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Discussion » Questions » Religion and Spirituality » Can you trust the Bible? - Below are some links that may at least help you to understand SOME of the reasons I do, if you care.

Can you trust the Bible? - Below are some links that may at least help you to understand SOME of the reasons I do, if you care.

I often get ridiculed on here when I post a verse or something. Recently someone made a post that I only believe the Bible because the Bible says to. Recently someone that ridicules the Bible said they had not read the Bible as they already know that the Bible is only fantasy. I know that I often come off offensive when people are attacking the Bible and I know I should not, even the Bible speaks against my doing that. I feel that some opposers may be sincere while others may just like to argue, ridicule, have an agenda or whatever. Anyway, for the sincere:


Can you trust the Bible?

Historical Soundness


Scientific Accuracy

Fulfilled Prophecy

(EDITED for those that didn't realize that the above are clickable links)

Posted - December 19, 2017

Responses


  • 46117
    I do.  But I don't try and analyze why it says what it does.
    God and I work on this level.  It is very intimate.  I pray and ask God to show me what I need to know and how to interpret the message.

    Now here is where I loose you.  I can do this with any book.  I like the Bible, but I don't NEED the Bible.

    I think it is a very good book, it is not the only book.  It is another book saying what all the other very good books say.

    The End.
      December 19, 2017 2:22 PM MST
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  • 2657
    Thank you for your answer Sharonna.
    I haven't read all the other books but the parts of the Quran, B.O.M., and the B.O.E. that I have read don't say the same things as the Bible, in fact, they often contradict the Bible.

    Jesus said we can know the truth. We have to pray for Holy Spirit to help our understanding, read with an open mind, and be willing to let go of any preconceived ideas as we find out that they are not really from the Bible. The Ethiopian Eunuch was humble enough to accept help from Philip and the Beroeans were humble enough to listen to Paul and check the scriptures closely to see if what Paul was saying was so as he reasoned with them from the scriptures.
    (Acts 17:2) So according to Paul’s custom he went inside to them, and for three sabbaths he reasoned with them from the Scriptures,
    (Acts 17:10-11) Immediately by night the brothers sent both Paul and Silas out to Be•roe′a, and these, upon arriving, went into the synagogue of the Jews. 11 Now the latter were more noble-minded than those in Thes•sa•lo•ni′ca, for they received the word with the greatest eagerness of mind, carefully examining the Scriptures daily as to whether these things were so.

    Sometimes we need help like the Ethiopian eunuch. (Acts 8:26-40) We also need to consult all scriptures on a subject and let scripture interpret scripture.
    (Genesis 40:8) [...Do not interpretations belong to God?..."
    (2 Timothy 3:16) All Scripture is inspired of God and beneficial for teaching, for reproving, for setting things straight, for disciplining in righteousness,
    (1 Corinthians 4:6) {...that in our case YOU may learn the [rule]:Do not go beyond the things that are written...}
    (1 Thessalonians 5:21) Make sure of all things; hold fast to what is fine
      December 19, 2017 2:44 PM MST
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  • 63
    'Jesus said we can know the truth'. The actual truth is that you have no idea what jesus said, or even if the mythical jesus of the buybull even existed, you only know what others claimed he said and did years after the event, these people cannot be trusted as they were trying to set up their own religion and let's be honest, can you really trust anyone who claims to have all the answers, while giving none, other than god did it?

    Can it be true that god communicates with a governing body in order that you know what to think and do?
      December 19, 2017 9:09 PM MST
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  • 2657
    I know Jesus existed and exist. There is more proof that Jesus existed than there is that Alexander the Great existed. Do you know anymore about Alexander the Great or only what others claimed he said and did years after the event? 

    Funny how some just go around insulting anyone that believes different than themselves without ever committing to a belief:
    https://answermug.com/forums/topic/45397/you-re-not-religious-that-s-fine-still-do-you-feel-appreciativ
      December 19, 2017 9:56 PM MST
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  • 63
    You keep making claims but do not come up with the goods, where are these proofs you speak of?
      December 20, 2017 4:33 PM MST
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  • 2657
    Hello Charlies Angel. There were several links in our other thread that you apparently didn't see or else didn't know how to click on a link. I edited the question so you will know where the links are that I 'speak of'. Go back to the question and at the bottom you will see them. They look like this:


    Can you trust the Bible?

