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Replying to onewithhim in post #71]
I believe that we CAN make sense of it all, if we avoid the many opinions of people that are not actually following what the Bible says.
For me, it depends on what 'of it all' is, here.
If 'of it all' pertains to god, then no, it's not possible for a flawed being to 'make sense of' a perfect being; it's beyond the capability of such flawed being.
We can go back to the original languages that the Bible was written in and understand much better what the truth is, other than what the popular versions present
Much better, sure. 'It all? I don't think it's possible as the bible isn't flawless and perfect, being written by flawed people who are biased (either consciously or not). Of course, with faith 'all things are possible', as they say. Except, it ain't. It's nice to say and believe, but many believe in things that aren't real. If that helps them, so be it.
It's just someone's opinion that God Almighty needs anything.
Everything 'about' or 'of' god is an opinion.
We don't have to keep going around in circles with such thinking.
Agreed. Yet, we do. Why? Because the bible isn't, totally and fully understandable. Some say the bible is real; without error; god's word; god inspired; myth; and on and on. Until knowledge is available (from god) circles are inevitable.
If we respect the Bible and take time to read it and deeply think about it, we can know that God needs nothing from humans.
I think we could say that without much of the bible, if god is what people say it is.
Really, how can we know about God without the Bible?
God is made up (or, at least, god isn't making itself known succinctly to everyone, as witnessed by all the different views of god) so we can't know about god fully with or without the bible. At best, the bible is a mediocre map to god.
It is the only book that gives us knowledge of who he is,
To me, knowledge is only knowledge if it can be tested and verified. That's not the case about god. God is known by opinions of others. Basically, god didn't write the bible - it was written by flawed men with bias. One can call that 'knowledge' but I suspect it would be the loosest meaning of the word.
what he expects of us, how the universe came about, how we can be saved from death, what the future holds for the earth and mankind, etc.
All opinions of others told to others and believed by others, IMO, coming from a former christian.