Not every Christian is a fundamentalist. I was told by someone at age 20 that the Bible was a book of <b>de</b>scription not of <b>pre</b>scription. That has stuck with me.
Thank you for telling us all what Christianity is. I was wondering when the Pope was going to post. Or are you a new prophet?
Sorry, I got carried away with the practical aspects of the argument. The point is to love God. Why do we love Him?, 'Because He first loved us' (1 John 4:19). How do we love Him?, 'If you love Me, you will keep My commandments' (John 14:15) Fundamentally, keeping His commandments requires the proper attitude (love thy God with all your heart, soul, & mind, love thy neighbor as thyself) and taking responsibility for your actions (recognizing sin and repenting of it). Who needs a new prophet when we have the words of the old ones?
What's vague about that quote. I don't have a Bible with me but I know it basically says Jesus was asked if your enemy strikes you then turn and offer the other cheek. I'm sorry I don't have the exact quote but everyone who's a Christian knows what it means. Don't strike back. B-Bob makes the point I was making, if you look long enough you make the Bible say anything you want. And what do you mean the everyone wants to believe the Bible is about "Peace and Understanding". You say that like its a bad thing. It can be argued that Christianity isn't about taking responsibility for your actions. It is about offering yourself to God and accepting Jesus as your Savior because you are a sinner and there is no way you can gain salvation through your own actions. Your version of what Christianity means is the conservative Bible version that is just a justification for conservative policies. Again, you have made the Bible say what you want it to say. I'm not saying we shouldn't strike back at our enemies, that's not what my post was meant to say, it was meant to say Politics and Religion don't mix.
I agree, my post was not directed toward anything in general. As I stated before, my original post was specifically directed toward the initial post in this thread.
So could you please give me your interpretation of the quote I cited before (Rom 13:1-4). You said I just gave my interpretation, so explain to me what you think it says.
Jesus did say to turn the other cheek. But God also directs governments to execute justice. What this points to is a differentiation between the directives to the individual and the government.
I was referring to your understanding of Christianity. But if you want to discuss that quote, I can start with the first line, since when was Bush appointed by God.
Romans 13:1 seems to indicate that all people in authority are put there in accordance with His will.
Um, the scripture specifically says "the authorities that exist are appointed by God." Yes, that even means Saddam as well, but even those appointed by God have to be held accountable for their decisions.
Just because your a Christian, doesn't mean your going to be perfect in all you do. We are human, and we will make human decisions. President Bush is the most powerful man on Earth, if you are a Christian you must have to believe that God is using him for his great plan. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Well it's not like you can do anything about it his decisions...
Isn't Armageddon a final battle? Since you don't believe in Armageddon, you characterize Bush as a sociopath. Giddyup. Do you mean that all of the literally of millions of Amricans who believe in the Armageddon nonsense are sociopaths? I certainly don't think so. Misguided religious folks, yes. Sociopaths, hell no. Many of them are very moral and honest in their individual lives. As I said, I hope sincerely that Bush is just using fundamentalist religion for his poltical purposes and is not a fanatical religious fundamentalist like some of his followers.
I think the quote is referring more to religious authority, more specifically the Church. So I would argue that it has nothing to do with politics.
Certainly if Paul was speaking of religious authority then this passage would not apply. But he speaks of governing authorities and rulers (not elders and deacons) and he is in the middle of a discussion about living the Christian life in general and submission in general. He does at other points talk about submission to church authority as well but I don't see any reason to believe this is the case here. Also, is it really possible for someone to usurp authority without it being according to the will of God. Is God just left wringing his hands?
Could you please tell me which religious authorities it is directed toward, because I really don't think there were any in the first century. Remember, this is a letter written to Roman Christians in the first century. Secondly, by believing so, you are implying that a modern-day religious 'authority' has justification to "execute wrath on he that practices evil." Do you truly believe that?
According to your first statement, Bush considers Muslims who don't agree with his mix of religion and politics "evil." Name me one Muslim who agrees with what you call Bush's 'fundamentalist mix of religion and politics"? I can't think of any, and I doubt you can either. In your second statement the definition of "evil" Muslims seems to change. Am I right? It doesn't appear to be those who merely "disagree with his fundamentalist mix of religion and politics." It's those who are terrorists or terrorist supporters, because "Bush does not think all Muslims are 'evil'. [sic]" Face it, you made a careless comment and then had to back track. Why not think before you speak to begin with? It saves a lot of trouble.
Do you truly believe that Paul supported the execution of Christians by Romans. Also the Bible clearly states that the Jesus gave religious authority to the Apostle Peter, who is considered by the Catholic Church as the first Pope.
This is where our discussion is destined to diverge because the Bible clearly does not give any authority to Peter that wasn't given to the other Apostles. Obviously, Paul did not support the execution of Christians by Romans. That's probably the easiest answer I'll have all day. It still doesn't change the fact that the Roman government was appointed by God.
Save me, Jeebus. - Homer Simpson It's amazing to me that, after all the years this BBS has existed, something this EASY can get everyone into an argument over basically NOTHING. Unreal. Top 10 Easiest Ways to Get a Response in the BBS Hangout: 1. (Insert religion here) is _________ . (i.e. Christianity is stupid, Islam is evil, etc) 2. Abortions for some, miniature American flags for others. 3. Coservatives are gas guzzling, evil freaks / Liberals are tree hugging, pot smoking hippies (tie) 4. Terrorism...blah, blah, blah...war...blah, blah, blah, etc. 5. Look! Pictures of Boobs! 6. Bill Clinton is a liar/George Bush is evil (tie) 7. Homeless People/Taxes (tie) 8. Anything disparraging towards Creed or Tolkien (only works for Nomar) 9. Star Trek or Star Wars - any thread relating 10. What _________ are you ____________ ? (i.e. What CD are you listening to...what drink are you drinking, etc) You guys are EASY!