    Historical Soundness


    Scientific Accuracy

    Fulfilled Prophecy

    (EDITED for those that didn't realize that the above are clickable links)
      December 21, 2017 7:26 AM MST
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  • 63
    Why do you keep assuming that I do not look at your links, I admit that I did not look at the ones you posted in your original question here, for the obvious reason that they do not actually look like links. As to your Alexander comparison, you could well be correct but you do not take into account the fact that Alexander has never been credited with any miraculous deeds. Historically both the Egyptians and the Romans were considered to be very good record keepers, yet neither of them mention any of the miraculous claims mentioned in the buybull. Do you honestly believe that the deaths of all first born within Egypt would not mentioned or the loss of an entire army, yet alone the series of plagues? Do you honestly believe that graves opened and zombies went for walkabout through the city and this was not even consider worthy of a mention by the Romans. Do you honestly believe in talking snakes and donkeys, in a man who lives inside a large fish for days, in an all powerful god who cannot defeat iron chariots, in a boat holding at least two of every living thing, if you do believe these things, could you please explain why it is that you believe.
      December 22, 2017 3:39 PM MST
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  • 2657
    Okay, you want to change the subject with a shotgun affect to see if anything sticks.
    Nothing new there to me. Not confidant that you will do the reading and research that I have done but here we go:

    Quote: "Historically both the Egyptians and the Romans were considered to be very good record keepers, yet neither of them mention any of the miraculous claims mentioned in the buybull. Do you honestly believe that the deaths of all first born within Egypt would not mentioned or the loss of an entire army, yet alone the series of plagues?"

    As far as Egypt, consider this:
    [Authenticity of the Exodus Account. An objection against the Exodus account has been that the Pharaohs of Egypt did not make any record of the Exodus. However, this is not unusual, for kings of more modern times have recorded only their victories and not their defeats and have often tried to erase anything historical that is contrary to their personal or nationalistic image or to the ideology they are trying to inculcate in their people. Even in recent times rulers have tried to obliterate the works and reputations of their predecessors. Anything regarded as embarrassing or distasteful was left out of Egyptian inscriptions or effaced as soon as possible. An example is the chiseling away by her successor, Thutmose III, of the name and representation of Queen Hatshepsut on a stone monumental record uncovered at Deir al-Bahri in Egypt.—See Archaeology and Bible History, by J. P. Free, 1964, p. 98 and photograph opposite p. 94.
    Manetho, an Egyptian priest who evidently hated the Jews, wrote in the Greek language about 280 B.C.E. The Jewish historian Josephus quotes Manetho as saying that the ancestors of the Jews “entered Egypt in their myriads and subdued the inhabitants,” and then Josephus says that Manetho “goes on to admit that they were afterwards driven out of the country, occupied what is now Judaea, founded Jerusalem, and built the temple.”—Against Apion, I, 228 (26).
    While Manetho’s account is in general very unhistorical, the significant fact is that he mentions the Jews as being in Egypt and as going out, and in further writings, according to Josephus, he identifies Moses with Osarsiph, an Egyptian priest, indicating that, even though Egyptian monuments do not record the fact, the Jews were in Egypt and Moses was their leader. Josephus speaks of another Egyptian historian, Chaeremon, who says that Joseph and Moses were driven out of Egypt at the same time; also Josephus mentions a Lysimachus who tells a similar story.—Against Apion, I, 228, 238 (26); 288, 290 (32); 299 (33); 304-311 (34).]

    As far as Rome, of all the atrocities committed by Herod, the murder of Jewish babies was hardly mentionable and there are notable people from Rome that records were not kept on like Pontius Pilate.
    [Another example of a discovery that confirms the historicalness of a person mentioned in the Bible is given by Michael J. Howard, who worked with the Caesarea expedition in Israel in 1979. “For 1,900 years,” he wrote, “Pilate existed only on the pages of the Gospels and in the vague recollections of Roman and Jewish historians. Next to nothing was known about his life. Some said he never even existed. But in 1961, an Italian archaeological expedition was working in the ruins of the ancient Roman theater in Caesarea. A workman overturned a stone that had been used for one of the stairways. On the reverse side was the following, partially-obscured inscription in Latin: ‘Caesariensibus Tiberium Pontius Pilatus Praefectus Iudaeae.’ (To the people of Caesarea Tiberium Pontius Pilate Prefect of Judea.) It was a fatal blow to the doubts about Pilate’s existence. . . . For the first time there was contemporary epigraphic evidence of the life of the man who ordered the crucifixion of Christ]



    Quote: "Do you honestly believe that graves opened and zombies went for walkabout through the city and this was not even consider worthy of a mention by the Romans."
    Didn't happen. Error in translation.

