My interesting take on religion this morning. It kind of discredits it, so don't read if your easily offended.?

[claudius]

No where does it state in the bible that it's a requirement to go to church on a weekly or in some cases a twice weekly basis. One of the ten commandments does say to remember the sabbath day and to keep it holy. This does not mean to go to church every sunday. Do you think "God" attends church every sunday? What exactly did god do on the 7th day? He Rested. Keeping the sabbath day holy can mean anything, it can simply mean to pray in your home, and just remember it's the lord's day. In my opinion, the Church is and always has been a comfort shelter for people to commune with people of the same beliefs, and it has been adapted over time and seen as a requirement to attend church for the "believers". The church sucks people into this way of life because it comforts them to know they are with like thinking people. It boosts their beliefs, and their happiness. In a LOT of cases, the church uses this as a tool to make money. Think about it people, remember the Sanhedrin from way back in the old jewish days, they were pretty much the original priests from the originating religion. What is one of the most common things known about them, and is portrayed (in lots of movies) in their attire, attitude, and the most common in paying off judas. They were RICH and POWERFUL. Why is this? Because they suckered people into believing keeping the sabbath day holy meant attending their church and oh what's this new law? Oh that's right tithing, making that almighty dollar for their church. Yes, I know in the bible it does say to tithe 10%, but let's not forget about the Council of Nic ea. If you haven't read up on the Council of Nic ea, here is a quick summary. Basically, Emperor Constantine way back in the day brought together a bunch of people/most likely leaders (rich and powerful) to have a meeting to decide and vote on an official bible, omitting and adding certain things, and even to be said certain books of the bible. So, this group of people pretty much made up our modern day bible. If I were willing to guess, I'd say the Sanhedrin were scattered all over Europe, strategically to have someone who was basically a "leader" in each city/state/territory. Who's to say, that the Sanhedrin were not some of those exact people who voted at the council of Nic ea, or perhaps descendants of and just keeping the family Business going. Think about this, especially during that time the best way to control the people was through religion. They didn't have the technology that we have today to track down murderers, thieves, and etc. So what better way to control the people, than by giving them a basic set of 10 rules for them to live their life by, and to not follow them meant death, torture, agony, pain burning to death forever, or happiness, life, and everything great. I mean this all seems like pure logic to me people, think about it even today money makes the world go around. It just seems like to me it's all good Business.

[siwili]

No offense taken. You have some truth in there. The first half was about the sabbath and comparing that with going to church every week. Absolutely, there was no command to "go to church" on the sabbath day. But all those near enough to Jerusalem had the Temple which they went to and, three times a year, all Jewish males had to go there for certain festivals. They brought with them one-tenth of their produce. The tith was not money, unless a man could not go, then he would sell his tithe-goods where he lived, and get the money sent on in lieu. The tithe was produce.

However, because of the 70 year's Babylonian captivity and scattering of the Jews, the Synagogue tradition arose. That was how the Jewish people maintained their identity and their faith in God. By the time Jesus was born, synagogue worship happened every sabbath day even though there was a new Temple in Jerusalem. Jesus attended the synagogue every sabbath day as a matter of custom. All the first century Christians (who were virtually all Jewish to begin with) attended the synagogues until they were closed to them (Christianity being incompatible with Judaism). The Christians started to meet on the first day of the week (our Sunday) for their own worship and to collect for the poor. They sold what they had to give to those in need. They more than tithed! You surely don't have any objection to that?

Then you completely changed the subject, raising the matter of Constantine, and went right off the rails. Nicea was in AD 325 and the canon of scripture was never dealt with there! The Bible's contents was settled at the Councils of Hippo (393) and Carthage (397). So Constantine had nothing to do with that. All of the books of the Bible we use today, plus the Apocrypha, were used by all the Christians in these preceeding 200 years. Nothing in the 66 Bible books was changed. You are repeating silly urban myths. The Sanhedrin had absolutely nothing to do with Christian councils or church governance because they were Jewish, and were implacably opposed to Christianity! They were distinct religions and never came together. They did have in common the Ten Commandments which were written by Moses thousands of years earlier.

Please educate yourself on the history of Judaism, the way Christianity developed from it and separated by the end of the first century, and read up on the early Church Fathers and various church Councils so that when you refer to them, you will be stating historic facts and not just anti-Christian propaganda. No offense intended. Thank you.

[fenwick]

so much words...

[jorian23]

So, when are you going to publish this fiction in paperback?

The sabbath was a requirement under the "old" covenant, and not the new. And church was not about resting, it was about worshiping.

The Sanhedrin was made up of religious leaders who did not receive any support from tithes. Tithes strictly went to the priests (Levites), widows, orphans, the poor.

.

[aldric13]

So, when are you going to publish this fiction in paperback?

The sabbath was a requirement under the "old" covenant, and not the new. And church was not about resting, it was about worshiping.

The Sanhedrin was made up of religious leaders who did not receive any support from tithes. Tithes strictly went to the priests (Levites), widows, orphans, the poor.

.

Well, I don't take offense easily. However, I'd like to challenge you to rethink your points.

First and foremost your assertion that WE don't need to go to "church" because God doesn't it. No offense, but are you aware of what going to "church" is about? It's about going to a place to worship GOD! Why would God attend church exactly? Think about that.

Yes, @ Hebrews 10:24,25 we are told not to forsake the gathering of ourselves together to show brotherly love for and encourage one another.

I must say I do agree that many churches/preachers have been nothing but money making machines. But please don't make the mistake of what Christ taught and what some have done in his name. JESUS taught, "You received free. Give free".


Now I don't have the time to answer the rest of what seems to be a rant. But I hope you consider my first points.

[barnett]

Acts does have commands for one to worship with the saints each and every Sunday. God is not obligated to accept the worship you rationalize out as what you want to give. He alone has regulated all of man's actions and He has established the worship He wants.

Money is not the reason for church. We are commanded to gather and do specific things, one of which is to give.