For wrath killeth the foolish man...
- Job 5:2

... let not the sun go down on your wrath.
- Ephesians 4:26



If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true.
- John 5:31

I am one that bear witness of myself...
- John 8:18
[Jesus Christ was the speaker in both of these quotes]




For by grace are ye saved through faith... not of works.
- Ephesians 2:8-9

Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.
- James 2:24





God is not a man, that he should lie: neither the son of man, that he should
repent.
- Numbers 23:19

And the Lord repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.
- Exodus 32:14






Honor thy father and mother.
- Exodus 20:12

If any man come to me, and hate not his father and mother, and wife, and
children, and bretheren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be
my disciple.
- Luke 14:26






I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.
- Genesis 32:30

No man hath seen God at any time.
- John 1:18







The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father.
- Ezekiel 18:20

... I the lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers
upon the children unto the third and fourth generation.
- Exodus 20:5






Whosoever shall say Thou fool, shall be in danger of hellfire.
- Matthew 5:22

[Jesus said] Ye fools and blind.
- Matthew 23:17




Two and twenty years old was Ahaziah when he began to regin.
- 2 Kings 8:26

Fourty and two years old was Ahaziah when he began to reign.
- 2 Chronicles 22:2





... for I am merciful, saith the Lord, and I will not keep anger forever.
- Jeremiah 3:12

Ye have kindled a fire in mine anger, which shall burn forever.
- Jeremiah 17:4




... God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man.
- James 1:13

And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham.
- Genesis 22:1







And the Lord called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said,
I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid.
- Genesis 3:9,10

Ye hath neither heard his voice, at any time, nor seen his shape.
- John 5:37






Then went up Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of
Israel. And they saw the God of Israel... They saw God, and did eat and
drink.
- Exodus 24: 9-11

Whom no man hath seen nor can see.
- I Timothy 6:16






With God all things are possible.
- Matthew 29:26

And the Lord was with Judah, and he drove out the inhabitants of the mountain;
but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had
chariots of iron.
- Judges 1:19






Those that seek me early shall find me.
- Proverbs 8:17

Then shall they call upon me but I will not answer; they shall seek me early,
but shall not find me.
- Proverbs 1:28






On the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of attonement; it
shall be a holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls and
offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord.
- Leviticus 23:27

For I spake not unto your fathers, nor comanded them in the day that I brought
them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offering or sacrifices.
- Jerimiah 7:22








Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works.
- Matthew 5:16

Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them.
- Matthew 6:1







And no razor shall come on his head; for the child shall be a Nararite unto
God from the womb.
- Judges 8:5

Doth not even nature itself teach you, that if a man hath long hair, it is a
shame unto him?
- I Corinthians 6:14








If bretheren dwell together, and one of them die and have no child, the wife
of the dead shall not marry without unto a stranger; her husband's brother
shall go in unto her, and take her to him to wife.
- Deuteronomy 25:5

If a man shall take his brother's wife, it is an unclean thing... they shall
be childless.
- Leviticus 20:21






And it was in the third hour, and they crucified him.
- Mark 25:3-4

And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour; and he
saith unto the Jews, behold your king... Shall I crucify your king?
- John 19:14-15






And the men which journyed with [Paul] stood speechless, hearing a voice, but
seeing no man.
- Acts 9:7

And they that were with me [Paul] saw indeed the light and were afraid; but
they heard not the voice of him that spake to me.
- Acts 22:9




Therefore Michal, the daughter of Saul, had no child unto the day of her
death.
- II Samuel 6:23

The five sons of Michal, the daughter of Saul.
- II Samuel 21:8




And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he moved David
against them to say, Go, number Israel.
- II Samuel 24:1

And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.
- I Chronicles 21:1





Source

This thread is not meant to be a Christian bashing thread, so please don't turn it into one, the point is merely to discuss these and any other contradictions in the bible.

Do you ever get the feeling that Jesus was the Bush of his day?

Seriously, read the Torah for Old Testament. The Bible has been through many translators and stuff gets mixed up. Not to mention the possibility of people changing things a little bit to fit in to their existing lifestyle. For Jews there is nothing else.

As for the New Testament shortly after the incident where Jesus encountered a demon stating if you cast out one demon, demons will come back seven times stronger. It really wasn't Jesus's place to try and discount God's judgement on man. It became his downfall on the 'first coming.'