    [‘Many Bodies of the Holy Ones Were Raised Up’
    “THE earth quaked, and the rock-masses were split. And the memorial tombs were opened and many bodies of the holy ones that had fallen asleep were raised up, (and persons, coming out from among the memorial tombs after his being raised up, entered into the holy city,) and they became visible to many people.” (Matthew 27:51-53) Catholic scholar Karl Staab calls this event that occurred at Jesus’ death “most mysterious.” What happened?
    Epiphanius and other early Church Fathers taught that the holy ones literally came to life and went with the resurrected Jesus to heaven. Augustine, Theophylactus, and Zigabenus believed that these dead ones received a temporary resurrection but later returned to their tombs. The latter opinion, however, “did not gain wide recognition,” comments scholar Erich Fascher. When rendering Matthew 27:52, 53, many modern Bible translations give the impression that a resurrection took place. Not so the New World Translation, which points to the effects of an earthquake. Why?
    First, whoever “the holy ones” were, Matthew did not say they were raised up. He said their bodies, or corpses, were. Second, he did not say these bodies came to life. He said they were raised up, and the Greek verb e·geiʹro, meaning to “raise up,” does not always refer to a resurrection. It can, among other things, also mean to “lift out” from a pit or to “get up” from the ground. (Matthew 12:11; 17:7; Luke 1:69) The upheaval at Jesus’ death opened tombs, tossing lifeless bodies into the open. Such occurrences during earthquakes were reported in the second century C.E. by Greek writer Aelius Aristides and more recently, in 1962, in Colombia.
    This view of the event harmonizes with Bible teachings. In 1 Corinthians chapter 15, the apostle Paul gives convincing proof of the resurrection, but he completely ignores Matthew 27:52, 53. So do all other Bible writers. (Acts 2:32, 34) The corpses raised up at Jesus’ death could not have come to life in the way Epiphanius thought, for on the third day thereafter, Jesus became “the firstborn from the dead.” (Colossians 1:18) Anointed Christians, also called “holy ones,” were promised a share in the first resurrection during Christ’s presence, not in the first century.—1 Thessalonians 3:13; 4:14-17.
    Most Bible commentators have difficulty explaining verse 53, although several of them suggest that verse 52 describes the opening of tombs by the earthquake and the exposing of newly buried corpses. For example, German scholar Theobald Daechsel gives the following translation: “And tombs opened up, and many corpses of saints laying at rest were lifted up.”
    Who were those that “entered into the holy city” a considerable time later, namely after Jesus had been resurrected? As seen above, the exposed bodies remained lifeless, so Matthew must refer to persons who visited the tombs and brought news of the event into Jerusalem. Thus, the rendering of the New World Translation deepens Bible understanding and does not confuse readers concerning the resurrection.]



    Quote: " Do you honestly believe in talking snakes and donkeys, in a man who lives inside a large fish for days"

    If you start out with the preconceived idea that there is no God and no Devil then of course to you they didn't happen.
    Satan would have spoken making it appear as though it was the serpent just as an angel would have spoke through the donkey. 



    Quote: "in an all powerful god who cannot defeat iron chariots, in a boat holding at least two of every living thing"

