Why is it Admirable that Jesus Was a Martyr, But For Anyone Else It's an Insult?

[MysticPhD]

Originally Posted by MysticPhD

Jesus was BOTH because God is Spirit and Jesus incarnated His Spirit in a human body. The OT was horribly inaccurate in the way it portrayed God and His motivations. Our forebears considered everything that happened to be the actions of God's Will for good or ill, even their own actions and choices.

They had no conception of anything naturally or accidentally happening. If it was bad it was the Wrath of God. If it was good it was the Blessing of God. They were conceptually unable even to envision any other possibilities for what happened in their world.

Originally Posted by normstad

But, wasn't the OT "god inspired"? Seems to me we keep hearing that.

Inspiration is NOT dictation. It is entirely subject to interpretation by the receiver within their EXISTING context, knowledge, and beliefs. It is inescapable.

[EscAlaMike]

Originally Posted by phetaroi

My father's side of the family was all catholic. I remember when they changed the mass from Latin to English, and my wonderful paternal grandmother was livid (and she was a person I had never seen be even the slightest bit angry about anything). Even though I was just a kid I said, "But grandma, now you can understand what the priest is saying!" "I don't need to understand it. I just need it to stay the way it was". As much as I loved Grandma L, that wasn't thinking about her belief.

Your grandmother understood it much better than you ever would; and I'd wager she "thought about it" a great deal more, too. I refuse to believe that you're hopeless, however, despite all indications to the contrary.

[phetaroi]

Originally Posted by EscAlaMike

Your grandmother understood it much better than you ever would; and I'd wager she "thought about it" a great deal more, too. I refuse to believe that you're hopeless, however, despite all indications to the contrary.

That's nice of you. I wish I could say the same about you!