Did jesus want us to follow the bible word for word, or make our own decissions?

Question

do you beleive that jesus wanted us to follow our heart and learnings to do what we think is correct. or did he want us to follow every word of the bible like mindless zombies. i have been wondering this for years. i go to a catholic school and still can not seem to figure this one out. because the way i see it is that he gave us all differences so we could be unique and beautiful in our own way, not so we can all strive to be the same.

what is your opinion?

another thing that almost everyone overlook to. the bible was EDITED. all acounts that made jesus look more human than divine were removed. and all that remained were the 4 gospals and a few others like ACTS. most people dont even know it but there was about 70 or so gospals written that were at one point in the bible.

Answer 1

Jesus was a Jewish man, and if there's one thing that we Jews love to do, it's argue/discuss what things mean. There's a centuries long debate on it written down in the Talmud - about 70 volumes the size of encyclopedias! I find it VERY likely this was how Jesus was brought up and taught (witness his discussions with the priests in the temple - a study session if ever I saw one!).

Presupposing that he was indeed brought up in this time-honored Jewish tradition, then there is NO way that he would have believed in the kind of literalism that some Christians practice today.

Edit: I hate to break it to one of the idiots above ("utuk"), but the Torah came along LONG before Jesus. That WAS the "bible" that Jesus used - especially given that he quoted from it...

Answer 2

First of all, not every word of the bible was translated correctly by the scribes that put it together at the time of the Emperor Constantine. Christianity at that time was kind of ambiguous and they had a meeting to decide what the "Christian" beliefs were going to be. The books of the bible were taken from among many different records and the ones we have today were selected. I believe that the books of the bible were then changed a little here and there to go along with what these men had decided should be the doctrine of the church. So, the bible isn't totally pure doctrine from Christ's mouth. It is a record made by men. I think it is there to help us gain a testimony of Christ and God's dealing with men on the earth.

We should be unique and beautiful. We don't have to be just like everyone else and I don't believe that is what God wants. God does want us to search for the truth and do what we feel and know to be right. In that way, he does want us to be the same, in that God wants everyone to keep the commandments so that they can be happy. The ten commandments are pretty basic to living a happy life and everyone should follow them. But, our individual live's can be filled with all sorts of things that we are interested in and that God has given us talents for. We are all blessed with different abilities so that we can work together and bless each other's lives. Paul talks about this in the Bible where he is talking about how not everyone can be the head. Some need to be the foot and some need to be the legs, etc. Something like that, he is saying that we all need to work together and not seek the praise of man.

If you want to know more of what the true doctrine of Christ is, go to www.mormon.org. Give it a chance. The Book of Mormon is another record of some people who left Jeruselum and headed to the Americas. I hope you will read it. It is a fascinating book. Christ came to them after he was resurrected and organized his church among them too. There is doctrine in the Book of Mormon that helps to clarify some things that aren't super clear in the Bible.

Answer 3

1. Jesus wants you to believe on Him alone for salvation. Not Mary (who is dead and can't hear your prayers) and not some saint (who are also dead and can't hear your prayers.) Jesus Christ paid the price for your sins and rose again so you could be forgiven and live for Him, not anyone else.

2. Read your Bible and do your best to live by it. Following the Bible word for word won't make you a "mindless zombie", if anything, it will save you from BECOMING a mindless zombie, especially in today's world.

3. God doesn't replace your personality with some cookie-cutter personality when you are born again. You get to be you, only, you have the ability to obey God more and more as the years go by.

4. Go get your Bible. Ask God to show you the truth about why Jesus Christ came to earth. Then read the book of John in your Bible and keep praying God will help you understand so you can know Him through Jesus.

Answer 4

I beg to differ with utuk. There was a Bible during Jesus' time; it was referred to as 'The Law and the Prophets' or what we now call the Old Testament.

I believe we need to follow the Bible, but I don't agree with the way the organized religions have 'interpreted' it. I think they are too literal on some things, and not literal enough on others. Most organized religion is about being a mindless drone, expected to believe what the church tells you is fact!

Read the Bible for yourself and you'll find that you can follow the Bible word for word and still be free to be unique and beautiful.