    I am not sure what you are referring to as according to the Bible, God did eventually defeat iron chariots. As far as the Ark, consider this: [Ample Carrying Capacity. The passenger list of the ark was quite impressive. Besides Noah, his wife, his three sons, and their wives, living creatures “of every sort of flesh, two of each,” were to be taken aboard. “Male and female they will be. Of the flying creatures according to their kinds and of the domestic animals according to their kinds, of all moving animals of the ground according to their kinds, two of each will go in there to you to preserve them alive.” Of the clean beasts and fowls, seven of each kind were to be taken. A great quantity and variety of food for all these creatures, to last for more than a year, also had to be stowed away.—Ge 6:18-21; 7:2, 3.
    The “kinds” of animals selected had reference to the clear-cut and unalterable boundaries or limits set by the Creator, within which boundaries creatures are capable of breeding “according to their kinds.” It has been estimated by some that the hundreds of thousands of species of animals today could be reduced to a comparatively few family “kinds”—the horse kind and the cow kind, to mention but two. The breeding boundaries according to “kind” established by Jehovah were not and could not be crossed. With this in mind some investigators have said that, had there been as few as 43 “kinds” of mammals, 74 “kinds” of birds, and 10 “kinds” of reptiles in the ark, they could have produced the variety of species known today. Others have been more liberal in estimating that 72 “kinds” of quadrupeds and less than 200 bird “kinds” were all that were required. That the great variety of animal life known today could have come from inbreeding within so few “kinds” following the Flood is proved by the endless variety of humankind—short, tall, fat, thin, with countless variations in the color of hair, eyes, and skin—all of whom sprang from the one family of Noah.
    These estimates may seem too restrictive to some, especially since such sources as The Encyclopedia Americana indicate that there are upwards of 1,300,000 species of animals. (1977, Vol. 1, pp. 859-873) However, over 60 percent of these are insects. Breaking these figures down further, of the 24,000 amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals, 10,000 are birds, 9,000 are reptiles and amphibians, many of which could have survived outside the ark, and only 5,000 are mammals, including whales and porpoises, which would have also remained outside the ark. Other researchers estimate that there are only about 290 species of land mammals larger than sheep and about 1,360 smaller than rats. (The Deluge Story in Stone, by B. C. Nelson, 1949, p. 156; The Flood in the Light of the Bible, Geology, and Archaeology, by A. M. Rehwinkel, 1957, p. 69) So, even if estimates are based on these expanded figures, the ark could easily have accommodated a pair of all these animals.]



    Quote: "if you do believe these things, could you please explain why it is that you believe."

    I could but so far you haven't been listening nor willing to read what has been presented. Have you yet to read even the links in this thread now that you know they are there?



    Can you trust the Bible?

    Historical Soundness

      December 22, 2017 5:34 PM MST
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  • 604
    Im replying to what you said about the things in the bible that the catholic church seems to ignore.......'repeated prayers'......NO in the bible,but OMG the catholics and their rosary......what's that if not 'repeated prayers'..........and the one I love,' thou shalt call no man father but they father in heaven........catholics call priests 'father'.............drives me nuts!!!!!

    so all in all I still say that the Jewish people got it right..........I mean, their holidays, etc., came from God, so to speak, not like 'lent', 'easter', 'Xmas', and so on..........again, I have no use for manmade religions, which is what the catholic church is!!  'the one true religion'.....they claim Jesus said........so what historian recorded that? how do we know it even happened?  

    I give up.........everyone's gonna believe what they want, but  I always have to put my 'two cents' worth' in..........

    LOL

    :-d
      December 29, 2017 7:35 AM MST
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  • 2657
    True that on the rosary as well. (Matthew 6:7) When praying, do not say the same things over and over again as the people of the nations do, for they imagine they will get a hearing for their use of many words.


    The Jews had it right when they followed the Hebrew scriptures but for most, they stopped that before the Messiah came and the majority of them rejected Him just as prophesied, even when they new the timing of his appearance and were in expectation of him. They had wrong expectations thinking he would immediately come and free them of the Roman yoke. Jews today have so many non-scriptural traditions that there is hardly any resemblance between now and what the prophets wrote.

