Favourite Biblical verses?

by greendawn 15 Replies latest jw friends

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  stillajwexelder

  (Numbers

  5:28) "28 However, if the woman has not defiled herself but she is clean, she must then be free from such punishment; and she must be made pregnant with semen."

  I always wondered what else she could be made pregnant with - orange juice?
• 

  gaiagirl

  Jeremiah 44:16-18 "As for the word which you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord, we will not listen to you. But we will do everything that we have vowed, burn incense to the Queen of Heaven, and pour out libations to her, as we did both we and our fathers, our kings and our princes, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; for then we had plenty of food, and prospered, and saw NO evil. But since we left off burning incense to the Queen of Heaven, and pouring out libations to her, we have lacked everything, and have been consumed by the sword and by famine."
• 

  greendawn

  Hilary, true God's behaviour as presented in the OT is at times not ideal and there were some rough edges but given the barbaric nature of mankind at the time, overall His instructions to the Jews were far more humane than anything practised at the time but some rough behaviour with such a ruthless world was inevitable.

  The pagans, Gaiagirl, used to sacrifice animals by burning them alive, much worse they used to sacrifice humans even roasting little babies alive, used their women like objects, and their slaves like animals whom they could torture and kill if they so wished.

  Surely overall the Israelites by following their God given laws would be far more civilised than the contemporary nations despite some unpleasant points here and there. As for Herod we don't know what exactly he did to suffer execution, from that brief Biblical description.
• 

  Good Girl or Bad Girl?

  I like this one:

  Micah 6:6-8
  6-7 How can I stand up before God
  and show proper respect to the high God?
  Should I bring an armload of offerings
  topped off with yearling calves?
  Would God be impressed with thousands of rams,
  with buckets and barrels of olive oil?
  Would he be moved if I sacrificed my firstborn child,
  my precious baby, to cancel my sin?

  8 But he's already made it plain how to live, what to do,
  what God is looking for in men and women.
  It's quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbor,
  be compassionate and loyal in your love,
  And don't take yourself too seriously—
  take God seriously.

  And this one:

  Matthew 25:31-40

  The Sheep and the Goats

  31-33 "When he finally arrives, blazing in beauty and all his angels with him, the Son of Man will take his place on his glorious throne. Then all the nations will be arranged before him and he will sort the people out, much as a shepherd sorts out sheep and goats, putting sheep to his right and goats to his left.

  34-36 "Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Enter, you who are blessed by my Father! Take what's coming to you in this kingdom. It's been ready for you since the world's foundation. And here's why:
  
  I was hungry and you fed me,
  I was thirsty and you gave me a drink,
  I was homeless and you gave me a room,
  I was shivering and you gave me clothes,
  I was sick and you stopped to visit,
  I was in prison and you came to me.'

  37-40 "Then those 'sheep' are going to say, 'Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?' Then the King will say, 'I'm telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me.'
• 

  gaiagirl

  Greendawn, it simply isn't scholarly to make sweeping generalizations such as you made about pagans. Your post would be more convincing if you could cite specific instances. Specifically WHICH pagans do you claim burned animals alive, or used women "like objects", etc? History shows that Christians often burned those they didn't like, such as Joan of Arc. You may have heard of the Israelite general Jephthah, who vowed that if God gave him a victory, he would offer the first one out of his house as a BURNT OFFERING? He kept his vow even though the first one out turned out to be his DAUGHTER. Read all about it in Judges 11. Many of the pagans in Greece and in the Roman Empire offered grain sacrifices to Demeter, Ceres, or Isis. Many also treated their women vastly better than the Israelites did. Both Egyptian and Scandanavian women could divorce their husbands if they didn't feel they were treated well, while rape victims in Israel were compelled to marry their attackers. Although not common, SOME religions (for instance, some Dionysius cults) did practice human sacrifice until Rome outlawed the practice everywhere in the empire in the third century B.C.E., You seem to forget that Christianity is based on the sacrifice of one particular human, said to be sent by God for that specific purpose, and who, according to the accounts, suffered in agony for hours or possibly even days and died miserably asking "Father, why have you forsaken me?" How is THAT better than any of the pagan sacrifices which had already ended centuries before? The correct answer is "It ISN'T better in any way". I suggest you study a bit of history regarding pagans, I'll give you two good titles to start with (1) A History Of Pagan Europe, by Jones and Pennick, and (2) Pagans and Christians, by Robin Fox. I'm sure you will find that either title will prove illuminating.
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  Anti-Christ

  Thank you gaiagirl for those titles( I know you were talking to Greendawn but I appreciate the sugestions)