^
Praxius, I believe that I owe you a better answer to this post. Forgive my late response, I was being bombarded at the time....
How does any of that relate to the bible story you quoted in your original post?
It doesn't. People just started pouncing on me from the get-go and I became defensive, started to freak out a little to be perfectly honest. It was intended for other Christians to discuss (politely) but soon became a war where several people were hurling arrows and the one (me). Quite unfair if you want my opinion.
Because the servant (slave) didn't invest the money his master gave him (even when the master didn't tell him to do so).... is a sinner?
How?
I don't have all the answers Prax, I just put that up there to get some positive and/or encouraging interpretations of the parable. Frankly, it's a mind-boggler for me as well, hence the original post.
Because he didn't invest the money to get more profit for his master or because he spoke his mind and told his master what he thought of him and his POS reward of doing more work?
Maybe, in keeping it simple, it means that we ought to use the talents that we have and not burry them (neglect them)? Just a thought.
Yeah.... the
Spirit (which spirit?)taught me that after 19 years of unanswered prayers
(no is also an answer) and devotion to this God since childhood
(by choice?), it was all a complete waste of time that could be spent on more important things in my life. It taught me that I've wasted numerous opportunities and experiences in my life
due to fear of punishment (not a good motivator)from an imaginary ghost in the clouds who couldn't give two rat turds about what we do on this planet or with our lives. It taught me that many of the elements of Christianity and other current religions stole images and concepts from older religions that these newer religions consider as mythologies.
Angels, Halos, Good Guys in the Sky, Bad Guys Underground all came from Greek Mythology, while the story of Jesus was a rip off of the story of Horus, the Sky God in Egyptian Mythologies..... it's all just re-worded mythologies.
Why?
Why should we accept this so called sin from Adam and Eve?
(I don't think that you do well in asking why, been there tried that), He is the potter and we are the clay. Does the clay tell the potter how to mold? What if the potter is not pleased with the clay and suddenly throws it out? Regardless of what you may call the Creator, he/she/it doesn't want the creation telling them what to do, how or when and especially why.
God create both of them and created them to be flawed
(I disagree here, having a free will does not make you flawed) from day one..... if Adam and Eve really did exist and if they really did sin, than that's because God designed them to sin, therefore it's God's fault, he's the one that created the situation
(similar to a test lab) and if God is truly all-knowing and all-seeing, he would have already known the outcome before it happened, yet he willingly went ahead and allowed humanity to
(have their freedom of choice) be flawed and to commit sin....
Now I have a question: would you prefer love chosen or love forced? Can you even force love? I don't know. How would we do that?
I think that God wanted us to choose Him but we didn't, we chose the apple.
..... and we're all expected to continue to take the blame and burden?
Because two humans ate a friggin apple they were told not to?
It symbolized a choice.
Oh, they ate it because they gave into temptation from a snake that represented the Devil.... yet God created that snake with that personality and knew damn well what would have happened..... the entire situation, if it ever even occurred in the first place, was a complete setup for entrapment.
A test and proof as a result. (Even if God knew the outcome, He wanted us to know and see for ourselves that which we chose with the freewill that He gave us).
He created this world don't forget..... he created us as we are and apparently he created us to be defiant
(disagree)and to question what is before us, which I guess is a flaw
...(disagree again...to question why is pointless not a flaw but to ask how this benefits me or what I must do to overcome this is IMO okay).. but that's his responsibility. He is all-seeing and all-knowing don't forget, so he should have known all of this was going to happen.
You can't just create a situation for your own amusement and entertainment and then blame the faults on those you put into that situation, wiping your hands clean of all responsibility.
(He did not come to judge (or blame), He came to heal and forgive). I don't understand how the image of a man on a cross portrays this sadistic god that you describe. If it's not too personal, were you raised a Catholic?
That's a cop out and if God, with all his super powers and wonder, is copping out of his own responsibilities, then that's no God I'd want to worship and he can kiss my sinful ass.
(You are becoming one of the insulting ones here Prax. We don't have to get offensive to discuss a difference of opinions now do we?) Say I was to tell you that your wife or daughter should kiss my ass, how would you feel? We are talking about someone that I love, you don't have to love or even believe but please don't be hurtful.
But how does one listen to God and do what he says?
Hearing comes from the Word, read the bible, start in Proverbs or the Gospel of John, slowly, meditate a verse or two per day. It can be milk for the young or meat for the old. It is alive and God will speak to you there and only there. Don't believe what I say or anyone else for that matter, we're just human and imperfect beings. Read and see for yourself.
How do you know he's talking to us or to you?
How do you know what he says or doesn't?
Through the Bible?
A book written by flawed, sinful, mortal humans based on stories passed down from word of mouth for a long time after these stories apparently took place and those who truly witnessed all of this were long dead.... a book that has been revised and reinterpreted countless times over the centuries and has lost all logical meaning or sense.
(Many books were written at the time but only a few were chosen to be part of the Bible) It was written over a period of 7000 years by over 40 different authors. Oh, and don't forget the prophecies that I listed for you earlier. Although each time I've read it, different smaller lessons are learned....the same underlying message is seen. A bit of a paradoxal sort of book but once you ask for the understanding, it comes to life and makes perfect sense. The bible claims to be the most important part of Christianity as it is the Word of God. How did God create? He spoke and it was so. The bible is the ARM of God and Jesus was the Word made flesh.
What God wants or says is determined by other sinful and flawed human beings with their own subjective personal morals and interests.
You're not fooling anybody.
You know that I'm not even trying to do that. The only reason that I put up with the abuse for 2 days was because I believe that some of you were sincerely asking for my opinion. That is what I am sharing with you now. I apologize that I did not BOLD AND CAP that fact but for future reference, anytime I open my mouth, I am stating my opinion. P.S. Not always a humble one though
When I do something wrong, I admit it, learn from my mistakes and move on
....(I do that too, we do have to live in the real life now don't we?) I don't need the forgiveness or approval of some magical, judgmental vapor-ass in the sky or one of his child-diddling priests here on earth (as if they're some basis of a moral compass we should follow) if he doesn't like how I live my life, he should have spoken up sooner, or did a better job in designing me.
(He did a fine job designing you and loves you just the way you are, unconditionally and always), p.s. I have blocked TenPenny and Cliffy as they are a-holes who intend me harm. You, however did not give me the same impression. Worse case scenario, we can agree to disagree?[/QUOTE]
Better late than never I say.
