You said this post contained nothing but dubious religious questions.
But haven't pointed out what, specifically, is dubious. If it's the whole thing, then how, specifically, is it dubious?

I'll try to help you out. Is the fact that I believe the Bible is free of errors dubious on my part? If so, how?

Is the fact that I believe us christians should back up ideas, which we claim come from the Bible, with actual Bible verses dubious? If so, how?

It seems you're just arguing for the sake of arguing. So I'm trying to find out if that is in fact true. If so I can ignore you. But, if you actually have valid (heck even if they're invalid IMO) reasons that I could address, I'd be happy to do so. Or happy to at least try.

So if someone disagrees with you, their beliefs are dubious statements. A rather convenient state of affairs, for you.

…and against critical thoughts. A statement does not become better or worse just because it has been made in the bible or not. Only the bible can become better or worse depending on the statements in it.

;-)
Thanks mate. Glad to hear it. My "extensive knowledge" isn't all its been made out to be though. My memory's crap so I google lots :-) Bible apps are also eminently searchable, which is awesomesauce.

I do try to read the Bible regularly, so I have a general idea of what it says and sometimes, even where it says it. If you don't already do that, I highly recommend it. A little time in the Word goes a long way.

Psalm 105:4
Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always.

And if you're ever near west chester, oh stop by new life chapel and checkitout. Our church community has helped me grow more in the past year than I've managed by myself in the past 5. Of course finding something a bit closer to home would be a little more practical for you :-D

“Then I started reading the Bible.”
You wrote yourself that you have been grown up with it, thus the word “then” is inappropriate. You probably started before you thought for yourself, but that is unimportant, not your fault.

“I was pointing out that as Christians we have an obligation to back up the things we say with Biblical proof.”
The bible does not proof anything except statements about the Bible. It contains stories and thoughts by various people, they can be wrong, contradicting, immoral like any other texts. You must not use induction here, you read in the bible, you agreed with some stuff, and now you are saying everything must be correct. That is no valid reasoning and will certainly imply wrong implications. A book is not absolute truth. You do not have to doubt god, but please doubt the bible.

“I won't be getting into how to "differentiate between metaphysics, epistemology and ethics" any time soon”
You really should, it does not make sense to missuse metaphysical entities for moral reasoning, because metaphysics just do not care about what is good or bad, and god would not, too. Why should the fundamental entity of being care about human issues, what is good or bad for you? That way you are twitting god.

I did think by myself. Then I started reading the Bible. Really reading it, trying to understand what God was trying to say. And this is where it has gotten me. I've gotten past the point of doubting God for most things. And on those issues where I still have questions, His prior track record allows me to give Him the benefit of the doubt.

Weirder still, the more I completely and utterly I believe in Him and His word the, clearer I suppose is the word, life becomes _for me_. Also, having never felt love like this before, I find that that love, above all else is why I'll never doubt in God again (for very long) ;-) It's like searching for something I thought was and finding it, then deciding I never want to let go again. Except sometimes I do want to let go, as following God's commandments isn't without cost. I've found that the "price I pay" as it were, is well worth it. I've become not only a better person, but also a more caring husband and father, things I believe were realistically (though definitely theoretically) possible for me.

Oddly enough, this has all transpired without changing the core "me". I'm a slightly more polished and refined version, with more work being done all the time. Well I'm probably boring you now, so I'll stop.

As for the rest of what you wrote, you lost me. I was pointing out that as Christians we have an obligation to back up the things we say with Biblical proof.

I wasn't arguing for why God exists, is real etc. My blog post takes that as a given. If you disagree, so be it. Needless to say, I won't be getting into how to "differentiate between metaphysics, epistemology and ethics" any time soon (probably ever). :-)

Well, I could not bear reading that text, so I stopped, did I miss the point where you was explaining that all of that is irony?

