People and Their Beliefs

The other day I was accused of interpreting the Bible according to my own beliefs.  Had they not been serious, it might have been laughable.  The subject was tithing, but it could have easily been any other Biblical topic.  I explained to this person what the Bible says about tithing and also what it does not say.  Now I didn't use scripture references and quote exactly word for word.  I have at least a basic understanding of the subject and feel comfortable discussing it freely.  I explained to this person that the tithing, as outlined in the Bible, has nothing to do with giving money. The tithe went to the Levites who also gave a portion of what they received to the priests.  None of this went to the Temple.  Money for the Temple was collected annually as the "half-shekel" offering. This was not a tithe.  One of the good things about this method is that it removes partiality.  A rich man could not give more, nor could a poor man refrain from giving or offer less.  

The exact opposite is true in the church.  Wealthy members curry favor and position by giving more. Poor members are riddled with guilt because they cannot give as much.  Wealthy members are placed in positions of esteem.  Poor members are looked down upon for their inability to give.  I've heard ministers tell poor people to give up various aspects of their lives in order to give more to the church. I've also heard them praise the "big tithers".  This is scandalous and has nothing to do with tithing as outlined in the Bible. Please look this up for yourselves.  I will give scripture references below. Personally, I equate the church's position on tithing to that of the used car salesman.  The salesman tells you whatever he has to in order to get the most money from you.  He doesn't care if it is a hardship for you.  Some used car dealers are notorious for ripping people off.  My advice to the person in my conversation was this, don't base your beliefs on what someone is teaching you when they stand to make money from that belief.  You wouldn't trust the car dealer who tells you that some beat-up piece of junk has nothing wrong with it.  Don't trust the church telling you to give more, when they are the ones getting the money.  This is one big conflict of interest.  

As I said before, this could have been a discussion on any subject.  This time, it happened to be tithing.  I am always amazed at how few Christians actually read their bibles.  These same people somehow seem to get into conversations with me and begin to say things that can't be found in the Bible at all.  For example, another person entered the conversation above and actually said, "It is not "His way" or the Highway. God is all about freedom. Trusting Him, to me, is all about believing that His grace is sufficient..."  Are you kidding me?  Where in the Bible does it say that things don't have to be His way?  That is exactly what it says.  But I was the one "arrogantly" giving my own interpretation to the scriptures.  Another person said that Genesis 28:21 talked about tithing.  It does not.  Who is teaching these people?  These are good Christian people and they know nothing.

Conversations like this go on every day and Christians seem to line up to believe such drivel.  The question I have is why do they believe it?  The answer is simple.  They believe what they are told to believe without question.  Many of you know that I was once a Christian.  I'm not proud of that fact, but it is true.  But when I was, I actually read the bible.  I wanted to know what it said, not only for myself but so that I could teach others.  It's no wonder that reading the bible is what made me leave that life behind.  The funny thing is, I was reading the Christian bible.  Imagine my surprise when I started reading the Tanakh.  Those of us who have left the church run into problems like this all the time.  Personally, I don't claim to have any more than a basic understanding of the Torah.  I understand that there are more advanced concepts which I have yet to uncover.  But I don't stop learning.  I don't take anyone's word for what it says either.  I look it up.  I learn from those who are far more learned that I am, but I still look it up.  A good Torah teacher expects this.  It simply amazes me when some Christian tries to tell me what the bible says when they have barely read it.  Even church leaders, the ones who are supposed to know, have only a cursory knowledge of the bible. They simply say what they are supposed to say, whether it makes sense or not.  "Bring the tithes into the storehouse."  I can't count how many time I heard that one.  It's from the Book of Malachi, chapter 3.
This chapter is dealing with the two houses of Israel coming together in the future.  Yes, it does speak about tithing, but it does not give the regulations pertaining to tithing.  This is why the church uses it instead of Leviticus when teaching about tithing.  Most Christians are surprised to learn that there is more than one kind of tithe.

I didn't want this article to be about tithing, although it seems to have taken that path up until now. The things we call our beliefs must come from somewhere.  Mine come from G-d's word.  The person to whom I was speaking actually told me "as a Catholic, in no way do we depend solely on the Bible." He went on to say "You are the one hanging your hat solely on scripture, and then determining that you have the authority to get it exactly right. The arrogance of that view is breathtaking."  Now, I never said I had the authority to get it exactly right.  I just tell people what the Bible says. In my own defense, I do know how to read.  I understand what the words mean. Deuteronomy 8:3 teaches us that "whatever comes forth from the mouth of the Lord does man live." While I am far from perfect, I do my best to do just that.  This is also found in the Christian books of Matthew and Luke. Wherefore do they not depend solely on the Bible?  This is a contradiction of their own book.  Now that is arrogant. Christians believe this stuff. They would rather believe something like this because they are told to do so rather than simply read. Their own scriptures say otherwise yet they don't believe it when someone like me tells them.  The complacency of the rank and file of the church will ultimately be their demise.

