getting back into christian teaching...years of experience...ask any question to do with god and bible...be patient and respectful, not always online...peace...p.s. notice i do occasionally fall into absurdity apologies in advance...

I'd leave it the way it is. I don't think the books of the bible were picked by random or casual christians.

How should our identity be shaped by God?

And is Jesus only to be followed in relating to other people?

(by the way, absurdity now and then is most welcome here.)

When I was following religion I was under the impression there was nobody who had God's answers except for God? To presume so was an indication of a false prophet for nobody knows the mind of God.
It was the reason prayer was personal and only to god.
But hey, I don't follow religion anymore so ya'll do what you want in the name of Your God.

That makes sense.

1 Corinthians 2:15 But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.
16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? but we have the mind of Christ.

The bible is a big book and easy to take things out of context if you are a novice. Satan tempted Jesus with the word of God in the wilderness taking it out of context.

2 Timothy 2:14-16
14 Of these things put them in remembrance, charging them before the Lord that they strive not about words to no profit, but to the subverting of the hearers.
15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
16 But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness.

1 Corinthians 2:14-But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

These are very edifying quotes; apropos to the preceding ideas. I like these ways of thinking.

“Judge”, correct me if I am wrong, means decide if people’s ways would translate to ways one would embrace or not. Given that only the Lord knows the best way and we were made for better things than living according to another person’s standards.

“Of these things put them in remembrance, charging them before the Lord that they strive not about words to no profit, but to the subverting of the hearers.”

Old English sounds good, though in modern English I believe the modifier would be phrased as “. . . about words, which is to no profit but to the subverting of the hearers.”

Best wishes to all.

sounds like a good question but i don't want to look that up...seems to me the most important take away from esther and it is a good one is this, she was at a crossroad as to whether to take a chance and be a hero or stay in the back ground and not take a risk which could have led to her death....she risked death and saved her race...if there was anything else in there it could be because of the culture at the time....

Here’s a question. Whenever I read the Bible, often soon after I accidentally hurt myself. It seems like this has happened repeatedly. The more substantial of a study of the Bible the worse it is. Any idea why?

like anything you need to take it step by step...finding someone else's bible study maybe try a different one, learn at your own speed...most people suggest starting at the gospel of John it's written differently than the others.

Try learning with others in a church? Try different things. The definition of insanity is doing the same things and expecting different results.

hopefully you are starting from a believers take found on romans 10:8-10....

why there is nothing in the bible about dinosaurs , black people and what why is Christianity the way since the bible is 6000 years old if I'm not wrong the the earth is 4-6 billion years old?

Hey there, Acquired, I just saw this thread for the first time. I was thinking, though it’s probably too late, it’s worth mentioning to Peilzww that those Bible stories which tell the sins of men are not paying homage to them, but only truthfully recording them. Also, Esther wasn’t considered a minor in the Hebrew culture; 18 is an arbitrary number assigned in very modern times.

Thanks Peilz. I think it’s a fair question, by the way, to want to know how Esther relates to the progressive revelation of God and His plan for man. I think the answer for Christians is in typology. Similar to how the parables of Jesus taught people about the Kingdom of God by using stories about things that they were familiar with. In Esther, the King represent the Father, Haman represents the adversary, the Jewish people that Haman sought to destroy represent the church, and the duo of Mordecai and Esther represent Jesus as intercessor. But I think that even without spiritualizing a piece of history, the story is worthwhile in its own right as an example of how God has kept His promises to His chosen people.

Hi John, you should check out some of Kent Hovind’s work if you’re curious about dinosaurs in the Bible. They ARE in there, friend.

Also, there are black people in the Bible too (Ethiopians) they just didn’t make a big deal out of mentioning people’s skin color. Israel was right at the center of the “civilized” world in those days, and major international trade routes ran through it. Seeing people of different skin tones would have been fairly commonplace.

As for the age of the Bible, the oldest book (Job) is believed by many scholars to have been written at the time of Abraham, which was only about 4500 years ago.

Okay on hank haanagraf i remember his radio show...he knows somethings and like most people preaches against what he hasn't moved into....personally i don't like him but u can learn a thing or 2 from him.

2ndly about the age of the bible etc...most preachers take Genesis 1:2
And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
Luke 10:18
And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.
Then they add the above verse and conclude , god created the earth and then kicked out satan ...satan went down to the earth and fiddled around until god put man there

so that means the earth could have been there a long time before adam and eve got there covering the timeline....sorry about the delay i had cataract surgery and got kicked off here for 3 days lol i do have to curb myself like most people at times, meanwhile god shared a scripture with me...2 Corinthians 12:20
For I fear, lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I would, and that I shall be found unto you such as ye would not: lest there be debates, envyings, wraths, strifes, backbitings, whisperings, swellings, tumults:

u know with the forums it's okay to share your point of view and plant seed etc...but when things escalate it's good to remember to leave the results with god, you can lead a horse to water but ....etc...peace out...

You are close to the truth, but you will first have to answer these questions:
1. Why was the bible written?
2. To whom was it written?
3. who are the main figures in the bible?

I don't know where u get your facts about sex with a minor. It's the only book allegedly that doesn't mention God but still. It's about courage in the face of danger primarily. Esther was alive when Israel was under someone else's power, ie another nation. Therefore the king was not subject to jewish laws nor probably even knew of them. Esther was a young woman surviving under a foreign power. Is she to be blamed? I doubt it. The prostitute rahab i think it was is listed in the people of faith chapter. She lied to protect her family. It takes faith to please God. The bible perhaps purposefully omits things so we have to use a degree of faith to be and remain a child of god or everyone would be one. Narrow is the gate that leads to life and few find it, broad is the path that leads to destruction.