Deborah, Elder John

>You had asked why we didn't cut off our members. Then you put up Mark 9. I want to ask you, Jesus is called a Door in Scripture, do you beleive this to be literal? Do you view Jesus as a door?
>look to the times and people Jesus was addressing. it might help you

Amen! Finally you admit that we can't read the bible literally!
Well, that's all I have to say. That's my point in this whole argument. Nothing else.
Jesus talks a lot in parables. About the good tree that produce only good fruit, about the labourers that was paid the same wages, about "coming out of her," about after the earthly comes the heavenly, about "ye need not that any man teach you" and many more.
And if you can't read Mark 9 literally, then we also can't read the other verse literally, especially the parables.

>Naru, your dislike of the BIble worries me
You seemed bothered by the fact that us Protestants quote the Bible so much...Why is this?

Budge2, it may seem to you that I dislike the bible but I don't dislike the bible at all and I believe that it is from God. What I don't like in here is interpreting the bible literally and using it word by word to make your argument. We have to take a look at the context, the history, the people, the time and everything. I have no problem with the bible itself.

I hope you understand what I am saying here and no longer read the bible literally. I talked to my priest yesterday and he said that many people including the Catholics read the bible literally on the verses that they're comfortible with and doesn't want to read it literally on the verses that they don't like.

It was a good bible sharing yesterday and I learned about what Jesus said:

Luke 6:20 - And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God.

Does Jesus really meant for us to be poor, to suffer, to be homeless, to be starving? By any means, No!
Jesus wants us to be happy.
The point in this verse is that we have to be like the poor in spirit. The poor recognizes how helpless they are, and therefore, they should always ask for God's help. The poor in the streets often don't have any possession and only care of what to eat today. Therefore, we should be like the poor and not caring or relying too much on our material possessions, rather, we have to always rely on God.

As for Mark 9:38-50

The same concept applied here. Of course Jesus doesn't really mean for us to really cut off our hands, feet, eyes if they do sin. What Jesus meant in here is that you have to cut your attachment to the material possessions because these material possession often lead you to sins. And the reason why Jesus sounds so hard and harsh is because He knows that it will be His last time preaching to the people in that place because He won't be coming back. It's at the end of the rope. He's asking the last call, whether the people is WITH Him or NOT WITH Him! That's why He has to be hard at the time.

Loose Nut, I admit that I may take some pride in asking this unanswered question over and over again. For that pride, I am sorry for all people in here but I feel that it is necessary for all of us to understand that we can't read the bible literally.

I hope my bible sharing helps and please don't read the verses from the bible literally. My priest told me that the only thing He was sure of that can be read literally from the bible is LOVE. Other than that, he can't be sure if any of the verses can be read literally because the meaning in each sentence and word is very deep.

Thanks. Please forgive my rudeness and pride on this forum.