Governor Purdue, no doubt, will add this to his list of accomplishments in his re-election campaign.

Saying a prayer in public is the Christian equivalent of exhibitionism.

So forgive me if this has been mentioned before, but is this guy (Gov. Sonny Perdue) claiming to be a Christian? And the several hundred people who gathered in the crowd to watch him pray - were they just staring in shock and horror, or were they Christians praying along?

I only ask because even I am aware of the Sermon on the Mount, and in particular Matthew 6:6, which teaches Christians not to pray in public like the hypocrites, but to enter into their closets and pray in secret.

Words for God's humble servants to live by, I feel.

As soon as I found out about the verse I'm about to mention, I wondered how anyone could believe the concept of the trinity. I thought that Jesus' last words on the cross (according to Matthew 27:46, anyway) pretty much made it explicit: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

I mean, what, is he asking himself why he abandoned himself?

Nes, I believe the usual apologist answer to this is that Jesus was simply quoting Psalm 22, presumably to fulfill some prophecy or other.

Well, not exactly.

Jesus never said HE was god!

When asked about the hour when he would return:

Mark 13:4
Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign when all these things shall be fulfilled?

Mark 13:32
But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.

Apparently, he makes it clear he doesn't know. His father is god, not him, and he ain't talking!

God knows everything. Would god lie ?

Of course not!

Hebrews 6:18
It was impossible for God to lie.

But, then again, I'm not so sure:

vis:

Ezekiel 14:9
And if a prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the Lord have deceived that prophet.

or

Ezekiel 14:9
And if a prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the Lord have deceived that prophet.

But I thought it was IMPOSSIBLE for him to lie! The bible tells me so!

And as we all know, the penalty for a false prophesy is DEATH! No wonder they make prophesies far into the future, beyond their lifetimes. It's a survival strategy! Otherwise their lifetimes would be very short indeed!

Exodus 33:11
And the LORD spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend.

But the bible, that NEVER contradicts itself also says:

Exodus 33:20-23
Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.

John 1:18
No man hath seen God at any time.

I Timothy 6:16
Whom no man hath seen nor can see.

I John 4:12
No man hath seen God at any time.

Blind faith is the blindfold that many wear while crossing the minefield of life.

By the time they realise their mistake, if ever, it's too late!

People who think the bible is infallible and non-contradictory, haven't a peg leg to stand on!

Amen, bwudda

Isn't that kind of an odd quote? Jesus says no one is good outside god when that man is referring directly to jesus (who should be god according the the bible, right?. I guess jesus forgot who he was for a minute).

As soon as I found out about the verse I'm about to mention, I wondered how anyone could believe the concept of the trinity. I thought that Jesus' last words on the cross (according to Matthew 27:46, anyway) pretty much made it explicit: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

I mean, what, is he asking himself why he abandoned himself?

Ebon has an article on it as well.

The man was trying to impress God with his good behavior, by looking good on the outside. Jesus showed him that he was not as good as he thought he was.

But isn't that just saying good behavior isn't enough? That even if a christian spent their entire life behaving well towards others, and loving people and trying to make them happy, and believing in god, if he's not willing to lay down everything he has, and in many cases in the bible that includes their own life, or as you mentioned that one cannot be jesus's disciple without hating his family and life (which goes against the commandment to honor your parents, but whatever), that it just isn't enough? I know it's a silly question because jesus is quoted there as saying "No one is good but god" (which includes himself for some reason from the way it's written, as I mentioned above). Personally, I think that idea is too hateful to be coming from a god who supposedly loves us enough to be born into human form and suffer and die for us. Does god hate his own creations, since he seems to advocate that people shouldn't care about the world, this glorious creation he supposedly made for us, and instead throw away any enjoyment of the world in favor of blindly worshipping a god who can't even seem to make his existence clear to people, let alone his will? If god's will is seperate from person to person as to what they need to do, then unless god has physically appeared to you and told you exactly what it is you need to do, how can you take what the bible says to hold any kind of truth, be it figurative or literal, as to what constitutes a good person? Similiarly, why would jesus only target the rich in that little speech, if what he really ment was everyone being less materialistic? Also, in the story of job, after god is done declaring how much better than job he is (which seems to go on forever) even after admitting he had no reason to kill job's whole family:
10 After Job had prayed for his friends, the LORD made him prosperous again and gave him twice as much as he had before. 11 All his brothers and sisters and everyone who had known him before came and ate with him in his house. They comforted and consoled him over all the trouble the LORD had brought upon him, and each one gave him a piece of silver [a] and a gold ring.

12 The LORD blessed the latter part of Job's life more than the first. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand donkeys. 13 And he also had seven sons and three daughters. 14 The first daughter he named Jemimah, the second Keziah and the third Keren-Happuch. 15 Nowhere in all the land were there found women as beautiful as Job's daughters, and their father granted them an inheritance along with their brothers.

God goes on to make him extremely wealthy. If god is against being materialistic, why would he grant job earthly riches? Seems like he just stopped job from getting into heaven.

It seems christians are big on preaching sacrifice, and loving god more than their stuff, but is it something they actually practice in their own lives, or is this just another case of "No True Scotsman"(REAL christians wouldn't mind giving up what they had if it brought them closer to god in some way)?

All of which brings us full circle back to my question to you about admitting the bible is full of errors; if the bible has it's problems, why do you even need the bible?

You made alot of good points and I agree with you about the "give everything away" concept is not practically or economically feasible.

My take, and I recognize I could be wrong, is that the central message of Jesus dealt with the Man's relationship to God more than the man's relationship to other humans or to possessions.

The man was trying to impress God with his good behavior, by looking good on the outside. Jesus showed him that he was not as good as he thought he was.

The command of giving everything away was just a vehicle to make the point "you aren't as good as you think".

Cheers,

Matt