Download or read book Lisa's Lifeline written by Gordon Mostoller and published by . This book was released on 2005-08-01 with total page 152 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Can the Bible be criticized? SHOULD the Bible be criticized? Can we take the spiritual meanings of the Bible that guides our morality, our compassion and the true greatness of mankind to be included in the larger more complex secular world? If you are one who seriously studies the Bible to maintain its word as an authority on spiritual and material life, then the answers to these questions would be a resounding YES! When Paul was organizing the Christian Church, his emphasis was on its spirituality, how one rises above the physical world through faith in God and Christ. With the writing of the Gospels, however, the physical world became a conflicting presence: The faith of rising above the conflicts of the physical world was replaced by a faith in conflict with the physical world. Literal interpretation of the Bible was therefore a necessary function of this conflict. So why criticize the Bible? Historically, the value of religion is the spiritual "interconnectiveness" it provides mankind. This spiritual oneness has enabled him as a group to advance into an unknown future. Christianity, as one of the major one-god, one-world religions, guided humanity in overcoming the geographic restrictions of pantheism and advance toward the modern world now dawning. This period the last 2000 years of history has been marked by intense conflicts oriented mostly in applying literal Biblical interpretations to moral law, government processes and international relations. Throughout this period, however, these attempts to structure society by one of another literal interpretations on the Bible severely reduced the flexibility a society needs to meet changing conditions. This has created disruption as scientific, technological and cultural development always advance, demanding a change in the status quo that illuminates the Bible's literal irrelevancy. It is the perseverance of all Christianity to which this Bible Study Book is addressed. In all of its forms, even Islam that claims Christian roots, Christianity lives on. They al claim legitimacy in the Bible, yet only a dwindling minority claims veracity in a literal interpretation of that book. It is this Holy Book that this Bible Study Book examines. Is it any longer valid? Can Christianity base its precepts on it so as to face the future, a future where science can provide all but the most arcane answers to existence? These questions are answered by the Bible Study Book.