    (Jeremiah 31:31, 32) “Look! The days are coming,” declares Jehovah, “when I will make with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah a new covenant. 32 It will not be like the covenant that I made with their forefathers on the day I took hold of their hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, ‘my covenant that they broke, although I was their true master,’ declares Jehovah.”
    (Daniel 9:24-27) “There are 70 weeks that have been determined for your people and your holy city, in order to terminate the transgression, to finish off sin, to make atonement for error, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up the vision and the prophecy, and to anoint the Holy of Holies. 25 You should know and understand that from the issuing of the word to restore and to rebuild Jerusalem until Mes·siʹah the Leader, there will be 7 weeks, also 62 weeks. She will be restored and rebuilt, with a public square and moat, but in times of distress. 26 “And after the 62 weeks, Mes·siʹah will be cut off, with nothing for himself. “And the people of a leader who is coming will destroy the city and the holy place. And its end will be by the flood. And until the end there will be war; what is decided upon is desolations. 27 “And he will keep the covenant in force for the many for one week; and at the half of the week, he will cause sacrifice and gift offering to cease. “And on the wing of disgusting things there will be the one causing desolation; and until an extermination, what was decided on will be poured out also on the one lying desolate.”
    (Isaiah 53:2-5) He will come up like a twig before him, like a root out of parched land. No stately form does he have, nor any splendor; And when we see him, his appearance does not draw us to him.  3 He was despised and was avoided by men, A man who was meant for pains and was familiar with sickness. It was as if his face were hidden from us. He was despised, and we held him as of no account.  4 Truly he himself carried our sicknesses, And he bore our pains. But we considered him as plagued, stricken by God and afflicted.  5 But he was pierced for our transgression; He was crushed for our errors. He bore the punishment for our peace, And because of his wounds we were healed.
    (Luke 3:15) Now the people were in expectation and all of them were reasoning in their hearts about John, “May he perhaps be the Christ?”


    Click the following link if interested in more about the prophecy in Daniel 9:
    Timing of the Messiah - https://answermug.com/forums/topic/18482/are-you-familiar-with-the-prophecy-about-the-timing-of-the-messi This post was edited by texasescimo at December 29, 2017 8:17 AM MST
      December 29, 2017 7:59 AM MST
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  • 7280
    So your biological father cannot be so called? 
      December 29, 2017 12:45 PM MST
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  • 22891
    yes or it wouldnt be on there
      December 19, 2017 3:25 PM MST
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  • 2657
    Huh?
      December 19, 2017 3:30 PM MST
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  • 13395
    Would you allow me to give you a palm reading?  (chiromancy) I learned psychological (non-psychic) palm reading many years ago and practiced for about 3 years. Lines and skin ridge patterns on the hand and fingertips come from the brain via the nervous system and one can interpret these to indicate a person's strengths and characteristics.  Job 37:7. KGV. 
    I wonder how the ancient people gained some of this kind of knowledge -scientific or otherwise. 
      December 19, 2017 3:48 PM MST
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  • 13395
    'He sealeth up the hand of every man' (Job 37:7). Is that supposed to mean God glues man's hands closed so all he can do is make fists or does the seal refer to the imprint of lines and skin ridge patterns on the palms of one's hands?
      December 29, 2017 11:58 AM MST
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  • 7280
    Posted for your reference only:

    https://biblehub.com/commentaries/job/37-7.htm
      December 29, 2017 1:14 PM MST
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  • 13395
    Thanks -men still have to milk their cows and goats every day, feed them and clean the barns out. Can't do that or other necessary regular daily tasks with hands sealed up shut. 

    Anyway when I was with the Baha'i Faith people they considered palm reading not as some sort of divination but as knowledge as was most likely meant to be. The lines and skin ridge patterns coming from the brain via the nervous system interpreted to determine a person's strengths, abilities and characteristics can help identify what kind of work the person most suited for. I've never heard of anyone's hands ever being literally 'sealed up' in real life at all.
      December 29, 2017 5:08 PM MST
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  • 7280
    True, but crops in the field require certain externalities be fovorable.

    Cows can be milked and fed when necessary, regardless of the weather.  Growing feed for feeding them tends to be more seasonally oriented.

    Edit:  And I do think palm reading probably does have a basis in reality---I've just never looked into it. This post was edited by tom jackson at December 29, 2017 7:48 PM MST
      December 29, 2017 5:58 PM MST
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  • 13395
    Psychic palm reading is divination;  those kind of readers usually have little if any understanding what the lines and skin ridge patterns mean. Some may have good intuitive ability to tell you some interesting things about yourself to make you feel good so you'll be generous in forking over yer dough.
    Some pretty good and reliable aptitude tests have been developed in modern times anyway so now you don't need to study the person's palm to see if he/she is the right person you want to hire.
      December 29, 2017 8:07 PM MST
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  • 1305

    Orthodox Jews do not believe Jesus is the Messiah, so they obviously have reason to believe this.

    For me I see a lot of astronomy in the bible, the celestial realm and the earths equator and the movement of the planets within the zodiac.

    12 disciples, 12 tribes of Israel, 12 months of the year, 12 hours of the day, 12 zodiac signs.