For many Christians, it is all about what makes them feel good.  Of such is the person who said "God is all about freedom. Trusting Him, to me, is all about believing that His grace is sufficient..."  From which version of the bible is this person reading?  Obviously, they are not reading it.  This is the type of person who sits in the church on Sunday morning just waiting for that aha moment.  This is "feel good" theology at its best.  There is another group of Christians who live at the opposite end of the spectrum, the guilt lovers.  They like to call it long-suffering.  What it is is self-deprecating. The long-sufferers feel like they deserve to suffer for something they have done.  Many of them suffer from depression because of it.  These people are also not following their book.  If their idol really did die for their forgiveness, from whence does the guilt come?

For those few who do read their book, they don't have it any better.  With all of the inconsistencies in the new testament, they can't seem to make any sense of it.  It's no wonder so few read their bibles. It's confusing for them.  This could be why my friend thinks I'm so arrogant.  If they would look through the Christian bible they would find their rendition of the Hebrew Scriptures.  They might find things like "no one may die for the sins of another," or "Have no other gods before me."  They don't know what to do with that.  The new testament says otherwise.  How can that be?  They can't explain it so they stop reading altogether.  If they do ask about it, they are given some canned answer from someone they don't dare question.  The vast majority in the church are in this group. They want to be a good Christian but they can't figure it out.  So they go to church and listen to the sermon, sing the songs, turn in their "tithes" and socialize.  It becomes no better than a social club.

But what if there is more than that?  What if there is a way to actually attach to the Creator, blessed be His name.  The church never mentions this because they have the wrong concept of the Creator.  I like to look at it this way.  The Christian says G-d is everywhere.  The Jew says everywhere is G-d. You see, when you say G-d is everywhere, what you are saying is that everywhere is a place and He is there.  If you go some place you will find Him there.  When you say everywhere is G-d, you are saying He actually is the place.  The entire universe is only a small part of Him.  When you understand the difference between these two concepts, you can then begin to understand G-d, in as much as is humanly possible.  When Moses wanted to know G-d he said, "And now, if I have indeed found favor in Your eyes, pray let me know Your ways, so that I may know You," Exodus 33:13.  Here we learn how we can get to know G-d, by learning His ways.  Does this sound like we can do it our way?  Of course not.  When we learn His ways and keep His commandments, we (our souls) actually attach to Him.  This is one of the most amazing concepts in Judaism.  This idea has to be foreign to Christians because they have been taught not to keep His commandments.  They are taught that the commandments were nailed to the cross and are no longer in place.  All of the feel good sermons in the world can not replace actual attachment to G-d.  

If you are a Christian and you have made it this far, you must have many questions.  There are answers.  I will put some links to some very helpful sites.  Don't worry, not one of them will ask you for a dime.  You see it is actually forbidden to charge to teach Torah.

Links
http://tenaktalk.com/
http://www.netiv.net/
http://www.chabad.org/


Scriptures
Deuteronomy 14:22-29 
Deuteronomy 26:1-19
Leviticus 22
Deuteronomy 12
                                   

Copyright 2016 by:

William Bouker

If Someone Lied to You

I pose this question to you.  If someone lied to you, and I knew about it, would you expect me to tell you?  Have you ever been in this position before?  You probably have.  This type of thing happens all the time at work or school.  It puts you in an awkward position.  You can either tell the person about the lie or not.  If you tell them, in a way you have betrayed the person telling the lie.  This person might be a better friend to you, so you feel some loyalty to keep the secret.  On the other hand, a good friend shouldn't expect you to cover up a lie.  So you must consider your options.  Either way, you are going to betray one or the other.

If you go to the victim, you get to clear your conscious.  You can give them the information and let them do with it what they will.  At this point, one of two things is going to happen.  They will either believe you or not.  It is possible that they trust the other person more than you.  If they do, it will be hard for you to convince them of the lie.  I'm not sure if you are obligated to convince them at all.  It is ultimately up to them.  If they do believe you, your work is done.  Or, is it?  In some cases, you might be expected to console the person.  They might want more information from you.  They will, no doubt, have questions for which they need answers in order to fully ascertain the truth.  This will, most likely, not be the end of it.

Now, let's add a few variables.  What if the liar made money from the lie?  Is it worse if they received some benefit from their lie?  It is definitely a strike against their character.  While there are different types of liars, the worst is the pathological liar.  A pathological liar is a person who lies to get their way.  These people are very goal oriented. They are also, often charismatic, manipulative, and show little or no concern for the feelings of others.
What if the liar is someone you've known for years?  Maybe they've been lying to you all along?  The manipulator will always find some way to convince you that what they are telling you is the truth. Even when you have a sinking feeling that they are wrong, they will tell another lie just to keep it going; even making you doubt yourself.

