> (Christ-Ian 3/31) Dave, I am speaking of the five books of Moses. I have
> studied them
> very thoroughly and I have found nothing that I would term 'good' in any of
> these five
> books. Instead I have found an angry, egotistical , insane god. There are no
> family
> values (at least not my family values) in any of these books. There may be
> biblical
> values but if there are, they stink pretty bad.
>
> There may be some 'good' things in the bible but I have not arrived at them
> as yet. In
> so far as defining 'good', I can't do that from these five books. It does
> not exist.
> Therefore, it is up to you to tell me what you define as 'good' or what
> family values
> are in these five books.
>
> (DAVE 3/31 LATER) Ian: You state "I have found nothing...'good'...". when
> asked to define "good", you state "In so far as defining 'good', I can't do
> that from these five books". What does this mean? You have already
> concluded there is nothing "good" - so you MUST have a prefabricated
> definition of "good" before you started - a frame of reference if you will.
>
> That's like me saying "Ian, it's not there" - when you ask what I'm looking
> for, I say "I can't tell you cause I haven't found it". So, how do I know
> it's "not there"?
>
> You are avoiding the issue Ian. How can you conclude there is no "good" in
> these books, if you don't even know what "good" is?
>
> Regards.
>
> Dave.(Christ-Ian 3/31) O.K. Dave. Let's call 'good' love., honesty, mercy
and fidelity
to start with. I understand you not being able to define it, after all, you
happen
to be a Christian. Frankly, I'm a little tired of your evasiveness and I'm
ready to
snip this.
(DAVE 4/4) Ian: You're only ready to snip it, because you know that your
question makes no real sense if you can't define "good".
You have used words I guess that appeal to you as the definition - so be it.
If I asked Jeffrey Dahmer what "good" was, what would be his answer do you
think? Same things?
My point is that "good" can be a different definition for you, for me, or
for Jeffrey Dahmer.
Assuming that we can agree on what Jeffrey Dahmer might answer is "good",
and that it is quite different from what you have said above, who is then
right in defining "good" - you or Jeffrey? Whose definition should we use
in application to your question above?
Once you answer this, I think we can move on to your question.
Regards.
Dave.
"Often the people who are the most difficult to reach with the Gospel of
Jesus Christ are people who attend church. You see, it is similar to a
vaccination. When we go to foreign countries, we are vaccinated for cholera
or other diseases, and that vaccination gives us a little bit of the
disease, but just enough to keep us from getting real diseases. We can have
a little bit of religion too, just enough to keep us from getting the real
thing."
- Billy Graham