Seriously, you should start thinking by yourself. The evangelists were not better authors than Descartes, Nietzsche or Sartre, their work is not more important, and it is definitely not absoelute truth. When you want to know truth, you have to doubt everything, not only your one thoughts, but also the words of the Bible. Knowledge is not possible when blindly accepting a whole book. Your consciousness is the most fundamental entity in the world, not god or the bible. Think about whether god is a intrinsic, a necessary entity to describe the world. Think about what the word “god” means for you. It is just a word, you have to realise its meaning. When doing that I realised that that meaning is either contradicting to the truth, thus wrong, or pointless, making “god” just a useless term for something different not implying Christian ideals. The last sentence described my strongly atheist believes, but you should really care about what I wrote before.

And please differentiate between metaphysics, epistemology and ethics! You cannot simply tranform a metaphysical entity into a moral authority!

And please do not include such stuff in Planet KDE. You can sometimes mention such stuff, or write about some personal things, but do not make such specialised articles show up there. I do not do that, too, when explicitly writing about such stuff.

No, for me it isn't contradiction enough. As I said before, the two accounts seemingly conflicting are a result of us not understanding something, and both accounts are in fact, correct.

As an aside, I should point out that anyone looking for reasons not to believe the Bible or believe in God will find them. By actually searching for God earnestly, and having faith in Him and His word, will we ever believe. If you're looking instead for reasons to doubt, you will find them, and find them in abundance. Now let me explain why I don't see those two verses as a contradiction. (s'long!)

I read the rest of II Samuel 24 to get some context (very important) and in verse 15 it says "So the LORD sent a pestilence upon Israel from the morning even to the time appointed: and there died of the people from Dan even to Beer–sheba seventy thousand men." Harsh.
And in II Samuel 24 verse 1 it says "And again the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he moved David against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah." Note how it begins: And again.

So apparently God had it out for the Children of Israel from the beginning. He wanted to punish them, and in verse 15 we see, apparently as a punishment for David, the Israelites suffered too. Seems unjust doesn't it. But believing that God being God, is nothing if not just that doesn't seem right. Also, having read the books before I've seen time after time, (after time), after time, (after time) where the Children of Israel disobey God, get warned, ignore it and get punished. Start in Exodus, you'll see how quickly they start disobeying.

So it seems to me that at the start of II Samuel 24 we've already gotten to the point where the Children of Israel have angered God (yet again), the writer just skips over that part (for whatever reason).

In I Chronicles 21 verse 1 it says "And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel." Satan always got it out for Israel, and the human race in general, and here we see him setting something into motion.

Could it be that God was angry with the Children of Israel, allowed Satan to provoke David knowing the outcome, and that it would lead to a) punishing Israel for whatever it was they angered him over? and b) use it as a way to get David to feel truly sorry for what he did? I think so.
Given my belief that all of the Bible is true, we see specifically that "he moved David against them" by allowing Satan's tempting of David to take place. David made his own choice, which led to the punishment of seemingly a lot of people who weren't David. But instead of being unfortunate collateral damage, it was likely deserve judgement for some earlier unspoken sins. And we get a genuinely repentant David as a bonus. A bonus with even further implications. As King of Israel, the Israelites looked up to David as an example, so a repentant, God-fearing David set an example for the Israelites to follow, and also put them in the position to be blessed by God, because they're King was doing as God told them (regardless of what they were doing as individuals).

Hope that helps. But remember my side comment. If you're looking for God, look for Him. Not for proof contrary to Him. You'll find exactly what you look for. I'm of the opinion that the Bible is the best place to start with this. God gives commandments and consequences for breaking these.
I've spent the better part of my adult life doing things "my way" to find, in the end, God was right all along.

Following God doesn't make life easier, but it sure does make it far more worthwhile and less stressful/more joyful.

It is hard to imagine that the writer knew exactly how or what God asked from someone. I believe that the writer simply intends to say that God allowed some things to happen, and this interpretation makes sense throughout the Bible.

My understanding of the interaction between God and Devil is that Devil asks God to do things, and God gives him permission.

There's always the RSS feed :-)

Ok, this has happened some time ago on Planet Ubuntu, and now someone I find this post on PlanetKDE. If you have decided to actually waste time with this stuff, then that's completely fine, but please ensure that posts like this don't make it on PlanetKDE or related planets.