Proverbs 1-3

[wolfpurplemoon]

I'm not dividing these up like I did with the Psalms as they seem to run together more.

'Let us all have one purse' sounds like a good Marxist proclamation.

Aside from that, we have lots of rules and warning of the consequences of not following as usual.

Seeking knowledge and understanding will only lead to getting those things from God, really? In fact it goes so far as to claim that your own understanding is not to be relied upon. But then apparently: "Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding." which in a non-biblical context I'd agree with.

The son this is all addressed to is then told to be merciful and truthful in order to find favour in the sight of God and man, so sometimes the opinions of people matter.

A good bit of "do unto others" advice to end on, I think we've already had some discussions on previous posts about how reciprocal altruism is what makes human society work and that it has been part of our evolutionary history for many thousands of years before these rules were apparently devised by God.

Comments

read 2 corinthians 3

[(Anonymous)]

Comment on that. Jesus loves you and died for your sins...stop running before its too late.

Re: read 2 corinthians 3

[voodooskeleton.livejournal.com]

Please! She will get to 2 Corinthians after she finishes the books that come first! Asking her to cherry pick in the same way you christians seem to have perfected completely goes against her purpose. And "stop running before its too late" sounds more like a threat than anything, how can you people not see this???

Re: read 2 corinthians 3

[wolfpurplemoon]

What makes you think I have any sins? And that I'd want someone I never met to die for them if I did have any? Also, as already pointed out, I'll get to the verses you want me to read when I get to them!

Re: read 2 corinthians 3

[(Anonymous)]

As a believer in Christ, I have to say that saying things like, "stop running before it's too late" is completely stupid. You get people to see the love of Christ through your actions and love, not by threatening them.

~Kevin

Re: read 2 corinthians 3

[(Anonymous)]

I believe that stop running before it is too late is more of a plea made out of general concern than a threat. If a bridge is out and cars keep going off the edge, and you know about it, it is obvious that you should feel obligated to do whatever you possibly can to stop the cars that are ignorant of their impending doom. Likewise, if a Christian knows for a fact that there is a heaven and a hell and they truly believe that they have the only way into heaven, then they can not call themselves a true follower of Christ if they simply let everyone "go off the edge of the cliff" in a sense... I believe this comment was truly made out of love and concern, not threatening.

Background

[(Anonymous)]

Hey,
I stumbled across this post and i just want to make a suggestion. If you're going to read through the Bible and critique what it says i think it would be a good idea to learn some of the background information of the culture behind who wrote it, and also to give it a fair chance. It seems like so far these observations are fairly biased. Even from a secular point of view.

Re: Background

[wolfpurplemoon]

I am aware that the culture was different then but the bible is supposed to be the bedrock of our morality even in the modern day so I have no qualms judging it from a modern perspective. And anyway, I'm just reading it in a year and posting my thoughts, I'm not going to apologise if they appear biased.

Re: Background

[(Anonymous)]

No apology necessary. I was just pointing out the fallacy. you are right, the Bible is considered a moral compass, but it is also a documentary of God's interactions with mankind. and for the sake of understanding "what" the Bible contains we must also understand it's cultural implications in order to properly apply these morals to our lives today.

prayer

[(Anonymous)]

I just want to shoot up a prayer for the original poster of this. Lord you are all powerful and all knowing and only you can convince this person to change their heart. Soften their heart and open their eyes to the world that you have created and the love that you still have for them even though they have turned their back on you. Have mercy on them Lord and bless them with knowledge from the very book that they're so biasly critiqueing. Thank you Lord for the love and compassion you show us every day and for christ's atoning sacrifice on the cross!

Re: prayer

[wolfpurplemoon]

Lol, bias critique? I'll be keeping my own heart, it also doesn't need softening, and my eyes are open thanks! Also, I have never believed so can't exactly be accused of turning my back on God.

