[Jonathan Thomas]

Re: STOP being Left-handed!!!

Basilisk,

Wow, what a detective. Did you not see that my original was erased? The point of the post was not author ownership but valid points that I had expanded upon before my comp died. As I said, I will post the rest, but as I am busy and did not want to try rewriting from memory at the time. Do not see the problem and in fact seems much more blatantly obvious that these are truths as many many people have both deliberated and published these thoughts. Elmer only needs what I posted in order to continue our conversation. And it is a bit funny that more often than not your "proofs" are copied from biblical passages that you quote. The point is to debate and spread wisdom lady, not act smart.

[Joanna Lytton-Vasey]

Re: STOP being Left-handed!!!

Sister Basilissa, thank you for doing that little bit of research - easy as it was - so that we didn't have to. It was so very obviously cobbled together - the font changes, the words run together where there was a line-break on the website, etc. Also, when copying other people's work it is unwise to include their rookie errors and failures of capitalization and so forth.

I have already sent that Dolores woman a message asking her what the consequences of such blatant plagiarism would be for a student at her secular university. She knows nothing about Jesus, but a fair bit about cheating!

[Basilissa]

Re: STOP being Left-handed!!!

wall of text copied from three sources

Before Elmer addresses your points, I will provide bibliography you forgot to include.

The main part of your post is copied and pasted from here:

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-joel-hoffman/five-mistakes-bible-translation_b_1129620.html

This seems to be your second source for some parts after fonts change:

https://outreachjudaism.org/the-virgin-birth/

(It's the only one that seems to be paraphrased rather than copied and pasted, though - or maybe I missed the specific paragraph you copied from)

And the rest of the post, starting around the word list, comes straight out from Wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almah

(You rearranged that text while copying and pasting, but it's still all there).

I know you just forgot to mention that you were going to copy and paste some stuff instead of writing your own take on the issue. That's why I'm including the sources for you. I know you would never want to come out as someone who shamelessly plagiarizes stuff he/she doesn't really know much about.



I love feeling being helpful.

[Jonathan Thomas]

Re: STOP being Left-handed!!!

James,

No it is not wrong but your comments were never in any way meant in the context you are now proclaiming. Rather, it was just slanderous filthy talk with the intention of inflaming as well as degrading me. Neither of which works because people who use such tactics are quite transparent and easy to dismiss as uneducated perverts who only resort to said insults in order to make them feel better about their own filthy habits. Just like a cheating husband will always be paranoid that his wife is cheating. I respond only out of concern so maybe you won't rot in hell. Get right with your God before it's too late

[Jonathan Thomas]

Re: STOP being Left-handed!!!

