GIVE ME MY DAILY BREAD

[Jimbone]

$50 for a spot in heaven? SOLD!

[HairOfTheDog]

Here Maggot. With just one gift of $50 you will secure your spot in heaven today. It's for the good of the world.

https://billygraham.org/give/give-online/

$50 for a spot in heaven? SOLD!

[HairOfTheDog]

Shit, I just realized I posted in the thread from which I've been .

Sorry MS -- I didn't say a god-damned (or god-blessed, for that matter) word about the topic, just smiling, that's all.

Okay, I'm getting the hell outta here now.

[Duchess]

Back in the 70's Graham was considered the White House pastor. He was close to Nixon and found a way to forgive Nixon's sins or misdeeds, or whatever word you want to use to describe that shit show, by blaming it all on the "demon-power" of sleeping pills. I'm not going to belittle his life's work but I'm sure as hell not going to canonize him either. He was no better than your average man.

[Maggot]

Here Maggot. With just one gift of $50 you will secure your spot in heaven today. It's for the good of the world.

https://billygraham.org/give/give-online/

I'll take two so I can give one away for Christmas.

[Duchess]

I don't have anything against Reverend Graham but I think more highly of Maggot than I do him. Maggot would never make excuses for people he likes, he would acknowledge their shortcomings, he would be honest with them while still considering them a friend/lover/family.

I am only clarifying because I just spent a few hours thinking I might be struck dead with a lightening bolt.

[Midwest Spy]

The King Of Love My shepherd Is (taken from the 23^rd Psalm).

One of my all time hymns.

A couple of my favorite verses:


The King Of Love My Shepherd is,

Whose goodness faileth never.

I nothing lack if I am his,

And he is mine forever.

Where streams of living water flow

My ransomed soul he leadeth

And where the verdant pastures grow,

With food celestial feedeth.

And so through all the length of days,

Thy goodness faileth never.

Good Shepherd, may I sing thy praise

within thy house forever..



As we move nearer to Easter, I genuinely wish Christ’s peace on all who read this.

Bless you and your loved ones!

[Blindgreed1]

MS, since you have found your spirituality lately maybe you can help me with a few things that have always bothered me about the bible? First of all, where did the bible come from? As I understand it most of it was written 100 - 160 years after the Crucifixion. Exactly how did this all come together then? Was it word of mouth or oral tradition up until Tacitus and then later the authors of the actual bible? We also know that the Roman Catholics worked very hard for centuries to alter or destroy any texts which could undermine their authority so how can we trust this written word?

[Midwest Spy]

Great questions.

I am no theologian, so I can’t answer anything st this point.

A couple of the Gospels were written by the original 12 disciples, and Paul wrote many books. I’m assuming they were all dead within 30-40 years of Jesus’ death, so I’m not sure exactly when they were written and if they were saved for a time somewhere safe? I’d have to dig in and research that.

The Roman Catholic Church was a real problem until 1517, when someone had the gall to challenge them.

Anyway, the history of Christianity is fascinating and I’m sure there are thousands of details we’ll never know.

[Blindgreed1]

Great questions.

I am no theologian, so I can’t answer anything st this point.

A couple of the Gospels were written by the original 12 disciples, and Paul wrote many books. I’m assuming they were all dead within 30-40 years of Jesus’ death, so I’m not sure exactly when they were written and if they were saved for a time somewhere safe? I’d have to dig in and research that.

The Roman Catholic Church was a real problem until 1517, when someone had the gall to challenge them.

Anyway, the history of Christianity is fascinating and I’m sure there are thousands of details we’ll never know.

The Pauline Epistles were written 50-60 AD. Considering the average life span was about 30 years back then... Paul never met Jesus.

[Midwest Spy]

Great questions.

I am no theologian, so I can’t answer anything st this point.

A couple of the Gospels were written by the original 12 disciples, and Paul wrote many books. I’m assuming they were all dead within 30-40 years of Jesus’ death, so I’m not sure exactly when they were written and if they were saved for a time somewhere safe? I’d have to dig in and research that.

The Roman Catholic Church was a real problem until 1517, when someone had the gall to challenge them.

Anyway, the history of Christianity is fascinating and I’m sure there are thousands of details we’ll never know.

The Pauline Epistles were written 50-60 AD. Considering the average life span was about 30 years back then... Paul never met Jesus.

Interesting.

I’m of the belief that he definitely did.

[Blindgreed1]

Great questions.

I am no theologian, so I can’t answer anything st this point.

A couple of the Gospels were written by the original 12 disciples, and Paul wrote many books. I’m assuming they were all dead within 30-40 years of Jesus’ death, so I’m not sure exactly when they were written and if they were saved for a time somewhere safe? I’d have to dig in and research that.

