the bible = the tree of the knowledge of good and evil () Jesus = the tree of life

[taoistimmortal]

By Feanaro: Then wouldn't everyone confuse faith as fact then? Not just christians on this thread. When you sit in a chair? It's not fact that it will hold you up, you have faith in that chair, that it will hold you up.

 

I just dont have any faith in that argument Feanaro. It may be a trust that you put in the chair but it definately, even if you want to call it by the name of faith, does not come near to the significance of a religious faith. They are two very different things, additionally because a chair is a man made object, and if it breaks it is either the owner or the builder's fault. Now if you had the belief or the faith that the chair was standing through the power of God then it would be a different matter, but as it stands, the chair that is, as you are sitting in it, I think it is a trust that allows you to go on using it without suffering a fear of it failing you. Or Newton's law as ET mentioned.

 

Maybe you dont understand that faith and reality must be seperate to the rational or reasoning mind, and that faith is in a different realm seperated from the actual. Anyone that brings their faith into their reasoning is either a gambler or a beleiver in something.

 

Which I guess is everyone. Yes everyone operates on a faith of some kind. Maybe it has something to do with chance and the unknowable future.

 

But that still doesnt change the fact that there is a distinct difference between faith and reality... hmmm

 

but maybe faith and reality are not true opposites and they shouldnt be thought of in this manner.

 

S**t now I'm caught in a Cartesian loop. Skepticism leads to nothing but more questions.

 

Anyway, the emphsis needs to be on reality, not faith, for ones perception of the real world(no trademark) to hold sway over ones belief in the apparent world.

[ShadowTemplar]

quote:

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Jesus is overated. Sure, the man may have had a few bright moments, but i can off hand name at least a couple dozen people more praise-worthy than he

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Wouldn't you say your faith in this statement would be offensive to christians?

 

Not at all, since I can off-hand name a dozen people more praise-worthy. Gutenberg, Curie, Mendelejev, Bohr, Einstein, Brahe, Gallileo, Copernicus, Kepler, Voltaire, Rømer, Newton, Kelvin. The list goes on.

 

That said, I never claimed that rational thinking wouldn't offend religious zealots, merely that dogmatic thinking offends rational people.

[Tyrion]

Originally posted by rccar328

It sounds to me like he's saying, "Jesus good, Bible bad. "

 

I think that he's saying that the Bible is both good and bad- because it houses both good knowledge(God, Jesus, Crucifiction, ect) and bad knowledge(the Devil, betrayal, death).

 

I guess Jesus is supposed to be the Guide in reading the book of good and evil..at least that's what I get.

[toms]

but didn't jesus TELL all his disciples about his trials with the devil and so forth? Surely this means that jesus WANTED people to know about the devil and evil?

 

I'm of the opinion that jesus (if he was real) might well have been good, but by man attempting to write down the will of god the bible has become (unwittingly) the cause of a lot of evil. But i don't think that is what he meant.

[rccar328]

I'm of the opinion that jesus (if he was real) might well have been good, but by man attempting to write down the will of god the bible has become (unwittingly) the cause of a lot of evil. But i don't think that is what he meant.

As far as the Bible goes, I think that the evil comes from men misinterpreting the Bible (i.e. the Crusades). But I don't think that's what he meant, either.