Elmer,

In the original Hebrew, the 10thCommandment prohibits taking, not coveting. The biblical Jubilee year is namedfor an animal’s horn and has nothing to do with jubilation. The pregnant womanin Isaiah 7:14 is never called a virgin. Psalm 23 opens with an image of God’smight and power, not shepherding. And the romantic Song of Solomon offers asurprisingly modern message.
But most people who read the Bibledon’t know these things, because extensive translation gaffs conceal theBible’s original meaning.
The mistakes stem from five flawedtranslation techniques: etymology, internal structure, cognates, oldmistranslations, and misunderstood metaphor.
The tenth Commandment, commonly butwrongly translated as “thou shalt not covet,” illustrates how internalstructure or etymology can be misleading. Like the English “host” and “hostile”that share a root but don’t mean the same thing, the words for “desirable” and“take” in Hebrew come from the same root. It’s the second word, “take,” that appearsin the Ten Commandments. But translators, not recognizing that related wordscan mean different things in this way, misunderstood the Hebrew and wronglytranslated the text as “thou shalt not covet” for what should have been “thoushalt not take.” (Learn more:
The translation “Jubilee year” resultsfrom a mistaken application of cognates (similar words in different languages).In the original Hebrew, the year was called the “year of the horn,” or, inHebrew, “the year of the yovel.” The Latin for yovel is iobileus, which just happens to sound likethe Latin word iubileus, connectedto the verb iubilare, “tocelebrate.” The English “Jubilee year” comes from the Latin. (A similar Latincoincidence gave rise to the notion that the fruit in the Garden of Eden was anapple.)
Starting about 2,300 years ago, theHebrew Bible was translated into a Greek version now known as the Septuagint.One shortcoming of that translation is its inattention to near synonyms. Forinstance, the Hebrew words for “love,” “mercy” and “compassion” are frequentlymixed up, because they mean nearly the same thing. Likewise, because most youngwomen in antiquity were virgins and most virgins were young women, theSeptuagint wasn’t careful to distinguish the words for “virgin” and “youngwoman” in translation.
This is how the Hebrew in Isaiah 7:14— which describes a young woman giving birth to a boy who will be namedEmmanuel — ended up in Greek as a virgin giving birth. Though these facts aboutGreek and Hebrew are generally undisputed among scholars, the translation errorremains, both because people are usually unwilling to give up familiartranslations, and also perhaps because the Gospel of Matthew describes thevirgin birth of Jesus by quoting the mistaken Greek translation of Isaiah 7:14.
Metaphors are particularly difficultto translate, because words have different metaphoric meanings in differentcultures. Shepherds in the Bible were symbols of might, ferocity and royalty,whereas now they generally represent peaceful guidance and oversight. So theimage of the Lord as shepherd in Psalm 23 originally meant that the Lord wasmighty, fierce and royal. The impact was roughly the same as “the Lord is a manof war.” But in most English-speaking cultures, “the Lord is my shepherd” conveysa wholly different, and therefore inaccurate, image.
Similarly, kinship terms like“father,” “brother,” “sister,” etc. were used in the Bible specifically toindicate power structure. This is why the romantic Song of Solomon — theBible’s only full length treatise on relationships — says “my sister, my bride”or “my sister, my spouse.” On its face, that English translation is not onlyunromantic but in fact felonious. The original point, however, was that thewoman in this relationship should be the man’s equal.
In these and many other instances,improved translation techniques bring us closer to the original intent of theBible. And like a newly restored work of art, the Bible’s original beautyshines the brighter for it.

Aside from this there exists the factthat Isaiah 7:14 is not a messianic prophecy at all but an answer to king Azah aboutthe state of his kingdom and the threat of damascus and samaria. The Christian translationutilizes mistranslation, tense changes, and taking verses out of context. The originalprophecy HAD to be fulfilled within 13 years of the time said prophecy wasgiven because isaiah was talking about a woman pregnant AT THE TIME, (probablythe kings wife) and jewish law dictates that aboy is responsible for his own actions at age 13. Not age 713. In addition, thechild would be named emmanuel meaning god is with us which was a way ofanswering in the affirmative to the king. Important to note that christiansnever even named him this. By the way, this prophecy came to pass aboutthirteen years later when damascus and samaria fell. Exactly as isaiah said.
Also,the septuagint translation has been proven not to be linguistic proof of anykind because the rabbis who made the translation placed in the Talmud TractateMegilla 9ª-9b fifteen key passages in order to always be able to compare theoriginal with possible later corruptions. Turns out they were right to do so asto date 13 of the 15 have been altered by christian translations.

Thoughat this point we do not even need to look at the word almah, (as the prophecyis not even related to a messiah but was a specific prophecy to king Azahsquestion, and is recorded in the jewish bible as having happened exactly howwas prophecied and within the specified time frame—not 700 years later), letsdo so quickly.

Almahis translated as greek parthenos which christians are eager to point as proofof virginity. The problem here is twofold. First, rabbis did the translation,not prophets which could lead to error, and more importantly, if one looks atthe septuagint translation of genesis, the word parthenos is used to refer to aNON virgin. Namely, a young woman (dinah) who had been raped. So definitely nota virgin. And looking outside the bible, in real world examples of the word one can seethat almah is a stage of life, not having to do with virginity at all;

