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Originally Posted by Seaver
The Torah is the Old Testament. The Bible is the New Testament.
Yes, it is a chronological story line, the Bible expands on the Torah. However, if you take the time to read it, God is completely different in the New Testament. In the new God is concerned with forgiveness and loving thy neighbor. In the Old he's mostly fire and brimstone. The VAST majority of attacks people have on Christianity actually come from the Old Testament. Homosexuality, slavery, the killing for eating shrimp, etc. are all aspects and duties of the Old Testament. No where do you see Jesus calling for anyone to be stoned.
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As DaveMatrix pointed out, the Torah is only the first five books of the Old Testament. However, I understand that all you're saying is that you follow the New Testament instead of the Old one. To its credit, the New Testament is certainly light years ahead of its predecessor but it's still no bed of roses. For insance,
Jesus still supports everything his father did in the Old Testament, like in Mark 7:10 "For Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother' and 'Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.'" If you read it in context, it still sounds like he's advocating the death of disobedient children. I guess Jesus can't go against his father or else he'd have to die. Wait a minute, he did die and it was quite a horrendous death, too. Maybe God was punishing his son for undoing all his hard work in the Old Testament?
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Originally Posted by DaveMatrix
Why would an atheist want to understand something they dont believe in??? They wouldnt and dont. They only want to ridicule and scorn the believer, because to them its childish and foolish to believe in God. I will say that some atheists attempt to disguise their ridicule with scientific jargon and analytical double talk. Others make no attempt to hide their disgust for the believer with references to God as the 'flying spagetti monster'. Seaver may want to play your game of 20 questions, but the atheists will never be satisfied with his answers and this game becomes endless.
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I'm guessing that you don't think highly of atheists...
You're seeing things too narrowly. "Why would an atheist want to understand something they don't believe in?" Really? This is inconceivable to you? Uh-oh, there I go again with all these questions... I'll try not to pose so many questions to you since it's evident that you find them offensive, although Lord knows why...
I don't understand your contempt for the
Flying Spaghetti Monster. shakran also found it insulting but I don't understand why other than, perhaps, that it exposes a fundamental flaw in religious reasoning but I don't see how that's something to get upset over. I mean, if I'm wrong about something, I'd sure as hell want someone to point it out to me. Leaving me in ignorance isn't going to help me, ever... However, I'm now really going too far on a conjecture. I'd ask what, specifically, is so wrong with the Flying Spaghetti Monster but, you know...
Just so you know, I'm happy with Seaver's answers. He had the courage to reveal things about his life that I'm not prepared to detail...