Hey, Mickey, well said. I understand you fine, and I agree that "Hell is living a life without ever knowing love". Exactly. That's it in a nutshell.

The bible writers may very well have exaggerated certain incidents, misunderstood certain incidents, AND mixed in various religious notions previously common in the religious stories of their time...such as the "virgin birth". I think that the immediate disciples (the apostles) were also stricken with guilt for having run out on Jesus when he was arrested, and that this colored the whole religion that followed with a really unhealthy guilt complex that has been the bane of organized Christian life ever since.

Furthermore, what is taken literally may not have been meant literally, but may have been allegorical. A "virgin" birth might indicate a birth that was spiritually pure in some way or that carried forward no "sin" (to use the Bible word) or karma. If so, it would not rest upon physical concerns at all, but upon inner concerns regarding Mary, Joseph, and the child...things which are neither physical nor physically provable in any fashion.

The spiritual adepts of the time may well have understood that the teachings were allegorical, but the common people clearly did not and took it all literally, as many do to this day.

A literal interpretation of the entire Bible leads directly to logical contradictions in a number of areas, so I very much doubt that every passage is intended literally. If so, forget it, cos it doesn't add up.

You have to look at each story in context, and think about it. What point is it intended to make?

- LH