1 Timothy 4:7 But refuse profane and old-womanish tales, and exercise yourself to godliness.
I saw an inspirational story posted on a Christian forum that talked about a soldier hiding from the enemy in World War II. This soldier took refuge in a cave. He prayed to God and was hidden by a spider web.
This seems like a nice story, but it turns out to be a story from another religion, from their religious texts. That troubled me. To see a mythological event from a false religion find its way into the culture of English speaking Christians. Can a Christian find morality within a false religion? I don’t think one can. All other religions, if they have morals, are a pale shadow of Christ’s way, and those other religions lead to eternal death. Why bother getting moral stories from false religions when we have the perfect and true religion of following Jesus?
As the bible tells us, 1 Timothy 1:4 nor to give heed to fables and endless genealogies (which provide doubts rather than the nurture of God in faith). We should instead keep our eye on the Lord. To do as it says in Philippians 4:8-9 Finally, my brothers, whatever things are true, whatever things are honest, whatever things are right, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report; if there is any virtue and if there is any praise, think on these things. Do those things which you have also learned and received and heard and seen in me. And the God of peace shall be with you.
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July 10th, 2008 at 3:31 pm
you are right and it is really obvious with the advertising media. to make products sell they attatch godlike powers to products e.g there is a car advert where the car turns into a skating robot and lots of animated ones where objects talk and behave like humans including animals. These show how much humans prefer lies to the truth.
July 16th, 2008 at 3:07 pm
As an optimist may I provide yet another perspective on this subject. The Bible tells us that the Lord Himself uses “things which are not to bring to naught the things which are.” Consider for a moment a young man born into a non Christian home. His science teacher tells him God is dead. His philosophy teacher tells him there is no such thing as God. This kid has zero interest in the Bible. How do we reach him? Or should we just abandon such leaving them to perish in ignorance? Of course you wouldn’t. As Christians we believe not only in a God who died for our sins, but in a God who lives for us, who rose the third day and is our Advocate with the Father. Another name for Christ is ‘the source’. Those who have found the living Christ and tasted of His love have the responsibility to convey it to the rest of God’s children any way they can. Not to place fables and myths on the same level as holy scripture by any means, but the fact is the Living God is the source of all truth. The Bible,the scriptures, are not the source of all truth, but are divine manifestations of that source, they are manifestations of the true and living God, whom you and I have the privilege of worshiping. Using myths, storytelling, fiction, fairy tales, and even comic books to teach people the truth in order to bring to naught the ‘fables’ prescribed by scientists and philosophers, which are so prevalent in today’s society is not only not wrong, but is a method prescribed by God himself, teaching ‘according to their understanding, line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little, and there a little’ until we all come to a unity of the faith. Such a teaching method is good and ‘worthy of all acceptation.’ Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m a God-loving Mormon who loves the truth whatever its source. Closing our eyes to other religions and cultures is like walking around with one eye open. I think it is good for Christians to remember the words of the Master, that ‘the head must not say unto the feet it hath no need of the feet, for without the feet, how shall the body be able to stand?’ At least that’s the way I understand it.
July 18th, 2008 at 6:58 am
In summary the discussion is asking whether it is right to use fiction, fairy tales and comic books to teach people the truth particularly christian faith.We know in English language the person who tells lie is simply a liar. We have three kinds of wisdom namely human wisdom, devilish wisdom and divine wisdom.Borrowing devilish wisdom to make a point is a way of making lies as a way of life.We have a lot of examples in the bible to cover every kind of illustration. Lies is a language of Satan right from the beginning. The genesis of sin started from lies Satan sold to our parents (Adam and Eve) you can read the story from the Book of life in Genesis.
We should not promote lies in order to make a point in christian teaching. We have enough examples in the Bible.
July 22nd, 2008 at 7:13 am
Joshua wrote:
Another name for Christ is ‘the source’.
Jade responds:
Actually the source is a pagan term for a god. It comes from buddhism, wicca, and other pagan religions that lead to eternal death. The source is not another name for Christ. There is only one way to God, through Jesus, and not through alternative ways. Your comment illustrates the danger in using fables or other religions to try and show our Lord. You end up covering up how He alone is the way to God. He alone is the way to be forgiven of sins. Which brings us to the next point.
Joshua wrote:
Using myths, storytelling, fiction, fairy tales, and even comic books to teach people the truth in order to bring to naught the ‘fables’ prescribed by scientists and philosophers, which are so prevalent in today’s society is not only not wrong, but is a method prescribed by God himself
Jade responds:
Ive yet to see a verse in the bible which tells us to use fables to bring the gospel to people. In fact, in my original blog post, I showed verses that tell us to abstain from fables. That corrupts and weakens His truth.
Joshua wrote:
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m a God-loving Mormon who loves the truth whatever its source.
Jade responds:
Joshua, I ache for you. The truth about Jesus is in the bible, not in the mormon religion. Joseph Smith is a false prophet. The doctrines of the mormon church are a different gospel, one the bible clearly warns against in Galatians 1:8. If you compare what your church believes with what the bible tells us, you will see they do not line up. If you wish a private discussion about this Joshua, you can contact me at worthychat@gmail.com and I will respond to you. If anyone wishes to email me at that address, for whatever reason, I would be more than happy to respond to any concerns.