"Almah" was one of a list of sequential"terms, each depicting a fresh stage of life".[5] (spellingsper Gesenius translated to English):
·yeled (יָ֫לֶד) or yaldah (ילדה)- boy/girl (kids).
·"Tinok" ("תינוק) - suckling baby boy. Derives fromthe words "yonek or yanak (יוֹנֵ֔ק) which meanssuckle.
·olal (עוֹלָל) - a toddler, asuckling who also eats food. Translated as "young child" in Lamentations 4:4(KJV).
·gamul (גָּמוּל) - weaned child(gamal).
·taph (טָף) - young child, one whostill clings to mother. Derived from the word for brisk, small, tripping stepsof young children.
·elem (עָ֫לֶם) or almah (עַלְמָה)- firm and strong child. (Between five-seven years of age and thirteen years ofage.)[6]
·na'ar (נַ֫עַר) or na'arah (נַעֲרָה)- "independent or free child" (from a root meaning "to shakeoff"). Aged 13+.[6] Also "handmaid","servant" or just "girl". In modern hebrew it is a commonlyused in the meaning of "teenage boy" and "teenage girl",respectively, and the root is also used to for similar terms such as"youth", ("Noar", נוֹעַר) and teen spirit ("RuachNeurim", רוח נעורים)

And though i know wikipedia has many flaws,lets see what they say;

The masculine equivalent of almah is elem ("עלם"in Arabic ghelam غلام) meaning "youth" or "young man of the ageof puberty".[2] Feminizingthese terms would result in "young woman" or "young woman of theage of puberty". Gesenius defines the word as a "girlof marriageable age". In modern Hebrew almah means ayoung woman or girl, a young or unmarried woman.[3]
The notion of marriageability is typically partof the definition of almah. In the ancient Near East girls had value as potentialwives and bearers of children. Carolyn S. Leeb points out: "A wife, whocame into her husband's household as an outsider, contributed her labor and herfertility. Her task was to build up the bet 'ab by bearingchildren, particularly sons".[4] This samesense of marriageability does not accrue to the masculine elem[citation needed] even thoughthey also have entered puberty, but it does apply to "bachur"[citation needed] or"young warrior", when boys have matured to the point of being able tosupport a new household.

Is abit circumspect that the ONLY people who contiinue to insist that the word canONLY mean virgin are those people whose religion would fall apart without thatdefinition.


sorry for mistypes or anything unclear. had written out much more, being attentive to detail and computer died. Will post the other things the original contained later. it was a bit long winded anyway lol

[Basilissa]

Re: STOP being Left-handed!!!

From the little I know, the meaning of עלמה in this verse really depends on how do you translate אוֹת in the same sentence, as a "sign" or a "miracle". Throughout the Old Testament, the meaning of אוֹת really depends on the context, and it has been translated accordingly in different verses. I realize that the context of Isaiah 7:14 is murky, and you will find people arguing both ways, depending on their preconceived notions. I understand your ideological stance is that in this case, it means just ordinary sign, and my ideological stance is that it means a miracle. I doubt we'll be able to reach a consensus here.

Regarding Isiah 7:14:

Indeed, Sister in Christ, an interesting verse and an interesting study in Linguistic Creation Science.

Thank you, Dr. White!

Also, on second thought, no matter how we translate אֹ֑ות in this verse, it had to be a virgin birth one way or another. I mean, Prophet Isaiah would not bother calling a regular birth a "sign" - to be a sign, a birth has to be special, such as a baby with two heads, a baby with no head, or - yep, you guessed it - a regular-looking baby born of a virgin. (Of course, she was not a virgin afterwards, because the baby Jesus had to go out "that way.").

[Elmer G. White]

Re: STOP being Left-handed!!!

Regarding Isiah 7:14:

the meaning of עלמה in this verse really depends on how do you translate אוֹת in the same sentence, as a "sign" or a "miracle". Throughout the Old Testament, the meaning of אוֹת really depends on the context, and it has been translated accordingly in different verses. I realize that the context of Isaiah 7:14 is murky, and you will find people arguing both ways, depending on their preconceived notions. I understand your ideological stance is that in this case, it means just ordinary sign, and my ideological stance is that it means a miracle. I doubt we'll be able to reach a consensus here.