    In the Mirthas you see him slay the Bull, this is because we were entering the aeon of Aries, and therefore Abraham sees' the ram in the bush in place of Isaac, and Jesus is referred to the lamb of God.  The Passover happens during the spring equinox, 23rd March, this is because the sun is reborn in March as it is spring and the days get longer, this is when the celestial realm crosses with the earths equator and it forms a cross, the crossing over, the Passover.



    You get this crossing again in the Autumn equinox, when the celestial realm crosses the earth's equator, and so the heavens come close to earth. This is the time of the harvest, the weighing of wheat, time to divide the wheat from the chaff. 

    The sun is strongest in Leo, and so it is equated with a Lion, the lion of Judah.  September is Virgo, she is the virgin and she gives birth to the sun who is libra weighs the world.  In the New Testament Jesus is the fisher of men, pisces, the Pisces symbol is also seen as the vesica pisces.

    Jesus is said to return in Aquarius, A man will meet you carrying an earthen pitcher of water; follow him into the house where he goes in” Now men never carried water, whenever you read stories in the bible it is always the women who carry the water.

    You also have the four gospels these are the four fixed signs of the zodiac.

    Matthew is Aquarius, a Man representing air
    Mark is the lion, Leo, representing fire
    Luke is the bull in Taurus representing earth
    John is scorpio representing a scorpion/eagle/phoenix and water.

    This is seen in Ezekiel's vision As for the likeness of their faces, the four had the face of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side: and the four had the face of an ox on the left side; the four also had the face of an eagle.


    The Mazzoroth is one of the oldest Jewish symbols.

    You also have the Menorah which has 7 or 9 arms. These represent the planets, the Shamash is always the servant light (the sun).



    Orions belt is also mentioned in the bible, the three magi are on orions belt and they point to the star Sirius, the star seen above jesus birthplace.


    The sun loses it's battle with the darkness in Libra and the nights get longer, in the lower half of the zodiac clock.  The sun is seen to hang in the sky for three days at Christmas also known as Saturnalia, and then the days gradually get longer until the days overcome the darkness in spring.  There were always two teachings one external regarding the zodiac and the planets and the second internal regarding the state of one's soul and consciousness.

      December 19, 2017 4:05 PM MST
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  • 2657
    Not sure you read the question?

    Some threads you come off as believing the Bible, others not so much. Do you believe the Bible?
    If so, you may find this of interest:

    [Liver Divination and Astrology. The practice of ‘looking into the liver’ appears to have been a special aspect of astrology. (Eze 21:21) A clay model of a liver was found in a temple school in Babylon dating back to the time of Hammurabi. One side of it was divided into areas representing “day” and “night.” The edge was divided into 16 parts, and corresponding names of the deities of the heavens were given to each section. So, as this brand of divination divided up the heavens in a purely imaginary way, similarly they divided up the liver of their sacrificial victims. When offering these sacrifices they looked at the liver, considering it a miniature reflection of the heavens, in order to see what omens the gods were revealing to them.—See DIVINATION.
    Molech and Astrology in Israel. There is evidence to show that astrology was closely allied with the worship of Molech, a god who was sometimes depicted with a bull’s head. The bull was worshiped by the Babylonians, Canaanites, Egyptians, and others as a symbol of their deities—Marduk, Molech, Baal, and so forth. The bull was one of the most important signs of the zodiac, Taurus. The sun-god was often represented by bulls, the horns signifying the rays, and the bull’s strong reproductive power, the sun’s power as “giver of life.” The female, the cow, was given equal honor as a symbol of Ishtar or Astarte, as she was variously called. So when Aaron and Jeroboam introduced in Israel such worship of the bull (calf worship) it was indeed a great sin in Jehovah’s eyes.—Ex 32:4, 8; De 9:16; 1Ki 12:28-30; 2Ki 10:29.
    The apostate ten-tribe kingdom of Israel was denounced for joining this astrology cult, for “they kept leaving all the commandments of Jehovah their God and proceeded to make for themselves molten statues, two calves, and to make a sacred pole, and they began to bow down to all the army of the heavens and to serve Baal; and they continued to make their sons and their daughters pass through the fire and to practice divination and to look for omens.”—2Ki 17:16, 17.
    In the two-tribe kingdom to the south wicked King Ahaz and his grandson Manasseh both took the lead in worshiping the star gods and in fiendishly offering up their children to be burned alive as sacrifices. (2Ki 16:3, 4; 21:3, 6; 2Ch 28:3, 4; 33:3, 6) Good King Josiah, however, “put out of business the foreign-god priests” who were “making sacrificial smoke to Baal, to the sun and to the moon and to the constellations of the zodiac and to all the army of the heavens,” and he tore down the high places and made Topheth unfit for worship so “that no one might make his son or his daughter pass through the fire to Molech.” (2Ki 23:5, 10, 24) Jehovah, by his prophets Zephaniah and Jeremiah, denounced them for their astrological practices, as “those who are bowing down upon the roofs to the army of the heavens,” and as those “making sworn oaths by Malcam [Molech].”—Zep 1:5; Jer 8:1, 2; 19:13.
    Further showing the interconnection of Molech worship, calf worship, and astrology is Stephen’s account of the rebellion of the Israelites in the wilderness. When they cried out to Aaron, “Make gods for us to go ahead of us,” Jehovah “handed them over to render sacred service to the army of heaven, just as it is written in the book of the prophets, ‘It was not to me that you offered victims and sacrifices . . . But it was the tent of Moloch and the star of the god Rephan that you took up.’”—Ac 7:40-43.
    Divine Condemnation of Astrology. A great truth is simply stated: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth,” including the planets of our solar system and the fixed stars in their constellations. (Ge 1:1, 16; Job 9:7-10; Am 5:8) In such grand creation, however, it was not Jehovah’s will that man make gods out of these things. He, therefore, strictly forbade his people to worship “a form like anything that is in the heavens above.” (Ex 20:3, 4) Astrology in every form was outlawed.—De 18:10-12.]

