Religion & Spirituality - 2 May 2007

The Catholic Bible contains the Apocrypha. The Christian Bible does not. From what I remember from Catholic parochial school, these "extra" books were added at the Council of Trent. Why were the excluded in the first place? Why were they added? And can the Catholic religion justly/rightly add them?

Thanks in advance for the help!

2007-05-02 10:20:25 · 23 answers · asked by livingtowrite 2

2007-05-02 10:19:39 · 2 answers · asked by raerae 1

oh, and if you are going to be an asshole and say some stupid answer, then please just take you BS Nonsense elsewhere

2007-05-02 10:17:31 · 10 answers · asked by Anonymous

if man evolved from microscopic single-celled organisms why are there still microscopic single-celled organisms? i thought i'd throw that one out for creationists to realize how stupid the monkey question is. any luck?

2007-05-02 10:15:11 · 21 answers · asked by just curious (A.A.A.A.) 5

Someone yesterday posted a question if he/she went to Heaven could he/she visit his/her mother in Hell who committed suicide.
I have found frequently it is best to look at a person's profile to see what other type of questions they have asked to get a feel of that person.
When I did I was very disturbed. This person has asked 27 questions over the past month and they all pertain to suicide or wanting to die.

You feel hopeless because you don't know who they are and how to get them help.

We should all remember this person in prayer no matter what our faith and recommend him/her to our own faith community for prayer.

2007-05-02 10:14:14 · 23 answers · asked by Shirley T 7

why did Christians used to think Heaven were nothgin but spheres that hovered over the earth.. is this what god told you? why don't you still believe that if this is what god told you?

2007-05-02 10:13:33 · 8 answers · asked by Anonymous

Suppose a couple meets, dates, and marry. Later the man finds out that his wife is bi-polar and that she knew she was prior to them marrying. At one point during their dating the question had come up of whether there were any physical/mental conditions present in either person and they both answered no. Now the husband feels that every day with his wife is an emotional ambush and they have not had sex in the last 9 months.

Is there a biblical case for divorce in this case and what should be the response of the husband?

2007-05-02 10:13:16 · 35 answers · asked by Miss T 3

2007-05-02 10:11:45 · 2 answers · asked by Anonymous

2007-05-02 10:11:30 · 14 answers · asked by Atheist Eye Candy 4

Throughout the past 20 years school violence has become a mainstream debate, and for good reasons, our kids are screwed up, some of them at least. Most people argue that religion is bad in schools because it singles people out, but if it isn't religion then its clothes, or sports, or money, so they are actually only singleing out religion because they don't believe what the majority of people believe. Regardless of our founding fathers built this nation on religious beliefs, we still deny that our children learn anything about them in school.

So after my spew, I ask is teaching the 10 commandments bad? Is it bad to to teach "Thou shall not kill" or "Respect thy parents"? Ok, so teaching there is only 1 God can be alienating, but other than that, what about the other ones?

2007-05-02 10:11:06 · 42 answers · asked by Anonymous

2007-05-02 10:09:50 · 8 answers · asked by big dogg 1

2007-05-02 10:09:08 · 8 answers · asked by Wear Peace 1

Rabbi Frand points out additionally that the Ishmaelite are armed with a potent weapon, a supreme weapon --the power of prayer. After all, Ishmael is born as a result of the power of prayer. The angels tell Hagar (Genesis 16:11) --- "Hee'nach harah v'ya'ladet ben," behold you are going to bear a child, "Kee sha'ma Hashem et ahn'yaich," for G-d has heard the cry of your travail. In the wilderness of Paran (Arabia), Ishmael himself is saved by the power of prayer and granted a miraculous spring of water. Genesis 21:17, "Kee sha'ma Elokim et kol ha'na'ar," G-d heard the cries of the infant (Ishmael), the angel tells Hagar.
Muslims pray with zeal--five times a day. They are willing to march for thousands of miles to visit Mecca and Medina in order to show their commitment to prayer.

Jewish texts about the first son of Abraham, state from the veses in Genesis (which were revealed hundreds of years before the Quran) that the Ishmaelite will be a “perah adam, a wild man, a free man”.
Modern commentators now interpret the above as : They will constantly raise their hand against all other men who have authority. As if freedom is the only honor. They will forever be “men who kick like wild donkeys against those who come to shackle them”. They will be the most difficult people on earth to conquer and oppress, but the perfect people to entrust with a divine message.

