How is it that many religious leaders are guilty of with holding key bits of information from their congregations and yet apparently feel no guilt about doing so ? How come they don't feel guilty about closing down abortion clinics in USA ? [ Heard that info from Cher speaking on UK radio ]
Before I came across higher criticism of the Bible I used to worry, " What if I told people that there really was a hell and made them worry about something that didn't exist.but what if it does exist and i don't help them to avoid going there, how can anyone work out whether it exists or not, the ministers seem so have studied everything and haven't found any reasons to doubt it "
I also used to worry, " What if I made them worry about hell but they weren't a chosen one so that their worry was for nothing and they would have been better just to enjoy their life and never mind about the inevitable. "
When it first dawned on me that hell was hardly mentioned in the old testament I guessed an excuse: that God didn't want to worry people about hell until after Jesus had opened up a route to heaven . However now I think it is more likely that the Jews hadn't considered the possibility of there being a hell until Alexander the Great's victories brought the spread of Greek thinking to the Jews.
It is possible to worry about not telling people the gospel and it is possible to worry about not telling people the reasons to think that the gospel is mostly fiction but my impression is that many people deal with these things by focusing on other interests so much that they forget religion.
Before I came across higher criticism of the Bible I used to worry, " What if I told people that there really was a hell and made them worry about something that didn't exist.but what if it does exist and i don't help them to avoid going there, how can anyone work out whether it exists or not, the ministers seem so have studied everything and haven't found any reasons to doubt it "
I also used to worry, " What if I made them worry about hell but they weren't a chosen one so that their worry was for nothing and they would have been better just to enjoy their life and never mind about the inevitable. "
When it first dawned on me that hell was hardly mentioned in the old testament I guessed an excuse: that God didn't want to worry people about hell until after Jesus had opened up a route to heaven . However now I think it is more likely that the Jews hadn't considered the possibility of there being a hell until Alexander the Great's victories brought the spread of Greek thinking to the Jews.
It is possible to worry about not telling people the gospel and it is possible to worry about not telling people the reasons to think that the gospel is mostly fiction but my impression is that many people deal with these things by focusing on other interests so much that they forget religion.
So my conclusion is that maybe i worry about these things a lot more than other people and maybe I should take a leaf out of their book and focus on sport, holidays, family, hobbies etc
Focus on what is optimistic and positive
Is this what Luke 11v34 was starting to head for, " Your eye is the lamp of your body, When your eyes are good your whole body is full of light... See to it that the light within you is not darkness, read WIBA and see the reasons to think that the Bible is mostly dark fiction and it would not be loving or ethical to let anyone suffer after death, therefore don't worry about the Bible, just relax and enjoy life, eat, drink and be merry " ( slightly amended by me )
The Bible is a whole ready made worry complex that has sent many folk on a guilt trip over nothing.
Focus on what is optimistic and positive
Is this what Luke 11v34 was starting to head for, " Your eye is the lamp of your body, When your eyes are good your whole body is full of light... See to it that the light within you is not darkness, read WIBA and see the reasons to think that the Bible is mostly dark fiction and it would not be loving or ethical to let anyone suffer after death, therefore don't worry about the Bible, just relax and enjoy life, eat, drink and be merry " ( slightly amended by me )
The Bible is a whole ready made worry complex that has sent many folk on a guilt trip over nothing.
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