Ideology of Evil

[Pip]

Romans 1:26:
"For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error."

The greater context of this passage talks about how God has revealed himself to everyone in the world, but people supress the truth of God's existance, and as a punishment for that God turns them over to their sinful desires.

I think that a lot of people take Christian views on homosexuality the wrong way, and that a lot of the time Christians do not have a correct view of it themselves. If it is indeed wrong (which I believe it is) then it is no more wrong than anything else condemned in scripture which people (specifically christians) engage in every day, such as gossip, slander, and other forms of sexual immorality. Many christians seem to condemn those sins which they do not struggle with, and ignore those that they do struggle with. Instead we need to realize that the church is a group of sinners, and whatever sin people are dealing with they need to be accepted because of the grace of God, not shunned because of their sin.

[CATLAX MAN]

Hey, guys, don't forget that the Bible was written by humans, not God. Therefore, you must take what is written in the Bible with a grain of salt as it is a human interpretation of what they think God's views might be. Just because something is written in the Bible doesn't make true; in fact it has been proven in the past that a number of the passages in the Bible are indeed fiction. They are tales meant to deliver a message.

[ZagGrad]

They are tales meant to deliver a message.

The problem(s) lie with different people's interpretations of these messages. Whose interpretation is right?

[DanGenck]

They are tales meant to deliver a message.

The problem(s) lie with different people's interpretations of these messages. Whose interpretation is right?

It seems that these interpretations are casting a negative shadow on the world these days... the article that I cited to start this conversation is a great example.

[Kyle Berggren]

For those very reasons, I find it hard to read the Bible, or any other religious works as pure fact or word of God. Most of the works of the new testament were written atleast one hundred years after the names they display have past. Another great book, Who Wrote the New Testament, by Mack I believe. Why don't we try to write a paper on what our great grandfathers were feeling at the turn of the century, and by all means, be accurate, we wouldn't want any confusion or any stories that got out of hand.... Good Luck.

"The Church," I'll let you guess which one, decided which books made it into the Bible. When we look at how the Bible came to be, strict interprutation becomes tough. The exact nature of God is really quite unkown, we have conflicting reports through the Bible, and different reports from articles left out of the Bible. Getting the main idea, in my opinion, is going to be the best bet. Treat others with compassion.

[Hackalicious]

Danny,
Leviticus 18:22 is the only one that I am finding off hand("You shall not lie with a man as with a woman; it is an abomination.") Though, I believe this passage should be taken with a very large grain of salt. Leviticus is a list of rules of the time period when it was written (approximately 2500 years ago). Remember, Leviticus also says that no one can have contact with a woman while she is menstrating (Lev. 15:19) (I am going to go out on a limb and assume that it would be impolite to ask every woman you talk to in a day if she has her period) and tells us that shellfish are detestable (but so darn delicious) (Lev. 11:12). If anyone else has others I would love to hear them.

It should be noted that the entire book of Leviticus was written for the priestly class, namely the Levites. These were rules of cleanliness that priests of the day had to follow, not your average person.

[Hugh Nunn]

Not only were the books culled by various ecclesiastical conferences such as the council of Nicea (hence the Nicene Creed), but they were also editted for content, especially the new testament...It is thought by many that the Dead Sea Scrolls hold a far less editted version of various events depicted in the bible. Also the version and philosophy of Christianity practiced by the Essenes (early Christian mystics practicing in the area where the dead sea scrolls were found) is thought to be the closest to that which Jesus tried to establish.

As to the nature of god, I would venture that you will find a different answer for every person you ask. I believe that there is divinity and grace (undeserved redemption) in all of us. I have heard this piece of god in us all defined as the higher self. I would be very suspicious though, of anyone claiming knowledge of the true nature of God, as I also believe that our understanding of him is analogous to our dogs' understanding of us.