Only read if you are NOT religious and/or do not believe in any 'supreme' being (othe

I won't even pretend to know the words of the Bible... or to have researched it in depth. But if it's the revealed word of the almighty... why are there different versions? Why are there sections or passages that get passed over as "well that doesn't still apply these days... god wasn't quite into women's rights back then.." Again, I admit complete and utter ignorance when it comes to the bible. But it's things like that which keep me from taking it seriously. I hear 'outdated' sections and it makes me think that maybe it was just written by men. Wise men.... well intintioned men.... but men nonetheless.

You guys are all going to hell, if it exists.

so when does it start? when does mating with your brothers/sisters become bad, and when is it god's plan?

its engrained into just about all species.. mating with family is bad.

Doctor_Wu, tell me... did you attend college? And if so, what did you study while you were there?

You are gifted with the ability to state what you think clearly and precisely, and I admire that.

Back to your post, I completely agree with you. I know many Christians who simply take the Bible at face value, but there is so much more in it that can be seen. Philosophically, theologically, historically and literarily there are things within it's pages that people have taken a lifetime to study and interpret. I think many people don't realize how in depth the Bible actually is.

I find the Bible to be a fascinating book. I have read other religious books such as the Book of Mormon or the Qur'an, and I find that the Bible has spoken to me the most out of all the books. It interests me... with every page I find something new that I have never seen before.

God instructed Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply before they erred and were ousted from the Garden of Eden. They obviously didn't have time to conceive before eating of the fruit, and so all we know is that they did conceive and give birth outside of paradise. We don't know that God wouldn't have formed more females to every male that Eve birthed inside of Eden, we only know that there was some slim pickin's in the post Eden world where the errant duo fled to. Once they sinned, populating the world was up to the initial pair and their offspring. Aside from their defiance, they were as close to perfection as any two humans could be, and therefore, their offspring weren't afflicted with genetic mutations for some time. When the fall of the angels occurred, that was when the bloodline became nixed.

lol, so god told them that sex was good while fruits and vegetables were bad, and they farked up. Now look what we teach our kids!

1 & 2. I am willing to learn more about things that are relevant to me. I am not going to waste my time learning about commercial religion. If you think that makes you better or more intelligent than me then kudos to you.

3. And you still haven't answered the question. I'm looking for a simple one word answer (Evolution or Creation). Check the correct box.

4. Right. And I guess you weren't directing the previous insulting sentence toward me either.

Just because I'm not willing to learn what *you* want me to doesn't make me stubborn or in a sad way.

After reading a few more posts, I feel it necessary to state that I believed in God and had a personal relationship with God prior to my trip to Italy. This was simply the most real, unexplainable (through any other method), out-of-earthly-control, personal, intense, instant, Hand-of-God experience I've had. It didn't cause my belief. It solidified it.

And lest anyone think me psychotic or delusional (not that anyone has called me anything such, but since it was mentioned in the OP and since "God talking to you" has been equated to psychosis earlier in the thread), I will have everyone know that, until last semester, I attended secular college, where I held down a 3.98 average. I recognize that this does not prove my sanity, but it may help some recognize that I have a wealth of knowledge (both secular and otherwise) from which to draw. I challenge schools of thought, and I've spent years challenging the particular school of thought in which I have now come to believe. I asked all of the same questions that many of you are asking. I accepted Christ when I was a wee thing...about 4 years old, and in my late teens, early 20s, I spent a long time considering that it was all hogwash. Through my studies of ecology, sociology, phsychology, physiology, and other sciences, as well as theology, I have come to the conclusion that God does indeed exist, and if God does indeed exist, I certainly know which side of Him I want to be on.

lol, so god told them that sex was good while fruits and vegetables were bad, and they farked up. Now look what we teach our kids!

But can't the same logic apply -- if you want to find something below the surface, you can?

I know for example, in one of the jewish books (i don't think it's the torah, one of the other ones), they were doing some crazy research a few years ago and doing some mathematical analysis on the writings, and found if they use some sort of algorithm on the letters to rearrange them, they get a whole new meaning (real words). Couldn't that just be because they were looking to find something, and not necessarily planned that way?

I can help you with that (and I mean that in the nicest possible way you can read it). When you consider the Old Testament vs. The New Testament, you are considering Pre-Death-of-Jesus vs. Post-Death-of-Jesus. Covenants that God made with man before He sent His son to die for the sins of man were to appease him (as someone stated before...that God needed to be appeased...true, at one point in history). After He sent His son to be crucified for the sins of man, it was no longer necessary to live by those old covenants, in order to prove our love to God. Now, we simply needed to accept the sacrifice of His son to have our sin covered by His blood. Before this happened, the only way for man to have a relationship with God was by keeping His covenants.

The reason that there are different versions of the Bible is for the same reason there are different languages. The translations don't say anything profoundly different. For instance, if I want to convey to you that I am going to the grocery store, I could say, "I'm going to the grocery store," or I could say, "I think I'll go to the grocery store," or I might say, "I'm going to go get groceries," or, "Groceries shall be mine upon my arrival at the store!" Meanings are the same, but those who translate my statement from Hebrew may say any of those things to convey the same message. The meaning of the sentence does not change.

If you want to compare a few sentences from different texts, try www.biblegateway.com . I'm currently in a Bible-based college and I use it all the time to write papers.

If I were to imagine a man... so kickass that he could summon something into existance by will alone... so all knowing and wise.. it wouldn't be the God you all describe AT ALL. He wouldn't be some insecure prick that wants me to come kiss his butt on sundays... if he were so insecure, why not smite everyone of any other religion? They're in obvious violation. Right? He wouldn't have created man... then sent his son down to die and deliver the world's greatest guilt trip. No... it's all really a big game. Oh it's a test! Let's not actually give any concrete proof of anything. Nothing really cool happens unless God had some part in it. God doesn't give me anything I can't handle... well.. cept for that mom that drownd her kids in the bathtub... no... that was a message from God.

This argument has always intrigued me. I have never felt manipulated or controlled by my beliefs, and I've never felt the need to appease God. I find it interesting that so many people avoid God because they find him an entity to be appeased at every turn.