Along the same lines...I had written this last night, but then chose not to post it, and thus just saved it to a text document unless I changed my mind.
Beryllin wrote:
at least I am quoting the actual Scriptures,
That's what Diamondeye is doing. That's what Khross has done. That's what Stathol has done. That's what others have done in the past, and I'm sure still others will do in the future.
You have as much agenda in your interpretation of the Scriptures as those you're railing against; more, in fact, from my perspective. The only difference is that you've the hubris to claim that without question, what
you believe the Scriptures to mean
is God's intent. What you fail to take into acknowledge is that
everyone who reads the Scriptures feels the same way. But you then use that presumption (and it is, I feel, a rather presumptuous presumption) as a cudgel to beat everyone who disagrees with you about the head and shoulders, while you self-righteously claim that you alone have the true meaning of the words of the Lord.
As frustrated as your words have made me in the past, I don't mean this as insult or belittlement. What I'm trying to get you to understand is that by
any quantifiable measure, your interpretation is no less
or more valid than anyone else's, and accordingly, taking this pious route serves no one, least of all God. God alone knows the myriad nuances of His words, and while I'm sure those who make it to Heaven will find out one day, one's arrogant claims of having the sole meaning strikes me as being, as I said, presumptuous in being so bold as to claim that one alone knows the exact heart of God.
My thoughts. That's all these are. But I urge you to consider that what you are saying are
your thoughts, based on God's words,
not God's thoughts. There are reasons for the differing denominations; some, granted, are borne of poor choices of leadership, but most have at their root a fundamental disagreement about the meaning of certain Scripture.
I've been around here long enough to expect your response, as I predicted your response to Diamondeye's previous post. But still I urge you to stop expecting others to put so much stock in
your opinion.