The Bible is so confusing!

[Moksha]

"Blessed are the merciful" [Matthew 5:7]
"Leave alive nothing that breathes. Show them no mercy." [Deut. 7:2]
"The Lord hardened their hearts... that they might receive no mercy." [Joshua 11:20]
"I will dash them one against another, even the fathers and the sons together, saith the Lord: I will not pity, nor spare, nor have mercy, but destroy them. A curse on him who is lax in doing the Lord's work! A curse on him who keeps his sword from bloodshed." [Jer. 13:14; 48:10]

Seems like Jesus brought a better answer for our new covenant.

[bytor2112]

A bit of warning though... the site also deals with Mormonism

The site LIES about Mormons and is frequented by a bunch of pit vipers that call themselves Christians. Do yourself a favor and steer clear of that slimy site.

[Galatians220]

Originally Posted by Moksha

Seems like Jesus brought a better answer for our new covenant.

Hi Moksha,

Each of those verses has to do with the Lord's Judgment of the people's wickedness. the Last one has to do with the blessings and the cursings the people Israel sware unto prior to their entry into the Land of Canaan, and the first and second is about the Wickedness of the Canaanites themselves:


5 Not for thy righteousness, or for the uprightness of thine heart, dost thou go to possess their land: but for the wickedness of these nations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee, and that he may perform the word which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. - Deuteronomy 9:5


God hardens their hearts to their destruction but not all He hardens, nor destroyed. Remember Rahab? She was a Canaanite, but has allowed the two Hebrew Spies to hide and then mislead their persecutors the other way. There was also a people of Gideon in Joshua 9 whom Joshua spared because they did not resist the Hebrews. The new of the Hebrew destruction of their previous enemies was enough to make them make a pact with Israel.


15 And Joshua made peace with them, and made a league with them, to let them live: and the princes of the congregation sware unto them. - Joshua 9:15


However, not only because of the wickedness of the Canaanites that must be wiped out but their influence that it might not be a snare unto them and unfortunately, some have been spared and so, it will have a tragic result later on:


16 And thou shalt consume all the people which the LORD thy God shall deliver thee; thine eye shall have no pity upon them: neither shalt thou serve their gods; for that will be a snare unto thee. - Deuteronomy 7:16

[Galatians220]

Originally Posted by bytor2112

The site LIES about Mormons and is frequented by a bunch of pit vipers that call themselves Christians. Do yourself a favor and steer clear of that slimy site.

No, don't do that.... they may talk about Mormonism and it may be full of lies, but not all their writings are. the site authors has really done a good job in answering so many of the major errors, difficulties, and contradictions going book by book that the site cannot be dismissed as a whole.


Of all the Apologetic sites I've found, this one is the best I've seen. I know how you feel about these people because i was a Catholic growing up; but do not dismiss this site outright.

[rameumptom]

Galatians,

While I agree with many of your interpretations, they are still interpretations. You must create a context within which it all fits.

There are key verses and events that do not fit.

Hebrews 6:1 Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God

I suggest we do not leave the principles of the doctrine of Christ in order to go on to perfection, but that we follow the principle to perfection. Otherwise, Mathew 5:48 is meaningless, since we could not become perfect in Christ's doctrine.

Also, the 10 Commandments teach, Thou Shalt Not Kill, but then Moses and Joshua are commanded to annihilate cities, killing all the women and children. Once again, unless a context is established, it seems that God is feckless.

Originally Posted by SortOfMormon

I was just reading some random pages of the Bible, and it is like reading a language from Mars! Some of it is just plain hard to understand. And it always seems to contradict itself. Take a look at this.

Crazy stuff from the bible

What am I supposed to believe?

Instead of trying to figure out every little inconsistency, just relax and remember, as you read, that the sole purpose of the Bible is to point us to Jesus Christ our Savior. That will sustain you through all the "Huh?" moments.

[prisonchaplain]

Believer hit upon an approach I often recommend--read the Bible through quickly--in 3-4 months. It means 10-12 chapters a day. Quite a task? Give yourself permission to skim. The purpose is to catch the over all message and flavor of the Bible. If it truly is one book in 66, then overarching themes will develop as you read. Feel free to breeze through the geneologies, the lists of materials for building, etc. Just try to capture key stories and lessons. When you are done, do it again, two or three times. Perhaps making this a year long project.

I've done this, and now, when I read about inconsistencies and alleged contradictions, I find that the intepretations that usually lead to these questions is off--it doesn't fit the overall flow of Scripture.

My suggestion is not the be all and end all of Bible apologetics, but I've found it a great help for discerning doctrine, interpretation, and for building my faith overall.

I did 5 chapters a day through the OT and was surprised at how much insight I gained.

[Seanette]

Well, starting in late September, I believe there's a challenge being discussed to do the Old Testament in 100 days (which would be about 9 chapters/day).

[Galatians220]

Originally Posted by rameumptom

Galatians,

While I agree with many of your interpretations, they are still interpretations. You must create a context within which it all fits.

There are key verses and events that do not fit.

Hebrews 6:1 Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God

I suggest we do not leave the principles of the doctrine of Christ in order to go on to perfection, but that we follow the principle to perfection. Otherwise, Mathew 5:48 is meaningless, since we could not become perfect in Christ's doctrine.

Also, the 10 Commandments teach, Thou Shalt Not Kill, but then Moses and Joshua are commanded to annihilate cities, killing all the women and children. Once again, unless a context is established, it seems that God is feckless.

They are interpretations, but who's interpretation? Mine? Yours? The Translators? To say that it is just an interpretation is putting God out of the picture, particularly when He said clearly that he will preserve his Words. See my Statement of Faith titled "Does God's Word have Errors?"

I understand that translating from one language to another is difficult and there I have to agree with you because one also has to be mindful of grammer rules and proper words but it isn't impossible to translate the essence of the sentence no matter how simple and un-advance the language is.

Languages vary according to how simple to complex they are, depending on how advanced the civilization. The OT language, Hebrew, is as simple as our english language. However, the Greek is much more accurate. We have a one word for "Love," the Greek used in NT, Koine Greek, has 4. There is even a greek OT called the Septuagint so combine Hebrew translations and Greek, you can match and compare.



Now I have to correct your use of your use of Hebrews. Hebrews 6:1 is talking about Dead Works coming from the Mosaic Law in order to be saved. The last Chapter was about Jesus fulfilling the Order of Melchizedek for Salvation of all but addressed to the Jews who are sitting on a fense. That is why it says "...not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God"

I agree with you on this however, I must give God my time to listen to him and learn from His Word. I should not let anything get in the way of that so your advice I will always heed but I cannot abandon the Bible because we are talking about God's Word here. If you believe in the same God i do, you should have been with me on this.





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