Concern

[(Anonymous)]

I ran across this blog today as I was reading my Bible and was interested to see what this was all about. I am happy to see that you are reading God's Word and hope that He will speak to your heart through His Word. It takes more effort to deny Him than to accept His free gift of Salvation for you. What Jesus did for us was the ultimate form of love and it amazes me that people try so hard to criticize and make fun of something so amazing. Maybe think of it this way: If I am wrong about trusting in Jesus Christ as my personal savior and trusting that he is going to take me to heaven one day, what do I have to lose? Really nothing. BUT what if you are wrong? What if there is a God and there is a heaven that as believers we can spend eternity there....What do you have to lose? EVERYTHING! Because waiting for your destiny to figure out if you are wrong gives you no chance to change your mind at that point. God truly does love you and wants to share a personal relationship with you, if you are only willing to trust in Him. I am not missing out on anything in life by accepting Jesus and neither would you. I hope I have given you something to think about!

Re: Concern

[wolfpurplemoon]

Oh hello Occam's Razor! How do you know that the religion you follow is the correct one out of all the different variants there are or have ever been? You may have a lot to lose if you've picked wrong.

It really doesn't take all that much effort to deny God, just as it takes no effort to deny the existence of Santa, the Tooth Fairy, Leprechauns, Unicorns, the monster under my bed and whatever else.

I hope that gives you something to think about, and if you think my argument wouldn't convince you to change or lose religion then why do you think yours will work on me?

Concern Continued

[(Anonymous)]

Look at all the work you are putting into reading the Bible just to write blogs about how "crazy" you think it is. It looks to me like you are putting a ton of effort into denying Christ. Are you also writing about Santa, the tooth fairy, etc??? That is the point that I was trying to make. The God that I serve is the only God that is still living today. All the other gods of all the other religions are dead and many worship the idols of these dead gods. I personally believe that if you were to ask God as you are reading His Word to clearly show you whether or not He is real and alive today, He would show himself to you. I hope that you do experience who God is once you have finished reading the Bible.

Re: Concern Continued

[wolfpurplemoon]

I'm not doing this project in order to deny God, the book just isn't doing anything to convince me he does exist.

I don't know if you realise just how arrogant it sounds to say that your God is the only one still living. But at least you understand what it's like not to believe in a god as you are an atheist in relation to those other ones, I'm just an atheist in relation to yours as well.

Blessed

[(Anonymous)]

I need you to understand that God is in your heart and if you don't take the time to allow him in your heart then you are going to constantly be faced with the negativity of the world. I am not saying that once you get to know God that everything is easy because it is not but what I will say is God gives you opportunities and words to reconcile the most trying situations. I know you said that you are reading the bible over the course of the year and I myself am working on my closer relationship with God, Maybe you will believe once you get to Revelations. I think that book of the bible will open any person's eyes. The end is approaching probably sooner than you and I can see with our own eyes. Maybe you should start there and then go back to the beginning. Of course you wanted attention from creating such a blog and posting your note in the bible website.. but I will still ask God to bless you through your animosity and your lack of understanding.

Re: Blessed

[wolfpurplemoon]

I don't understand why anyone would be looking forward to 'the end', it doesn't seem like a very positive message to promote. I am incredibly comfortable with my humanist worldview, this is the one life we have and we should live it to the full, there is so much that humanity has the potential to achieve and we don't need a belief in God to help us or religion to oppress that potential.

Encouragement

[(Anonymous)]

I just wanted to say that, even if you don't agree with what you're reading, I'm glad that you're reading the Bible. Keep it up. I hope you find what you're looking for eventually.

Re: Encouragement

[(Anonymous)]

You are the only wise person who has posted on here. You understand that arguing with an unwise person will simply inflame their temper and further close their heart to the truth of the gospel. You know that if this fellow keeps reading the Bible, one of these days God might reveal spiritual truth to him. I despise all of these other comments telling he is not understanding correctly and to listen to them. Surely, if anyone were capable of making this man listen or understand it is not an overzealous evangelist (who many times also don't understand the Bible) it will be God. Sure, he may decide to ignore God when he does talking, but starting an argument on live journal can never, and will never bring him closer to God. Thank you for posting here, because if you hadn't that would have made me very disappointed in the representation of the body of Christ on this website.

Re: Encouragement

[wolfpurplemoon]

Thanks for your comment, just fyi though: I'm a woman!

Good Stuff

[(Anonymous)]

It's nice to see an outside perspective of God's word. It's refreshing. As a believer we tend to listen to and read God's word from a believer's perspective, by hearing an Atheist's perspective helps me to know some common objections others have to God and his word. Just keep reading on, it looks like you are enjoying it and finding out some new things.

Pastor Dusty