Yet, I have a duty not to keep the errors to myself, but through dialogue in love and concern to share with church leaders, pastors and others some of the lies that they have been told and believed.
As I begin this project, i will keep you posted. Below are some excerpts from my first draft of the first chapter:
Before the book begins, it is important first to define the term, "LIES". What is a lie? A lie is misrepresentation or distortion of truth. It is deception in all its form.
A lie is not error! Error comes when there is something unknown and one attempts to guess, postulate or make a judgement based on information given, but fails to precisely comprehend the unknown.
This distinction must be very clear. Because not all the times that pastors, priests or churches teach things that distort the truth. Sometimes they teach things that are erroneous, or a misunderstanding of reality or truth. A misunderstanding, misconception or misconstruing are not lies. These are only failures in human thinking to perceive truth.
Lies however involves knowledge of truth and reality, yet a deliberate attempt to misrepresent or distort that reality.
In order to support this idea of what lies are, let us go to the source of all truth. Many if not most Christians agree that the Bible is the source of truth. If you believe this, then we can trust that the Bible will be able to define what LIES are. If you do not believe this, then you will have to trust the dictionary's definition.
Yet, it is strange that people are willing to trust dictionaries and not the Bible. While both sources have been around for a long time, the Bible is much older and is a compilation of writings from men who have experiences times and lives that we have not. The dictionary also is a compilation of words, with a shorter history, done by men.
There are between the dictionary and the Bible. Both deal with the written Word/word. Words communicated throughout the ages. Both have been written with cultural perspectives and lens.
Personally, the author trust both the Bible and the dictionary as recorded sources of knowledge. One is of historical and spiritual knowledge and power, while the other is the source of communicative power.
Humanity's knowledge of the spiritual and of monotheism begins in the Bible. All major monotheistic religions embrace the first few books in the Bible. Though they have their own interpretations and additions, all monotheistic faiths believe in the Pentateuch and the laws thereof.
It is in the Pentateuch that we first as humanity find a definition of lie as being immoral.
In Genesis - we have as our record the first lie ever told. The perpetrator - a mysterious serpent. This serpent contradicted G-d by telling the first human pair that if they disobeyed G-d, they would not "surely die."
It is from this passage we learn the origin of death. Thus, clearly, there is a link between death and lies. The first LIE was the cause for humanity's loss of immortality.
Consequently, if we today believe lies, it too can cause us loss of immortality. If we today believe lies, it can cost us life. Thus lies are not to be trifled with.
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