Oh man I agree wholeheartedly with most of what you say. My own take is a little different on a couple of points, but not the main ones you make.

I’d still like to discuss some of these Bible inconsistency issues with you, in part for my own benefit. I don’t ever think about those things. It’s not an issue for me.

What did you think about my explanation for the apparent problem in Luke regarding Cyrenius? Is the “gap” in the record of govenors true? Are the alternate translations of the word “proto” accurate? Either would explain the apparent “inconsistency” and render it null.

Here’s the rub. I’m depending on “experts.” I’m not a Greek scholar or Roman historian. MT could probably come up with his own experts to contradict my experts. I don’t really know if the record has a gap in it. I’ve never examined it. Have you?

But I can understand a Gr. lexicon, and being bilingual, (tri- if you count the heavenly language) I know something about translation. So that argument is plausible and doesn’t require conjecture into the unknown.

Now, if the heart and meat of the issue is about the spirit of man (which I agree with), aren’t we back to the realm of subjectivity and experience? I mean, spiritual quantities are largely if not totaly, personal and experiential. Granted, you’ve set some parameters for choosing which parts of the Bible you wish to embrace in what you call “The Teachings of Jesus.” (I love those passages too.) But what about all the other “teachings of Jesus” that you cull out or ignore? I like where you’re going, but when you get down to the bottom line and say, “I believe that the creator put in each of us the ability to know right and wrong” or that we are “inherently good” do you have proof for those convictions or are they just subjective? And if they’re subjective, aren’t they just as useless or useful as what WOFers believe? (Of course you’re not abusive and intolerant, which is a MAJOR distinction. I don’t want to overlook that.)

I’m busy sanding / varnishing a hardwood floor today and tomorrow so I may not get back here to check for a while.

Novato