Iamnotarobot (former believer)

I am trying my best to decipher an old document, called "Württembergische Geschichtsquellen" from 1899. It has to do with generations, families, and genealogy, but I can't figure out what this abbreviation means. I see it in instances like this:

"Heinrich gen. Steinbis, Schtdtheiss, Siegfried gen. von

25 Türkheim, Ludwig gen. in dem Steinhaus, Heinrich gen. von Gro-

ningen, Rudolf gen. Hasenzagel, Konrad gen. Kurz, die Brüder

Rupert und Konrad gen. Ruprecht, Hugo gen. N allinger, Ulin gen.

Celler und Friedrich gen. von Hall, Richter oder Geschworene von

Esslingen, beurkunden, dass die Brüder Rudolf und Wernher gen."

Google Translate doesn't know it, and Babelfish thinks it means "towards", but that doesn't make a lot of sense. I've tried typing in the English words for generation, child, next, then, of, parent, ancestor, father, etc., but to no avail.

She never took money from men, I guess, since near the end of the film she was distraught that she had accepted the mink coat. How did she earn a paycheck? Was it just from the modeling agency? Was the modeling agency actually a call girl service, or was it just a modeling agency?

Leviticus 11:6 (NIV)

The rabbit, though it chews the cud, does not have a split hoof; it is unclean for you.

The KJV calls it a hare, but either way, hares and rabbits do not chew their cud.

Don't you suppose that an all-powerful, super smart god could think of a way for animals to live in harmony without slaughtering each other, and also without proliferating so much that the earth doesn't get overpopulated? Wouldn't it have been nicer if all creatures died peacefully in their sleep, with no pain?

If you think that the sin of man changed things, then why do carnivores have sharp teeth?

Judges 3:20-23 (New International Version)

Ehud then approached him while he was sitting alone in the upper room of his summer palace and said, "I have a message from God for you." As the king rose from his seat, Ehud reached with his left hand, drew the sword from his right thigh and plunged it into the king's belly. Even the handle sank in after the blade, which came out his back. Ehud did not pull the sword out, and the fat closed in over it. Then Ehud went out to the porch; he shut the doors of the upper room behind him and locked them. After he had gone, the servants came and found the doors of the upper room locked. They said, "He must be relieving himself in the inner room of the house." They waited to the point of embarrassment, but when he did not open the doors of the room, they took a key and unlocked them. There they saw their lord fallen to the floor, dead.

Why should this passage be included in the Bible? What moral value does it have?

On the road to Damascus, Paul claimed he had saw a light, which was Jesus. After this experience, he converted to the fledgling Christian religion. He put his faith in Jesus AFTER he witnessed this miracle. Why, then, would it be so terrible for people to occasionally see miracles such as this? I often hear the argument that proof of a god is not necessary, because it is FAITH that is important. But this wasn't a roadblock for either Paul or Jesus. Your thoughts?

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+9...

Please tell us which ones are your favorite.

Most Christians say that people are saved by God's grace, and when Jesus was nailed to the cross he fulfilled the law. We aren't supposed to try to sin, but the law doesn't apply to us. So, what constitutes sin? How would we know which acts or thoughts are considered "sin", if the law has been abolished? Are we supposed to obey the law, or aren't we? And if so, which particular laws? And how do you know if those are the right laws? If Jesus said that the first and most important commandment was to love God, and the second is to love your neighbor as yourself, then HOW IS HOMOSEXUALITY BAD?

P.S. The Bible actually said many times that god's laws were supposed to last forever, but every time I mention that and cite the scripture that supports that statement, I get ignored.

How do you know what god's will is or isn't? You are not god. If god can do anything, what's the harm in asking for an outright cure to all the diseases and medical disorders in the world, or to regrow all the missing arms and legs?

What does this verse mean to you, anyway?

Matthew 18:19

Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven.

Matthew 18:19 (New International Version)

Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven.

Please, right now, agree that the people who are amputees would be better off with their missing limbs to be restored to them. Now, please pray for those appendages to regrow immediately!

The first set, the pronephros, forms and then deteriorates at week four. The pronephros never has any functionality at all. The second set, the mesonephros, degenerates when the third and final set, the metanephros, appears during the fifth week of development. These pre-kidneys begin in the pelvis and then migrate upwards, making and successively losing new arterial connections along the way.

That is a lot of extra steps! I would think a more intelligently designed human would have just one set of kidneys that was formed one time. What do you think about this?

The worst punishment on earth for the worst crime is either life in prison or the death penalty, depending on who you talk to. The standard punishment for everyone who doesn't believe in the god of Abraham (which isn't even a crime) is eternal third degree burns. Why does your god have such a hard time with acceptance and forgiveness?

If an atheist wants to convert to Christianity, is that even possible, since your god knows the heart of everyone, and knows they really are atheist?

