Things I Have Learned From The Bible

First of all, let me say I am a Christian, but not Orthodox. I have been talking recently with several people in threads who are very interesting and challenging but firm in their beliefs and wanted to say that I appreciate their intellectual challenges. For the sake of the thread, I cannot say who they are, but they know.

With that said, I want to begin with this, I believe the people in the Bible were real. They were ordinary people caught up in extraordinary events, but they were still just human beings. Granted, some of them did some very bad things but generally they were good-hearted. The point I want to make about them is that they learned from their mistakes and did attempt to make amends for what they did and we are to learn by them because they are examples of what to do and what not to do. So here goes...

Adam and Eve: Don't listen to con men give you bad advice, you will lose everything.
Cain: Don't be a jerk because someone else did better than you, this isn't competition.
Noah:You can keep telling people that something is going to happen, but they won't listen to you if they don't want.
Abraham:Just because it ain't happened yet, doesn't mean it won't so don't force it to happen because you will have little problems you have to deal with.
Aaron: If you live in a closed system, investing in mutual funds to create a temporary bull market does not stimulate the economy and forever you will have to manage without money.
Moses: Backseat drivers for 40 years is enough to get to anyone. Don't get angry at everyone or you will blow your top and pay for it twice as long.
Miriam:God doesn't care if Moses was married to an Ethiopian, so why should you?
Ruth:If you love someone, stick with them until things get better, because they will.
Esther:Sometimes it is better to speak up to help someone else.
David: Hook-ups only lead to trouble.
Solomon: Hook-ups only lead to trouble, especially if you have too many.
Ezekiel:Sometimes what we see can't be explained, so just accept it.
Job:Stop whining, you are not the only one who has it bad, and maybe others have it worse.
Jeremiah:You can't use the excuse forever that you are too young to do big things.
Samson:Hook-ups only lead to trouble....
Belshazzar: Don't party with what other people worked hard for.
Peter:You can't make someone hear by chopping their ears off.
Paul:you reap what you sow.

Jesus:You gott'a do what you gotta' do, even if people don't appreciate it.

There are some examples I have learned from the Bible.

reply to post by WarminIndy


You also should have learn that Gays should be killed, Disobedient teens should be killed, people who work on Sabbath day should be killed, killing in the name of your God is justified even though it clearly says not to in the 10 Commandments. Need i say more?

How about, everything is a woman's fault one way or another? Apart from the virgin Mary of course.

Originally posted by Zeer0
reply to post by WarminIndy

 

You also should have learn that Gays should be killed, Disobedient teens should be killed, people who work on Sabbath day should be killed, killing in the name of your God is justified even though it clearly says not to in the 10 Commandments. Need i say more?

Hmm, maybe those are things you learned from the Bible? Those are the things you found important, so maybe those are things that you find yourself attracted to?

Originally posted by Tea4One
How about, everything is a woman's fault one way or another? Apart from the virgin Mary of course.

I don't know about that, I am a woman and the things that are my fault are the things I do. Do you think it is all the fault of women?

reply to post by WarminIndy


Nope, women are usually easy to blame when it comes to events in the bible though.

Originally posted by WarminIndy

Originally posted by Tea4One
How about, everything is a woman's fault one way or another? Apart from the virgin Mary of course.

I don't know about that, I am a woman and the things that are my fault are the things I do. Do you think it is all the fault of women?

If you are a women, the bible says you are to keep your MOUTH SHUT in church also. So do you?

If the internet was around back in those times, the silly bible would have added a verse that also commanded that women keep their hands tied to prevent posting on online forums like um, ATS for instance too. It would probably demand that women who post online be STONED too death or burned at the stake.

So if woman want to be a good little bible believers, they should just keep their mouths shut and especially not contribute to online discussions as such is apparently displeasing to the MAD biblical 'god'.

As a women, that type of MAN-made barbaric biased sexist, discriminative nonsense should ANGER you greatly. At the VERY LEAST, it should raise some SERIOUS RED FLAGS about this so-called 'divinely inspired' book.

Divinely-inspired my [color=violet]REAR...

Originally posted by Zeer0
reply to post by WarminIndy

 

You also should have learn that Gays should be killed, Disobedient teens should be killed, people who work on Sabbath day should be killed, killing in the name of your God is justified even though it clearly says not to in the 10 Commandments. Need i say more?

You have proof of that? I want to see it.

ATS I am disgusted! This behaviour should stop now. I am not a Christian but I thought the analogies applied to each of the biblical characters very good.

Time some of you people learned to live and let live and see the good in others instead of being mean and nasty just because something is not your 'bag'

reply to post by Evanzsayz




Since im too lazy to look for quotes this video directly quotes the Bible. Looks like you havent read the Bible.

Originally posted by HangTheTraitors

Originally posted by WarminIndy

Originally posted by Tea4One
How about, everything is a woman's fault one way or another? Apart from the virgin Mary of course.

I don't know about that, I am a woman and the things that are my fault are the things I do. Do you think it is all the fault of women?

If you are a women, the bible says you should keep you mouth shut in church. If ATS was around back in those crappy times, the silly bible would also command that women not post on forums like ats.

As a women, you should be raging about that type of nonsense. I know that I would if I were a woman. Thats a bunch of garbage and there are TONS MORE in that silly man-made book.