    (Isaiah 47:13-15) You have grown weary with the multitude of your advisers. Let them stand up now and save you, Those who worship the heavens, who gaze at the stars, Those giving out knowledge at the new moons About the things that will come upon you. 14 Look! They are like stubble. A fire will burn them up. They cannot save themselves from the power of the flame. These are not charcoals for keeping warm, And this is not a fire to sit in front of. 15 So your charmers will become to you, Those with whom you toiled from your youth. They will wander, each one in his own direction. There will be no one to save you.
    (Exodus 20:3, 4) You must not have any other gods besides me. 4 “You must not make for yourself a carved image or a form like anything that is in the heavens above or on the earth below or in the waters under the earth.
    (Deuteronomy 18:10-12) There should not be found in you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, anyone who employs divination, anyone practicing magic, anyone who looks for omens, a sorcerer, 11 anyone binding others with a spell, anyone who consults a spirit medium or a fortune-teller, or anyone who inquires of the dead. 12 For whoever does these things is detestable to Jehovah, and on account of these detestable practices Jehovah your God is driving them away from before you.



    On a side note, the Bible no where says that there were 'three magi', just that there were three kinds of gifts. They were astrologers from the East and because of their occultism, an angel had to tell them to go back another way.
    This may be of interest:
    Wise men, or Magi, led by a star
    Those Magi were actually astrologers from the east. (Matt. 2:1, 2, NW; NE) Although astrology is popular among many people today, the practice is strongly disapproved in the Bible. (See pages 144, 145, under the main heading “Fate.”) Would God have led to the newborn Jesus persons whose practices He condemned?
    Matthew 2:1-16 shows that the star led the astrologers first to King Herod and then to Jesus and that Herod then sought to have Jesus killed. No mention is made that anyone other than the astrologers saw the “star.” After they left, Jehovah’s angel warned Joseph to flee to Egypt to safeguard the child. Was that “star” a sign from God or was it from someone who was seeking to have God’s Son destroyed?
    Note that the Bible account does not say that they found the babe Jesus in a manger, as customarily depicted in Christmas art. When the astrologers arrived, Jesus and his parents were living in a house. As to Jesus’ age at that time, remember that, based on what Herod had learned from the astrologers, he decreed that all the boys in the district of Bethlehem two years of age and under were to be destroyed.—Matt. 2:1, 11, 16.
      December 19, 2017 4:27 PM MST
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  • 1305
    I believe in the bible in so much that it is allegorical, ie let those who have eyes see, and those with ears hear.  Many times the bible mentions the mysteries and the hidden, the world occult means hidden, this wasn't meant for everyone to understand. I spotted the astronomy because I'm interested in it.
    I don't think astrology is disproved of in the bible, let the stars be for signs.  The whole jesus stories shows astronomers looking for a star which signifies Jesus birth, same as horoscopes, which comes from the sun God horus, just as hours and horizon does.

