popsadie said:
Ok Irvine...what are you going to go on? Do you consider what ever you believe about certain things to hold more water than the scriptures? Yes...there are translation issues...but...most study bibles do address at least some of those. I will probably never read Crime and Punishment in Russian, but I believe the English translation does get over the main story...Seriously, without scripture...how can you know God's will...or what Christ did...if you want to be Christian?
i will go on the fact that the Gospels might be divinely inspired, they are not written by God. they are written by men. people. humans. with agendas. it's the spirit of the law, never, ever the letter.
and when it comes to science, there are things that we *know* are true. evolution isn't a matter of belief, unless one wants to discard all science (and if you do, then i demand you turn in your opposable thumb).
study, learn, think, read, discuss, engage. do all these things. with Christians and non-Christians and atheists. and never think you've got all the answers, because you don't. respect others. learn from them. and realize that everyone is all working towards the same thing: an understanding that maybe, just maybe, we all have a common ancester, that we are all cut from the same possibly divine cloth and we just might continue to exist after our brains die and our hearts stop beating and we turn to dust.
and that all we know is thus:
"Do You Realize: that everyone you know
Someday will die
And instead of saying all of your goodbyes - let them know
You realize that life goes fast
It's hard to make the good things last
You realize the sun doesn't go down
It's just an illusion caused by the world spinning round."