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From: rlr@pyuxd.UUCP (Rich Rosen)
Newsgroups: net.religion
Subject: Re: Christian Love (gleaning what one likes from the Bible)
Message-ID: <280@pyuxd.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 20-Nov-84 12:29:13 EST
Article-I.D.: pyuxd.280
Posted: Tue Nov 20 12:29:13 1984
Date-Received: Sat, 24-Nov-84 02:43:13 EST
References: <1899@ucla-cs.ARPA> <460@uwmacc.UUCP>
Organization: Bell Communications Research, Piscataway N.J.
Lines: 41

> I guess you can assume what you wish; however, when you go to the
> Bible, you will find that although Jesus Christ did indeed talk of
> love and acceptance (tolerance I'm not so sure about), He also said
> a few things about Hell.  [PAUL DUBOIS]

That's the beauty of the bible, there's something in it for everyone.
Yes, it has talk of universal love for those who would like to see the
world as a place of universal love.  But it also has great parts about
hell and god's wrath, for those who don't want to see the world in the
above way (so much so that they just skip over the parts on tolerance
that they're "not so sure about"), but rather in a way conforming to
their preconceptions about the world, the lowliness of humans, the
wrath of god, etc.

Amazing how a book of divine truth, the exact unswerving unambiguous word
of god, is interpreted in so many ways by so many people.  Maybe when god
"gave" us the bible as the unambiguous truth, he was trying to tell us
something:  that when you've got a billion people you'll have a billion
perspectives on the "truth", and that one shouldn't expect god or anything
else to provide some universal code applicable to everyone.  After all,
if the word of god is interpreted in a billion different ways, then it's
clearly not as unambiguous as was "intended".

I'm sure there's an explanation for this, akin to "It's Satan (that old
devil) who's leading *others* (not them, of course) astray with the 'wrong'
interpretation!" or "It's all in the plan of God!", or ... (See, even the
explanations aren't consistent.  Says something, no?)

> "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hand of the living God".  

It is more fearful to fall into the hands of a religious believer who presumes
to know the truth about what god wants, especially when he tries to "help" you
do what's best for you (according to him, of course).

> God is love, yes.  God is wrath as well.  Sorry.

Why be sorry?  After all, that's the way it IS, not merely what you choose to
believe, right? :-?
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						Rich Rosen    pyuxd!rlr