I have little intent to just defend the bible here, but it is a common story for many religions and traditions which are more than a few hundred years. Multiple generations. Multiple prophets (priests, kings, queens, emperors, rulers, priestesses, oracles, etc. ). Translations. Events affecting translation and interpretation. Rise and fall of power. Influences from neighbors.

With many of these quotes also I can at least see where it is very possible that it is meant a different way than it is commonly taken today. (Sometimes something seems contradictory, but it is really not and only appears that way because of how it is presented or taken in context) More in favor with this, I notice many compare the old testament with the new. Which is quite a span in years. Magnified by the last two thousand or so years of evolution (or de-evolution) in many instances. It would seem then that just a general study is not enough to fully understand or make a determination alone.

The side point here also (to be fair) is that it is hardly isolated to the writings of the christians or the ancient jews. The other myths and works from the other systems generally also share their significant inconsistancies, more so generally with the amount of time with which they reigned.

And to me personally the thing is sort of moot anyway since I consider the biblical works to generally be retellings of more ancient myths pre-judaism. And then some of those specific myths which pre-date the bible, I consider to be retellings of older oral traditions, in turn.

It seems common for most (not all) religions and belief systems to sort of go astray from their original origins. If you are a theist (there exists a better philosophical word for this, but i forget now), you might consider this the reason for the fall of some civilizations - that they went away from their gods and goddesses, who in turn destroyed them, abandoned them, or actually joined the "enemy" (common belief in ancient times when losing wars, being invaded, plundered, etc. - often the conquerers would claim that the native gods were aiding them against the people - very powerful).

I've never really found the old testament and new testament compatible. maybe christians should just ditch the old testament altogether it would help save a lot of confusion as they are two completely different things. Kind of like Blair Witch one and Blair Witch 2 Book of Shadows.

Incidentally, I tried the old testament mildew cure, and the stains just wouldn't shift!

Pardon me for saying this... but... it depends on the context.

You have to understand the entire passage, not just a portion of a verse. You're taking them out of context. It doesn't work like that and most of those aren't even contradicting eachother.

So you admit some of them are contradictory? :icon5:

ok first off you typed out many verses yet never completeting the though of the verse. with out the full imformation you are guilty also of a inconsistancy. second the christian doctrines based off of many of these said verses look through the english eyes of what si written by the letter is law. yet that also creates an inconsistancy.

abigale:. jesus never jundge you. that is the misconception placed by the church upon man. but you are correct about reading the bible in its original context. before the churches coruption of a beautiful language. the torah or even old greek writtings. give a vastly better and more full meaning to most scriptures. proving how in adiquate english is.

Aaron: thats a dumb comment what does bush have to do with jesus.

Well the New Testament was written as the new law that you are saved by the grace of Chist. the Old Testament was a set of impossible laws that proved one thing that you cannot save yourself and that the gap between you and God must be bridged. The Old Testament made several predictions of Christs comming. The gap between us and God is bridged by CHrist it is the individuals choice to cross that bridge....I went off on a tangent......anyway wha I am saying is that the Old Testament is oselete and replaces by the New Testament.

Actually, the New Testament bridges the Old Testament to be inclusive of people who are not of Jewish faith or descent. You see God's favor for adhering to the basic principles of God and faith worked as well for 'the gentiles' as it did the jews. Therefore, the God described in the Old Testament is the Universal God or a God that will not turn on a person simply because they are not of correct descent.

I believe, that all the God Heads are the same YHWH, AMEN RA, IVAN, DANA and so on are one in the same. In fact, little known but true fact, in the Dead Sea Scrolls there is a reference to Nasi. The Copper Scrolls were uncovered last in the furthest chamber in 1952, after WWII had ended. In ancient dialects Nasi means 'clumbsy.' It is possible the deep seated faithfullness to Thor God's Son by the northern nations is related to a pact to protect the Messiah in later years.

The Bible was never meant to exist...nore was the church...nore the Pope nore the idolic cross and jesus statues...

The original message was of a God composed soley of thought and awe...not shape nore Church law but a watching proud creator wishing for us to decide the right choices out of rightiousness.

Or not...

Oh....it 'is' all bullshit anyway y'know....to put these passages into context...the 'prophets' were mostly those found wandering around the desserts surviving on locusts and psychoactive plant matter....Of course they heard voices nobody else could....

It would also be helpful to include what version of the Bible You are using Baha:

Job 5
2 Resentment kills a fool,
and envy slays the simple

For wrath killeth the foolish man...
- Job 5:2

Ephesians 4:26

Ephesians 4
26"In your anger do not sin"[1] : Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry,

... let not the sun go down on your wrath.
- Ephesians 4:26

Those don't sound too inconsistent to me.

