So then you agree that the Old Testament is just man made garbage?

God never taught the Eye for an Eye doctrine however there were a few times in which he did order the Israelites to committee mass execution.

No the Old Testament is divinely inspired however it was written by men. Some of these men like King David had serious character flaws, as do all human beings. Humans also tend to make laws, rules, regulations that go against what god wants. For example the Israelites wanted a king like all the other civilizations. God gave them a king because it was what they desired but it was never his plan for them to have humanistic rule and because of their disobedience they had to suffer through their choices.

Quite many more than a few.

The bottom line is simple. Once you start picking and choosing which parts of the Bible you'd like to attribute to God and which parts you prefer not to attribute to God, then you become the mind of God yourself.

What if eveyone else doesn't agree with you're picking and choosing? What if other people pick and choose differently?

In fact, this is precisely what has happened. This is why Christians can never agree with each other and why they have fallen into so many different sects and demoninations.

In short, Christianity is nothing more than personal opinion.

I can't be taken 'literally' becuase it literally makes no sense.

The Bible plainly states what comes from god and what does not.

Obviously all of the different sects and denominations of the Christian religion do not seem to agree with you on the point that things are very plain.

It just doesn't work. Christianity has plainly shown this to be true.

If Christians ever managed to convert the entire world to "Christianity" that would only be the very beginning of the real Holy Wars.

Catholics and Protestants already hate each other's guts. And the many different sects and demoninations of the rebellious protestants have always been at odds with each other.

The religion is anything but consistent.

Moreover, Christianity as a whole is nothing more than a fragment of the original Mediterranean beliefs. Judaism and Islam both have every bit as much merit (or no more merit, depending on how you'd like to view it)

Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are all the same extremely confused religion. There is nothing "clear" about any of them.

The rebellious Protestants have the least convincing case of all.

Jesus the man, was perhaps an insightful, altruistic human being, who attempted to share a simple observation....

....as did a bloke who was called a buddha.

it sucks how propaganda gets in the way..

Yeah, but...

God created ALL, right?

Every human has within him/herself the capacity to be as Buddha and Jesus, using whole logic in sharing simple observations.

Which is why I keep returning to this discussion forum.

God is absent of Sin. God did not create sin. Sin was developed by our free will to choose to rebel against god. So not all things that exist are from god.

Which god?

The schism of churches and religious philosophy has nothing to do with the perfection of the bible it has everything to do with the imperfection of man and his logic. Most cases of denominational separation are over religiosity and practices not over the words. Those arguments over the words and scriptures are usually taken out of context to bend to there agenda. Example Hitler used the crucifixion of Jesus lead by the Jews to help in his persecution. However the Bible never says to persecute the Jews nor does the bible lay blame on the Jews. The Bible wasn’t wrong Adolf Hitler was.

the only true god

With all due respect...

This seems as Pretzle Logic.

Yeah but which one?

EVERYONE says the only true god.....is that YOUR only true god, or the little coffee seller in Bangladesh's only true god...you know the one with the head of an elephant and six arms?

wait a second, didn't God lay out what were sins, so in fact defining them? In the Bible that is.

That would be my God, Thank you.

Ummmmmmmm, it IS the philisophical similarities that bring up the question.

I was a "Christian" for twenty years of my life.....and was heavy into church. (I am not now, but I've read the Bible many times over) Jesus' teachings are very much like Buddhist teachings. Buddhism isn't so much a religion as a way of life.........you take what you need from it and don't worry about the rest. Buddha didn't see himself as any "god" but rather a teacher of things he had learned. So, one could be BOTH Buddhist and Christian.

Thank you. But most western people can't wrap their brain around that.

I understand your frustrations.......... I figure it is them that loses (so to speak) because there are many insightful things in Buddhism that could help one in life if they simply observed and practiced them...