Now would be a good time to ask this question which should not be a problem in this thread.
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?
Another AI overview that I thought was a decent answer:
Your link above did not bring up an AI overview. It brought up videos about Jesus being the way, the truth and the life as well as some websites about "truth."
I wrote to Rocky earlier that the question was more of a rhetorical one, but I'd be interested in your thoughts about it if you'd like to share those.
Thank you for sharing the passage - I'm going to pass on it for myself.
I'd like to ask for clarification though on how you take this passage to mean because of things you have said in the past about the bible. Do you follow verse 1 literally; i.e., do you accept all of God's words (which is implied) and store up all his commandments (also implied) within? And do you believe you understand the fear of the Lord and that you have found the (not "a") knowledge of God?
I'm asking in a sincere way.
I have framed my answers to several questions/comments/posts on GSC the last few years thus: the bible is an anthology of stories. Do I take those stories literally? Definitely not. Do I believe I understand... anything... adequately or fully? Of course not.
The closest those stories come to factual truth, IMO, is taking them as human records of the times (histories) of humans in the context of the lives and cultures (anthropology and archeology) at the time they were recorded.
I was requesting biblical answers simply because the question had to do with biblical doctrine - whether once saved/always saved (Eph 1:13) or salvation through faithfulness (Heb 3:12-14; Matt 24:13; James 2:17) is accurate.
Sorry, my response in my previous comment is the closest I can get to "assessing the accuracy" thereof.
Your link above did not bring up an AI overview. It brought up videos about Jesus being the way, the truth and the life as well as some websites about "truth."
I wrote to Rocky earlier that the question was more of a rhetorical one, but I'd be interested in your thoughts about it if you'd like to share those.
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."
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."
Thank you for posting the Overview as I still can't bring it up on my computer. I think it explains the AI Overview given when I googled how many denominations in the world there are. Its answer was "There are more than 45,000 Christian denominations in the world."
I think most church goers find acceptable doctrines in the church they decide to attend and for the most part they are not too overly concerned with what other denominations teach. However, it's when a skeptic attempts to compare the different doctrines of even a handful of them that you will find confusion, contention and scriptures being cherry picked.
And as this reality goes against scriptures which teach about knowing "the truth," I have to wonder about the existence of a God who chose to communicate his will in this way. Clearing God of any responsibility for what goes on down here because people have "free will" and/or Satan is the "god of this world" only turns this God into being a myth imo.
If you feel like answering, which of the two choices above do you accept as accurate?
On 12/5/2024 at 5:01 PM, Rocky said:
I'm not speaking for WW, only myself. Those two options are not nearly the only choices available.
4 hours ago, Rocky said:
Sorry, my response in my previous comment is the closest I can get to "assessing the accuracy" thereof.
That's cool with me Rocky. As you know, I can come across as being too controlling, especially about small details, because that's what I am at times .
If you want to share some of the other choices you see that are available, I'd be happy to read them.
If you want to share some of the other choices you see that are available, I'd be happy to read them.
Recognizing the complexity of life and the fact there's more answers or ways of looking at the matter doesn't mean I know what other options might be.
Life is complex despite with Johnny Townsend claimed 40 to 50 years ago. I can tolerate that complexity even if I'm uncertain of the paradoxes enough to articulate them.
Townsend, IMO, was spouting cult propaganda back then to present shiny objects to distract young people like us (well, we were young then) to keep us from thinking outside of the overly simplistic box that Victor Wierwille had us confined to at the time.
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waysider
Yeah, see. That kinda leaves us between a rock and a hard place. We were either following the teachings of a man with devil spirits or he was wrong about what he taught. That means he could have been
Raf
I consider myself humanist as well. Since there is no hierarchy in humanism, no one really gets to define it. This website gathers various definitions that permit us to ascertain some kind of co
waysider
When you consider the irony in this, it's almost comical in a perversely twisted way. Want something from God? Follow a complicated formula. Make sure to cross every T and dot every I. Want
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oldiesman
Another AI overview that I thought was a decent answer:
God wants us to do a little work to find the truth - Google Search
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waysider
That's not an answer, it's a rationalization.
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Charity
Your link above did not bring up an AI overview. It brought up videos about Jesus being the way, the truth and the life as well as some websites about "truth."
I wrote to Rocky earlier that the question was more of a rhetorical one, but I'd be interested in your thoughts about it if you'd like to share those.
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Rocky
I have framed my answers to several questions/comments/posts on GSC the last few years thus: the bible is an anthology of stories. Do I take those stories literally? Definitely not. Do I believe I understand... anything... adequately or fully? Of course not.
The closest those stories come to factual truth, IMO, is taking them as human records of the times (histories) of humans in the context of the lives and cultures (anthropology and archeology) at the time they were recorded.
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Rocky
Sorry, my response in my previous comment is the closest I can get to "assessing the accuracy" thereof.
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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."
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Charity
Thank you for posting the Overview as I still can't bring it up on my computer. I think it explains the AI Overview given when I googled how many denominations in the world there are. Its answer was "There are more than 45,000 Christian denominations in the world."
I think most church goers find acceptable doctrines in the church they decide to attend and for the most part they are not too overly concerned with what other denominations teach. However, it's when a skeptic attempts to compare the different doctrines of even a handful of them that you will find confusion, contention and scriptures being cherry picked.
And as this reality goes against scriptures which teach about knowing "the truth," I have to wonder about the existence of a God who chose to communicate his will in this way. Clearing God of any responsibility for what goes on down here because people have "free will" and/or Satan is the "god of this world" only turns this God into being a myth imo.
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Charity
That's cool with me Rocky. As you know, I can come across as being too controlling, especially about small details, because that's what I am at times
.
If you want to share some of the other choices you see that are available, I'd be happy to read them.
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Rocky
Recognizing the complexity of life and the fact there's more answers or ways of looking at the matter doesn't mean I know what other options might be.
Life is complex despite with Johnny Townsend claimed 40 to 50 years ago. I can tolerate that complexity even if I'm uncertain of the paradoxes enough to articulate them.
Townsend, IMO, was spouting cult propaganda back then to present shiny objects to distract young people like us (well, we were young then) to keep us from thinking outside of the overly simplistic box that Victor Wierwille had us confined to at the time.
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