John 5:31-35

31"If I testify about myself, my testimony is not valid. 32There is another who testifies in my favor, and I know that his testimony about me is valid.
33"You have sent to John and he has testified to the truth. 34Not that I accept human testimony; but I mention it that you may be saved. 35John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you chose for a time to enjoy his light.

John 8:18

16But if I do judge, my decisions are right, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me. 17In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two men is valid. 18I am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father, who sent me."

Two different terms of testimony there, once again. It is not a measure of consistency, but a measure of the connotations of the word. And it is not inconsistence, b/c in both measures he's speaking of two witnesses and testimony.

Ephesians 2: 8-10

8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- 9not by works, so that no one can boast. 10For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

James 2:23-26

and he was called God's friend. 24You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.
25In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? 26As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

A person is justified. If you look to other verses of the Bible specifically in the new testament, it is often considered that Good Trees put off Good Fruits. Grace alone saves, the works are generally thought of as representative of that grace. Therefore Faith without deeds is dead. In neither case are these verses contradictory. In the first, God chose you to do good works, in the second, you are a body without the spirit, you chose not to do such good works. Faith without the deeds depicting that faith is useless and does not exist.

Numbers 23:19

19 God is not a man, that he should lie,
nor a son of man, that he should change his mind.
Does he speak and then not act?
Does he promise and not fulfill?
20 I have received a command to bless;
he has blessed, and I cannot change it.

21 "No misfortune is seen in Jacob,
no misery observed in Israel. [1]
The LORD their God is with them;
the shout of the King is among them.

Exodus 32:9-14

9 "I have seen these people," the LORD said to Moses, "and they are a stiff-necked people. 10 Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation."
11 But Moses sought the favor of the LORD his God. "O LORD ," he said, "why should your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand? 12 Why should the Egyptians say, 'It was with evil intent that he brought them out, to kill them in the mountains and to wipe them off the face of the earth'? Turn from your fierce anger; relent and do not bring disaster on your people. 13 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, to whom you swore by your own self: 'I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and I will give your descendants all this land I promised them, and it will be their inheritance forever.' " 14 Then the LORD relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.

The difference between the words promise and threaten do not need to be explained in this context. In one, he promises to make Israel a great nation, and does so. The second he threatens and tells Moses to let him unleash his anger upon them, and Moses gives a compelling argument for him to relent on his threats, not promises. And why Does God do this? Moses says, "You made a promise to Abraham". Not inconsistent or contradictory at all.

Honor thy father and mother.
- Exodus 20:12

Luke 14:26

25Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 26"If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters--yes, even his own life--he cannot be my disciple. 27And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
28"Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? 29For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, 30saying, 'This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.'
31"Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. 33In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.
34"Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? 35It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out.
"He who has ears to hear, let him hear."

Once again, the measure of simple verse by verse comparison, there is a disparity. However, if you look at in the context of what Jesus is saying, you see that he says "If you are not willing to give up all you have, you cannot be specifically a disciple of Jesus." Well what does this specifically mean? Giving everything to your spiritual father, not your worldly father. In giving up the material, you gain the ethereal in this sense. Of course, this is an interpretation and I see where the obvious (b/c it is obvious) discrepancy is here.

Genesis 32:28-31

28 Then the man said, "Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, [5] because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome."
29 Jacob said, "Please tell me your name."
But he replied, "Why do you ask my name?" Then he blessed him there.
30 So Jacob called the place Peniel, [6] saying, "It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared."
31 The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel, [7] and he was limping because of his hip. 32 Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the tendon attached to the socket of the hip, because the socket of Jacob's hip was touched near the tendon.

John 1:16-18

16From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. 17For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only,[5] ,[6] who is at the Father's side, has made him known.

Apparently he made himself known even according to this Bible verse.

Exodus 20:4-6

4 "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand {generations} of those who love me and keep my commandments.

Ezekial 18:17-21

He will not die for his father's sin; he will surely live. 18 But his father will die for his own sin, because he practiced extortion, robbed his brother and did what was wrong among his people.
19 "Yet you ask, 'Why does the son not share the guilt of his father?' Since the son has done what is just and right and has been careful to keep all my decrees, he will surely live. 20 The soul who sins is the one who will die. The son will not share the guilt of the father, nor will the father share the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous man will be credited to him, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against him

Once again seemingly contradictory statements, however there is one big problem in verse 6 of the Exodus text, he will show love to those who love me and keep my commandments. In the Old Testament there are lot of these seemingly, where he curses the Ammonites and Moabites to hell forever and so forth. However, if we look at Exodus again, where he says I will punish the children of those who hate me. He does not say that he will hold them accountable in terms of righteousness or wickedness which is a very different issue. Very circumspect wording, and yes very very disparaging.

