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Originally posted by Dusky Beauty

I hate posting two posts in a row, but my Q & A stuff is so different from my testimony post that it is deserving of a separate post ID.

Bibles: Like others have said, there as SO many versions. I use a women's study bible NIV because it has lots of little side stories and facts nestled in there that are useful for a fuller understanding of what is going on in a passage. That's just my main one I like. There's all kinds of different study bibles... teen bibles, men's bibles, historical study bibles ... the added information is just meant to help you understand better what is already there.

I recommend plain language translations like New King James or New Century Version. "The Message Bible" is fun for cross reference. It elaborates and colors a passage with more words to help give you the full picture of what a verse is trying to say, but it is confusing as a stand alone bible.
Example:
Jeremiah 29:11-13
New International Version (NIV)
11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

The Message
"I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for. 12"When you call on me, when you come and pray to me, I'll listen. 13-14"When you come looking for me, you'll find me. "Yes, when you get serious about finding me and want it more than anything else, I'll make sure you won't be disappointed." God's Decree. "I'll turn things around for you. I'll bring you back from all the countries into which I drove you"—God's Decree—"bring you home to the place from which I sent you off into exile. You can count on it.

It's longer, but it breaks down the verse and re-tells it in a big impact kind of way. Again, I recommend it for cross referencing only, it's very flowery and elaborates on an english translation.

Your main source of scripture should always be a translation that comes directly from the original greek manuscripts. Re-translation from the original sources is what has kept the bible pure for thousands of years, and that legacy needs to be protected.

You can read a good explanation of bible types here: http://www.swapmeetdave.com/Bible/BibleType.htm

A catholic bible is the same, but with "bonus" religious books in the back. They were added during the reformation to provide more support in catholic beliefs. I have never read them (should though, just haven't gotten around to it.) I can't vouch as to what they are about or what they add.

Avoid the LDS bible that they give away on TV, it's heavily edited to not conflict with The Book of Mormon. (Some people might say there's some kind of an agenda there...)

I also recommend a piece of fiction by CS Lewis, "The Great Divorce." It's not about married people. You can find it on Amazon for less than 6$.

Faith Healing:
I am suspicious of faith healers. It is one thing to pray for someone to get well and place the worry for the matter in God's hands and hope they do get well. (And people often do just that, and many do get well.)
It's another thing to say that a person can only be healed by a faith healer, and that you're disobeying or disrespecting God by seeing doctors or taking medicine or undergoing treatment. Obviously God had a part in those treatments developing! For goodness sake, allow him to use those methods to answer your prayers!
I'm even more upset by someone who runs a "faith healing ministry" and solicits heavy donations- usually on TV. That's a clear cut con.

Faith healing is something that persists because when Christianity was just getting started in Rome, Paul and other Church leaders had heavy help from The Holy Spirit and did a whole lot of faith healing. That was a pagan culture of people crying out for something different and real. Miracles got attention.
Today miracles happen all of the time and no one ever takes great notice. Real Faith Healing is a lot less common now, but then if it's real and it happened to you or through you, you wouldn't brag on it.

It would be limited to: "WOW! see this amazing thing God did right in front of me!!!"
Not: "I do this. I'm special because I can do it."

Unitarians:
"Unitarians adhere to strict monotheism, and maintain that Jesus was a great man and a prophet of God, perhaps even a supernatural being, but not God himself.[23] They believe Jesus did not claim to be God, and that his teachings did not suggest the existence of a triune God. Unitarians believe in the moral authority, but not necessarily the divinity of Jesus. Their theology is thus opposed to the trinitarian theology of other Christian denominations." -wikipedia

Basically, Unitarians are not part of the Christian club because they deny what the Bible says Jesus is.
They like the ideas behind Christianity, but they don't like the idea of Jesus being God (the reasons for that is up to each individual.) They seem to believe that reason and science cannot coexist with that concept of Jesus, so they got rid of it.




"The greatness of a nation and it's moral progress can be judged by the way it's animals are treated." ~Gandhi
http://silvermoonfarm.blogspot.com/
"After eating an entire bull, a mountain lion felt so good he started roaring. He kept it up until a hunter came along and shot him. The moral: When you're full of bull, keep your mouth shut.” ~Will Rogers

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