Photo from source, Telegraph.co.uk
Many religions baffle me, including the one I grew up with (and it's 57 varieties). I was raised as a protestant, though I never really knew what denomination. I think it may have been Methodist, or maybe Episcopalian. Then I settled on Lutheran before segueing into agnosticism.
The odd thing about my growth with--and outgrowing of--religion, was the more I learned about it, the less I believed it was true. One of my biggest issues had to do with contradictions within the text. One book of Genesis says the world was created in a certain order, and then another book lays out a largely different story.
It would seem that the New Testament has the same problem. Jesus was born in Bethlehem? No, Jesus was born in Nazareth! In a manger, or in carpentry shop next to a pub? So, all of you "the bible has no contradictions" people out there, reconcile this, wouldja? 'Cause the Pope is just sorta glossing over it. . .
[Excerpt]
Vatican nativity does away with the manger
For 25 years, the Christmas Nativity scene in front of St Peter's Basilica has shown the infant Jesus in a manger in Bethlehem.
This year, however, the Vatican has decided to radically change the scene, shifting it to Nazareth, and placing Jesus in his father's carpentry shop.
When Pope Benedict XVI inaugurates the life-size Nativity scene on Christmas eve, the sheep and hay will be gone. . .
Read more at: Telegraph.co.uk
To add to the mysteries of the bible: In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve had a two sons, Cain and Abel, as well as a couple of their sisters. God told them to multiply and replenish the earth. My question: since there were only this one family there in the garden, did the children mate with each other or with their parents? It was a case of obvious incest either way. Or are we not supposed to ask these kinds of obvious questions??
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