Originally posted by ThinkOfOne
[b]I am not a follower of the 'teachings' of Jesus. I am a follower of Jesus.

Listen to what Jesus had to say about His disciples, i.e., followers:
John 8
31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Thus, a ...[text shortened]... teachings.

Thus your claim is logically inconsistent with being a true follower of Jesus.[/b]

Anyone who calls himself a Christian, and 'holds to' the teachings of Jesus, and is a follower of Jesus is a disciple of Jesus.

Your problem is with anyone who doesn't agree with your interpretation and application of those teachings.

I don't agree with your interpretation of Paul's epistles. You are flat out wrong. There are no inconsistencies between Paul and Jesus.

Originally posted by josephw
Anyone who calls himself a Christian, and 'holds to' the teachings of Jesus, and is a follower of Jesus is a disciple of Jesus.

Your problem is with anyone who doesn't agree with your interpretation and application of those teachings.

I don't agree with your interpretation of Paul's epistles. You are flat out wrong. There are no inconsistencies between Paul and Jesus.

Don't bother trying to reason with thinkofone, it will get you nowhere fast. Jaywill if you read this, this goes for you as well. All we can do is pray God bless you both, stay strong in the faith. 🙂

Originally posted by PinkFloyd
The blood thing has often disturbed me about my religion. There's a permanent sign at a local church: "Without the shedding of blood there is no remittance" (or is it redemption?) "from sin." I've always wondered why blood was so prominently featured in the Bible (not to mention other bodily fluids, but that's another topic.)
The answer I received was fathom. But that's true about the Triune God and some other things about Christianity.

I think it makes more sense if you think about it while also considering this famous Thomas Jefferson quote:

"God forbid we should ever be twenty years without such a rebellion.
The people cannot be all, and always, well informed. The part which is
wrong will be discontented, in proportion to the importance of the facts
they misconceive. If they remain quiet under such misconceptions,
it is lethargy, the forerunner of death to the public liberty. ...
And what country can preserve its liberties, if its rulers are not
warned from time to time, that this people preserve the spirit of
resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as
to the facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost
in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from
time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
It is its natural manure."

http://quotes.liberty-tree.ca/quote_blog/Thomas.Jefferson.Quote.EFEC


Also, consider these lyrics by Toby Keith:

American girls
and American guys
We'll always stand up and salute
We'll always recognize
When we see Old Glory waving
There's a lot of men dead
So we can sleep in peace at night when we lay down our head.

Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue by Toby Keith
YouTube


To enforce virtue, you must be willing to shed your blood. If you don't, the blood of innocents will spill. Blood must spill one way or the other; either the blood of innocent victims, or the blood of those heroes who try to protect them.

The example of Jesus and the symbol of the cross remind us that wonderful, noble people have sacrificed their lives in defense of virtue and love of others, and that you don't even have to be violent yourself to make that sacrifice. Rachel Corrie, the woman who allowed an Israeli bulldozer to run her over, is a good example.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rachel_Corrie


I haven't studied the Isaac and Abraham story in too much detail, but I suspect that the point is that it's wrong to sacrifice the innocent trying to ward off evil. Even though the blood of innocents must be spilled, the innocent blood that is spilled must be spilled by those who rationally choose to sacrifice themselves. Murder of the defenseless is not how one spills innocent blood in defense of virtue! God, as a symbol of virtue, will stop you if you try; if you do it, it is murder, and not virtue.

Originally posted by josephw
Anyone who calls himself a Christian, and 'holds to' the teachings of Jesus, and is a follower of Jesus is a disciple of Jesus.

Your problem is with anyone who doesn't agree with your interpretation and application of those teachings.

I don't agree with your interpretation of Paul's epistles. You are flat out wrong. There are no inconsistencies between Paul and Jesus.

You can try to deny the absurdity of your statements I address in my post, but it is what it is.

As I recall from another thread, you insisted that in the following passage, Jesus was declaring a freedom from the "penalty of sin" even though it is clear that He is speaking of a freedom from the slavery of committing sin. Nowhere in the passage does Jesus say or even imply that He is speaking of a "penalty of sin". Rather He explcitly states that He is speaking of the slavery of committing sin. When you are willing to completely twist His words to conform to the teachings of Paul, there is little wonder that you believe that "there are no inconsistencies between Paul and Jesus". Your idea of "interpretation" is to replace the words of Jesus with the teachings of Paul and others.


John 8:32-36
...If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free...Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever. So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed

Originally posted by ThinkOfOne
Make your best case.

That is not an answer.

Originally posted by FreakyKBH
That is not an answer.

Seemed like a rhetorical question. So cut to the chase and make your best case.