Religious Education

The only problem with your logic on the evidence part is that you generally do not have that luxury in everyday life. There's many things you can't prove without a doubt, like someone's intent. However, you can deduce from the way they act and speak what those are in some cases.

As far as the Bible being made up or changed throughout the years, they have more consistant records of Biblical manuscripts than such things like the works of Plato. One good example is the book of Isaiah. They found 2 copies dating around 800-1,000 years apart, and the only errors they could find were a couple minor punctuations. That's just one book of the Bible, we only have, what 2 know copies of the works of Plato and accept them as valid, yet it's okay to blow off a religious writing with more known copies than that? That match hundreds of years apart?
 
Lets say i wrote a book about me being amazing and how i could turn 2 loaves and 5 fishes into a Buffet for 2000 people, I then gave my mate the book i had just written and got him to copy it, thus making 2 editions. IT would be reasonable to assume they would not be identical and there would be difference in handwriting and punctuation.

I then hid 1 copy in India and the other i buried in my garden. If these copies were found 800 years later then it is entirely possible that i could be hailed as the son of God.

I might just do this as a test.
 
Archeologists have dated these books at different points in time, so it's not just a matter of someone hiding them in different places. You are trying to make the assumption that 66 different books of the Bible were purposely hidden by a few people after making copies at the same time? Again, they've been shown to have different ages, so it's not just simply a matter of someone copying it at the same time and hiding them. The two copies of Isaiah that I mentioned were discovered and were dated to be hundreds of years different in age, which seems to disprove your arguement of the Bible being manipulated throughout the ages. If it were, this would be the biggest hoax and conspiracy pulled off. Think about it: it's highly unlikely that a hoax of this magnitude could be executed this well by so many people without a single person spilling the beans, screwing up, or other to discount this.
 
If it were, this would be the biggest hoax and conspiracy pulled off. Think about it: it's highly unlikely that a hoax of this magnitude could be executed this well by so many people without a single person spilling the beans, screwing up, or other to discount this.
Click to expand...

It would be truly amazing if this were found to be the case.
Anything is possible i guess.

Well its been a good thread Big B.

In my conclusive statement i don't think im ever gonna beleive in religion no matter what people say. Maybe my reasons for steering clear of religion is due to the problems that peoples beliefs cause to others. There not just happy to keep it inside and just carry on with life. They feel they must press their beliefs on others either by shouting about it, or using force (like that somehow makes people listen).

I don't think anyone is ever going to know the truth of our ancient history and in theory the events could well have happened as much as they couldn't have.

Im gonna carry on regardless and if in the end im wrong, then i'll say so.
 
Hey, I can understand your aversion. I nearly went the athiest route myself a few years ago, but when I was introduced to emperical evidence, not how I felt, it was a major influence. I know I can't force anyone to convert, but I don't want to sound like I was blindly following something.

There's way too many people that really know nothing about the background nor the focus, and that's why you've got a lot of evangelicals telling people that what they do determines the outcome. What I've found is vastly different from the feel good rubbish that most chruches export.
 
RE Isn't all about trying to force other people's views onto you, it is about you looking at other peoples views so you know where they are coming from. I was personally taught RE for one 50 minute period a week.

With modern day England being full of people from all kinds of cultures and races, you might be wise to know some of their traditions and ways, so that you do not offend them. It is like maths, or science? Why is it taught if you have no need for it in the future?

If you live an unrighteous life, and it is all true, then your boned. But if you live your life by way of a religion and it is true, your not so boned.

As to why there are so many religions, who know? Maybe it is just Gods way of portraying himself to different races, so that people of that race are more likely to accept him? Who knows, maybe one day some of us will find out.
 
Well, basically, every religion except Christianity teaches that. Unfortunately, far too many have taught or have been taught that you can work your way into heaven. The problem with the Christian viewpoint as described in the Bible is that you're judged not simply by your actions, but your thoughts. Oh, and the little issue of origninal sin---which we get credited from Adam. So, basically, you come out of the chute with a one-way ticket to hell.

If that's not the case, Jesus was simply a moral example who was murdered, and we're all worm food.
 
But, To be fair, If you ask for forgives and truly regret what you have done, God will forgive you. As it also states in the bible.
 
Surge89 said:
If you ask for forgives and truly regret what you have done, God will forgive you. As it also states in the bible.
Click to expand...
.
There are 2 parts in christian believe that just don't fit. If you do many wrong things, you'll go to hell. But the bible states that all sins are forgiven :confused:
 
RHochstenbach said:
.
There are 2 parts in christian believe that just don't fit. If you do many wrong things, you'll go to hell. But the bible states that all sins are forgiven :confused:
Click to expand...

it says that all sins are forgiven only if you ask for forgiveness, i think.

i'd think that religious education would be important, as so many wars have been waged in different religions' names. it'd make a useful companion to history courses, maybe. unless you had a highly biased teacher in which case you probably wouldn't get a lot out of the class. but religions have played such an important part in the world (not necessarily positive or negative), and it would be silly to dismiss the need for an RE class simply on the basis of not liking religions. i wish my school offered a religious education class... if we had a good teacher, it would be interesting :)
 
Surge89 said:
But, To be fair, If you ask for forgives and truly regret what you have done, God will forgive you. As it also states in the bible.
Click to expand...

That's true. However, it can't be focused on soley. God does forgive, but he also requires justice. He's not like "Oh, okay. You were bad, but since you really meant it, we're hunky dory." Your prayers for forgiveness would still be acknowledged, but without Jesus willingly dying in the stead of the sinner, that prayer is worthless in this system of justice.

RHochstenbach said:
There are 2 parts in christian believe that just don't fit. If you do many wrong things, you'll go to hell. But the bible states that all sins are forgiven.
Click to expand...

Let's start with Adam. There is a federal application to us. Because Adam sinned as the representative of mankind, we are damned with him. Jesus comes along as a second Adam--a new federal head of mankind, and lives a perfect life in word, thought and deed.

In both cases presented, we are credited as guilty or righteous by factors outside of our control. Because of Adam and the federal head of fallen man, we are born into sin, so we don't have the luxury of screwing ourselves. We're damned out of the chute. Basically, the Pope and Adolf Hitler start out on the same plain.

The Holy Spirit/Holy Ghost continues to prompt those who God decides to save. God does not, and has not saved everybody. Noah, his sons and their wives were the only ones God saved. And that's just an early example. Let's take Samson a supposed 'man of God': he destroyed crops, slept around, and killed himself on purpose getting back at the Philistines. You look at the heroes of the Bible and you'll find prostitutes, tax collectors, zealots, pagans...really a representation of the depraved state of mankind.

On a larger level, the nation of Israel was saved, just like the Christians. It wasn't what they did, but what was done on their behalf.

Another thing to think about is that, if you take the belief that God is all powerful and answers to himself only, can he not say who will go to heaven or to hell? What obligation does God owe anybody?


And on RE again, I restate my agreement on it. It's part of culture throughout history, and to properly understand history, the religous aspect should not be tossed out. Education should not be limited to things that don't offend people or otherwise disliked. Shall we toss out math because some people dislike calculus?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top