Posted by
Ellisa
I don't want to get involved with the whole Bible as truth thing- but I haven't noticed anyone pointing out that the Bible is actually two books. (This could be because I haven't read EVERY word of every post, so sorry if this has been stated before).
The first book, the Old Testament is a recording of rules of conduct and behaviour, some semi- historical events concerning a Bronze Age people, and a series of prophesies about the arrival of their Messiah. The second, The New Testament, contains the teachings of Jesus, who, according to those who believe, fulfilled (and still fulfils) those prophesies. He is the Messiah, he is called the Christ and he is the son of god who has chosen to become a man. His main purpose in doing that is to be able to promise eternal life through the sacrifice of his own life. People who follow Jesus Christ are (obviously) christians.
The problem between the two books is that one was written for a nomadic people of the Bronze Age and has many things in it which jar our modern views of justice and decency. The second book, in which Jesus makes an appearance, is of much later origin and has many teachings that are very relevant to us today. So that could be why people posting here are worrying about the difference in the 'old' god and the 'new' one. They are in fact different, and this was solved by arriving at the notion of the Trinity- that is God the father, God the son (Jesus), and God the holy spirit.. Jesus held views which were so upsetting to the government of the time that they killed him. He was a good and brave man whose message was of kindness, peace and tolerance.
Whether or not you believe he was in fact the son of god or not depends on your faith, but you have to wonder if his fate would be any different today1