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Why do I need a literal factual bible?
Take today’s verses …
Jesus said to his disciples, “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the deeds of power done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But at the judgment it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? No, you will be brought down to Hades. “Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.” Luke 10:13-16
Taken literally and factually as words spoken exactly as written (i.e. a transcript … a documentary … a piece of written evidence … a statement sworn and witnessed … all of “that”) – I have to buy-into the whole package.
That God is the Creator, that Genesis describes creation, that we then argue about evolution and carbon-dating … That God uses repeated decimation of the life-forms he created – and then we argue about the forensic and archaeological evidence … That God gave us commandments – some written in stone (many more evolved from the industry of sacrifice and atonement) – and then we argue about religion and all that goes with “that” … And then the BIGGIE: the Virgin Birth, the Cross, and the Resurrection – and then we are back to square one: “Show me the evidence … ”
The problem with having an inerrant and infallible bible … a God Breathed and God inspired bible … a sacred text … ?
We either believe or we don’t.
And if we believe then we “believe”! And no lack of “evidence” is going to sway that belief. And if we don’t “believe” – then no amount of “spiritual persuasion” will shift that disbelief. In other words I believe or I don’t.
But if I believe – why do I “need” the bible to be literal and factual?
What about this “transcript” …
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Jesus said to seekers of evidence – to defenders of the literal and factual, “Woe to you, Cynical! Woe to you, Jobsworth! For if the deeds of love shown to you had been shown to Debauchery and Lawlessness, they would have loved long ago, eating (forgiven) humble-pie and sitting with (affectionate) red-faced embarrassment. Because on the day of your death-bed … all that bible-crap … this obsession with “But I am right and you are not” bullshit … All that stuff will be irrelevant. Love – or the absence of love and humanity – will be your only legacy. “Whoever listens to love listens to me, and whoever rejects love rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the Greatest Love of All – love without any conditions (and I mean without “any conditions” at all).”
My thought is this …
Why is that “transcript” more difficult to believe Jesus saying than those verses in the bible? And if my words are fiction (or an abomination) …
What proof do you have that these verses were ever said as written? And why do we still argue about “love” wrapped up as “Sorry – you are out. The bible says so.”
And is that really “love” (as written in the bible) at all?
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