This is the closest to REAL that it gets with these JOKES.

Biden Makes up a Story About Awarding a Purple Heart, and It Gets Much Worse From There

WOWEE!!

I used to hear this preached from the pulpit of my own church nearly every week.
It IS scaremongering at the highest level.
It IS also the way some folks actually believe.

It IS also complete hogwash IMO.
It IS why I left my home Church.

The purpose of this Biblical parable is to control the fearful, like so many of the "parables" and so much of the verbiage in that man-translated book we call the King James "version" of the supposed Word of God.
Think just a minute. Do you think a God would have spoken/written/commanded the numerous instances within that Book wherein the WORDS are NOT compatible with humanity, truth, or Scientific Knowledge??

Any God would NOT make mistakes.
There are so many "mistakes" on Earth and in Biblical global history that is related in those pages that counting them would be a task.
The Bible is CLEARLY a work of MAN. Any God would have had NO NEED to have it written out. ANY God could speak directly to mankind's hearts and minds. No Book necessary.

The BOOK was created by Men...............for their OWN purposes, not God's!!

I would like to believe your venom is aimed at lnf who publicly to you and all and privately to him I've stated not being in agreement with his style and tact that drives others more away from Christ than draws them to Him, and less aimed and more a reaction to lnf than spitting in God's face reducing His love story to us as simple works of simpleton humans. If so, I forgive you for stepping way out of bounds in otherwise casting a wide net that all Christians are fools beginning with falling for a hoax when some old guy came down from a mountain one day and said hey look at these rules we should follow and all the other nonsense along with it and maybe we should make stuff up and write it down.

I've never demeaned yours or anyone else's faith or belief system. You just did mine. I've welcomed other beliefs because I once too was something other than Christian, so I recognize and understand and appreciate the journey. Maybe it was a culmination of endless in your face that set you off but if you truly believe and no holds barred in your last paragraph, it puts you on a path I don't wish on anyone, specially to have espoused it so vengefully publicly.

"The BOOK was created by Men...............for their OWN purposes, not God's!!"

IF you are referring to my above (re-quoted) words as my "last paragraph" I absolutely stand by them and really don't understand how that would upset you are anyone else Matt.

Everyone knows the who, how, and most of the History of the compilation and printing of the King James Version.
Are you espousing we take each and every word in the King James version of the Bible literally?
As fact? As a Truthful and complete recording of actual happenings?

I, as far as I can tell from a re-read of my post, did not demean your faith or belief system at all. Don't even know what your "faith" is, actually.
But I did, quite clearly condemn that with which I was raised. The "church" in which I was compelled by the mysteries of genealogy to attend.
I didn't mention the denomination. Perhaps I should have.
The specific reason I did not is that I did NOT want to condemn all the people who attend some church within that denomination somewhere...........though I do question their enlightenment, assuming they actually KNOW what the denomination espouses and the damage done by its historical existence.

I'll also cop to a near total bewilderment with the spiritual realm.
I do try and stay in the real, the physical, the day to day, so to speak.
Walk softly, try and walk in Beauty.

Maybe I misunderstand you.
Was it my usage of the term "parable" in reference to lnf's depiction of Armageddon that offended you?
At any rate I meant no personal affront to your belief system, no matter how goofy.
Only the one with which I was "blessed" to be born into.

Merry Christmas.
Try and walk in Beauty not condemnation...........after all, this is Your Season, is it not?

The final single sentence yes, as well as most of its above paragraph : There are so many "mistakes" on Earth and in Biblical global history that is related in those pages that counting them would be a task. The Bible is CLEARLY a work of MAN. Any God would have had NO NEED to have it written out. ANY God could speak directly to mankind's hearts and minds. No Book necessary.

I gave you an out; blame it on lnf's fire n brimstone that isn't for everyone. I was not belittling nor was there a tone in my comments to you. Yet, still you continue with maybe a slighty watererd-down but still a yours is better than mine slant. Goofy ? Yours being 'blessed', perhaps inherently meaning mine isn't ? You've heard it a million times already and grown weary of it how I could throw that back at you tenfold, so I'll refrain lest it turns me into doug/lnf.

