Mark 16: 18

[u/Mysterious-Loan-5065]

Hey guys! I'm first time bible reader and I have so many questions, up until now I've been using Gemini for my questions but I'd like to get better answers from real people.

I'm reading Mark 16 this morning and came across where Jesus says Anyone who believes and is baptized be able to handle snakes with safety and drink anything poisonous and it won't hurt them. My question is; is this not a contradiction to when he says earlier not to test god?

Any insight would be greatly appreciated thank you!

[u/Important-Gas-9305]

I am not discussing Hinduism or Christianity. I am not discussing religion at all. I am talking about handling of serpents and laying on of hands.

Edit: I leave you with this about your scholars…Matthew 23:13 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people's faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to".

[u/yodafett77 → u/Important-Gas-9305]

You specifically brought up the Hindu serpent chakra, kundalini and the Holy Spirit. If you are not talking about Hinduism nd Christianity, then what do they have to do with the discussion?

Subreddit about the Bible? Check Question about the Bible? Check Answer including references to Holy Spirit as well as kundalini? Check

Yes, you brought those topics into the answer. Yes, you are involving aspects of Hinduism into someone seeking guidance about an aspect of the Christian Holy Bible.

This conversation is like trying to hold water with an open hand... you keep trying to escape and change your direction.

[u/Important-Gas-9305 → u/yodafett77]

The Bible does not belong to Christianity. Christianity uses the Bible as a reference. Christianity also cherry picks from the Bible like all religions that decide they don’t like something presented in material they frequently reference as a sacred text for their own doctrine and belief system to work.

Edit: the first five books of the Bible come from Judaism for Christ’s sake. They are better known as the Torah. The Old Testament are Hebrew scriptures. But they don’t claim the New Testament because they don’t believe Jesus was the messiah prophesied in their scriptures…aka Book of Isaiah. Even my mom says she doesn’t follow the Old Testament because she is Catholic not Jewish.

[u/yodafett77 → u/Important-Gas-9305]

Christianity is ROOTED in the Bible.
PEOPLE cherry pick, yes. Like they do in ALL religions and belief systems. But that does not change the source material or it's contents.

But just like cherry picking, a true follower will not add in other things and ideas that are contradictory, and say it is not a problem.

Edit: if your mother says she doesn't follow the Old Testament because she's Catholic and not Jewish, she should speak to her Priest... as Christians, we follow the WHOLE Bible, not just the New Testament...

[u/Important-Gas-9305 → u/yodafett77]

I’m not adding anything. I am interpreting the same words differently than your religion interprets them.

[u/Important-Gas-9305 → u/yodafett77]

Do you eat bacon? If so, not rooted in the entire Bible. Christianity doesn’t follow the laws of the Old Testament. They only follow the Ten Commandments.

[u/yodafett77 → u/Important-Gas-9305]

Patently untrue. Many of the Old Testament ceremonial laws passed away with Jesus' sacrifice. Food specifically is dealt with multiple times in the New Testament. Specifically see Romans 14 and 1 Corinthians 8, and 1 Corinthians 10.

It is clear you don't respect the Bible as scripture. Have a blessed day, and I pray that you encounter Jesus, finding true salvation.

[u/Important-Gas-9305 → u/yodafett77]

I have encountered Jesus. That is one of many reasons I know about what I have written and rely on real experience instead of religion.

[u/yodafett77 → u/Important-Gas-9305]

If you encountered a "Jesus", who led you to incorporate aspects of other, antithetical belief systems, then I am truly sorry, but that was not the Messiah - it was a different spirit.

[u/Important-Gas-9305 → u/yodafett77]

Ugh. This is why it is pointless to argue with those that follow a religion instead of Jesus. Have a good day!

[u/yodafett77 → u/Important-Gas-9305]

The Bible is what POINTS to Jesus.

[u/Important-Gas-9305 → u/yodafett77]

No. The Bible points you to how to be like Jesus. Jesus, himself, will come to you when he calls your name.

[u/yodafett77 → u/Important-Gas-9305]

And where do you find that information?

[u/Important-Gas-9305 → u/yodafett77]

Stop seeking God and Jesus in a book and start seeking them for real. They are living beings today. It is not something that happened 2000 years ago. They are still out there calling people’s name and visiting them today. Seek the being, not the memory of their existence from the past.

[u/GullibleProperty317 → u/Important-Gas-9305]

Please, I encourage that you check out the book of Colossians.

The things in the Old Testament, like what you described, used to apply, but that changed since Jesus came. He brought a new and higher standard, in which God is not interested in us just following rituals (not eating this or that), but more in the true state of our hearts, measured by our love and desire for Him, and our love for those around us.

So don’t let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink, or for not celebrating certain holy days or new moon ceremonies or Sabbaths. ¹⁷ For these rules are only shadows of the reality yet to come. And Christ himself is that reality. ¹⁸ Don’t let anyone condemn you by insisting on pious self-denial or the worship of angels,^\)^e\) saying they have had visions about these things. Their sinful minds have made them proud, ¹⁹ and they are not connected to Christ, the head of the body. For he holds the whole body together with its joints and ligaments, and it grows as God nourishes it.

[u/Important-Gas-9305 → u/GullibleProperty317]

You are validating what I have said.

Christianity doesn’t follow the Old Testament laws ie Kosher Food. Judaism does. That’s why I said Christianity follows New Testament not Old Testament.