Should Christians follow the old testiment?

LOL, good one, I would like to worship and praise that one for a change. Sounds like a good religion, does it make me feel guilty, shamefull, and fearfull? Will it dumb me down so I can use my mighty 8th grade edumacational abilities. Will it teach me to be intollerante and hatefull?

 

I don't recommend reading the God Delusion to learn something about the Bible. Richard Dawkins is not a Biblical scholar and his book is full of errors. Instead, look for works from the likes of Paula Fredriksen, Bart Ehrman, E.P. Sanders and Elaine Pagels. I'm not as familiar with Old Testament scholars yet but I'm sure anything's better than Dawkins who is a scientist with an axe to grind, not a historian.

The best documentary on the historical Jesus is probably From Jesus to Christ by PBS/Frontline. The entire program can be seen on line: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/

 

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So you are claiming that Jesus never said that and it's a lie on Matthew's part, or what?

 

The Catholic Church also left out a few books that were orginally intended to be included, including a 5th Gospel, written by Mary Magdelene (Because she was a woman and women were considered unfit to preach), and the Book of Enoch, which was left out because it contridicted the idea that you can't get into heaven unless you are saved by Jesus.

 

They follow those parts that suit their purposes when it suits their purposes. As for the rest,


Christian
One who believes that the New Testament is a divinely inspired book admirably suited to the spiritual needs of his neighbor. One who follows the teachings of Christ in so far as they are not inconsistent with a life of sin.


I dreamed I stood upon a hill, and, lo!
The godly multitudes walked to and fro
Beneath, in Sabbath garments fitly clad,
With pious mien, appropriately sad,
While all the church bells made a solemn din --
A fire-alarm to those who lived in sin.
Then saw I gazing thoughtfully below,
With tranquil face, upon that holy show
A tall, spare figure in a robe of white,
Whose eyes diffused a melancholy light.
"God keep you, stranger," I exclaimed. "You are
No doubt (your habit shows it) from afar;
And yet I entertain the hope that you,
Like these good people, are a Christian too."
He raised his eyes and with a look so stern
It made me with a thousand blushes burn
Replied -- his manner with disdain was spiced:
"What! I a Christian? No, indeed! I'm Christ."


Ambrose Bierce

 

Yes we did leave out gnostic and heretical works and people like you have been whining about it for 1600 years. We didn't exclude anything because of disagreeable doctrines, we excluded them because they were full of crap.

 

i would propose you have misinterpreted the passage as you have focussed on your highlighted bit thus removing it from the context of the following bit - which i have underlined.
i suggest jesus refers to the 10 commandments (new testament), thus this is the pen stroke that should not pass from law (not the old testament).

 

The amusing bit is, Christians say the old testament is obsolete, yet cite Leviticus as the end card for opposition to gay marriage. They just can't make up their minds.

 

Technically, as long as you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior; then you are a Christian.

 

Belief is where it begins, but baptism is what seals it. Christianity isn't just about one's relationship to God, but one's relationship to the Church as well. One enters both relationships simutaneously. It's not and never has been a private matter.

 

I do not consider faith and religion as going hand in hand. IMO, catholics focus too much on religion.

Maybe you can site the logic in a religion that claims that not accepting Christ as lord and savoir assures one of an eternal punishment in hell.

Personally, I view the worship of Mary and the Pope as borderline/possible idolatry.

 

"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." (Eph. 2:8-9)

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16

"He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." (John 3:36)

 

Hebrews 8
13By calling this covenant "new," he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear.

 

Meaning what? I can quote scripture too:

Romans 6:4
Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

Colossians 2:12
buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.

1 Peter 3:21
There is also an antitype which now saves us—baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,

Acts 2:38
Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.


Acts 2:41
Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.

Acts 8:12
But when they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized.


Salvation doesn't boil down to your tidy little sunday school Bible formulas. It's a complex issue that the Bible touches upon repeatedly saying diverse things on the subject. 1st century Christians were not saved apart from baptism and neither are Christians today.

 

when i was an evangelical christain we were taught that worship of mary and mother of god and the pope as 'god on earth' is false worship of false gods, no different to to worship of allah or shiva or whatever.
and all these false gods are satan in disguise.

from reading the bible i know the first part is true - catholic status of mary and the pope is nothing to do with biblical christianity but church rules invented later.

 

There's no way to be sure. It would make sense that Jesus did say that or something similar. He was an apocolyptic Jewish prophet who believed in the imminent arrival of the kingdom of God on earth and that Jews needed to prepare themselves to receive it through righteous living. His teaching about offering sacrifices with a contrite spirit is found only in Matthew's gospel, however and is consistent with that gospel's theme: to be a good Christian, you must be a good Jew. So it's anybody's guess.

There is no record in history dealing with the Church's rejection of the "Gospel of Mary" so no one can say for sure why it wasn't included in the scriptural canon but they probably rejected it for the same reason they rejected all the other gnostic gospels: for its promotion of gnosticism.

At any rate, it appears that the Church used good judgement in rejecting it because the scholarly consensus is that the Gospel of Mary was written in the 2nd century, too late to be authored by anyone acquainted with the historical Jesus.

This isn't true either from anything I could find. The Book of Enoch was eventually banned because the Church had taken a more neo-platonic view of the universe. Prior to that time, it was very popular among Christians and even revered by many leading theologians. It definately had an influence on the canonical gospels. But as Christians' scientific views changed, so did their interpretation of scripture.

 

Christians are thousands of years out of date.

I am writing them something new.

I think I will call it the Koran.

 

Does this mean there is hierarchy in heaven? Is there nowhere where we can just all be equal? Or is that in hell where we are all equally dammed (double m looked better than **)?

 

I'll just come right out and say it. You're full of (*)(*)(*)(*). There is no Christian sect or denomination that teaches its members to worship Mary or the Pope.

Considering it's now a matter of public record that you just make (*)(*)(*)(*) up as you go along, I don't think anyone can trust anything you say ever.

 

Cute. (I'm referring to the picture of the puppy)

 

She's full growed and already on a diet of (small) Christians.

 

Well crap. I happen to really like lobster, shrimp, crab, pork chops & spare ribs, venison...
Then there's that whole thing about if a guy rapes a woman, all he has to do is pay her dad fifty bucks and then she MUST marry him. I have a daughter so I'm not all that fond of this idea.
Hell, I've even been known to do those "honeydo's" around the house on BOTH days of the week-end. The lovely bride is going to be pissed when they stone me to death for working on the Sabbath.
I could go on but you get the idea.

 

That's good because Jehovah Witnesses would give her gas.

 

So that's why she farts so much?

I will warn her.

Which denominations do you recommend? She is partial to those who wanted to be chased around the rectory. And she is not adverse to being molested.

So many choices.