1. I am a person who believes in a "God" but chooses not to worship one. I have heard what someone like me is called before and there is a term to describe it, does anybody know what it is? (I believe it starts with an a and it is not atheist because that is someone who believes in no God at all.) 2. Is there any place in the Bible which tells that man is superior to all other animals or something in that context? If so, where? 3. What Bible verse was that that Samuel L. Jackson kept repeating in the movie "Pulp Fiction"? 4. Does anybody know a website where I can see the story of how Noah's Ark was a vitual impossibility? 5. If Christianity is belief of the same thing, why are there so many different sections/divisions? (Catholic, Baptists, Methodist etc.) 6. Where is the Bible does it state the foods we are forbidden to eat? 7. Where in the Bible does it state that homosexuality and masturbation are wrong? 8. Where are the 7 Deadly Sins and 7 Cardinal Virtues listed? 9. Where in the Bible does it state that 666 is a bad number? 10. What is your religious affiliation/belief(s)?
Some of these are easy to find some are not so easy... I will try to find these for you. Easiest one is 3. Pulp Fiction: The passage is actually part of Ezekiel 25:17. Quentin had taken artistic freedom while writing that line. The later part of the quote is quite close to the actual passage. As with all Bibles it is a matter of the translation. My Bible is quoted as "I will carry out great vengeance on them and punish them in my wrath. Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I take vengeance on them." - Ezekiel 25:17
Is Marcelles Wallace supposed to be the devil in Pulp Fiction? Is the movie supposed to be viewed on that level?
2. Man over beasts Genesis 1:28-29 28 God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground." 29 Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground-everything that has the breath of life in it-I give every green plant for food." And it was so. Some vegetarians have stated that verse 29 states that all creatures are vegetarian but that is open for debate...
9. 666 Revelation 13:16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: Revelation 13:17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Revelation 13:18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six. (666)
4. Noah's Ark IMPOSSIBLE VOYAGE OF NOAH'S ARK A SPECIAL CONTINGENT OF MARSUPIALS BEAT THE PLACENTAL MAMMALS TO AUSTRALIA? The marsupial population of Australia contains animals found nowhere else on earth - not even in fossil form. Are we to suppose that those marsupials managed to travel from the landing place of Noah's ark to Australia? What a long perilous post-Flood journey. I guess God guided them. But you don't hear about that miracle in the Bible. Why not? It's at least as good as the story about God herding the Israelites through the desert, only these marsupials were herded through a denuded post-Flood earth undergoing cataclysms galore. This menagerie of wombats and koalas, bandicoots and kangaroos (not to mention the flightless moa and kiwi birds of New Zealand) had to keep ahead of lions-'n-tigers-'n-bears all the way to Indonesia, and then - although the superior placental mammals could not manage it - reach the continent of Australia. As if this were not mind boggling enough, it turns out that the types of marsupials that made it to Australia just happened to form an ensemble able to fill all the ecological niches available! Thus, there were marsupial moles, ant-eaters, mice, grazers, carnivores, frugivores, etc. - not one of which can be found anywhere else in the world. If this highly diversified marsupial population evolved from one or a few primitive generalized marsupials that reached Australia millions of years before it separated from Indonesia (and before mammals had evolved), then this peculiar situation is understandable. But if all these creatures had to journey from Turkey to Australia as an ensemble, it is incredible beyond computation. (Note: Molecular biology and anatomy both demonstrate that, of living marsupial groups, koalas are most closely related to wombats. And both the living species and fossilized remains of koalas and wombats are found only in Australia. Did such fragile creatures as the platypus and the blind marsupial mole race across the land bridge to Australia quicker than the Malaysian tigers and other robust placentals? From Robert A. Moore, "The Impossible Voyage of Noah's Ark"link Also check this out. Continue your search from there...
I don't know if there's really a word for someone who has faith there is a God (same as believing one exists), but doesn't worship one. But you're probably talking about an agnostic....not quite the same, but sort of similar.
