians who would love to listen to you explain it to them. I'm listening.

 

[Ramaraksha]

As with any other main stream religion, once Christianity became main stream, it was used by the current political powers to enforce social order. Christianity is not well suited to applications of power, what with the emphasis on forgiveness and love, and especially the part about all men being brothers. This requires a lot of picking and choosing, when mixed with politics.

Wow and here as a Hindu I am being told that I am going to Hell - are these people not christians? "Jesus is the only way" - doesn't that mean people of other faiths are wasting their time? How do you explain the abuse Jews have faced throughout the centuries? How do you explain the killings of those suspected non-christians back in the day? The killing of Giordano Bruno?

The Tell is the presence of other faiths - in Hindu India there rose a Buddhist who preached a diff view of life and God - nothing happened to him. Nothing happened to the Sikh Gurus and Jains either. But if these same people were to be born in Christian or Muslim lands would they have been allowed to preach freely? Would they not have suffered the same fate as Giordano Bruno?

The Christian God was made in the image of the local King - get down on your knees and swear loyalty to the King(God) and he will reward you(Heaven). Simple primitive people who made God in the image of the most powerful man they knew then

 

[Ramaraksha]

Mark 12:30-31New International Version (NIV)
30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.
31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”

Every religion has similar quotes that they also think are wonderful - the Buddhists of course think all the rules that the Buddha laid down are what humanity should follow. There is nothing wrong with such rules and teachings - the wrong thing is "follow only what my book says, all other books are evil and satanic" - that's the problem. Oh yeah we are all brothers, equal in the eyes of God etc etc while condemning the same for not following one's own religion

I do have a problem with no. 30 - how are we supposed to love a person that we have never seen, have no idea what he or she or it looks like? Don't even know it exists?
I think that rule is a bit self-serving - if we love him, he will be pleased and give us heaven - isn't that the idea? The true love here is for heaven, the easy good life - not God

As a Hindu, God Rama taught us to speak and walk the Truth - to me those are good ideals as well. How about the Buddha who taught Compassion?

We don't have to limit ourselves to one religious teachings

 

[ideologyhunter]

Forget about the 613 Hebrew "laws". Check out how many of Jesus' direct and distinctive teachings the Christians don't give a shit about. How many of them truly give whatever anyone asks them to give? How many double the offering? How many would suffer to have their goods stolen and never seek to get them back? How many believe that those who divorce and remarry are adulterers, which was a capital offense in Bible times? How many refuse to take oaths? For that matter, how many believe that epilepsy can be cured with exorcism? How many would suffer a physical attack and neither defend themselves nor retaliate? How many truly believe that if you see a witch, you must twirl three times and stick a pomegranate seed in your ear? Okay, I made that one up.
How many reflect that, in as much as JC went to synagogue, was circumcised, considered himself a Jew, was celebrating a high holy day on the night he was arrested -- maybe they ought to be Jewish?

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/613_commandments

There are 613 directives derived from the Old Testament. If it is the inspired word of god, which ones are Christians supposed to follow?

You might be asking this question in the wrong forum.

 

[T.G.G. Moogly]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/613_commandments

There are 613 directives derived from the Old Testament. If it is the inspired word of god, which ones are Christians supposed to follow?

You might be asking this question in the wrong forum.

True that, but most of us were of religious upbringing, so our responses are credible.

The question strikes me as rhetorical or just provocative.

- - - Updated - - -

The Christian God was made in the image of the local King - get down on your knees and swear loyalty to the King(God) and he will reward you(Heaven). Simple primitive people who made God in the image of the most powerful man they knew then

except that the king is a pretend king that you make into whatever you want. In fact the king is yourself and you get to be a god.

 

[steve_bank]

True that, but most of us were of religious upbringing, so our responses are credible.

The question strikes me as rhetorical or just provocative.

- - - Updated - - -

The Christian God was made in the image of the local King - get down on your knees and swear loyalty to the King(God) and he will reward you(Heaven). Simple primitive people who made God in the image of the most powerful man they knew then

except that the king is a pretend king that you make into whatever you want. In fact the king is yourself and you get to be a god.

I have thought that the ancient Abrahamic concept of god was metaphor for male patriarchs. Man vented god as reflection of man.

I went to Catholic schools thru 12th grade. It never took, but I always have that conditioned residual Catholic guilt...

 

[Learner]

Mark 12:30-31New International Version (NIV)
30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.
31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”

Every religion has similar quotes that they also think are wonderful - the Buddhists of course think all the rules that the Buddha laid down are what humanity should follow. There is nothing wrong with such rules and teachings - the wrong thing is "follow only what my book says, all other books are evil and satanic" - that's the problem. Oh yeah we are all brothers, equal in the eyes of God etc etc while condemning the same for not following one's own religion

So therefore ...even the religions that believe in casteism , human sacrifice and other lunacy etc, is equally beneficial and acceptable, it seems to me you are saying and you accept all religions - yet have problems within Hinduism by others of the various Hindu faiths. You could mean that faith should flexi-bend and addapt - alternating or picking and mixing to taste.

Your logical argument(s) is consistent, I do admit.

I do have a problem with no. 30 - how are we supposed to love a person that we have never seen, have no idea what he or she or it looks like? Don't even know it exists?
I think that rule is a bit self-serving - if we love him, he will be pleased and give us heaven - isn't that the idea? The true love here is for heaven, the easy good life - not God

As a Hindu, God Rama taught us to speak and walk the Truth - to me those are good ideals as well. How about the Buddha who taught Compassion?

We don't have to limit ourselves to one religious teachings

Ok ... so there's erm ... photographic evidence of Rama like this one . So what ?

 

[steve_bank]

That is the modern Liberal view, all cultures are equally beneficial despite ongoing slaughter, destruction, and chaos.

No criticism allowed.

 

[Shake]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/613_commandments

There are 613 directives derived from the Old Testament. If it is the inspired word of god, which ones are Christians supposed to follow?

I think your answer is in the first :30 of this video. Short answer: it's not your book!

 

[Underseer]

I am not looking to bash Christians, I want to hear what they have to say.

Then you should go to where the Christians are. There are plenty of Christian groups on social media.