Christians distort Jesus' message

[Ella Parr]

Originally Posted by wlike

I see many responses with respect to peace from the Christian side of this discussion, although they must not have read the entire New or old testament. Pointing to the old testament as not being Christian due to the cruelty in it. Christians believe in both the old and new testament. But only quote the good parts of the bible when someone who doesnt agree cites parts of the bible with violence.

Being Gay is a sin in the Christian religion and according to the bible, they should be stoned to death. There are many references in both testaments that are very violent if you don't believe. According to the bible, all of the Catholic priests who sodomized the alter boys should not be alive!!! But yet, they get away with it.

But yet, can you be a Christian and only believe in the good parts of the bible? Not the whole thing? Thats kida like only adhering to part of the laws in your country and ignoring the rest.

Its pretty clear that most Christians have not really read the bible. I have and was Catholic. Most Christians, this site is proof, only will quote the parts of the bible that make their point even if it conflicts with other parts of the bible. Maybe they should form a new religion that takes out all the bad parts.

Fact of the matter is that the Christian religion killed more people over the last 2,000 years than any other religion on the planet! But they stand for peace?

Wlike, I agree. By taking a sentence here or a sentence there, a person can make the Bible say whatever they want it to. The Bible must be taken as a whole and in context for it to mean anything. I found the Bible to be very conflicting on most every point. Here again, I think context is the key.

I agree that most people have not read the Bible. If they had, I think there would be a lot less people in church. There are 10s of 1000s of religious organizations out there and they all say different things. I read somewhere that there were over 40,000 different Christian religions. I explored many religions (not nearly 40,000) in my day and I never found two teaching the same things. That's when I truly began to question and read the Bible for myself. Once I did, I was horrified at the things being taught in church and in the name of God.

After you read the Bible, did you leave or stay with the Catholic Church? I left organized religion as I read and learned. I was lucky that I started reading at a very young age and had a dad who was a Bible reader. When I came home from church when I was 7 with a question about what I had learned in Sunday School (because it seemed illogical and unreal), my dad showed me in the Bible the truth. When you don't have a story good enough to fool a 7 year old, you're in big trouble. From then on, I was leery and questioning.

What most people don't realize is that the OT is an account of the Jewish nation. The Bible did not follow all the other people all over the world. The Bible doesn't even follow all of the Jews. As the main branch of each segment broke away, it ceased to follow whoever was left behind. As the 12 tribes of Israel splintered and fell away, it ceased to follow them. The NT follows the fall of the last tribe and the rise of Christianity. Church (in general) does not make the distinction that the OT ends an era and the NT is a new beginning. White church teaches that some how, some way it was all about white people. and is "our" story. That is frustrating!