Do not worship the Cruxifix

Originally posted by kinglizard
God of the Old Testament and the New Testament are the same. The ?God of Abraham? is a common quote in both testaments. They refer to the same God.

If you read my post, I've explained that they had to incorporate the god of the tribe into the NT.

The people had to have a basis. They had followed Jehovah for centuries and couldn't be expected to give him up overnight. They needed some familiarity. It's hard to expect people to follow something new. If for most of their lives, they've believed in a god but are suddenly told that he isn't what they've been taught, without at least something to soften the blow, you're going to have a hard time getting them to let go. Keep the name and keep some aspects and it's far easier to accept new ideas.

But it didn't work anyway. The Jews still continued to follow their tribal god and Christianity was born. Then you had the battle between the literalists and the gnostics and we ended up with a Church entrenched in dogma because they interpreted the whole bloody book wrongly.

Originally posted by Leveller
By studying the story of the New Testament and through the symbols there, understanding that it is not the story of the Jewish god but of Osiris/Dionysus you will understand that the tribal god in the Old Testament was written to be feared, but he wasn't the same god as that which is in the New Testament.

Sounds like you're saying the God in the New Testament is not the same God in the Old Testament .

What was fastened with nails so that it could not move was not the cross, it was Jesus. And Jesus is no idol.

It's true that he was made a curse for us, "cursed be everyone that is hanged upon a tree".

But what happened on that cross was the single most important event in the history of mankind. It is the pivotal event of all history. If anyone just worships a cross of course it will do him no good. His faith is misplaced. But to respect and reverence the sacrifice that the cross represents is quite another thing. Jesus said we each have our own cross to bear. He wasn't talking about the little silver crosses people wear. He was talking about the cross of suffering and reproach that any who truly follow Him will have to carry. It may seem like foolishness to some, but to others it is the key to life and happiness.

Compare the crosses people carry to the amulets and tellfellin that certain hassidic Jewish sects wear. They seem ridiculous to outsiders, yet those who wear them consider them to be holy. Is that idolatry or faith?

Originally posted by EBW
It's true that he was made a curse for us, "cursed be everyone that is hanged upon a tree".

Where is this written in the Bible?

Deuteronomy 21:23
It's written in parenthesis in this version I searched...its probably not even in the Hebrew

[Edited on 31-3-2004 by KSoze]

Originally posted by KSoze
Deuteronomy 21:23
It's written in parenthesis in this version I searched...its probably not even in the Hebrew

It seems Deuteronomy 21:22-23 refers to leaving the body hanging on the tree overnight not just the act of being hung on a tree.

Deuteronomy 21:22-23

Various Laws

If a man guilty of a capital offense is put to death and his body is hung on a tree, you must not leave his body on the tree overnight. Be sure to bury him that same day, because anyone who is hung on a tree is under God's curse. You must not desecrate the land the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance.

Well the more I read this passage the more unsure I become about it�s meaning. I definitely see your point.

Hanging the body exhibited the person to public humiliation. The criminal was under the curse of God� the judgment that takes a person's life out of the covenant community as a perpetrator of the worst kind of sin and displays that judgment by the humiliation of hanging his body in public shows that that person is under God's curse.

You see, Jesus not only "endured the cross" as He suffered the physical torments of crucifixion; He also despised "the shame" as He hung in the place of ridicule. There were two things happening on that fateful day. Jesus was dying for our sins, but He was also bearing our infamous shame as He hung on a tree. Yet in doing that, He won an incredible victory over sin and death so that a third thing is said of him � He is "set down at the right hand of the throne of God." That is the place of honor now occupied by the victorious Son of God. The death and shame were incredibly difficult, but the accomplishing of our redemption was the basis of His joy.

www.solagroup.org...

referring to the first page of this post-
colonel, you said that you sometimes re considered a heretic by the same people who disobey the bible yet consider themselves holy.

hahahah welcome to my life. ive been told that i am a heretic and blasphemous so many times and by so many people it used to kill me, and now it just rolls off. oh, and how am i supposed to be a blasphemous person, if in MY mind, in MY faith, it is not blasphemous?

another note- someone called me blasphemous for saying that me and god were pals, ya know, we hang out, shoot the #. and then i see all thes people walking around in "jesus is my homeboy" shirts.

suddenly i see it. if youre community church i love jesus christian kid, you can do whatever the hell you want and its "funny" or "unique" and "your own way of loving god" but if youre a spiritual, but not religious kid, anything you do is blasphemous....blasphemous to someone elses religion?

oh well im starting to get off track.

but basically, in my mind, the bible is really just saying dont worship any other religion's statues. thats why there are huge statues built for christians, but even tiny monuments of others are thought as disobeying god. this was all fine and dandy until the protestant reformation, and then ANY worshipping of statues that the protestants didnt have enough money to build were considered heretic, ie. big statues of mary and the apostles and the saints and etc that the catholics had built.

thus, you can still worship crosses, but if we catch you praying to that statue of mary or having a rosary, youre a bad kid now.

one word- dumb