I've been told repeatedly that it was impossible that I was a Christian because there are no such things as ex-Christians. I apparently just THOUGHT I was a Christian, but I was wrong.

What about you? Did you convert from anything to Christianity? How do you know if you're actually a Christian? Because I sure was, yet I've got a whole bunch of people calling me a liar.

I've been told that no matter what I thought, and contrary to everyone who knew me and all my actions that prove I was a Christian, I never was a Christian after all (even though I know for a fact I was Christian). I was told that it's impossible to be an ex-Christian, so I never was a Christian in the first place.

Does it work the other way too? Does that mean it's also impossible to convert to Christianity, because it's impossible to be an ex-Muslim or an ex-Jew or ex-pagan? Do they just think they're Christian now, but really they stay their original religion?

If that is the case, how does one become Christian at all? Does that mean there really are no Christians? Because everyone converted from something! I converted from no religion as a small child to Christianity, then from Christianity to atheism as an adult.

Deuteronomy 11:1

Love the Lord your God and keep his requirements, his decrees, his laws and his commands always.

Psalm 119:152

Long ago I learned from your statutes that you established them to last forever.

Psalm 119:160

All your words are true; all your righteous laws are eternal.

Matthew 5:17-20 (these are Jesus’ words)

Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.

See first question for verses that state that this god intended for his laws to last forever.

***Regarding freedom and equality for women:***

Genesis 3:16

To the woman he said, “I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”

Leviticus 27:3-6

Set the value of a male between the ages of twenty and sixty at fifty shekels of silver, according to the sanctuary shekel; and if it is a female, set her value at thirty shekels. If it is a person between the ages of five and twenty, set the value of a male at twenty shekels and of a female at ten shekels. If it is a person between one month and five years, set the value of a male at five shekels of silver and that of a female at three shekels of silver.

Leviticus 12:2-6

A woman who becomes pregnant and gives birth to a son will be ceremonially unclean for seven days, just as she is unclean during her monthly period… Then the woman must wait thirty-three days to be purified from her bleeding. She must not touch anything sacred or go to the sanctuary until the days of her purification are over. If she gives birth to a daughter, for two weeks the woman will be unclean, as during her period. Then she must wait sixty-six days to be purified from her bleeding. When the days of her purification for a son or daughter are over, she is to bring to the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting a year-old lamb for a burnt offering and a young pigeon or a dove for a sin offering.

I Timothy 2:11-12

A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent.

See first question for verses that state that this god intended for his laws to last forever.

***Regarding slavery:***

Leviticus 25:44-46

Your male and female slaves are to come from the nations around you; from them you may buy slaves. You may also buy some of the temporary residents living among you and members of their clans born in your country, and they will become your property. You can will them to your children as inherited property and can make them slaves for life, but you must not rule over your fellow Israelites ruthlessly.

Exodus 21:20-21

If a man beats his male or female slave with a rod and the slave dies as a direct result, he must be punished, but he is not to be punished if the slave gets up after a day or two, since the slave is his property.

Ephesians 6:5

Slaves, obey your earthly masters with deep respect and fear. Serve them sincerely as you would serve Christ.

See previous question for verses that state that this god intended for his laws to last forever.

***Regarding the discipline of children:***

Leviticus 20:9

If anyone curses his father or mother, he must be put to death. He has cursed his father or his mother, and his blood will be on his own head.

Exodus 21:15

Anyone who attacks his father or his mother must be put to death.

Deuteronomy 21:18-21

If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who does not obey his father and mother and will not listen to them when they discipline him, his father and mother shall take hold of him and bring him to the elders at the gate of his town. They shall say to the elders, "This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey us. He is a profligate and a drunkard." Then all the men of his town shall stone him to death.

A few verses which state that God's laws are to last forever:

Deuteronomy 11:1

Love the Lord your God and keep his requirements, his decrees, his laws and his commands always.

Psalm 119:152

Long ago I learned from your statutes that you established them to last forever.

Psalm 119:160

All your words are true; all your righteous laws are eternal.

Matthew 5:17-20 (these are Jesus’ words)

Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.

*** Regarding genocide:***

I Samuel 15:2-3

This is what the Lord Almighty says: 'I will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they came up from Egypt. Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy everything that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.'

Deuteronomy 20:16-17

However, in the cities of the nations the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, do not leave alive anything that breathes. Completely destroy them - the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites - as the Lord your God has commanded you.

Deuteronomy 7:1-2

When the Lord your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess and drives out before you many nations - the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites, seven nations larger and stronger than you- and when the Lord your God has delivered them over to you and you have defeated them, then you must destroy them totally. Make no treaty with them, and show them no mercy.

What is the purpose of a virus? Do you think that viruses are ever beneficial, or good? Genesis records God saying that his creation was good. Please explain.