Good Thoughts

[Grumpy]

The following quotes were included in a mailing I received:

"The quality, not the longevity, of one's life is what is important."

Martin Luther King

"It is one of the most beautiful compensations of this life that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

"No act of kindness, not matter how small, is ever wasted."

Aesop

[Arauthator]

I have one wise verse that I carry with me and it shoots down every philosopher in the history of the world.

John 1:1
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

You gotta LOVE the Bible.

[Grumpy]

No I don't have to love the Bible. I can read and understand what the people I quoted were saying. I have never been able to understand the Bible and I don't believe it really says most of what other people tell me it says.

Grumpy

[Arauthator]

I see your point Grumpy. But one thing that is distinctive from ALL of your philosophy and makes it null and void, Jesus is the ONLY one to resurrect from the dead....all of the other philosophers you quote died and stayed dead. Jesus is in the Bible. Martin Luther King is not.

[Grumpy]

I didn't make the first post to start a religious discussion but since it has deterriated into that, let me point out that I said "I don't believe it (the Bible) really says most of what other people tell me it says." From that I hope you can understand that I do not believe in Jesus as being anything other than a man. If Christians choose to believe that he rose from the dead, that is their right, but that doesn't mean that everyone else has to believe it, which I don't.

Grumpy

[Arauthator]

It's ok to me if you don't believe. But before I leave this discussion...which I WILL. One last comment.

My suggestion to you is. To actually read the Bible as you have the other philosophers. Until then you can not justify that last comment. But if you choose death and hell over everlasting life and the love of God. So be it. I pray to God for your soul. Peace be with you Grumpy.

In my opinion though, why anyone would take the comments of a few lines on philosophy in an email over a whole BOOK like the Bible....is beyond me. Others might say though, why buy a 200 HP Mercury when you can fish just the same from the dock. Only God can tell ya' the difference.

[Grumpy]

I really should let you have the last word, but I do have to tell you I HAVE READ THE BIBLE that is why I know wherefore I speak. I have also read many of the worlds philosophers and I have almost always been able to understand the meaning of what they wrote the first time I read it. I just don't trust any book (the Bible) that is written in (or translated into) English that someone else has to tell me what was meant by what was written, e.g. as in Bible Study.

Grumpy

PS: I didn't know that we had to accept either the Bible or pholsophy and/or that one seems to negate the other, which is what you seem to imply in your final paragraph.

[RoadToad]

No I don't have to love the Bible. I can read and understand what the people I quoted were saying. I have never been able to understand the Bible and I don't believe it really says most of what other people tell me it says.

Grumpy

As strongly as I've disagreed with some of your previous posts, I'm amazed at how closely my thoughts on this subject resemble yours. I guess that's what I get for jumping to conclusions!

Getting back to your original post (sorry, mine aren't as happy as yours):

"To love or have loved, that is enough. Ask nothing further. There is no other pearl to be found in the dark folds of life." — Victor Hugo (Les Miserables)

"We are within language as within our body." — Jean-Paul Sartre

[Jabbo]

Man this is a hot topic that should probably be avoided but my job is to try to bring as many people to know Jesus as I can. ( as stated in Matt. 4:19
Come follow me Jesus said and I will make you fishers of men...)
The Bible is a bunch of books that make up one bible. These are the most thoroughly researched books on the planet. They have been translated into every language and all of the languages share the same versus. Yes you will find versus that are different however they have changed to make them easier to read with out changing the meaning or the spirit of the words.
An example is the KJV John 3:16 where God gave his only begotten son..
The NIV version says that God gave his one and only son. It has been translated many ways, but the meaning comes across clear.
The bible has been scrutinized by atheists agnostics and scholars from around the globe and the only thing they all can agree on is that it can not be dis-proven. I my self am a Christ follower and wish that I could bring everyone to know Jesus. I won't be judging you but I will pray for you to come to know Jesus the way many of us on this board do.. One more thing.. You seem to be a well read individual, I would suggest one book to read. It is called The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel. It is a book about someone who has read the bible and doesn't (didn't) believe until he did his research... God Bless you Grumpy...

[Grumpy]

Jabbo, I am pretty sure I have read The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel, or at least something very similar and all it did was convince me that the author, like yourself, was trying to convert me to his way of thinking but you both failed. The trouble with every religion I have studied, and I have studied a bunch of them, is that they are all convinced that their's is the ONLY TRUE WAY TO God, heaven, salvation or whatever you/they want to call it. The problem is, none of them (religions) allow anyone to think for themselves, you either accept what they tell you or you are dammed. I was taught in my formative years by Jesuit Priests who taught us examine all possible aspects of a subject and then to think for ourselves. Unfortunately, for them, I came to the conclusion that they were not believable when it came to the Bible and religion.

By the way, no one has ever been able to prove the authanticity of the Bible either--you either accept it on faith or you don't. I don't!! Just saying so, no matter how many times nor by how many people, doesn't mean anything is proven to be truth.

Grumpy

[Chubminnow]

I have never been able to understand the Bible and I don't believe it really says most of what other people tell me it says.

I think you understand it the way that YOU understand it...for instance, if you and I were to read the same verse or chapter or whatever, you might get something out of it totally different than me.