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There's more to the bible then just being a 'guideline' according to a lot of christians. Hence the threats of ending up in hell and such for disbelieving.


Quite correct I would say, way beyond 'guidelines' as far as IM concerned. While I dont take every word of the Bible literally, I take the content literally and sometimes the content boils down to the meanings of certain words.

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The moral guidelines inside the bible is great, but you don't really need a bible nor do you need to be a christian to understand or think off those moral guidelines yourself.


Right. I know many non-Christians who arent just 'good' people, but they are great people, people I respect. Smart great people.

But being good and nice and following moral guidelines is only a very small part of Christianity. The core basis of Christianity is faith in the supernatural. All Christians must believe in their hearts that there was a man named Jesus who was in the flesh 2000 years ago and He was God. We all also must believe that that same man died for our sins and rose from the dead. That belief is no 'guideline' it is a faith.

I would personally rather that someone either believe or doubt, there do not seem to me to be any varying levels in between. I have a lot more respect for someone who simply admits to atheism rather than someone who goes to church and claims the Bible as a guideline, yet doesnt really believe it. At least an open atheist is honest with himself and honest with others, while a churchgoer who doesnt believe is merely a hypocrite in my opinion.

If you believe in the 'literal' ressurection of Christ you are already branded a 'fanatic', so what difference is someone who also believes in a literal creation? or the flood? I see no reason to believe just the parts of the Bible that I choose. Either I accept all of it, or I accept none of it.

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The moral guidelines inside the bible is great, but you don't really need a bible nor do you need to be a christian to understand or think off those moral guidelines yourself



I dont need the Bible to tell me about 'good moral behavior', I already knew the golden rule before I came to beleif in Jesus. So I agree with this also.

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Infact, parts of the bible are not so nice when it comes to moral teachings and then I mostly would refer to the old testament.



True. And even in the New Testament there is a warning of impending hell & the apocalypse. So there is an element of Christianity which will always be anti-social. I cannot apologize for that, for if I accept that Jesus is Lord, I also must accept His teachings.