Indeed, Sister in Christ, an interesting verse and an interesting study in Linguistic Creation Science. Let us look at the unambiguous KJV form of this verse:

Isaiah 7:14
Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

Now let's turn to the Leningrad Codex and the ambiguous Hebrew form of this verse:
לָ֠כֵן יִתֵּ֨ן אֲדֹנָ֥י ה֛וּא לָכֶ֖ם אֹ֑ות הִנֵּ֣ה הָעַלְמָ֗ה הָרָה֙ וְיֹלֶ֣דֶת בֵּ֔ן וְקָרָ֥את
שְׁמֹ֖ו עִמָּ֥נוּ אֵֽל׃

For your convenience, I've highlighted in red the word "hā-‘al-māh", the word that has raised so much unbelief among secularists. What does it mean? The Hebrew word is admittedly ambiguous in its meaning. It is a feminine word with the definite article הָ and derives from the masculine form עָ֫לֶם . That means simply "youth". The feminine word has meanings more diverse: girl, maid, maiden, virgin. Which one is the one we should follow? Here we must turn to those who were alive during the times when the Prophet was alive. How can we do that? Simply by seeing how people who spoke different tongues translated that verse during antiquity. These were the scolars who were immersed in that culture and knew it inside out. How did they decipher this word with many meanings?

• Peshitta, Syriack (or Aramaic) uses the word ܒܬܘܠܬܐ (b't, uwlt'eh). Admittedly, perhaps Christians who wanted to promote Jesus translated this, but it is still much more unambiguous,meaning virgin or chaste girl. One point for "virgin".
• Greek LXX translates the verse as διὰ τοῦτο δώσει κύριος αὐτὸς ὑμῖν σημεῖον ἰδοὺ ἡ παρθένος ἐν γαστρὶ ἕξει καὶ τέξεται υἱόν καὶ καλέσεις τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Εμμανουηλ. Justin supported this over the suggestion of Aquila and Theodotion who used νεᾶνις. Now, we must remember who the translators of LXX were. They were Jewish scholars. They would have had an interest in presenting the Hebrew word accordingly. They chose παρθένος, a woman who has never had sexual intercourse. Virgin-slut 2-0.
• Of course, in this rare case even the vulgar Vulgate supports the "virgin" alternative with ...virgo concipiet et pariet filium... 3-0.

A text produced by Jews in Hebrew was translated by Jews who knew Hebrew extrely well into Greek and the resulting translation included the word "virgin". Justin has here much more backup than Aquila or his pals.

The people who were there during the ancient times had no doubts about the translation. A virgin. The OT does predict Jesus. Praise God!


Yours in Christ,

Elmer

[Jonathan Thomas]

Re: STOP being Left-handed!!!

I think the Jews thought they were superior because their bible expressed as much, the Greeks thought they were superior because their gods decreed it, the Egyptians thought they were superior because of their beliefs and so on ad nauseum. Today's superiors will be tomorrows vanquished oppressors and their victory will prove their chosen status. Who is right and who is wrong is more often than not, determined by who has the biggest stick sadly.

Late in my part of the world Elmer,but I appreciate talking rationally, (that goes to a couple others as well) I had almost left thinking that everyone on here only had insults and slurs to throw around and no wisdom. Your comment will bring me back tomorrow.

[Basilissa]

Re: STOP being Left-handed!!!

Hahahaha don't think about it because then it all falls apart, right?

The Messiah will lead the Jewish people to full Torah observance. The Torah states that all mitzvot remain binding forever, and anyone coming to change the Torah is immediately identified as a false prophet. (Deut. 13:1-4)

Jesus is not a prophet.

Also please note that Jesus did say that all Old Testament laws are to be followed:

Matthew 5:17-19
17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Throughout the Christian "New Testament," Jesus contradicts the Torah and states that its commandments are no longer applicable. For example, John 9:14 records that Jesus made a paste in violation of Shabbat, which caused the Pharisees to say (verse 16), "He does not observe Shabbat!"

Are you seriously suggesting, that causing a miracle which allowed a blind man to see, is sin?!

Wow.