    God is often equated with the sun.

    Psalms 84:11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.

    Psalms 13:3 From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the LORD'S name [is] to be praised.

    psalms 19 The heavens declare the glory of God;the skies proclaim the work of his hands, Day after day they pour forth speech;night after night they reveal knowledge.They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them.Yet their voicegoes out into all the earth,their words to the ends of the world:In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun. It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,like a champion rejoicing to run his course. It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other;nothing is deprived of its warmth.

    Jesus is also compared to a bridegroom just like the sun.  As I've said the Jewish Menorah has a servant like called Shamash, it is the sun, shamash was also a sun god. 

    Gen 1:16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: [he made] the stars also.

    Funny, because there was an ancient story with regards to the sun and the moon, the Moon wanted to be like God, and so God made him a lesser light than the sun.  Mount Horeb by some scholars is often equated with the sun from Horeb, as is Mount Sinai is the Moon, the moon God Sin. however, in Jewish mysticism the moon is often female, and the dark side of the moon is Lilith, Carl jung related this to the unconscious mind. This is where the wheel of the year or zodiac, or clock represents the conscious and unconscious mind. When the sun is in the upper half of the clock it has overcome the darkness, in the lower half between Libra and Aquarius it is beaten by the darkness.

    The Jews followed a lunar calendar, and a new moon represented a new month, hence the new moon festival.  however, it did change to a solar calendar and this is when the year began in Spring when the sun became it's strongest, this is the same as Easter or goddess Astarte or Ishtar, and son Tammuz (which is a Jewish Month) month also comes from the word moon.  The sun passes over (Passover) the spring equinox when the days and nights are of equal length, and wins over the darkness. 

    The bull was forbidden in worship because the aeon had changed which is why you see Mirtha slitting the bulls throat, and Aries came about, hence the ram in the thicket and Jesus being the Passover lamb.  Next jesus will return in Aquarius.

    The bible as I've said had two teachings one for the masses (wheel of the year), and one inner teaching where it becomes a reflection of the soul, the light. 

    Amos 5:8 [Seek him] that maketh the seven stars and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night: that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD [is] his name:



    The seven stars are Pleiades, orion has a belt with three stars (magi), wisemen were always astronomers. Orion points to the two horns of Taurus or Hyades, this is where the wheel of the year begins. Many cultures see this as the reincarnation of the soul into Time, represented by Saturn, who has always been the god of time, and death, the ancient one. Saturn rules the lower half of the wheel of the year.  The devil is often equated with a half bull/goat and man as Saturn rules Aquarius and Capricorn.

    Mala chi 4:7 But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.

    The sun is often seen with wings in the Egyptian sun disc




    Rev 3:14 (314 = Pi there is a lot of geometry hidden in the bible) And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;

    Amen was an Egyptian sun God here it says "these things here sait the Amen, the faitful and true witness"


    In St Peters there is a grave for one of the Popes I can't remember which, it is quite disturbing because it has the four virtues on top, which a skeletons hand poking out underneath holding a timer, the virtue Truth stands with one foot on the globe, and in her arms she cradles the Sun of God not the son of God.



    I wonder how many pass it but never see it?




    Sun wheel, or chi Rho


    Sun



    Sun wheel


    Wheel of life.

    Revelations 6:14 And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.

    Do you think the heavens really depart like a scroll, or are they a scroll...




    This post was edited by kjames at December 20, 2017 1:39 PM MST
      December 20, 2017 1:29 PM MST
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  • 7280
    As a book written by human instruments inspired by God, of course you can trust it.  But it will not fully reveal itself to those who attempt to use logic alone to discover its truths.  To be understood, it requires awareness of the value that it posses by another human power that exists at a deeper level than that at which reason alone exists. 

    And from then on, those of us who have found that access feel somewhat sad when we are reminded of so many who have as yet been able to get there.

    Fortunately, that sadness is found in the dark and so passes quickly for those who live in the light.
     


      December 19, 2017 7:15 PM MST
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  • 1393
    You call it very clearly "inspired by God" but why did the "human instruments" who wrote it not say so in their writings?
      December 30, 2017 12:50 PM MST
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