That you have spent much time developing your belief system.
I respect you for your efforts.

but to take the text..

"Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return."

in the context of the passsage and say it is a reward instead of a punishment.

If you are willing to bend the meaning of words enough to accomplish this then you can make the text mean anything you wish.

But why use the Bible if you are just going to rewrite it to what you want it to say anyway.

Or how can you learn something new from a text which you are changing to say what you believe already?

Duane

• Huh? - harvey1 - November 28, 2004 - 17:36 UTC
  • As you wish. - duordi - November 28, 2004 - 22:53 UTC
    • Not quite - harvey1 - November 29, 2004 - 16:07 UTC
      • We have a very different point of view. - duordi - December 4, 2004 - 20:16 UTC
        • Key knowledge opened up the way - harvey1 - December 6, 2004 - 05:36 UTC
          • Matt.13: the natural is a basis of the spiritual - yanniru - December 6, 2004 - 16:40 UTC
            • Well... - harvey1 - December 8, 2004 - 01:54 UTC
              • It's supernatural - yanniru - December 8, 2004 - 12:55 UTC
                • How did it get there? - harvey1 - December 8, 2004 - 15:08 UTC
                  • We do not know the answer yet - yanniru - December 8, 2004 - 20:04 UTC
          • Come now... - duordi - December 7, 2004 - 22:38 UTC
            • Wow, that's nasty - harvey1 - December 8, 2004 - 02:29 UTC
              • Natural selection >> spiritual state - yanniru - December 8, 2004 - 13:22 UTC
                • 'Jesus taught the ways to peace' - carefuluniverse - December 9, 2004 - 01:46 UTC
              • Paul ain't God; Duane makes a decent point; Harv shuns Mike - carefuluniverse - December 8, 2004 - 17:53 UTC
              • St. Paul is not God; Duane makes decent point; Harv shuns Mike - carefuluniverse - December 8, 2004 - 22:05 UTC
    • "Satan's pride" is evident in every finger-pointing - carefuluniverse - December 1, 2004 - 20:03 UTC
      • Thats easy - duordi - December 4, 2004 - 20:32 UTC
        • Is that according to "God" or according to "Duane?" - carefuluniverse - December 5, 2004 - 05:18 UTC