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Originally written by Electorael:

Unless you're denying the Old Testament, Jews are doing what God says far more literally than Christians are. I know less about Islam, but the Koran is also what God says. You're exactly as right as the other religions for exactly the same reasons.

No, the Koran is what Allah says.

Note that the Old Testament is the word of God. The New Testament is the word of humans. As far as I know, none of it is even written by Jesus himself. It's all secondhand at best.

Both testaments are actually the word of humans, as either testimony from eyewitness accounts, letters, or words coming directly from God or Jesus.

—Alorael, who recalls that Omlette could provide a fair amount of evidence supporting a global flood. There's also a fair amount against it, too, so take it as you will. Anyway, most of the most spectacular events in the Bible would leave no archaeological evidence anyway. The sun stopping, the parting of the Sea of Reeds, people turning into pillars of salt, and all the rest are all impossible to prove or disprove.

Do you know if there was evidence found directly refuting something said in the Bible? While I agree with you here, it seems that as archaeology and the such progresses, so does evidence for the Bible.

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Originally written by Thuryl:

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Originally written by Mister Maoben:

Praying to saints is outrageous. They can't help you. What's so hard about just praying to God himself?

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Technically, you don't pray to the saints; you ask the saints to pray for you. They're holier than you, so the idea is that their prayers will count more than yours would.

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Originally written by Drakefyre:
Muslims and Jews can say equally insulting things to Christians and be just as correct. By 'not acceptable,' what do you mean? Aren't you taught to be loving and accepting of all God's children?

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Originally written by Drew:
I thought they were the teachings of Jesus. Are we getting a little idolatrous here, Ben?

The teachings of the Bible include the teachings of Jesus.

Anyone of any faith can make the same claims about Christianity. Militant Jews, for example, could loudly assert that Jesus was a false messiah, and that there's no proof he rose again. Where does that put you?

In a position to point out that the Bible itself says that Jesus is the Messiah.

The Bible has also proven to be an incredibly mutable document over the years, and many, many people had a hand in it. When its most recent incarnation was being debated (by men), there was a lot of controversy as to whether the letters of Paul (which are now pretty widely thought not to have all been written by the same person) should even be included. Likewise, the Coptic Gospel of Thomas was in and out, in and out, until finally it was decided (again, by men) not to be included. Did you know about this? Or are you afraid to pull back the layers of the onion too far? If it's the truth, it can't hurt you, right?

I think the books to be included in the Bible were chosen according to the amount of applicable content they contained. For example, if the four gospels had been essentially alike, only one or two would have been included, but each gospel, while talking in the same time period, has its own unique stories and content.

I'm not sure exactly why some books were excluded, but I'm of the disposition that those not included were more of a waste of paper to publish, if you can see what I mean.

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In simple terms, all three faiths worship the same god, because all three faiths recognize their god as the God of Abraham. That there are so many divisions and sects in each faith just goes to show how imperfect all of them are.

To anyone who believes that his particular version is absolute, and all the rest of us are on a path to hell: how convenient that the absolute truth was right next door to you growing up!

You have a point there, and there are many different forms of Christianity with different requirements and traditions. However, I think many churches get so caught up in these traditions that they lose sight of what Christianity is all about: the only way to get to heaven is to accept Jesus and be made holy by him.

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Originally written by Dolphin.:

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Originally written by Mister Maoben:

TGM wasn't near as bad though.
Darn goatse.

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You think posting goatse is less offensive than what TM said?

Sounds more like you have a personal preference of TGM over TM rather than what they did, IMHO.

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