These verses were written in the Old Testament long before the New Testament and the Quran. They describe the first son of Abraham, named Ishmeal, from his second wife Hagar.



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2007-05-02 10:08:39 · 18 answers · asked by Mithrianity 3

'how is it possible that man's footprints are fossilized and coexist with fossilized dinosaur footprints of the same time period and are molded into the same material that later become rock?

The debate: http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/paluxy/mantrack.html

The evidence:
http://www.biblebelievers.org.au/giants.htm
http://www.grisda.org/origins/02064.htm
http://www.genesispark.com/genpark/foot/foot.htm

Is this not the same method Atheists subscribe to and defend? If not, then answer why.

2007-05-02 10:07:31 · 28 answers · asked by Truth7 4

2007-05-02 10:07:00 · 27 answers · asked by Anonymous

I just saw a guy answering a question with giving a link to a site, a Christian one, where you get to take this test:
www.TakeTheGoodTest.com
I'm not Christian, but still I took it. I answered honestly and I was told by this site, believe it or not, that I will go to HELL. I tried answering the test again, but this time I made myself an ANGEL, and again, I was told that I'll go to HELL! Is that what Christianity is all about: condemning non-Christians to hell? wtf??

Please try taking the test and share the results with us.

2007-05-02 10:05:59 · 15 answers · asked by Anonymous

Education? Money? Faith? Others?

2007-05-02 10:05:29 · 2 answers · asked by Anonymous

2007-05-02 10:03:19 · 33 answers · asked by MrsOcultyThomas 6

I have often received information that i did not know before. How is that a bad thing?

2007-05-02 10:02:11 · 26 answers · asked by Gorgeoustxwoman2013 7

2007-05-02 10:00:41 · 18 answers · asked by Corissa S 1

I am reading a book I picked up from an old bookstore. It's called The Ouija Board the doorway to the occult. It is quite an alarming read as it is independently written by a christian from true accounts of ouija board/(Channelling) experiences.
What are you views and beliefs or experiences? I would NEVER do one again. I have only done one about 3 times. Once at school on grass nothing happened. Once at a party. (16 yrs ago)Nothing happened and once on my own when I was a bit drunk and curious. All aboutI repeat after reading this book I would NEVER do one again.
I am curious of the tales of the planchette moving independently of human physical contact? Now i understand this is scientifically impossible. Where can I find scientific research undertaken whilst the ouija board is in operation?
I personally believe that 95+% of activity is through auto suggestion from the unconscious mind. the other 5% is purely unknown to science. What are your thoughts? Please this is a serious question.

2007-05-02 10:00:25 · 6 answers · asked by youronmyfoot 2

Holy Grail or Life of Brian?

2007-05-02 09:59:22 · 19 answers · asked by Anonymous

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2007-05-02 09:57:54 · 21 answers · asked by Anonymous

I've been looking everywhere and in the new testament as well. I cant find it anywhere. It does not seem to be in Genisis. So where on earth is it. Now I'm confused

2007-05-02 09:57:29 · 14 answers · asked by Anonymous

"legislation designed to give public school students opportunities to express religious viewpoints tentatively cleared the house on monday despite warnings that it will have unintended consequences." "If the Senate approves it, student leaders will be allowed to summon Jesus Christ in prayer to help calm student nerves before a TAKS test(state testing), Rep. Scott Hochberg, D-Houston, said of the hypothetical situation before voting against the measure.
Or, a student leader can call on Allah if he or she is a Muslim. Or, a student leader can tell other students that it's scacrilegious to pray to Jesus for comfort because "Jesus was not the son of God, Jeus was not the messiah," Hochberg told his colleagues, noting some discomfort in their facial reactions.(Hochberg is Jewish)"

"What will you do the first time one of your schools elects a Wiccan for student body president, who insists on ending all her announcements 'Great Mother Godess, take care of our students today."L Burnham

2007-05-02 09:54:06 · 23 answers · asked by Ryan, Atheati Magus 5

The saying is that the bible is the inspired word of god. If this is true, then everything in it is the word of god, not just parts of it (that would mean that 'parts' of the bible are the inspired word of god, leaving the question of which are and aren't).

If the bible is the inspired word of god, and Mosaic law is part of the bible, then Mosaic law are the words of god. That would mean that they are unchanging, yesterday, today, and forever, right? So where does Jesus get off claiming to be the son of god and changing what is supposed to be unchanging? Did they lie when they said god and his word were unchanging?

