The Pharaoh, Exodus, God, and the Meme that started an argument

[Dill]

(10-15-2016, 07:54 PM)Matt_Crimson Wrote: I think you're missing my point. I'm not saying the bible doesn't tell you how to get to heaven. I'm saying that because the bible is not a step by step guide of what you must do to get to heaven, it leaves room to interpretation, which in turn leads to all of the different beliefs people have because people think differently.

The bible mentions multiple times that you must "do God's will" but what does that even mean? These are the questions people ask themselves when reading the Bible and everyone comes to their own conclusion as to what it all means. It is not a step by step "Do this and this and this and viola, you're in heaven".

I am not a Christian, but I can tell you what "do [the Christian] God's will" means. It means follow the 10 commandments--plus turn the other cheek, suffer the children, help the poor, render under to Caesar, be a good Samaritan, cast not the first stone, and above all, recognize that Jesus is the son of god.

Follow those steps and, according to almost every major Christian denomination, you will get to heaven.  The exception might be those strains of Calvinist Christianity which define predestination as unconditional election.

Sure, the meanings/definitions of the steps change over time. For rich 16th-century protestants, the "eye of the needle" was narrow gate in Jerusalem which a loaded camel could get through if (through tithing) one removes side baggage. For contemporary protestants, the Sermon on the Mount does not translate into economic policy or penal code the way it did in 13th-century Europe.

Meaning is never essential always contextual, always changing, even when seemingly anchored in the "literal" meaning of texts. But it is clear, nevertheless, that the New Testament presents steps to heaven and promises salvation to those who follow them, whether the meaning of those steps changes over time or is subject to dispute/confusion.