[orgaelin]

Originally posted by LDS, Joseph Smith Translations help with that.

They help YOU. They're only helpful if you believe in them. If you are a scholar looking for objective explanations, JS is just another apologist.

No, no different, only different in your mind.

Trust me, black and pink and very different. It's not just in my mind.

You could not dwell with a perfect and just god under a consciousness of your own guilt, it would be better for you to dwell with the damned souls in hell.

So you're saying that if I was somehow able to look at things objectively and honestly enough, I would see that, given a choice, I would PREFER to live in hell and suffering instead of feel guilty whilst living in God's paradise?

Do you have even a basic understanding of psychology?!

Dont you see why it is so necessary that we heed our gods commands?

Yes I do: if we don't, we suffer hell for eternity.

How could god do anything when we refused to let him do anything during that time(dark ages)?

You forget; the Catholics were acting on god's behalf, just like the bible was written on god's behalf, i.e. it was god's will.

And the dark ages weren't so dark. The only reason they are called dark is because there is little record of what happened during those years. This is because the church burned a lot of it, and because they actively discouraged any form of learning that wasn't directly from the preacher's mouth.

God was more present in the dark ages than ever. The dark ages were god's golden age of man, when no-one dared to question him, no-one sought truths other than him, and his representatives on earth were in total control of everyone... oh and he got to have a few millions witches killed too!

There is proof, great proof. It does require sacrifice and faith to recieve that proof, but proof there is.

The whole 'blind faith' thing is a missinterpretation. Faith really is a requirement for seeing beyond the scientific world - you really do have to believe before you see certain things. I think that's what the bible authors may have had in mind, but the message has been twisted. God doesn't demand faith or you'll suffer... it's just that without faith you'll never know him. That's just the way it is.

Now I'm going to watch Queer Eye!