2007-05-02 09:53:24 · 6 answers · asked by Anonymous

Is it also what they say whenever their text has ridiculous conflicts and errors that they deny instead of accounting for?

2007-05-02 09:51:45 · 24 answers · asked by U-98 6

The Romans and Greeks could never conquer or Hellenize the children of Ishmael.

Gods plan was to save the lineage of Ishmael from all the disasters that were to befall Jerusalem and then the Final Prophet from the rod of Jesse (Ishmael) would come from the land of Ke’dar (Arabia).

God commanded Abraham to leave his family in the desert of paran (Arabia) and we know from history that the miraculous well given to Hagar and Ishmael is in the middle of the Holy city of Mecca.

God sent Hagar and the first born of Abraham into the wilderness when Ishmael was a baby….. and not like what the scholars wrote in the bible about him being 17 years old.

A mother does not carry a 17 year old on her shoulder and then place the crying child of 17 yrs. under a bush and walk away while he dies of thirst.

It is abundantly clear from the story in Gen. 21:14-19 that Ishmael was a little baby at that time. Following is the documentation of this statement:

According to Gen. 16:16 Abraham was 86 years old when Ishmael was born. And according to Gen.21:5 Abraham was one hundred years old when Isaac was born. It follows that Ishmael was already fourteen years old when his younger brother Isaac was born.

According to Gen. 21:14-19, the jealousy incident took place after Issac was weaned. Biblical scholars tell us that “the child was weaned about the age of three”.

It follows that when Hagar and Ishmael were taken away Ishmael was a full grown teenager seventeen year old.

The profile of Ishmael in Gen. 21:14-19, however , is that of a small baby and not of a teenager.
Why ?

First : According to the Interpreters Bible , the original Hebrew for Gen.21:14 was “…and put the child upon her shoulder”. The same reading is rendered in the Revised Standard Edition of the Bible.

How would a mother carry a Seventeen year old teenager “upon her shoulder? Certainly he was strong enough to carry his mother !
Ishmael must have been a baby .

Second : In Gen. 21:15 we are told that Hagar “cast” the child under one of the shrubs. Again, according to this Biblical text Ishmael must have been a baby and not a seventeen year old man.

Third: In Gen. 21:16 we are told that Hagar sat away so that she may not see the death of the child before her eyes. Is that a profile of a husky seventeen year old teenager who was probably capable of being worried about his mother dying before his eyes? Or is it obviously a profile of a small helpless baby or at most a small child?

Fourth : According to Gen. 21:17, the angels told Hagar “arise, lift up the lad”. Is a seventeen year old young man a proper object to be “lifted up” by a woman? Or is that a reference to a small child or baby?

Fifth: In Gen. 21:19, we are told that Hagar went to fill the bottle with water “and give the lad a drink”. One would expect a strong young man of seventeen to go and bring water to his mother instead.

The non Jewish version of the story is fully consistent and coherent from A to Z; Ishmael was a baby and Isaac was not born yet when this incident took place. This coherence and consistency are confirmed by centuries-old traditions and even actual locations in Mecca where Hagar and Ishmael settled. This clearly implies that the real reason behind their settlement in Arabia (Paran) was not the dictation, jealousy, ego or sense of racial superiority on the part of Sarah. It was rather God’s plan; pure and simple. The lineage of Ishmael was to be protected from the disasters that were to befall Jerusalem and the surrounding area.

It may be relevant to indicate that this issue is not the only instance of inconsistency in respect to Ishmael’s story. The Interpreters Bible compares the story of Hagar and Ishmael in Gen. 21:14-19 with that in an earlier chapter (Gen. 16:1-16) and concludes “the inclusion in Genesis of both stories so nearly alike and yet sufficiently different to be inconsistent, is one of many instances of the reluctance of the compilers to sacrifice any of the traditions which has become established in Israel.” (Interpreters Bible, ibid, p. 604)


Obviously early scholars fabricated the story of a spat between Isaac and Ishmael so they could disown the first born and have a God only for themselves to the exclusion of all others.


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2007-05-02 09:50:55 · 9 answers · asked by Anonymous

or can he not screw for eternity

2007-05-02 09:49:08 · 14 answers · asked by redhead_kid 1

it gets really really really really really annyoning.
i dont need everyone telling me im going to hell cuz i dont believe in the same thing as you. i respect ur beliefs, so respect mine(even though i have none)

2007-05-02 09:48:35 · 18 answers · asked by cottoncandy55 6