Cognitive dissonance occurs when two parts of information, attitudes, beliefs and behaviors which a person holds to be valid are in direct conflict with each other. If you believe that you MUST believe that the bible is the inerrant word of god, then you CANNOT admit any conflict within the various messages and communications of the bible. To do so would be stressful and embarrassing and decisions we make about our behavior are predominantly based on the values we hold. If our values conflict we don’t know how to act.

Now, Jesus said that the law which Moses had regulated was not in keeping with the law that god had always intended. He did not put Moses down, in fact he acknowledged an understanding of why Moses chose the actions he did but in the end they were wrong and Jesus set about explaining what had always been the law of god so that people could CHOOSE to follow god’s law or not.

That is in the bible and according to you, the bible is inerrant, so you MUST believe that Mosaic law was incorrect and anyone who lives according to that law is just as wrong as Moses was. Do you live according to the Mosaic law; or according to Jesus?

To believe the bible is inerrant requires a lot of rationalizations and a lot of creativity because that is the only way individuals can glaze over the conflicting information.

“WHAT? there’s no conflicting information – I can explain EVERYTHING just as it is written in the bible”.

That has to be the answer because otherwise some people’s values would be so conflicted that they wouldn’t know how to act.

SIGH! Those are the same people who become masters of self-deceit and from the depths of their deceit come feelings of persecution, and a powerful need to find affiliation with others who will comfort the dissonance by supporting the self-deceit of others for a mere token of reciprocation.

I have a friend.. His name is BOB.. He has Green glowing eyes and shoots Jello shots from his ***... He tells me to burn things. Kill things.. and even Eat people.. If I don't, he says the world will end. He does good things.. uses his powers to heal people in the hospital.. but also not so good things... he likes to kill them there also....
Only I can see him though.. but no one ever believes me!! WHY?

I know you're thinking he's mad.. but PROVE me wrong!

Are you're saying that faith in anything is really faith in god? That sounds rather pantheistic of you. Do you have a tendancy to bend in that direction?

how can you possibly know that? the hidden scriptures have been locked away by the Vatican for centuries, hidden for a reason... only the Vatican knows that reason

I think the messsage in the above is worth stating more directly. There had to be some form if interaction between god and people in order for people to write in god's name. Obviously, out of many thousands of years there were only about 33 of which god supposedly spoke through one single human so the form of communication must have been something more akin to our version of psychic phenomena.

In fact people say all the time that god has spoken to them or sent messages to them. So the question remains, how can anyone know if god actually speaks to anyone and when to believe those who say they bear his message?

I noticed not too many here actually believed we were literally at the end times not too long ago - what made you all decide that one person was not the most blessed among you to have received god's message?

Ask yourself: Would you recognize and follow Jesus if he appeared today from - say Palestine?

YES! My soul will recognize him because he is the SUN of God!.. I'd follow him and gladly commit mass murder for his name; men, women, children, Babies! all the non-believers must GO! The bible says killing people is wrong but never when you're doing it in HIS name!

and yes.. this is called sarcasm.. my way of a historic depiction

There are a few who claim to be Jesus or the new messiah and they do have followers.

Christians call them "false prophets."

I have learned all about false prophets, gurus, etc. I think people idolize them like movie stars and "role models" only in a spiritual sense, hoping to learn how to find God from them.

My new policy is .... don't follow anyone if you don't really know where they are going. Like the goat that leads the lambs to slaughter, the false prophet will lead you to your own slaughter.

Moral of the story is, don't get int any spaceship or follow anyone into a mysterious fog or cloud even if he does look like 'Jesus.' It could be a trap.

The aliens will be harvesting the earth one day, and we are the livestock.