Greetings, brethren!

[CJLind]

Hey guys!

Actually I just registered here because there are some challenges I'm having studying the Bible and looking at the history of Christianity. My challenge is mainly the Apostle Paul. His teachings seem to contradict Jesus on some very fundamental level and seem to be the reason for a lot of struggling between different groups of Christians, especially the so called Calvinism vs Arminianisn discussion seems to centre on Paul's teachings. If I read the gospel and especially Jesus' parables, it clearly seems to contradict a lot of what Paul was teaching and a lot of what a lot of Christians believe according to Paul. Also the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector (Luke 18:9-14) seem to be a perfect portrayal of Paul and his self-righteousness. What do you guys think?

 

[Totton Linnet]

hold tight....

 

[CJLind]

Thanks! To be honest, the 5 solas and the whole Calvinism vs Arminianisn vs Catholicism vs... is confusing and disturbing...and Paul's teachings doesn't really help, even though I have to admit that he was a genius

 

[Tambora]

If I read the gospel and especially Jesus' parables, it clearly seems to contradict a lot of what Paul was teaching

Different, but not contradictory.

Just as God's instructions in the law given to the nation of Israel to observe was different than the Gentile nations (which God did not give the law).
Different, but not contradictory.

 

[john w]

Thanks! To be honest, the 5 solas and the whole Calvinism vs Arminianisn vs Catholicism vs... is confusing and disturbing...and Paul's teachings doesn't really help, even though I have to admit that he was a genius

Never trust anyone who:

-Wears a bow tie,
-Qualifies their statement with, "To be honest....Frankly....Can I be frank/honest with you?....Let's be honest....Obviously....."(Translated: They are not honest/frank, and it is not obvious),
-Uses Vitalis/Brill Creme/Dippity Do, or "Brut" cologne.

 

[IMJerusha]

Hey guys!

Actually I just registered here because there are some challenges I'm having studying the Bible and looking at the history of Christianity. My challenge is mainly the Apostle Paul. His teachings seem to contradict Jesus on some very fundamental level and seem to be the reason for a lot of struggling between different groups of Christians, especially the so called Calvinism vs Arminianisn discussion seems to centre on Paul's teachings. If I read the gospel and especially Jesus' parables, it clearly seems to contradict a lot of what Paul was teaching and a lot of what a lot of Christians believe according to Paul. Also the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector (Luke 18:9-14) seem to be a perfect portrayal of Paul and his self-righteousness. What do you guys think?

Welcome to TOL! :wave:

Tottie's right, put yer seatbelt on! :chuckle:

I don't have a problem with Paul, but I see the faith as beginning in the beginning...with the Creation by God and carrying through to Yeshua. Also, I see Paul as having been confirmed by both Peter and Ananias. I think what Peter said about Paul's letters is true. He got a bit highbrow so folks misunderstood a lot of what he wrote. It's important to read Scripture and then pray a bunch on it for clarification by the Ruach/Holy Spirit. I'll be interested in reading your posts. Anyway, welcome again!

 

[truthjourney]

Hello and welcome to TOL. I'm new too.

 

[CJLind]

All glory and praise to the Lord the Almighty! Halleluja!
I was praying for clarification, and I would be a liar if I would not recognise that the Lord granted me some insight in form of a dream last night: First of all, I was wrong, it is actually a sin (what that really means is another topic, i like the picture of the archer missing it's target) to doubt the Word of God, even the passages we don't like carry important meaning and are of great importance. Now my dream, i don't remember everything, but the final passage is still very clear in my memory. It was in the future, if i had to guess maybe 10 years from now. I was together with a woman (am actually not sure, but i think it was a sinful relationship, meaning we were committing adultery, but it was not very clear, she was obviously very important to me, and somehow she was my wife as well). She knew of my doubts regarding the Bible. While we were discussing that, that I am doubting the validity and inerrancy of the scripture, reality was changing in a way, for example there was a big new shiny car outside the window, but not a nice one, something like a pimped up humvee and it seemed our whole lifestyle changed, from my own understanding much to the worse, even though we seemed to have become very wealthy. The women said, that the points I made to proof that the Bible is not in its entirety the Word of God, are very convincing. However, the moment she said that, I regretted everything so much, because she wasn't only doubting in parts of the Bible but the whole book. I tried to explain to her, that there are still very important lessons in it, but she said, if it's all about interpretation, am sure we can also derive meaning and guidance from a book like Gulliver's travels. I was devastated, even if we had a very wealthy lifestyle, spiritually our life felt empty and hollow, i regretted it very much.
That was the dream. It's rather easy to interpret I guess. What I want to add is, I still believe that guidance by the Holy Spirit is essential in understanding the Bible, and I still believe that a lot of cherry pickers are out there who take passages out of context, misinterpret it and abuse it for their own agendas, but it was a very powerful dream, and the Holy Spirit made it very obvious to me that the consequences of doubting in the Word of God are basically materialism, idolatry, and eventually a life without Jesus, basically hell in my interpretation.