6. Unclean foods The biblical command of clean and unclean meats is often assailed as an "Old Covenant law." Detractors claim it is no longer required of Christians, having been "done away" like the Old Covenant. This contention, however, ignores the plain meaning of passages in both the Old and New Testaments. This law is still in force today! The law of clean and unclean represents several dozen other laws, such as the laws of quarantine and sexual behavior, that guard against physical and spiritual impurity. These relate directly to our desire for and practice of "holiness, without which no one will see the Lord" (Hebrews 12:14). 1. What principle undergirds the law of clean and unclean? Leviticus 11:44-47; Deuteronomy 14:2-3. Comment: Both sanctification and holiness imply being "different" or "set apart" for a special purpose. God instituted His law of clean and unclean to show the difference between His people and the nations around them. Paul calls the church "the Israel of God" (Galatians 6:16). I Peter 1:13-16 shows very clearly that Christians, spiritual Israelites, now have a responsibility to be holy as God is. 2. Are Christians commanded to cleanse themselves of defilements of the flesh? II Corinthians 6:16¡©7:1. Comment: As the spiritual temple of God, as God¡¯s sons and daughters, we have a duty to make ourselves as "clean," "pure" or "holy" as possible. This "perfecting holiness" includes all areas of life, not just the spiritual. Paul makes an unmistakable distinction between flesh and spirit (II Corinthians 7:1) only two verses after he paraphrases Isaiah 52:11: "Do not touch what is unclean." 3. Was the law of clean and unclean known before the Old Covenant? Genesis 7:1-3. Comment: Since it was in force in Noah¡¯s time, and possibly in Abel¡¯s lifetime (Genesis 4:4), it was not made obsolete with the passing of the Old Covenant. This is a vital principle to remember regarding the Old and New Covenants: What did not originate with the Old Covenant did not die with it. 4. How do we know what foods are clean or unclean? Leviticus 11:1-47; Deuteronomy 14:3-21. Comment: God lists those foods we can or cannot eat, and for those He does not list, He states how we may identify whether they are clean or unclean. 5. Did Christ do away with this law? Mark 7:1-23. Comment: This long section dealing with defilement begins with a question from the Pharisees about eating with unwashed hands (verse 7). Christ¡¯s answer never strays from this point; He is addressing ritual washings that the Jews added (verses 7-9), not unclean meats. Verse 19, however, is often cited as proof that Jesus declared all foods clean. Yet He is speaking about the human digestive system! He says that whether one washes his hands or not, the digestive tract handles, or "purifies," all food the same way. He then moves to the more serious issue of a man¡¯s conduct, which is what truly defiles him. 6. Did Peter¡¯s vision signify that God nullified this law? Acts 10:9-16, 28, 34-35; 11:1-18. Comment: Three times Peter refused to eat the unclean animals shown to him within the great sheet, and God did not rebuke him. The meaning of the vision is clearly defined in verse 28: "But God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean." Nowhere in the ensuing dispute (Acts 11:1-18) is any mention made of clean or unclean foods. 7. Did Paul allow the eating of unclean meats? I Corinthians 8:1-13. Comment: Notice here again that no mention is made of clean or unclean. Paul is speaking of clean meats offered to idols, for some of the pagan deities were offered bullocks, sheep, goats, chickens, doves and other clean animals, the remainder of which would be offered for sale in the market. His main subject is not clean and unclean, but being sensitive to a brother¡¯s conscience. 8. Will the law of clean and unclean be in force in God¡¯s Kingdom? Ezekiel 44:23; Revelation 21:27. Comment: In the Millennium the priesthood will teach the difference between clean and unclean! And after the thousand years, no abominable thing, nothing that defiles will mar the New Jerusalem! All of its citizens will be holy. This is the wonderful destiny that we are preparing for, and part of making ourselves ready is following the law of clean and unclean meats.
9. Revelation 13:17 "Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six." The significance is not the actual number itself, but what the number represents. In Biblical language the number 7 is considered 'perfect' or 'complete'. Therefore, the number 6 represents those that are short of complete (those that are not Christ-like, or the anti-Christs), and the repetition of it 3 teams serves as a reiteration of the point.
as for a couiple of the others...(WARNING: Different people have different interpretations of bible verses...hopefully, this doesn't escalate too much) 1) It's not "religicist" that's for sure. (sort of an inside joke) 2) Genesis 1:26 - Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth." 7) This is where the "different interpretations" comes in to play - Genesis 38:9 says, "But Onan knew that the offspring would not be his; so when he went in to his brother's wife he spilled the semen on the ground, lest he should give offspring to his brother." In early times, people assumed that he spanked it, and assumed it was a sin because, like homosexuality, it was considered an unnatural way of releasing semen, and therefore a sin. New intepretations believe that he "pulled out" while he was banging his sister in law...take it however you want...
8a. 7 deadly sins, is it a Catholic thing? The Seven Deadly Sins never occur as a formal list in the Bible. Some people say they can all be found in Matthew's Gospel (chapters 5 through 7), but they are not in a simple list there. These sins were identified as a group around the same time as the Bible was being translated into a single language. Rather than these sins being identified in a single place in the Bible, they are found all through it, from Genesis to Revelation. The letters of the New Testament mention all of these, and many others as well. The Catechism has many Scriptural references in the section that lists the "Seven Deadly Sins." It is well to remember that the Scriptures come from the Jewish and Christian Churches, not the other way around. In both cases, faith preceded the writing.
5. You could seriously write your PhD dissertation in religious studies on this one; have fun researching it... You can start with some of the differences here. This helps answer number 10 for me. I go to a Bible based non-denominational church.
I agree 100%. The real reason (IMO) that there are so many Christian denominations is that religion on Earth is in the hands of humans. I truly believe that God intended only one Christian religion, but man over the centuries has worked with human interest in mind and not God's. Some 'Christian' churches contradict each other's beliefs, so how can they both be right?
The Noah's Ark story has other problems. To successfully bring back species from the dead or extinction, your breeding stock needs to be larger than one female and one male.
I agree. My understanding reading the teachings of Jesus is that it was never really intended to create a brand new religion. He was fulfilling Old Testament prophecies in Isaiah, thus Jewish prophecies. I have seen adverts for Jews who believe in Jesus... I wonder if that is what they are trying to do... Off to check it out.
Yes and no (again, all of this is IMO). I don't think that Jesus' goal was to start a brand new religion, inasmuch that I believe that Christianity is a logical extension of Judaism. Why? Because Jesus was the fulfillment of Jewish prophesy (and the Old Testament in general). However, I think all scriptural signs point toward the end of the Old Covenant when Christ was crucified and resurrected, not just one facet or mutiple facets, but the entire Old Covenant was repealed (for lack of a better term) to make way for the New.
OK Looks like from their mission statement Jews for Jesus has a goal of teaching Jews the Gospel of Jesus Christ. You can read more at Jews for Jesus
A guy I go to church with went to a course sponsored by a group like Jews for Jesus. They would say that Christ never intended for us to give up Jewish traditions...that Gentiles should be practicing them, too. They bemoan the Gentile influence over Christianity. Interesting stuff...
