Posted by David Stephens on June 04, 1998 at 16:41:11:
In Reply to: fallibility, human actions, etc posted by Tammy on June 04, 1998 at 14:13:40:
: So I don't really understand what you mean, David, when you say 'Paul was speaking for god.'
Paul makes a lot of statements about what god is and what god wants from us, etc. If we believe he's right and he knows all these things about what god wants, then we must believe he's in some sort of communication with god. Afterall, these wacky ideas of sacrifies, attonments, heavens and hells aren't exactly obvious to the unindoctrinated.
Now if god is communicating with Paul, that would be a pretty striking attribute associated with Paul (and the bible)! ....So where is this striking attribute that would make it clear a human is communicating with a god? Why are Paul's teachings so similar to his religious experience with paganism? Why are things like slavery condoned by this man who speaks to god? Why do Paul's teachings often conflict with men who knew Jesus before he died (such as James vs Paul about works vs grace)?
It's fine for some to simply believe the writings of the prophets to be inspired of god, but why does a critical examination from a skeptical view reveal mundane myth with no "striking attributes" that would point to a god? Even if there weren't all the conflicts in the bible wouldn't there still be some evidence that the writers were communicating with the being that created the universe? When you watch a show on a nature or learning channel, doesn't it reveal thousands of times more insights to god than even the best the bible has to offer?
I sort of went off on a tangent here, but that's probably because your post gave a rather unfulfilling response to the questions that were raised. Was Paul speaking to God or not? Why dance around this question?
Look at the number of religions in the world. Assusming they're not all correct, most must be wrong. With so many religions, the odds of being born in the right one are slim. So how can we tell which are the wrong ones? Wouldn't even the smallest error (or even a hint of an error) show the source wasn't the perfect god of the universe? Wouldn't that be enough to move on to another religion and check it out? ...and then when you're about to die long before you can finish checking all religions out, does it ever occurr to you that god wouldn't play games like that? Would a universe god really expect you to find the one man who REALLY speaks to god. Would a universe god play a game where an honest skeptical look at his religion doesn't reveal him? Would a universe god torture me in hell forever because I've found I can't believe on faith alone?
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