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Emproph:
If the Bible is in error I stand to lose everything. Yet I do not seek the "safety" that the World would try to sell me. He that seeks to save his life will lose it, said Jesu. The safety of this world is a lie and it leads only to death. There is a peril to walking the narrow path, yet a surety as well, because we do not make the journey in our own strength. To live the Christian life one must be willing to accept danger and to thrive on adventure. Life is not safe. Dragons and highwaymen lie in wait along the road. Tempests and fallen trees plague the way. Rather than hedging our bets and seeking comfort in dreary pluralism, the Christian must embrace the joyful arduousness of the One Way.
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He who seeks to save his life will lose it. You seek to save "everything," so you gird yourself with primeival understandings and concepts, trying to validate them for our modern day world. Out of your hysteria, you have created and are worshipping a god who makes you feel safe in this scary world... regardless if your god is real or not.
If you see a dragon, call a zoo. If you see "highwaymen," call the police. Watch the Weather Channel to avoid tempests. Call the city road crews to clear the fallen trees.
To follow Christ means to live like Him, talk like Him... to become like Him. As he told the religious scholar what one has to do to have eternal life in Luke 10, He said, "That you love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and muscle and intelligence--and that you love your neighbor as well as you do yourself."
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Hey SolInvictus:
Before continuing, it must be understood that I reject your nervous and shrill syncretism ENTIRELY. There are certainly many "sacred texts" in an anthropological sense, yet only one that is truly sacred, only one that is truely True, that being the Bible. There is no "diversity" of truth. There is one Way and one Truth. The Bible is extremely exclusive, clearly designating other religions (along with their various texts) as being false. Nor is Christianity unique in this regard. Most "sacred texts" are mutually exclusive. Christ does not compromise with idols and demons. The gospel of Christ is in essential conflict with any other religion. I am sorry to say that I cannot explain to you God's motives behind revealing Himself in the way that He has. I imagine it is not for mankind to understand the mysteries of God's eternal wisdom, or to plumb the depths of His counsel. It is our part to obey.
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We hold the Bible sacred because that is how God has been revealed to us. The sacred texts of other religions are the ways that God has been revealed to them.
I'm glad you mentioned idolatry. Essentially what you are doing is making a graven image or an idol out of the Bible. Instead of using the Bible to point to God, you point to the Bible as God. And it isn't. It is the work of writers who were inspired by God, who shared how God was revealed to them, who shared the history of Judaism and who shared the story of the life of Christ. I'm sure you will recoil at this, but in one way the Bible is like a work of art... every person brings their unique perspective to understanding it, to perceiving it's beauty & wisdom. It's more important to us than any ordinary work of art because it points us to God.
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I suppose you find this very droll, and all rather rustic and backwards. I have tried to explain things and wish I could do better. But the Gospel is foolishness to the gentiles unless the Holy Spirit precedes it. If you are content with your shallow semantics and feel-good pluralism, then please ignore me from now on. If, however, you feel that your worldview could stand to benefit from discussing with me/us/the ninja-elf, then carry on.
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"The gospel is foolishness to the gentiles unless the holy spirit precedes it?"
I don't know if I've ever heard such a haughty & judgemental statement. In that one sentence you've said Sol is a fool, a "gentile"--by which I'm sure you mean heathen/not Christian, and that for some weird reason the Holy Spirit didn't precede the gospel when it was made known to him.
Your God-view is shallow and completely created out of your fear. If you could only have the courage to believe in a loving, compassionate God... instead of an ominous terrorist in the sky who is just waiting to smote you if you step out of line... If you could truly see God's love & compassion for yourself, you would be able to see it for other people.