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Old 07-10-2013, 02:28 PM   #43
Krystal Locke
Location: Phoenix, Oregon
Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 407
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Re: Religion....No Competition.

Those misguided practices came directly from scripture. Which interpretation is right? Which practice is true? Is truth absolute? Does truth matter? How can truth be ascertained?

Now, O-Sensei said what? In what language, in what society at which point in its history? Is his word truth or is his practice truth? Must we be exactly like him, must we copy his path, or must we do something else? Can we pull any of that off, if necessary?

Quote:
Ewen Ebsworth wrote: View Post
Absolutely, I would agree there were some incredulous superstitions perpetuated by Catholicism in the Middle Ages and in some denominations today. However, the tradition of buying sacred relics purported to have efficacious qualities was put to an end through the Reformation in Protestant countries that adopted the religious reforms. The Reformers understood that the Bible was a higher authority than the traditions of the Catholic Church and purged practices that did not conform to Scripture. The Catholicism of the Middle Ages was not true Christianity.

As for the snake handling, the irony of their misguided practice is that the particular part of Scripture they appeal to in defence of their practice is not even considered canonical. The passage comes from Mark 16:18 about handling serpents and drinking deadly poison but the earliest manuscripts of Mark's Gospel do not include chapter 16:9-20, which means most Christians now only recognize Mark 16:1-8 as being canonical. It is widely accepted that verses 9-20 were added later and not originally written by the author of Mark's Gospel.

I don't deny that Christianity has its fair share of misguided practises but these practises when scrutinised by the authority of Scripture are shown to be fraudulent and worthy of rejection.
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