Is it "the law of God" or is it merely the best chance of survival for our genes? I'm not saying there is no such thing as good and evil, but I do not believe these exist outside of one's self. I have studied the bible very in-depth and have been deep inside an organized religion in my youth and into my early 20s. Got really into translating the original Hebrew and Greek and taking original meanings of scripture... when done this way what can be seen is much more self-accountability. For just one example, there is no supernatural Satan in the old testament and every single use of it comes from a Hebrew word meaning "adversary" - and taken in that context it greatly changes much in the bible in general. I'm not discounting some life lessons one can learn from the bible, but its divine nature I do not agree with. As an atheist I fully believe someone has it in them to do good and to do fairly to others just as much as they have the ability to do evil and to harm others. I think living one's life as true to yourself as possible can be achieved sans-scripture.
Having studied the original languages you know there are 3 words that are translated "life." There are bios (biological life), psuche (psychological life), and zoe (God's eternal uncreated life). God is life (zoe), Christ came to remove the barrier so that God as life (zoe) can come into us as life (zoe). Otherwise, you live your life (bios & psuche), whether good or evil, and then you die.
Although I don't believe in this, I do completely appreciate the angle... its been 30 years since I dove into scripture that deeply. However, regardless of the old meanings and the new translations they don't really do it for me anymore. I would never seek to deprive anyone of their faith, but at the same time have my own thoughts absent God and it took me half a lifetime to get here.
Is it "the law of God" or is it merely the best chance of survival for our genes? I'm not saying there is no such thing as good and evil, but I do not believe these exist outside of one's self. I have studied the bible very in-depth and have been deep inside an organized religion in my youth and into my early 20s. Got really into translating the original Hebrew and Greek and taking original meanings of scripture... when done this way what can be seen is much more self-accountability. For just one example, there is no supernatural Satan in the old testament and every single use of it comes from a Hebrew word meaning "adversary" - and taken in that context it greatly changes much in the bible in general. I'm not discounting some life lessons one can learn from the bible, but its divine nature I do not agree with. As an atheist I fully believe someone has it in them to do good and to do fairly to others just as much as they have the ability to do evil and to harm others. I think living one's life as true to yourself as possible can be achieved sans-scripture.
Having studied the original languages you know there are 3 words that are translated "life." There are bios (biological life), psuche (psychological life), and zoe (God's eternal uncreated life). God is life (zoe), Christ came to remove the barrier so that God as life (zoe) can come into us as life (zoe). Otherwise, you live your life (bios & psuche), whether good or evil, and then you die.
Although I don't believe in this, I do completely appreciate the angle... its been 30 years since I dove into scripture that deeply. However, regardless of the old meanings and the new translations they don't really do it for me anymore. I would never seek to deprive anyone of their faith, but at the same time have my own thoughts absent God and it took me half a lifetime to get here.