Dear MHz,
Are you a Christian?
Yes?
No?
Pick one.
Sign me,
Even more confused
Yes I am a Christian, unlike most I read the Bible more than I listen to idle men and the idle chatter about what the Bible means. I say, 'Oh.' a lot more than I say, 'What'. Two fairly easy examples of why I think it is more than possible for men to fully understand the Bible.
Daniel was kept in the dark to the extent the NT was not yet written, Daniel would have understood every word in Revelation on the first read. we are lucky if we can see that there is even a connection between the metal kingdom and Revelation being the last metal kingdom that Daniel covers. I already know the minute details of how it all plays out, the ones here don't even know such a thing exists. I'm not the one that deserves to be pitied.
Da:7:19-27:
Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast,
which was diverse from all the others,
exceeding dreadful,
whose teeth were of iron,
and his nails of brass;
which devoured, brake in pieces,
and stamped the residue with his feet;
And of the ten horns that were in his head,
and of the other which came up,
and before whom three fell;
even of that horn that had eyes,
and a mouth that spake very great things,
whose look was more stout than his fellows.
I beheld,
and the same horn made war with the saints,
and prevailed against them;
Until the Ancient of days came,
and judgment was given to the saints of the most High;
and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.
Thus he said,
The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,
which shall be diverse from all kingdoms,
and shall devour the whole earth,
and shall tread it down,
and break it in pieces.
And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise:
and another shall rise after them;
and he shall be diverse from the first,
and he shall subdue three kings.
And he shall speak great words against the most High,
and shall wear out the saints of the most High,
and think to change times and laws:
and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.
But the judgment shall sit,
and they shall take away his dominion,
to consume and to destroy it unto the end.
And the kingdom and dominion,
and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven,
shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High,
whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and all dominions shall serve and obey him.
I've read Mere Christianity and found it singularly unpersuasive. It was Lewis who argued, for instance, that Jesus must either really be the son of god or a shocking liar or insane, as if there were no other options. He missed the most obvious one: the reports we have about Jesus are embellished and exaggerated and thus fundamentally untrue.
Such stories usually fade over centuries, perhaps the allure of religion is it gives people something to spend their money on and it thrives on that aspect while also hiding that aspect as the customers would leave if word ever got out.
To truly fleece somebody you need two to do it. Belief is a 3 week study and then no more expenses, the business models has customers never reaching a place where their weekly cash donations are not a requirement of salvation.` That is hardly the actions of somebody being long term 'helpful'.