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If I may ask, what changed?

When we see Jesus presented as the "Word of God" that's not the same as scripture. Unfortunately, that's a fairly common misconception. When John calls Jesus the "Word of God" he's using the Greek concept of "Logos" as a way to bridge the cultural gap between the first century Jews and the...

Both Jesus and Stephen prayed to God as they died to forgive the men who were killing them.

Forgiveness is the essence of love. In Genesis 3:8 we see Adam and Eve first hiding from God after disobeying him and before being admonished. Why did they hide? Were they afraid? Why? God had never been strict with them before. They had no reason to suspect his wrath. Yet they still hid. I...

It's all about the messaging. Evangelizing is sales. We're trying to sell people Christ. As with all sales we first must establish a need in the heart and mind of the other person. How to do this? We can strike fear into their hearts by talking about the end of days, then give them hope in...

No. You are reading too much into this.

Will the flesh keep us from God? No, but the flesh may fall asleep or get lost. The Bible is like the GPS on our phone. "Recalculating..."

Converse with God as you like. My point is inevitably our flesh-mind will start to assert itself into the conversation, or perhaps Satan will try to trip us up. We return to the Bible for clarification and for strength. It's the same with any text-book, historic volume or technical manual...

The Bible is a book. It's an inspired book. It's a holy book. But it's still a book. The Bible is not God, obviously, but it does describe God. It describes his person. It describes his will for mankind. It describes his desired relationship with us and each other. The Bible describes how we...

I wouldn't say opposite direction, but I do see a lack of clarity. For example, ask the following question: What is the purpose in believing in Christ? If we ask this question to a handful of Christians and non-Christians what will the likely answer be? I suspect that most will say, "to get to...

The Bible is a road-map or pointer to God.

Since I was asked, I assert that we let go of the notion of saved or damned being a future event and see them as a current state. This means if you look to Jesus now then you are saved in the present moment. Conversely, if you reject Jesus now you are condemned in the present moment. In other...

I can see your point of view. Does this mean what it sounds like? It sounds to me like you agree with my OP. If I misunderstand you then let me know so I may edit this post accordingly.

That is a good point and worth considering.

Blood-letting is not an effective cure because it does not work. Science and morality operate in different domains. Science tells us what does and does not work. Morality tells us what we should and should not do. For example, science tells us how to build an engine. Morality tells us how to...

I disagree. Science tells us what is effective. In the case of blood-letting, it is not an effective cure for illness. Let's not forget that the same science produces rockets to travel to Mars and rockets to carry nuclear bombs. The choice of how to use a rocket is a moral one. Science could...

Then morality is relative? Is that your position? That's fine if it is. But take science into the equation. Science will show how to be effective, not how to be good or bad. If our morality is relative then science will show how to be effective in a relative sense only. Walk this path long...

But for whom? Right and wrong are always relative to a person. Right for me might mean wrong for you as in the case of a war, for example. So when defining morality we need to determine for whom, and this is where it gets interesting.

Are you defining morality in relative or absolute terms?

I appreciate your humor but it does mask sad truth. How many ministers of the faith secretly judge those to whom they preach? Jesus himself ministered to thieves, prostitutes and tax collectors. He focused his earthly ministry not on the rich and powerful but on the lost and downtrodden. His...