Having been in several churches I have seen most of the teaching down
from the pulpit.

I believe this to be false.

The word should be given by one from the same level or slightly raised
from the congregation that all may see. Never from the pulpit of a
lawgiver but from the chair of a friend.

excellent

You are speaking physically raised as in height of the pulpit?

No.

There is nothing wrong with being raised slightly from the congregation.

But to speak from behind the pulpit places one in the position of a
lawgiver or judge. Not a friend giving a lesson on the beauty they see
but a judge giving the shut door of the law.

Ok I understand. I don't believe it should be as law giver or judge. I
would say friend sharing the Word.

See the key word is "teach"

Professors and instructors teach from behind a pulpit so to speak, to me
a minister is a teacher, so the pulpit fits.

What if the person speaking wants a place to put a glass of water or a
bible or notes for the sermon? I have been to churches with a pulpit
and I have seen the pastor walk around with a mic. Either way, it's the
message and the spirit of the person who is delivering it that is
important.

Exactly Spider!

I see no problem with the physical arrangement. What I have a problem
with is what’s being taught.

I would love to teach the message of Jesus. In fact at one time in my
life I was actually seriously considering becoming a preacher. I was
very active in the Christian church and bible study.

I won’t go into the whole story, but it eventually became clear to me
that much of the dogma of Bible couldn’t possible be true. I also
didn’t buy into the idea that Jesus was a sacrificial lamb sent by God
to save humanity from sin.

It became clear to me that I would not be able to teach the lessons of
Jesus in his name because of all the other dogmatic baggage that had
been dragged into that.

It’s quite unfortunate. I believe that I would have made a wonderful
preacher of love and peace. But there was no way I was going to become
a salesman for free tickets into heaven. To me, that’s a gross
distortion of the message and totally detracts from its meaning.

So I had no choice but to forfeit the whole idea altogether. What a
shame.

debate the scriptues and decide what is just and holy and right.
Getting rid of all malious that the word of Yahweh may prevail. Getting
rid of foolish notions and holding fast to the word of Yahweh. miles

Abracadabra.... what a shame that you cannot open your eyes to see what
Jesus did for you, the ultimate sacrifice!

I consider myself blessed beyond measure that I can call upon Jesus
whenever necessary and He is always there for me... I know for a fact
that He is the only reason I am still here today and have made it
through the wilderness so to speak...

This is what I was getting at.

Spider you are well versed in the scriptures. I ask of you a moment of
your time.

IF I am right and one should not use the pulpit you could find such a
point in your Holy Book much faster than I. (if I am wrong you could
find that also).

See if you can find such a statement.

I believe it to be there. I have faith that it is there.

AB here are some references in Exodus:

Exodus.20

[25] And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it
of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted
it.
[26] Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar, that thy
nakedness be not discovered thereon.

But people will worm their way out of this one too by claiming that this
only applied to Moses at that time etc., etc., etc.

They always turn everything around to whatever is convenient for them to
believe.

rozey wrote:
“Abracadabra.... what a shame that you cannot open your eyes to see what
Jesus did for you, the ultimate sacrifice!”

On the contrary rozey, I accept Jesus more than the Christians do. I
accept him as a man.

Most Christians I know say that they would denounce Jesus as a liar and
a fraud if they discovered the he was just a man.

Abracadabra,

You reject the Bible. You reject that Jesus was God. How do you know
anything about Jesus? He was mentioned by various historians, but
nothing he taught was.

Perhaps like me spider he accepts Christ as Christ without all the
trappings which man has placed upon him.

He is, I accept him because he is, what more is needed than that?

AdventureBegins,

If you don't accept the Bible, then all you have to go on is that he
died a thiefs death. How does that make someone special?

Spider wrote:
“You reject the Bible. You reject that Jesus was God. How do you know
anything about Jesus? He was mentioned by various historians, but
nothing he taught was.”

I’m 57 years old Spider. I had a life.

How could I know anything about Jesus?

I used to be a Christian. My entire family was Christian. Two of my
uncles were preachers. I spend my entire childhood going to church.
It wasn’t a bad experience either. No one in my family was a fanatic,
hypocritical or plastic about it. They were all strong believer (save
for my two smartest uncles who were both atheist)

I might add that when I say that they were my smartest uncles that isn’t
merely my opinion. Everyone in my family clearly recognized that they
were the smartest men in the family.

In any case, I was a Christian. I went to the altar whilst the choir
sang “Just as I am”. I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and savior. I
believed in the whole nine yards. I even felt a calling to become a
preacher and so I studied the Bible and started asking question of many
differnet preachers including my uncles.

My questions were in no way intended to pick the religion apart. On the
contrary I believed that God was rational and that I would get rational
answer to my questions. After all if I was going to preach the Bible I
should know the answers to questions people might ask right?

Well, when I asked my questions I didn’t get answers, I always just came
away with even more questions. I sincerely wanted to teach this
religion. I was brought up to believe that it was true. I used to sit
around the campfire with my religious uncles and sing religious songs.

After YEARS of sincerely trying to get answers I finally realized that
there weren’t any answers to be had. I finally began to look at the
Bible as though it might not have been written by god. It was a real
eye-opener! When viewed the book as the writings of men it makes
perfect sense.

You ask how I can know anything about Jesus. I did this for YEARS
Spider. YEARS!!!

You were ‘saved’ two months ago whilst reading pornography and all of a
sudden you can interpret the Bible better than the scholars and
theologians?

Please, Spider, spare me.

Abracadabra,

You aren't getting me. I have already heard your story about how you
lost your faith in Jesus, but thanks for the refresher. I found Jesus
in September of last year and yes, I was truely saved while looking at
pornography. That was when I finally broke down and said "Jesus, I
can't live a good life. Please help me." and he did.

Now let me explain my question.

You read the Bible, but you rejected it, right? Do you reject the whole
Bible? If so, how do you know that you can believe anything that you
read in the Bible about Jesus? The only real information we have about
Jesus is in the Bible, but you reject the Bible, so where do you get
your information from?

Abracadabra,

What is confusing is that in one breath you say "I reject the Bible,
it's just a book written by men." and in the next you say "I know about
Jesus from reading the Bible." So I guess that my question is "Do you
accept the Bible, reject the Bible or something in between?"