Also, learn Hebrew if you are going to cite from the Old Testament as your proof because English translations are not equivalent, such as the word alma not meaning a virgin giving birth at all, but just a young woman.

From the little I know, the meaning of עלמה in this verse really depends on how do you translate אוֹת in the same sentence, as a "sign" or a "miracle". Throughout the Old Testament, the meaning of אוֹת really depends on the context, and it has been translated accordingly in different verses. I realize that the context of Isaiah 7:14 is murky, and you will find people arguing both ways, depending on their preconceived notions. I understand your ideological stance is that in this case, it means just ordinary sign, and my ideological stance is that it means a miracle. I doubt we'll be able to reach a consensus here.

Really, to believe you know better than the Jewish people about their own writings and you have not even bothered to learn the language of the bible. Beyond arrogance!

I hope you'll get a chance to talk Hebrew with either Dr. Pendergrast or Dr. White.

[Elmer G. White]

Re: STOP being Left-handed!!!

...an innate egotistical need to feel superior to others in some way.

Don't you agree that God Himself has expressed the superiority of True Christians™ in the Bible?

1 Peter 2:9
But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:


Yours in Christ,

Elmer

[Jonathan Thomas]

Re: STOP being Left-handed!!!

Yep, I learned the hard way that the military does exactly what you said. Just like Christians have done to every new culture they came across. After all, Religion is just government wrapped in superstition and established on the cowards' fear, prejudice, and gullibility. Not to mention what can be seen as an innate egotistical need to feel superior to others in some way.

[Jonathan Thomas]

Re: STOP being Left-handed!!!

Hahahaha don't think about it because then it all falls apart, right?

The Messiah will lead the Jewish people to full Torah observance. The Torah states that all mitzvot remain binding forever, and anyone coming to change the Torah is immediately identified as a false prophet. (Deut. 13:1-4)

Throughout the Christian "New Testament," Jesus contradicts the Torah and states that its commandments are no longer applicable. For example, John 9:14 records that Jesus made a paste in violation of Shabbat, which caused the Pharisees to say (verse 16), "He does not observe Shabbat!"

Also, learn Hebrew if you are going to cite from the Old Testament as your proof because English translations are not equivalent, such as the word alma not meaning a virgin giving birth at all, but just a young woman. Really, to believe you know better than the Jewish people about their own writings and you have not even bothered to learn the language of the bible. Beyond arrogance!

[Basilissa]

Re: STOP being Left-handed!!!

Basillisa,
Not at all. they are the same which is why I find it odd that the Jewish people did exactly what your/their God told them to do--guard against false prophets or messiah. They were given clear easy to follow mandates about what the messiah would do and saying God changed his mind ?? I don't buy it. Not to mention that the very first sign would be that the messiah would be born of a man and woman and the man would be a direct descendant of King Solomon and David so by him saying he had no biological father he was automatically disqualified. The Jews followed gods word to a letter and then told by a new religion that they were now sinners and forfeit their right to heaven.

Mary, this was said after Jesus time which does not count because he was not born in the manner God told the Jewish people the messiah would be. No matter how you slice it, the New Testament laws do not count because God has not given the signs he promised would announce the real messiah. You can't argue that. If you would like to, please tell me how Jesus fulfilled the prophecies, for God said he can not be lacking in even one and he is lacking many.

This is not true. All Old Testament prophecies were fulfilled in Jesus.

Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

Jesus was born of a woman.

Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

Jesus was born of a virgin.

Genesis 17:19 And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.
Numbers 24:17 I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth.
Isaiah 11:10 And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.

Joseph was from the seed of Isaac (Luke 3:34), Star of Jacob (Matthew 1:2), Root of Jesse (Matthew 1:5-6) because of Joseph's lineage. Family doesn't end with blood, and while technically there is no Joseph's DNA in Jesus, Jesus is from Joseph's lineage. Otherwise, why would the authors of the Gospels bother to include Joseph's lineage??? Don't think too much about it. Just accept what the Bible says.

Micah 5:2 But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.

I think that's self explanatory.

Malachi 3:1 Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts.

That was fulfilled by John the Baptist.

Case closed.