Then you should be able to look beyond the traditions of men, and really look at what it says? And if we go back to that in Corinthians, nowhere in the law of Moses was there ever anything stated that women are to be silent, that in fact, was the law of Corinth. Roman and Greek cultures made women second class citizens. That is historical fact.

So it is evident that women had certain prescribed roles to play within Roman society: child bearer, mother, daughter, and wife. They were considered citizens, but they were not permitted to vote or participate in government procedures. If they did try, it was frowned upon. Some women were more educated than others. All had some personal freedoms. Lower class women could work, but upper class women were expected to meet the expectations that their families had set out for them and stay at home. None of the women really had their own identities or an array of personal choices put before them. There are always some exceptions and there must have been women considered very radical in their time. Women were always overshadowed by the men in their lives because Rome was a very patriarchal society, built on a peasant culture and on the old customs of mos maiorum.(47) Quoting Ennius, Cicero said, "the strength of Rome is founded on her ancient customs as much as on the strength of her sons."(48) Roman women might have had it better than Athenian women, but that's not saying much. Rich or poor, most died young. One can only hope they had a few pleasures that were never documented by the men who wrote about them. Some did get involved in the rites of Bacchus(49) and probably did enjoy themselves a great deal for short periods of time, before they were caught. We will never know what the women of ancient Rome thought about their inferior social position or what they thought about the many layers of separation that existed between themselves and Roman men. The ancient Roman world was a very patriarchal culture, with men holding all the positions of power. Women and children really did not have many rights. In reality, life must have been difficult for the majority of people in Rome considering all the years of war and conquer. Life wasn't very easy for anyone. Although the Romans were not pioneers in social equality, the civilization had a great influence on both men and women who came later. They were building an empire and as the legendary H.I. Marrou stated in his book, A History of Education in Antiquity:

We will never really know what the women of ancient Athens thought about the inferior social position they held or even whether they thought their position was inferior. We don't know how they might have felt about the many layers of separation that existed between themselves and Athenian men. The ancient Greek world was a very patriarchal culture, with men holding all the positions of power. Women and children really did not have many rights, but one must remember the context. It could be a very dangerous existence, with invasions occurring and women taken prisoner. Women were not able to travel alone, but maybe the men felt that they were protecting them. Also, the images invoked by men like Hesiod surely adversely affected women in ancient Greece for many centuries and had many repercussions. When looking at Athens, it seems realistic to say that life was not very easy for anyone. They were building an empire and developing many important aspects of society, such as art, architecture, philosophy, science, history, literature, sports, education, medicine, mathematics, astronomy, and the building blocks of democracy. None of which should be forgotten or devalued. Although the Athenians were not pioneers in social equality, the civilization that came out of Athens was very important and influential for both men and women in subsequent generations.

What has happened is that people believed the roles of women were standardized in the Bible, when those standards were actually part of the Roman and Greek cultures. It is that same misunderstanding that people twisted and continue to twist, even though they don't read the Bible.

reply to post by PuterMan


If your going to praise the Good things about something you also have to ridicule the Bad things as well. Im just making it fair.

Originally posted by Zeer0
reply to post by PuterMan

 

If your going to praise the Good things about something you also have to ridicule the Bad things as well. Im just making it fair.

Then you did not read the analogies, you just jumped in and made a response. You apparently did not read where I said they did bad things, but the point is that we need to learn from what they did wrong and not do it ourselves.

reply to post by Zeer0


Then in that case you should perhaps couch your appraisal of the bad things in similar analogies rather than being so blunt and in my humble opinion rude.

reply to post by PuterMan


I agree. I am not a Christian, nor do I believe in a literal translation of the bible...

...however...This thread is not about picking apart the bible. The OP is about what POSITIVE things can be found in its pages, and the morality that can be learned from them.

If people wish to debate the validity, or the negative side of the bible, there are plenty of threads on ATS for that. At least one thread on here can be for the ethical lessons to be learned from the bible.

reply to post by PuterMan


You can call it Rude but to if you think about it im just telling it how it is.

reply to post by isyeye


I understand what your saying but the Bible does "teach" discrimination and that should be addressed. Its not fair to just talk about all the good aspects of the Bible.

Originally posted by Zeer0
reply to post by PuterMan

 

You can call it Rude but to if you think about it im just telling it how it is.

If you actually did think about it you would realize your objections to the OP are specific/local and not meant as some general rule for eternal application ... including the references to women.

reply to post by troubleshooter


But there are things being taught to people including Children and should also be included in the list things "learned" from the Bible.

Originally posted by Zeer0
reply to post by isyeye

 

I understand what your saying but the Bible does "teach" discrimination and that should be addressed. Its not fair to just talk about all the good aspects of the Bible.

And that discrimination is found all over the ancient world and in many places today. It has become such a part of our collective society in the United States that we don't even think about it when it happens.

For instance, on the new show The Exes on TV Land, one of the characters is very short, One of the male characters makes a statement "It's like they took a hot girl and put her in the dryer" as though short people can't be beautiful. We have the Playboy empire of Hugh Hefner who surrounds himself with women who are nothing more than sexual objects for his own pleasure, and how many people in this country don't even blink twice about this.

People use the words "white trash" when referring to people of very low class, and no one blinks but rather laughs at them when they hear this. Women who work in corporations do not not receive equal pay, and yet those corporations do not follow the Bible. You will find that much more discrimination occurs in secular settings.