oldiesman

I thought that the AI statement is pretty good and sums up my thoughts at present. God made it so we must do some work rather than simply handing us the written truth in complete perfection on a silver platter; i.e. scripture reading, prayer, thought, reflection, assimilation, action and faith etc. to eventually know the truth within ourselves: Question: Why did an all-knowing, all-wise and all-powerful divine being, when wanting to make known his one and only perfect will to all humans for the thousands of years he knew would eventually exist and across thousands of languages and dialects (which he's responsible for because of the Tower of Babel incident) and cultures that would spread throughout the whole world, choose to do so in a written way that has proven to be so confusing and contentious and cherry picked? Answer: (AI Overview) "According to many religious interpretations, the concept is that God desires people to actively seek and "work" to discover the truth, rather than simply having it passively handed to them; this often involves studying scripture, prayer, reflection, and seeking wisdom from trusted sources."

Another AI overview that I thought was a decent answer: God wants us to do a little work to find the truth - Google Search

This is one of my favorites, although it's not only about Christmastime. In light of this please feel free to post any inspirational music you feel on this thread... I would love to hear, thx.

I only look at Jesus to see he wasn't talking about money. I think Jesus was the richest man who ever lived, yet he gave it all up laying down his life so we can have life through his precious blood. WOW.

Christ is the Judge. I did another search through AI asking if Christ's judgment involves mercy, and there certainly appears to be some good tidings awaiting for us: does the judgment seat of christ involve mercy - Google Search

Raf I respect your opinion ... delete if you must.

I'd like to place this here as another aspect of the topic on Israel, namely, that God needed a people, sect or tribe to eventually bring forth the Messiah, the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Jesus came from the tribe of Judah, which was one of the 12 tribes of Israel. His sacrifice was able to redeem mankind through the shedding of his precious blood. Thank you Jesus.! ‘Tis The Season For Historical Revisionism: The Myth Of Jesus As A Palestinian

Free will choice.

Agree...

I thought this AI page did a pretty good job of explaining it: analysis of mark 7:25-29 - Google Search

Heck no. The context of those verses are talking about false prophets and teachers who wallow in evil.

Happy Thanksgiving to All!

There's an inherent conflict in this thread, namely, "thinking critically" (natural knowledge) vs. "thinking spiritually" (faith). As a believer I must not and do not want to brush God aside for the sake of intellectualism. I'm not saying that being an intellectual is a bad thing; what I mean is I think that intellectuals have a very hard time wrapping their heads around God because they try to over-intellectualize God and you can't do that because his ways are far above that.

Lots of good stuff on this thread! Thx for sharing everyone.

I remember VPW and Craig saying it was a CIA operation, that's about it. I found this CIA clip confirming the lawsuit surrounding it: REV. JONES WAS CIA AGENT, SUIT ALLEGES

As we all know Jesus' act of giving his life is regarded by Christians as the ultimate in love and sacrifice for man's sins. Don't know why it had to be this way, but since it's the ultimate in love and sacrifice there was no other ultimate way to prove God's love to mankind. But, you appear to be canceling Jesus' sacrifice by saying it was simply copied by earlier cultures like it all is a hoax? I've heard it before; only wanted to know if you believe this too. Thx.

Yes.

The Crucifixion

I get a sense that you do believe in a God that exists, otherwise why all the disagreement? And therein lies the great sin, thinking that we are smarter than, more moral than, more just than, more reasonable than, more loving than God himself who doesn't always reveal why things happened the way they did and also allows ungodly things to happen. And yet Jesus amazingly overcame the greatest injustice of all.

Hadn't thought of it that way... will pray about it thx.