My being a United States Marine and fighting for your right to believe in your faith against people who would kill you on basis of your religion does not make

Well, assuming you are not lying about it (you never know with people on the internet, especially those who claim to be some special sort of heroes), it must make you feel really warm and fuzzy, knowing that you are fighting to impose our rules and our religion over different kinds of very dumb people. I do wonder sometimes, why these people are so ungrateful and want to govern themselves instead of being ruled by puppet governments that we so charitably give them.

[Dolores de Barriga]

Re: STOP being Left-handed!!!

Fact, Christianity has changed the definition of what makes a good Christian many times over as attested by the various denominations and their small differences. Christianity stole its basis from the Jewish religion. Jews borrowed heavily from Egypt, and Egypt stole many things from Sumer. Most if not all the stories in the bible were stolen from other religions, including Jesus birthdate from Mithraism. And local PAGAN customs abound all over Christianity from cultures that could not entirely be eliminated. I.e. Jewish monotheism was stolen from Egyptian Akhenaton, Jewish creation stolen from Egyptian creation, Jewish Yahweh use of the word to create was Egyptian, "Let there be light" stolen from Theban creation, the firmament in the midst of the waters is Egyptian creation, Adam and Eve stolen from get and nut Egyptian religion, eve coming from Adams rib stolen from Enti and ninhursag of Sumer, Adam and Eve's punish ment stolen from Mesopotamia story of Adapa, Jewish Cain Able and Seth stolen from Egyptian Osiris Set and Horus, conflict between Cain and able is Sumerian in origin, Jewish Samson stolen from Greek Herakles, the putting out of his eyes based on Oedipus,Jewish story of Jacobs ladder stolen from Egyptian egyptian funerary rights for deceased King, Jewish Moses based on many different gods and kings such as Sargon being the birth and abandonment in river being rescued by royalty, his wandering so in desert based on sun God Bacchus in the hymns of Orpheus, Hebrew 40 days and nights based on Egyptian lent, Jewish Deborah stolen from Egyptian goddess neith, jewish Noah stolen from Sumerian ziusudra, noahs son ham stolen from Belus, Jewish nimrod stolen from Egyptian pharaoh sesostris, Jewish Abraham stolen from King hariscanda of Hindu sankhayana-sutras, Jewish Isaac stolen from his son rohita, Jewish David stolen from Egyptian Neferti,Jewish lot and wife stolen from Greek Orpheus and Eurydice, Jewish rebekah stolen from Egyptian God Isis, Ten Commandments stolen from code of Hammurabi, Jewish David and Goliath stolen from Norse god Thor throwing hammer at hrungnir. I could go on and on but that should suffice, so you God loving Christians can change my avatar and quotes all you want, just makes you look petty and very unchristian. I respect your right to believe whatever you want and was not talking down to anyone, but if you can't respect others and actually be a humble Christian then it stands within reason that you should be educated about where your biblical stories actually come from, read NOT devinely inspired, but pagan inspired. But of course, those stories were only put there to test your faith, right? Like dinosaur bones lmao and after reading that quote about dinosaurs I realize why you people are acting the way you are. Fear! Plain and simple. After all, That is how you control sheep.

Hello Mr. Thomas. Thank you for your kind reply to a small part of my post.

What I am wondering, is how come you still claim to believe in a God that created stuff on Earth despite your knowledge of borrowings within ancient religions?


Because I look at the same evidence and it just looks made up to me. Plus, when I look at all the hatred and suffering created by religions, I cannot stop myself from wondering why God would permit such atrocities - does He like it? Does He not care? Is He unable to help - in which case it would be completely useless to pray to Him? Or - and this is where you need to keep your mind really widely open - maybe He does not exist at all?

[Jonathan Thomas]

Re: STOP being Left-handed!!!

Mary, this was said after Jesus time which does not count because he was not born in the manner God told the Jewish people the messiah would be. No matter how you slice it, the New Testament laws do not count because God has not given the signs he promised would announce the real messiah. You can't argue that. If you would like to, please tell me how Jesus fulfilled the prophecies, for God said he can not be lacking in even one and he is lacking many.