also as far as the works thing goes my view on that is pretty well summed up in Matthew 25 (Parable of the Virgins, Parable of the Talents, and The Judgment of Nations)

In brief I believe that Ones salvation is entirely at God's descretion. However faith without works isn't true faith. So while I agree that God says that to path to salvation lies in faith, I also believe that doing the works of God are an integral part of faith in him.

sounds like youve got a pretty good handle on the bible. faith without works is dead, to be sure.

Not as great as you might think, But works being a part of faith is a very large part of my belief system.

from what i remember, people who emphasize works more tend to quote the book of james more, while people who emphasize faith more tend to quote ephesians. i say we should consult rowdy, who is the authority on all things bible.

Honestly I kinda get pissed off with all this bible quoting. If we would all spend more time living what we believe, and less time arguing about it. I bet we would all be better off and happier.

I'm being hypocritical though.

my personal first commandment of new testament... (there are no ten commandments of the new testament, i just use that term as a way to express my personal opinions, which may or may not be heretical)... is "thou shalt not front." i.e. dont just be a facade of right answers while disguising a disgusting life.

ofc at the same time, ive unloaded a bazillion hours of my life on kdice, while only appearing to have unloaded roughly 100. so i join you in that hypocrisy stance. fml, lol

ya, i have no problem with any religion.

you two seem nice enough. i just have a problem when a religion decides to push to legislate their theology and we end up with "morality" laws.

btw dete can we just get a hotel room tonight? cus this thread has turned into dete/monte jizzfest. happy, you bring the video camera.

My view is that religion should be offered openly, but never forced. You can't tell somebody what to believe or make them believe it. That is something that needs to come from within.

As far as morality laws go. There are a few that I support whole heartedly and will always support. For example part of my religion is that God calls us all into being. Therefore i see an unborn fetus as a separate organism from its mother. So I feel like i must support anti abortion laws.

I would be happy with consistency on the part of the government. I can't recall the case but a man murdered a pregnant woman and the unborn fetus was also lost. He was tried and convicted of 2 murders. So the law recognizes the fetus as a separate entity. But for some reason when a mother wishes to abort her fetus it is no longer a separate entity. This does not make sense to me. Also you can get jail time for disturbing the egg of a bald eagle. Again the government recognizes the fetus as being a separate organism.

I hate double standards.

anyway lets not turn this into an abortion discussion those get nowhere extremely fast.

ok monte you come to Oregon and bring the lube and wine. I'll get the room.