Matthew 23:16-22


15"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are.
16"Woe to you, blind guides! You say, 'If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.' 17You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred? 18You also say, 'If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gift on it, he is bound by his oath.' 19You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 20Therefore, he who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. 21And he who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it. 22And he who swears by heaven swears by God's throne and by the one who sits on it.

Matthew 5:21-23

21"You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not murder,[1] and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.' 22But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother[2] will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, 'Raca,[3] ' is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell.
23"Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.

Anyone who calls someone a fool is subject to the fires of hell, but Jesus had already sentenced (or through God's word) sentenced those in the above to the fires of hell. He is calling them fools b/c they had already been sentenced to hell. (Not really contradictary if you think in the context that Jesus is really thinking of himself as the right hand of God in that part)

Ok I got tired, and am going to quit going through these quotes.

Yes the Bible is inconsistent and contradictory.

It was written by a lot of different people, and has been translated innumerous times. We don't even have the original versions of the texts anymore. However, easy as it is to pick through Biblical inconsistencies, and as easy as it is to point out certain Christian denominations and bash them as being hypocritical and inconsistent, it is hardly favorable to show someone who is persuaded in that function to do this.

I am not defending the Bible in those two posts, it is just showing how dangerous picking verses really is.

There are a lot of contradictory things, Free will vs Grace, Creationism, Why is Joseph listed in the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew, when supposedly Jesus has no biological ties to him? Over and Over again you'll see them. That's not the real point.

Believers Believe, Non-Believers don't. It's that simple. Sometimes people who believed don't believe anymore, sometimes people who never believed start believing, and usually it's not on the basis that what the Bible says is infallible, it's a belief in the spirit of Christ, which can be a lot more dangerous. If people who believed in things backed it up on hard solid facts, there wouldn't be any believers.

By the way..all the verses I used came from the New International Version.

thats the thing though.. if you cant back it up without some sort of evidence besides a book, then common sense would say 'wtf'.

zactly.

If the inconsistencies are taken out of context. Would someone explain ? For example, just take 1 of them and compare them to teach other as they were written in the original pots. Then highlight how they were taken out of context, but are saying the same thing.

More about Nasi ? What's that about ?

In the Dead Sea Scrolls 'Nasi' was the angelic protectors of the Messiah. There is only a short mention in the Copper Scrolls.

I'm not actually going to go after any of the explanations for the verses, this is more of a throw out an inconsistency and see if anyone will explain it thread for me but here's a new one I found on my own.

NIV

Exodus 20
5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,


1 John 4
8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.


1 Corinthians 13

4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

lol kudos bahamut... I like that one :)

Which kind of belies it as a basis for history and science, as a lot of so called Christians do, doesn't it?
Yes, you Creationists, I'm talking to you. :D

And even as far as Faith...how does one trust a book that both condemns and praises various actions?

Things are complex for sure. But here is a thought. People are the same way, both in the past and at present (in general). Inconsistencies and shortsightedness abound, so often. Hypocrisy, inconsistencies, falseities, errors in reason, etc. Even with many secular works that have been built upon heavily and used in modern years many such things are found and yet good use is still derived from the works. I don't see such a thing as being very different then from other human influenced works.

For questions of faith you can look in different ways. Another person might say "how does one trust that this interpretation exists which shows apparent contradictions and has not just been misinterpreted or created as a deception by others ?". By default they throw their faith in their God. Where it seems that you place yours in man more (who also is capable of the same things and arguments). In many ways, I see little difference in the grand scheme of things at this point.

I really do see people who beleive in the bible as being a lot like me. They have something they decided to believe in it for whatever reason - whatever those reasons may be. I don't have any problem with them when they aren't trying to tell me what I have to believe or do. I just expect the same courtesy extended to me.

Parents PUNISH their children but they still love them. And envy and jealousy are two seperate concepts.

Surely there's a difference between the works of man and those derived from a god. Millions of people supposedly base their lives on what the Bible says because the Bible is the word of God. It is his book and it is the basis of all faith in him. If that book can't be consistent in its message then it is worthless because how are followers of the religion supposed to know which bit is correct?

