thebayway

Countless faiths have come and gone in history. Why aren't young people accepting the faith of their families like they used to? Times are changing. *

If

Christianity is waning in the American people. Waxing is not a foregone conclusion.

It's interesting to watch beliefs evolve. If you have the truth why is Christianity declining? https://www.pewforum.org/2019/10/17/in-u-s-decline-of-christianity-continues-at-rapid-pace/

One of the Mesopotamian parallels to the Eden narrative, the legend of Adapa, differs from the biblical story in this respect. Adapa is deceived to refuse the food of life (immortality), whereas Adam is deceived to partake the fruit of knowledge of good and evil, which brings forth death. There is also a Ugaritic myth concerning snakebite in which the cure is sought in an Edenic garden along the Tigris where there is a tree of death. The eleventh labor of Herakles may supply a partial parallel with the Eden narrative, with the hero tasked with stealing the golden apples of the garden of the Hesperides at the edge of the world. The apples are forbidden in the sense that they were the property of the gods and were heavily guarded, but Herakles does not partake of them and he makes sure that they are returned to their rightful owners. The story may draw on West Semitic myths since the dragon Ladon guarding the apples is cognate with the dragons Lotan in Ugaritic myth and Leviathan in the Old Testiment. The closest Greek parallel is the Prometheus-Pandora myth, in which primeval humankind is first given a stolen gift (fire) to help them advance while they are also given the first women who brings with her a pithos that when opened unleashes every form of woe and misery to humankind. This is a similar theme to the effects of partaking the forbidden fruit in the Eden narrative. There is a possible connection with the cult of Asherah, the wife of El in Canaanite myth and the progenitoress of the gods. One of the epithets of Asherah in Phoenician inscriptions is cognate with the Hebrew name Eve. Asherah was represented by the tree of life, which probably had a stylized form similar to the menorah (see the Lachish ewer and the ****illet 'Ajrud pithos). The story of the reform of Josiah in the Deuteronomistic History implies that there had been a representation of Asherah in the Temple, along with an industry of women weaving clothes for Asherah. The Eden narrative in its present form may conflate what were originally distinct characters, the first woman and the goddess Asherah whose sacred tree (the tree of life) was infringed upon. There is also the possible modern-day survival of this cult in the reverence of sacred trees in Palestine. People would place clothes or rags on the trees in hope of receiving better health. And eating the fruit of these trees is strictly forbidden.

I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things. Isaiah 45:7 As the text reads, Yahweh creates peace and the opposite of peace, which is not moral evil. What's interesting, however, is that the Dead Sea Scrolls text of Isaiah 45:7, 1QIsa(a), pairs "evil" with the Hebrew tov (rather than shalom/peace as the Masoretic Text does), which means "good," not "peace." This same pairing is found in Genesis 2-3 referring to the "tree of the knowledge of good and evil." Since the DSS has the more "difficult" reading by stating that Yahweh makes an "evil" which is the opposite of "good," it probably contains the original reading, and scribes of the MT may have altered the text because of unease with Yahweh's creating evil. You can view the scroll here: https://ao.net/~fmoeller/qum-38.htm. Notice this comment below the heading "Variations in Q from the Masoretic Text": Line 13: 2nd word: Q = "tov" (good) and M = "shalom" (peace).

Tao Te Ching is a good one too. http://taoteching.org.uk/index.php?c=1&a=Stephen+Mitchell Most scholars think Mark is the earliest. Jesus is adopted by god at his baptism in that version of the story. The author of Luke copied 41% from the author of Mark. The author of Matthew copied 46% from the author of Mark. The authors of Matthew and Luke say Jesus is god from birth with birth stories that contradict each other. The author of John is the newest version of the story and says Jesus has been god from the beginning of time. So you can see the story evolve in the telling.

Read the 4 gospels side by side. Report back the list of discrepancies you find.

We have no information about the people who selected the biblical books. *

Haven't you heard the good news? Everyone goes to heaven. Based on the bible, of course. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_universalism

Pick up a copy. Eternal Conscious Torment is not beyond reproach. https://edwardfudge.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/excerptTFTC3.pdf

I've read Romans. Have you read The Fire That Consumes by Edward Fudge?

By all means.

Resorting to Ecclesiastes to try to wiggle out of the plain reading of the text. Your concept doesn’t cut the mustard.

Typing “context” doesn’t explain away 11 verses in 9 books. The context is annihilationism. There are 2 different views represented in scripture and they can’t both be right.