The Roman Catholic Church was a real problem until 1517, when someone had the gall to challenge them.

Anyway, the history of Christianity is fascinating and I’m sure there are thousands of details we’ll never know.

The Pauline Epistles were written 50-60 AD. Considering the average life span was about 30 years back then... Paul never met Jesus.

Interesting.

I’m of the belief that he definitely did.

A lot of people believe that, but the history math doesn't back it up.

"The seven undisputed Pauline epistles considered by scholarly consensus to be genuine are generally dated to AD 50–60 (i.e. approximately twenty to thirty years after the generally accepted time period for the death of Jesus around AD 30–36) and are the earliest surviving Christian texts that may include information about Jesus."

In order for Paul to have met Jesus and then write about it is about 1 lifetime off. Either he met Jesus but didn't live to write about it, or he wrote about it and never met him. Pick one. You can't have both.

[Blindgreed1]

Great questions.

I am no theologian, so I can’t answer anything st this point.

A couple of the Gospels were written by the original 12 disciples, and Paul wrote many books. I’m assuming they were all dead within 30-40 years of Jesus’ death, so I’m not sure exactly when they were written and if they were saved for a time somewhere safe? I’d have to dig in and research that.

The Roman Catholic Church was a real problem until 1517, when someone had the gall to challenge them.

Anyway, the history of Christianity is fascinating and I’m sure there are thousands of details we’ll never know.

The Pauline Epistles were written 50-60 AD. Considering the average life span was about 30 years back then... Paul never met Jesus.

Interesting.

I’m of the belief that he definitely did.

According to Wikki, Paul met Jesus's brother (one of three brothers Jesus had BTW and he also had at least one sister) "Although Paul has relatively little to say on the biographical information of Jesus,[28] and never knew Jesus himself, in Galatians 1:19, Paul says he met with James, the "Lord's brother" (that Jesus had a brother named James is corroborated [29] by the Jewish historian Josephus, see below.) The epistles also show that Paul considered Jesus to have been a real person, (Galatians 4:4 which states that he was "born of a woman"), and a Jew (Romans 1:3 that he was "born under the law")."

[Midwest Spy]

Well, with very little digging, I read that Saul converted to the name Paul on the Damascus road, as Jesus spoke to him about converting Gentiles to Christians.

Paul/Saul had begun as a persecuter of those following Christ and whether or not he met face to face with Jesus or Jesus spoke to him through prayer, I certainly wouldn’t claim to know.

As it is, Paul got the church started and the rest is history.

[Midwest Spy]

With a little more research, BG, you are right.

Paul came after the crucifixion, and it’s reported that Jesus came to Paul in a vision.

[Blindgreed1]

Well, with very little digging, I read that Saul converted to the name Paul on the Damascus road, as Jesus spoke to him about converting Gentiles to Christians.

Paul/Saul had begun as a persecuter of those following Christ and whether or not he met face to face with Jesus or Jesus spoke to him through prayer, I certainly wouldn’t claim to know.

As it is, Paul got the church started and the rest is history.

That's the issue I have with the written word. Is it history? Or is it propaganda/law/myth? Constantine certainly had his influence in what was written and not written, but what really interests me is the regional impact and how it relates to religion. Do you notice how every religion is geographical in nature and the stories and belief systems only get passed on if humans pass them on? Why is that?
You'd think if any one particular religion were true that God or Gods would be able to put that story out there for everyone. Christianity was completely unknown to anyone who didn't come into human contact with the story.
The reason why is because it was a story made up by humans and passed on by humans. Nothing supernatural about it. And that type of religious story telling has occurred countless times throughout history with countless religions.
The common thread is humans will make up stories to explain things they don't know. I don't consider the bible a historical document.

[Duchess]

Interesting dialog. I'm enjoying the civility of it given the topic.

[Midwest Spy]

I understand what you’re saying.

Why this particular regional story instead of another?

For me, this one hasn’t gone away after a couple of generations.

It’s strengthened as the millennia have gone by.

At some point it just comes down to believing or not believing.

I often struggle with all of it, essentially believing that there’s more to this whole thing than just evolution.

But even I have seen signs where my doubts are answered with evidence.

I feel that if a person wishes to truly seek God, to see a sign, they will.

I go back to my Dad, who I feel is the smartest, most perceptive person I know, and he absolutely, unequivocally KNOWS that there is life beyond this, and that Jesus is our Lord and Savior.

He’s not a BSer, he never has been, and to see him state his convictions so confidently really makes my soul soar.

[Maggot]

I wonder what the library of Alexandria held. It bugs me how it all went, "poof"

[BigMark]

No shit, then the dark ages happened. Talk about a leap backwards.