Simple question?

Quote: Evenbob

Striving on Sunday, and being a whoremaster
the other 6 days.

This might be a first step towards striving.

Quote: FrGamble

You can't only offend your equals.

Pretty much not true. People in the
upper ranks of society don't really
care what the lower classes think
of them. Higher ranking military
don't care what privates think, and
CEO's aren't concerned with the
mailrooms opinion of them. A god
being offended by one of his creation
is a very ego oriented god. He doesn't
think much of himself.

Quote:

I guess you can choose to believe in the Jesus Seminar over Jesus Himself.

Makes perfect sense, especially with all the
new findings of the last 30 years. Writing
new books for the NT was a regular cottage
industry for 300 years.

Quote: Evenbob

People in the
upper ranks of society don't really
care what the lower classes think
of them. Higher ranking military
don't care what privates think, and
CEO's aren't concerned with the
mailrooms opinion of them.

Only if they don't love, care for, and respect those below them.

Quote: FrGamble

This might be a first step towards striving.

The point is, there are strings attached,
nothing is ever free.

Quote: Evenbob

Makes perfect sense, especially with all the
new findings of the last 30 years. Writing
new books for the NT was a regular cottage
industry for 300 years.

You are absolutely wrong here. The NT was completely loooong before the 300s. Try more like the end of the first century. Is this what the Jesus Seminar teaches you? This is historically inaccurate.

Quote: Evenbob

The point is, there are strings attached,
nothing is ever free.

Salvation is a free gift, no strings attached.

Quote: FrGamble

You are absolutely wrong here. The NT was completely loooong before the 300s. .

Wow, I'm really not getting into this again.
Much of it was written 2-300 years after
Jesus died. Even some of the faked letters
of Paul. Only half the letters attributed
to Paul were written by him, remember.

Quote: FrGamble

Salvation is a free gift, no strings attached.

No no no, you can't backtrack. You said:

'The strings? Just accept the love of Christ and strive to love and respect others..'

Striving to love and respect others
are the strings. And believing Jesus
died for your 'sins' (whatever that
means) and accepting Jesus as
your savior (another ambiguous
concept). You have to accept all
these strings if you want to be
'saved' from the thing the god
created for you to be saved from.

It's all very complicated and hurts
your head if thought about too much.

Quote: Evenbob

Wow, I'm really not getting into this again.
Much of it was written 2-300 years after
Jesus died.

Literally every respected NT scholar disagrees with you on this.

Quote: Evenbob

Striving to love and respect others
are the strings.

Okay, I guess I don't really look at these as "strings".

Quote:

And believing Jesus
died for your 'sins' (whatever that
means)

It means the Jesus frees you from the guilt and shame that come along with our mistakes, reminds you that you are loved, forgiven, and that your mistakes don't define who you are.

Quote:

and accepting Jesus as
your savior (another ambiguous
concept).

It is fairly obvious that we need help, we need a savior. We can't even follow our own moral code that we want to follow. We all do things we wish we wouldn't and fail to do things we wish we could.