Looking for a better understanding.

Originally Posted by hallow

"God is spirit & has essence. God is all Holy, all Loving & all merciful."

I do believe this, but if it is true, why do the scriptures written in his name scare the hell out of so many people, and make people do so many crazy things?

As others have said, the scriptures were written in God's name, but that does not necessarily mean God gave them the words or approved of what was written. That said, as a tome of writings of mankind's attempt to understand life, God, and their place in all of it, the Bible is a valuable collection of writings, among others of course. Personally, I think those who try to elevate it into something unquestionable and sacred, often end up doing it, themselves, God, and others a major disservice. I think it ends up taking away a certain flexibility of mind, that I have found is quite helpful when considering that text. There is a lot there, and often something to be discovered, hiding in plain sight, where I once thought there was nothing of real value to be found.

Perhaps, the Book of Job is a good place to start, I think if I had understood the message there, much time and angst in my life might have been avoided or at least better accepted. Perhaps if others understood, IMO, the message there, the Bible would not be such a scary book to so many.

[BigJohn]

Originally Posted by hallow

"God is spirit & has essence. God is all Holy, all Loving & all merciful."

I do believe this, but if it is true, why do the scriptures written in his name scare the hell out of so many people, and make people do so many crazy things?

There are parts of the Bible that I find fascinating.
For example, in Acts Chapter 12, Peter was outside by the gate when a young girl went out and saw it was Peter. She went back inside and those inside told her what she saw was Peter's angel.

The implications of that account are priceless.

When I study about the Apostle Paul (Saint Paul), I see him as the most progressive of the Apostles. If it wasn't for him, Christianity may have never expanded beyond being a sect of Judaism.


And then you read what others write..........


But if you look at what people write, it reveals who we are.

[sky]

Originally Posted by BigJohn

There are parts of the Bible that I find fascinating.
For example, in Acts Chapter 12, Peter was outside by the gate when a young girl went out and saw it was Peter. She went back inside and those inside told her what she saw was Peter's angel.

The implications of that account are priceless.

When I study about the Apostle Paul (Saint Paul), I see him as the most progressive of the Apostles. If it wasn't for him, Christianity may have never expanded beyond being a sect of Judaism.


And then you read what others write..........


' But if you look at what people write, it reveals who we are.

'


No it reveals what YOU think they are not who WE are

Originally Posted by BigJohn

....
And then you read what others write..........


But if you look at what people write, it reveals who we are.

I expect there is some real truth to this, unless I suppose they are writing for nefarious purposes. But yes, to some extent or another, what one writes does reveal something about who they are, subject to interpretation of the reader of course. As I suppose does what writing one holds as the truth or as sacred, and what they see in those writings.

In the case of the Bible, many tend to read it only for what it is revealing about God or Jesus, and forget to consider that it may also be revealing something about those who wrote it.

[BigJohn]

Originally Posted by ketzer

I expect there is some real truth to this, unless I suppose they are writing for nefarious purposes. But yes, to some extent or another, what one writes does reveal something about who they are, subject to interpretation of the reader of course. As I suppose does what writing one holds as the truth or as sacred, and what they see in those writings.

In the case of the Bible, many tend to read it only for what it is revealing about God or Jesus, and forget to consider that it may also be revealing something about those who wrote it.

On this forum, if you look at what some of the members write, you can almost predict what kind of reply they will give in response to another person's posit.

Do not psychiatrist/psychologist get to understand their patient(s) by listening to them?

Originally Posted by BigJohn

On this forum, if you look at what some of the members write, you can almost predict what kind of reply they will give in response to another person's posit.

Do not psychiatrist/psychologist get to understand their patient(s) by listening to them?

Yes, that is why I say there is truth to what you said. How one responds may reveal something about them.

Of course communication is as much about the ear as it is the voice. One also finds those who seem to hear the same thing regardless of what was actually said. Sometimes one finds that others seem to hear their alter ego in whatever is said to them and take advantage of the opportunity to set the other straight. One may even start to wonder if the other is actually conversing with someone else instead of oneself. It is a frustrating thing to always have to be responding to what is heard instead of what is said.

It's a tricky business alright. The difficult job of the good counselor is to be able to allow what is heard to be what is said, even if it offends the ear. They say listening is a much more difficult art then speaking. Often people are only politely allowing a bit of silence for the other to speak while they are preparing for what they want to say next.

That said, many of the things revealed in our speaking, are not necessarily in the words themselves, but also in the nature of the responses. Patterns and themes emerge. Sometimes when one responds it becomes apparent that they are more interested in telling one something about themselves, then they are in telling one something about the topic of conversation itself. So then its sort of intentional (or at least subconscious).

[sky]

Originally Posted by BigJohn

On this forum, if you look at what some of the members write, you can almost predict what kind of reply they will give in response to another person's posit.

Do not psychiatrist/psychologist get to understand their patient(s) by listening to them?

And you can predict those who don't answer, someone on here called it ' Drop and run ' which I hadn't heard before but fits perfectly

[sky]

Originally Posted by ketzer

Yes, that is why I say there is truth to what you said. How one responds may reveal something about them.

Of course communication is as much about the ear as it is the voice. One also finds those who seem to hear the same thing regardless of what was actually said. Sometimes one finds that others seem to hear their alter ego in whatever is said to them and take advantage of the opportunity to set the other straight. One may even start to wonder if the other is actually conversing with someone else instead of oneself. It is a frustrating thing to always have to be responding to what is heard instead of what is said.

It's a tricky business alright. The difficult job of the good counselor is to be able to allow what is heard to be what is said, even if it offends the ear. They say listening is a much more difficult art then speaking. Often people are only politely allowing a bit of silence for the other to speak while they are preparing for what they want to say next.

That said, many of the things revealed in our speaking, are not necessarily in the words themselves, but also in the nature of the responses. Patterns and themes emerge. Sometimes when one responds it becomes apparent that they are more interested in telling one something about themselves, then they are in telling one something about the topic of conversation itself. So then its sort of intentional (or at least subconscious).

It's the Little Fellas fault, all this palarva
On a serious note I have a Friend who's a Counsellor and she said something which I thought was pure wisdom that sometimes it's what people ' Dont ' say which can be disturbing....

Originally Posted by sky123

And you can predict those who don't answer, someone on here called it ' Drop and run ' which I hadn't heard before but fits perfectly

And then of course there are those who seem to punch everybody in the nose who disagrees with them.....'boxers'?

And those who want to kick anybody out who disagree with them,..?..'drop and ...bounced'.

[sky]

Originally Posted by ketzer

And then of course there are those who seem to punch everybody in the nose who disagrees with them.....'boxers'?

And those who want to kick anybody out who disagree with them,..?..'drop and ...bounced'.

Exactly but that's Ego running riot...