Many believers would be horrified but the bible is a prime example of what would now be regarded as new age/occult/paranormal. The pick and choose system. I don't like that bit but I love that bit. A 900 year old man? Don't be silly! Feeding of the 5000? Yes that definately happened.

Faith is just that - total belief; no matter what we know should happen. If something contradicts it then it is ignored even if it is from the supposed same source.

Why does God even need worship? Ego? Can't be that - he/she is ...well..... a god/ess! Oh well, a few more thousands of deaths in their name won't matter I suppose.

I know wat u mean about the inconsistencies, my whole family are christians but alot of the stuff in the bible doesnt make since. like if god never makes mistakes then y did he restart the world and if u can trust him and will not hurt u y does he test u. sometimes i feel really awkward /bad about thinking these things but it just doesnt add up. is this y god doesnt want u to test him?

......I just cannot understand why someone would devote his or her lifetime worshiping a "god" just because of what some "book" has to say. Sometimes I wonder, if my writing skills were good enough, if I could convince the entire world to believe that our world was once created by zebras and that we should all drop down to our knees and worship them......Basically, what I'm trying to say is, as humans, we need more evidence that there is a "god." I know the Bible says "thou shall not tempt God" or something like that, but c'mon guys.....take a look at the world surrounding us....I can't find any proof that there is a god, but, I can surley find some outstanding proof that there isn't one.....

I suppose it would depend on your perspective. Many different factors as to what you consider works and the like. But if you are an atheist, something like the bible to you is seemingly the same as any other work of man. But a christian does not have to believe in that, and they are free to choose an "in between" if they decide to. Why force people to extremes?



The same could be said about many things. How do we know to trust anything or anyone? I once ran into this. If you are completely secular, it seems all inventions and discoveries of man merely build atop of each other over the ages. So then all works of man are either built upon earlier works or observations of nature. Man at first (in this certain age), and still yet, is not consistent. Yet value seems to have been derived from this inconsistency?




Many people would be horrified at many different things. Nothing new. We are free to choose for ourselves for whatever reasons we have. I like it that way and say let them do things that way if they wish. I don't see any reason to force people to be single minded or extremists.




You have a very "high" standard for faith which I am not saying is bad at all. Personally I am not one to ignore things that [seem to] go against my current faith. I like to hear them and will adapt to and explore them usually. I am not of the belief that a current state of "faith" describes all my future actions or what I will and will not ignore from others. I guess I think that is silly. I consider myself quite adaptive and dynamic.

The same source. That is not for certain. They don't have to believe in that at all. It is up to them. I think I see what you are trying to say, that faith is basically a precursor to ignorance. Well, perhaps in a way, but again faith is not limited to religious matters. It applies to the works of man also. We still have faith, often in things such as our tools or our senses.



Why couldn't it? What is the basis for the restriction? There is any number of possible explanations. Such things seem really hard to apply current normal human logic to. Mainly because it seems we often only look at things in one very narrow way, instead of many or all.



If you stop and think about it, seeking to blame religions and people who hold to such beliefs is just another way of perpetuating the very same thing that you seem to decry. It is a fear tactic and a way of using a belief in order to oppress/control others by way of fear (that they will kill).

One thing to watch for is this: if you seek to *force* others to abandon their beleifs, you are creating conflict as you are expressing that you are not currently capable of coexistence with the others who believe differently than you. You became the aggressor. The worship of gods or goddesses is not the true reason for such things as murder. It is much more than that. As demonstrated by any atheist who commits such acts. The part of religion just fills a "gap" sometimes that causes it to come about.

I would just wish that people would more think for themselves. Both on spiritual and secular levels. This is more of a problem I think than just "religion" which is only a small part of it, and then only sometimes because of how it is used.

I feel off topic now and do not wish to intrude further on the thread, so I shall be off from here now having said what I felt like saying. Take care.

No. All of those quotes were taken out of context.




The translation.

God "is" love, yes, but He also "is" everything. It's kind of complicated. I can't explain it to you... He wants us to worship Him, He wants us to find the right way because He loves us. Does that make any sense? I'm sorry... I'm not good at explaining myself...



Show me where it condemns and praises something.



God doesn't "need" worship. You don't understand the meaning of worship. God loves us. When we realize how much He loves us we'll love Him and worship Him not because we have to, but because we want to.



Once again, God does not demand worship. The existence of a higher power isn't something one can prove or disprove.