Answer 5

God does not want a mindless zombie
God made us like himself to make decisions wrong or right and to choose the evil or the good and see where it takes you so you will learn, we have his word as a reference to look into to see what we need to learn and where and what we should do or where we should go
God does not instruct us to do this or that we choose and then we find
He wants the best for us to be blessed and not to be cursed
so we have to fall down and get up live and learn by our our experiences, those are the best life teachers our own experiences in life teaches us far better than anything said by another person, we don't learn that way.............
we are different and unique and we each follow our own paths
to our destiny, and it is beautiful and exciting and rewarding when we accomplish something new wonderful
we want to Praise God the author and finisher of our Salvation

Answer 6

He wants you to follow the Bible as an intelligent thinking person, not a mindless zombie.

Since you mentioned that you attend a Catholic School, I can understand your confusion.

The Roman Catholic Church stopped following the Bible more than a thousand years ago.

Today its a man made religion pretty much.

Pastor Art

PS: There was a Bible in Jesus day. It is what we Christians call the Old Testament, today. It is most often referred to as the "Scriptures" in the New Testament. Jesus quotes nearly every book in the Old Testament.

Answer 7

Their is no life in the law. No one can live word by word. To me this clears up a lot. Gal. 11-12As for the rumor that I continue to preach the ways of circumcision (as I did in those pre-Damascus Road days), that is absurd. Why would I still be persecuted, then? If I were preaching that old message, no one would be offended if I mentioned the Cross now and then—it would be so watered-down it wouldn't matter one way or the other. Why don't these agitators, obsessive as they are about circumcision, go all the way and castrate themselves!

13-15It is absolutely clear that God has called you to a free life. Just make sure that you don't use this freedom as an excuse to do whatever you want to do and destroy your freedom. Rather, use your freedom to serve one another in love; that's how freedom grows. For everything we know about God's Word is summed up in a single sentence: Love others as you love yourself. That's an act of true freedom. If you bite and ravage each other, watch out—in no time at all you will be annihilating each other, and where will your precious freedom be then?

We are no longer trapped under the law but only need to love one another as Jesus loved us. It shows us also that Paul was persecuted for this belief. Jesus hung out with some pretty unique individuals and showed them love. He was always speaking out against those that were pious.

Answer 8

Never met the guy. First off Jesus would not have known the Bible as we know it today - a good bit of his was written after his physical time on Earth and another good bit that he may have known of in his time has been altered in some way.
I think you already know the answer for yourself but may be in an environment where certain independent thoughts are not terribly encouraged. Best advice I could give: learn of as many different forms of worship, ethics and philosophy as you wish and what works for you will find its way to you.
And if you disagree with what others believe or offer you, do not be insolent in the face of their limitations for tolerance.

Answer 9

A little of both. Yes that is vague, but God did make us as individuals; and at the same time, there are also universal truths that apply to us all across the board.

Jesus said that man did not live by bread alone, but by EVERY word that comes from the mouth of God.

But the Bible's "words" are not all that specific sometimes. Often commandments are simply stated as goals, or aspirations, rather than specific actions (such as "love thy neighbor"; this is rather vague, if you think about it).

Paul said that you had to work out your OWN salvation (carefully and fearfully, as if you soul depended on it -- and it does). If you look at some of Paul's letters, such as the 14th chapter of Romans, you will notice that Christians have a responsibility as individuals to forge their own relationship with God.

I hope that this discussion did not confuse you; for the record, my background and beliefs are Protestant, obviously. But the opinion you expressed in your question is somewhat protestant also.

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Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. The commandments, "Do not commit adultery," "Do not murder," "Do not steal," "Do not covet," and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: "Love your neighbor as yourself."
~Romans 13:8-9 (NIV)

Answer 10

Do you mean follow religion vs. follow Jesus. If you do then, the answer is follow Jesus' teachings as recorded in the Bible. Not the rules, rituals and doctrine of organized religion because there is no power in them to save you. .

Jesus is a personal relationship not a religion. If you follow Him, you will love God with all of your heart, soul and mind and love other people as yourself because this is what He has told us to do. Matthew 22:34-40.