Religion...

[ShowMeKC]

Matthew:
And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"
Some of those who stood there, when they heard that, said, "This Man is calling for Elijah!" Immediately one of them ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink. The rest said, "Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to save Him."

"Jesus prays Psalm 21, which fortold the very details of the Crucifixion. Taken without the rest of the psalm, His cry of "Why have You forsaken me?" could be misinterpreted as a cry of despair. Since He took on our nature, Jesus experiences our alienation from God in His humanity, knowing our suffering and distress, yet He does not despair. He speaks these words in the name of humanity, completely identifying with us in our condition, for in His divinity, He is never forsaken by the Father."

Psalm 21 (22)
For the End; concerning help in the morning; a psalm by David.
O God, my God, hear me; why have you forsaken me?
The words of my transgressions are far from my salvation.
O my God, I will cry out by day, but You will not hear me;
And by night, but not for a lack of understanding in me.
But You dwell among the saints, O praise of Israel.
Our fathers hoped in You;
They hoped in You, and You delivered them.
They cried out to You and were saved;
They hoped in You and were not ashamed.
But I am a worm, and not a man;
A reproach of man and despised by the people.
All who see me mock me;
They speak with their lips and shake their head,
Saying, "He hoped in the Lord, let Him rescue him;
Let Him save him since He delights in him."
For you are He who drew me from the womb,
My hope from my mother's breasts;
I was cast upon You from the womb,
From my mother's womb You are my God.
Do not stand off from me, for affliction is near;
There is no one to help.
Many young bulls surrounded me;
Fat bulls encircled me.
They opened their mouths against me
Like a raging and roaring lion.
I am poured out like water,
And all my bones are shattered;
My heart is like wax, melting into my stomach.
My strength is dried up like an earthen vessel;
My tongue cleaves to my throat;
And you led me into the dust of death.
For many dogs surrounded me;
An assembly of Evildoers enclosed me;
Their pierced my hands and my feet.
I numbered all my bones,
And they look and stare at me.
They divided my garments among themselves,
And for my clothing they cast lots.
But You, O Lord, do not remove Your help from me;
Attend to my aid.
Deliver my soul from the sword
And my only-begotten from the hand of the dog;
Save me from the lion's mouth,
My humiliation from the horns of unicorns.
I will declare Your name to my brethren;
In the midst of the church I will sing to You.
You who fear the Lord, praise Him.
All you seed of Jacob, glorify Him;
Fear Him, all you seed of Israel.
For He has not despised nor scorned the beggar's supplication,
Nor has He turned away his face from me;
And when I cried out to Him, He heard me.
My praise is from You in the great church;
I will pay my vows before those who fear Him.
The poor shall eat and be well-filled,
And those who seek Him will praise the Lord;
Their hears will live unto ages of ages.
All the ends of the world shall remember and turn to the Lord;
And all families of the Gentiles shall worship before You,
For the kingdom is the Lord's;
And he is the Master of the Gentiles.
All the prosperous of the earth ate and worshiped;
All going down into the earth shall bow down before Him,
And my soul lives with Him.
And my seed shall serve Him;
The coming generation shall be told of the Lord,
And they will declare his reighteousness
To a people who will be born, because the Lord made them.

That Psalm speaks in the first verse about the Resurrection "in the morning". Then about the Crucifixion. Then it speaks about the Church and the coming of the Gentiles into to the Church.

From the Orthodox Study Bible.

[mean]

Can you post a link to extended Bible verses next time you want to share? Thanks.

[aknowledgeableperson]

Try bible.com.  That is in the public domain if correct.  It includes many versions of the book in many languages.

[ShowMeKC]

Sorry but I can't, because most Bible resources online are of the Masoretic (7th-10th Centuries AD) text for the Old Testament and are not based on the Septuagint (3rd to 1st Centuries BC).
The Septuagint is the oldest and was used by both Jews and Christians in the first century (and before then). Whereas the Masoretic was a retranslation back into Hebrew by the Jewish Masoretes in the seventh to tenth centuries.

[mean]

Alright, if you say so. Just be aware that if it gets out of hand someone will probably delete it. I think there are very few people who want to read 5 or 6 pages of verbatim Bible verses on a message board. I imagine those who wish to read the Bible will pick up a hard copy.

[KCKev]

Are we losing our religion? This thread just died! Must be time for the second coming.

[ignatius]

Bible thumpin quoters = threadkill

[Jess]

Yeah, it went from being an fairly interesting thread about perspectives to a theological pissing contest.

[nota]

Yeah, it went from being an fairly interesting thread about perspectives to a theological pissing contest.

Exactly right. I checked out of this one several days ago.

Credit goes for it being relatively civil though boring when the focus changed.

[mean]

Bible thumpin quoters = threadkill

I agree, but I didn't want to delete that stuff. I didn't want to appear to be the mean atheist unfairly censoring the theological discussion.

[ignatius]

Where does everyone want the thread to go?  I could challenge faith and promote reason some more if you'd like.  That's pretty much my purpose in participating in this thread.

[Maitre D]

Where does everyone want the thread to go?  I could challenge faith and promote reason some more if you'd like.  That's pretty much my purpose in participating in this thread.

Please do!  I'm excited to learn that which you have to teach.

[KCMax]

Where does everyone want the thread to go? 

Wherever God leads it.

[ignatius]

Wherever God leads it.

Let go of the steering wheel next time you get on the freeway and let your god lead you.

[KCKev]

Where does everyone want the thread to go?  I could challenge faith and promote reason some more if you'd like.  That's pretty much my purpose in participating in this thread.

I just find it fascinating to hear the different interpretations of the Gospel. I myself don't really need it interrpited for me, but I do like to see what the teachings of religion has imprinted in the minds of Man.

[nota]

Where does everyone want the thread to go?  I could challenge faith and promote reason some more if you'd like.  That's pretty much my purpose in participating in this thread.

I vote that we get the OP to say where he wants it to go. But basically I've got my beliefs that I've arrived at over my lifetime, they've served me well, they are what they are and I don't need anyone else's interpretation or challenges. But anyone else is free to say what they wish.

[Jess]

Where does everyone want the thread to go?

Personally, where it started, with what was asked for by the OP. Sharing personal standpoints and experiences vs endless pontificating and proselytizing.

[AJoD]

Evolutionists Flock to Darwin-Shaped Wall Stain

"Forgive me, O Charles, for ever doubting your Divine Evolution. After seeing this miracle of limestone pigmentation with my own eyes, my faith in empirical reasoning will never again be tested."

Added Freiberg, "Behold the power and glory of the scientific method!"

...

"Over millions of successive generations, a specific subvariant of one species of slime mold adapted to this particular concrete wall, in order to one day form this stain, and thus make manifest this vision of Darwin's glorious countenance," Cosgrove said, overcome with emotion.

"It's a miracle," she added.

[mean]

I almost pasted that link. The Onion is awesome.

[warwickland]

I don't care for organized religion, and mostly consider it a spectacular failure, particularly Christianity and Islam. However, I see too many repeating patterns and coincidences, horrible and beautiful things to be so conceded as to proclaim myself an atheist.