With all this in mind, would you still expect me to tell you the truth? What if that truth will call into question everything you believe to be true?  Do you still want to know?  I would.  So, let's take a look at the truth.

Truth can be defined as "the real facts about something".  Truth is pure.  It is not corrupt. Manipulators know this.  They also know that a small amount of untruth mixed into the truth allows it to appear to be true.  This is a classic tactic of the manipulator.  They can twist the truth ever so slightly, one may not even realize it has happened.  Once they do this, they can continue with their charade until what they are telling you couldn't be farther from the truth.

The real fact is that the church has been doing this for centuries.  It is generally accepted that the Hebrew Scriptures are the word of God. This truth is not only held by the Hebrew people.  It is held by most of the other religions of the world as well.    This can be called a "truth" in that it is generally accepted by most people.

The church is a master manipulator.  Keep in mind that when I say the church, I am referring to the entire Christian religion; all denominations. The church is extremely goal oriented.  They use charismatic leaders to convince trusting people to bend to their will.  This is where the trickery comes into play.  They appear to show genuine concern for other people but are only concerned as long as they are getting their way.  They will spend millions of dollars to help people while at the same time proselytizing them.  If you've ever worked in the church you know this to be true. Have you ever seen them help someone without mentioning that person's "salvation"?  They will explain that in doing this, they are only trying to give them the ultimate help; that is a life in christ.  This sounds like a good thing but isn't it proper to give charity without expecting anything in return?  You see, there is a little bit of pure truth, the charity, mixed with something else; an ulterior motive. Do you see the subtlety?

They do the same thing with scripture.  The church attempts to base itself on the Hebrew Scriptures. They include the "old testament" in their bible.  Of course, these scriptures have been maligned, but they include them.  They talk about Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and David. They read from the Psalms.  This is the purity with which they mix their untruth. Take, for example, the concept of tithing.  Now the church will tell you that Jesus did away with the Law of Moses.  They will tell you that no one could ever follow it anyway.  But they will later tell you that you have to tithe.  This is part of the Law of Moses which they say no one can follow.  In their corrupted form, the tithe goes to the church.  This is not according to scripture.  One may argue that they need money to support the church.  They do, and they use some of it to do good.  But this doesn't excuse what they do to get it. If a bank robber gives some of his stolen money to charity he is still a thief.  Does this seem like a small thing to you?  It gets worse.

The church takes pieces of prophecy and tells us they are about Jesus. They do this in a tricky way. Words and phrases are changed to fit the story they are telling.  Most people don't read Hebrew unless they were raised in a Jewish household.  Throughout history, the church has used this fact to their advantage.  The translations we have today of the "old testament" have simply been accepted as legitimate.  No one ever thought to challenge the validity of the translations.  The only thing one could do would be to find a Jewish person to read it to determine if it was wrong.  But the church cunningly inserted a blockade for this.  The church tells us that the Jews are blind to their own scriptures.  The New Testament has nothing good to say about the Jews.  They are the bad guys in the story who can't be trusted.  So, most Christians simply stay away from them.  Not until recently, with the advent of the internet, have Christians even thought about looking into the Hebrew Scriptures. Many are finding out that what the church has been teaching for over two-thousand years is simply wrong.  There are some good English translations of the Hebrew Bible available online.  I invite you to look at them and decide for yourself. One that I like to use is on the Chabad website.  The Complete Jewish Bible.  It includes a great commentary by Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki 1040- 1105).

So there is the truth about the church and the lies it has been telling for so long.  I cannot urge you enough to study the Hebrew Scriptures.  It is amazing when you see the truth come alive.  Now that you have the information, what will you do with it?  Please don't misunderstand what I am telling you.  I am in no way saying that Christians are bad people.  I am not telling you they are maliciously telling you things that they know to be untrue.  Christians believe the way they do because it is what they were taught.  What they were taught is the lie.
The Bible teaches us that God is one.  The church teaches us that God is three.  The Bible teaches us that God is not a man.  The church teaches us that God became a man.  The Bible teaches us that God's word is eternal.  The church teaches us that God's word changed and that the Law is no more. The Bible teaches us that no one can die for the sins of another person.  The church teaches that Jesus died for our sins.  The Bible teaches us that the Messiah will have children.  The church teaches us that Jesus didn't have any children.  The Bible teaches us that the Messiah will sin and make a sin offering for himself.  The church teaches that Jesus was without sin.  The church teaches that the New Testament is the word of God, yet it is filled with contradictions.  Does God make mistakes?

So I leave you with the information.  Remember you have only two choices. You can either believe it or not.

  Copyright 2016 by

William Bouker