My dad was the most remarkable and loving man. Love your neighbor, do good things, watch The View. He's also in hell, for which I'm promised in Heaven somehow there'll be no tears. My sister who's a pastor's wife wept upon his final breath not only for losing a father but also despite years of lovingly showing and offering Christ's free gift which he knowingly rejected instead substituted with a lot of be nice and homegrown philosophy and smoke em if you got em, because she knew there was nothing more she could do. So go ahead do good things, mow a neighbor's lawn. We do all that too, and much more, not to earn our salvation but in thanx for it.

Matt. Final point.

I was NOT referring top YOUR belief as goofy, merely extending the expression to all others.

I WAS being sarcastic with my usage of the term "blessed" with my own (personal) reference.

Merry Christmas!
Keep thy faith.
Walk in Beauty.

Edited to add the:
P.S. Don't read more into "terms'" than needed. Meaning, sorry you took the term "goofy" personally. It wasn't meant that way!

I will agree that all the MEN who compiled the Bible "claimed" spiritual inspiration............................so did Charlie Manson!

Bob, you keep taking the bait and idk why you insist on doing so when you know who you're dealing with. Isn't it enough that a fellow Christian calls out another and advises others to stay away ? He's bad press for us; leave it. Your way however you want to phrase it must also claim some kind of spiritual inspiration as well or perhaps you believe you're born into it; either way I don't rip on it although once again I know you're very well aware and tired of those who do so that I could throw that back at you tenfold. So, no need to insinuate we're no different or better than a mass murderer. Jeffrey Dahmer is alleged to have come to Christ while in prison. How do you think I could feel about the fairness or comparison of that in sharing a space in Heaven with him but not my kind caring father ? And the Bible does clearly say *GOD*, not man, is the inspiration for what he gave us to write down. You can believe that or think we made it up, but in the meantime it's still you bashing mine and not me returning the favor which would be really easy to do.

Can you not understand how utterly ridiculous it looks to a non believer when you point to the Bible as proof of the Bible's authenticity?

It is a well-accepted fact that the King James Bible was altered to fit the Christian narrative (obviously not by Christians...).
Here is a quote from Wikipedia's entry on the KJV "For their Old Testament, the translators used a text originating in the editions of the Hebrew Rabbinic Bible by Daniel Bomberg (1524/5), but adjusted this to conform to the Greek LXX or Latin Vulgate in passages to which Christian tradition had attached a Christological interpretation. For example, the Septuagint reading "They pierced my hands and my feet" was used in Psalm 22:16 (vs. the Masoretes' reading of the Hebrew "like lions my hands and feet)."

Whether or not all scripture is inspired is a fairly complex discussion. Firstly, what is scripture?

ALL of the books in our current Bible which omits several books found in the Catholic version?

MEN decided which writings would be omitted and which would remain.

The Catholic Canon around the year 350 or 400, and remained until the reformation and the Council of Trent (mid 1500s). Still several Eastern Orthodox churches added even more books they consider Canon.

God wouldn't have inspired so many different Canons and the inevitable confusion and rifts that came about due to them would he?

Matt. Please weigh in (for me) on the "claim"/fact that Jesus had siblings. A couple of bros and a couple of sisters. Apparently the actual names of 2(?) of the brothers are known. I had never heard of this in all my years (until recently).............what say you?

"...for what he gave us to write down."

What? does this mean? US??
What do you mean, us?
A select few white men? What?

Why is it always us? What makes us so daggone special?
Why not them?
Why isn't their spirituality as good as ours/yours/mine?

It's arrogance. Pure and simple.
And that kind of thinking was the primary cause of OUR inability to learn from those who came before.
And what dooms us to self-destruction.

IMO, of course.

Bible was altered to fit the Christian narrative (obviously not by Christians...).

Thanx for including end tag; very fair of you. It's tough enough when doubters or worse fight our whataboutisms for us.

I subscribe to the melting pot of Christian Protestantism which unfortunately and routinely is pointed at by others as having enough of its own in-fighting with different denominations. What I haven't and won't at this time is introduce Catholicism into the mix which is part of what you reference. Completely different ballgame which adds to the confusion. While there's many good Catholic people (as there are in many other beliefs) and some do claim Christ, corporately and led by their heads of state even while initially having good intentions, turns out to be a disservice of apples Christ from the heart to oranges by deeds and works. When people talk about walking away from the church, how many happy Christians do you come across relatively speaking compared to generally stern and gloomy Catholics ?