Why Did The Creator Choose the Jews?

[Leprechaun]

I would ahve to disagree with you on that point Fürstentum Liechtenstein. reading many relgious books would not confuse someone if anything it would make things clearer. Just reading the Bible without any knowledge of other religions woyuld be like.......(I'll use an American analogy) voting for the republican without actually reading the democrats policies (I am aware that American politics are more people based than policy based but it's all I can think of). So if you want to truly understand what you believe in you have to know about it's....oppositon or alternative. You can't say that waht you believe in is right (and everything else is wrong) unless you know what the other person believes in...it would be like dismissing evolution without even knowing what it was. So reading many religious books or books about religion ro books with religious elements should serve to increase your knowledge and lower your confusion unless of course you believe everything you read because in that case you're going to be in a right mess.

[zoegirl]

I would agree with you in general, however, from th tone of his replies, it appears noible reads "many" religiious text not with the iea of narrowing them down (like your voting analogy) but simply borrowing what stuff one likes from any of them .

[Furstentum Liechtenstein]

I would have to disagree with you on that point Fürstentum Liechtenstein. reading many relgious books would not confuse someone if anything it would make things clearer.

You may be right. It probably would depend on various factors, such as:

-your age & spiritual maturity,
-your motive (curiosity or research as opposed to a spiritual quest,)

On the other hand (and this is what I based my comment on,) reading a bunch of «spiritual» stuff without a firm grounding in your own faith could have you zig-zagging all over the place, spiritually speaking.

Next, I have trouble with your analogy:

Just reading the Bible without any knowledge of other religions would be like.......(I'll use an American analogy) voting for the republican without actually reading the democrats policies

Both the Republicans and the Democrats are human political parties. Hence, they are trying to do good but are prone to corruption, just as in any human enterprise. Essentially, they are like Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dum...equally bad and equally good. Only your perspective will determine their worth for you.

The Bible cannot be compared to, say, the Koran on equal footing (like Donkeys & Elephants): One is Truth, the other is Lie. The Bible cannot be compared to The Book of Mormon on equal footing: One is Truth, the other is Lie. This is where your analogy breaks down.

...But I understand your point, and it is not without merit. It all depends on your motive for reading the «holy» litterature of other faiths; it can be dangerous if you are not grounded in your own faith and it can be great knowledge to have if you are evangelizing a muslim. It is a two-edged sword.

Zoegirl seems to agree with you Leprechaun...and so do I, with reservations. Something she said caught my eye:

I would agree with you in general, however, from th tone of his replies, it appears noible reads "many" religiious text not with the iea of narrowing them down (like your voting analogy) but simply borrowing what stuff one likes from any of them .

(emphasis mine, not Zoegirl's)


The Rosicrucians borrow stuff from any spiritual book, yet give themselves a «Christian» look. They are a real-world example of spiritual licentiousness.

FL

[Furstentum Liechtenstein]

I want to add something to my post just above.

Someone like Nobible, who says

If I wanted to [...] obtain spiritual enlightenment, I'd mainly read the Bible and a few other religious books

...is probably drifting spiritually. I understand spriritual drifting because most of my life was spent without holding to a course (...to use a navigational analogy.) Nobible is obviously lost but he doesn't know it.

Being lost, yet not knowing your lost. Herein lies the danger in reading «holy» books from false gods: you are hungry for directions and are liable to gobble up anything that sounds good. And they do sound good, often better than the Bible! Why? because they were written by sinful humans. We wrote them to suit ourselves, to satisfy our notions of what a god should be like.

FL

[Leprechaun]

Next, I have trouble with your analogy:

Just reading the Bible without any knowledge of other religions would be like.......(I'll use an American analogy) voting for the republican without actually reading the democrats policies

Both the Republicans and the Democrats are human political parties. Hence, they are trying to do good but are prone to corruption, just as in any human enterprise. Essentially, they are like Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dum...equally bad and equally good. Only your perspective will determine their worth for you.

The Bible cannot be compared to, say, the Koran on equal footing (like Donkeys & Elephants): One is Truth, the other is Lie. The Bible cannot be compared to The Book of Mormon on equal footing: One is Truth, the other is Lie. This is where your analogy breaks down.

...But I understand your point, and it is not without merit. It all depends on your motive for reading the «holy» litterature of other faiths; it can be dangerous if you are not grounded in your own faith and it can be great knowledge to have if you are evangelizing a muslim. It is a two-edged sword.

FL

I was moreso talking about different brands of Christianity rather than Islam, Hindu etc. but perhaps the analogy was bad..eh.....let's say that you have two scientific books (I'm not comparing religion to science before any says that and it's assuming that these books are free from human error and viewpoints) one is completely true the other has elements of truth but isn't 100% true. Now you can't just read one and dismiss the other out of hand however if you read both you can quite fairly asses which ahs more merit. This would be like different branches of Christianity you can't say "Oh Catholicism (I'm not picking on Catholicism here, just anexample )is so stupid" unless you know what is is about you might find that after hearing what it is about you disagree with and feel it is misguided. My point is you can never accept something as the truth unless you question it somewhat and that applies to religion even if what you believe is true you can't determine that unless you question it somewhat...like the way a scientist questions his theories etc. even if he believes them to be 100% right.

[Furstentum Liechtenstein]

I was moreso talking about different brands of Christianity

Different brands of Christianity...hmmm...I see them as different brands of General Motors products. All are GMs but Pontiacs are sportier, Chevys are more family-oriented, Cadillacs are luxurious, and so on. No big deal here. Some people will always prefer Pontiacs and will insist that they're the best. So be it...



Nobible's comments were not about different brands of Christianity. They were about different faiths, at least that was the tone of his message written on Thursday, July 10th.

I'm still waiting for his answers to my questions.

FL

[Byblos]

I'm still waiting for his answers to my questions.

FL, a little heads-up: don't hold your breath too long (he was banned).

[Canuckster1127]

For the record, NoBible was banned for violating Board Guidelines, creating multiple accounts, promoting atheism, wiccanism and behind the scenes PM's attacking several posters on this board.

He was what is commonly known as a troll.

That's why the posts have been removed.

[MarkyMark7]

Biblically speaking...
Deuteronomy 4:37
" Because He loved your fathers, therefore He chose their descendants after them And He personally brought you from Egypt by His great power,

Deuteronomy 10:15
" Yet on your fathers did the LORD set His affection to love them, and He chose their descendants after them, even you above all peoples, as it is this day.

He chose them b/c he loved their fathers.

[obsolete]

More so because He made an everlasting covenant with Abraham and Issac. They key word would be Everlasting.