Yes.

Hi,sure beats the hell out of me. regards Tessa5

Most of the laws in Deuteronomy made sense to a nomadic tribe 3000 years ago. To apply them in todays world is absurd. +5

Good argument. In this day and age, minds are trained to believe just that, that the Bible is a farce, and that Moses never existed or even if he did, the commandments don't. You could say that modern public education has clouded out the sun with what they want to think is the truth. That is global warming, and/or aliens, evolution, and the big bang theory. No one thinks to break through the clouds of deception any more. Or at least far fewer than ever before in America.

It seems this question has been plaguing the Christian Church for centuries. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Marcion (ca. 85-160) was the son of the bishop of Sinope (modern Sinop, Turkey), and excommunicated by Rome as a heretic because he rejected the entire Hebrew Bible, and argued for the existence of two Gods: (1) “Yahweh”, who created the material universe, and (2) the “Heavenly Father” of the New Testament. These two Gods were thought of as having distinct personalities: Yahweh is petty, cruel and jealous, a tribal God who is only interested in the welfare of the Jews, while the Heavenly Father is a universal God who loves all of humanity, and looks upon His children with mercy and benevolence. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - This dual-God notion allowed Marcion to reconcile the apparent contradictions between the Old Testament and the narratives of Jesus' life and ministry. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcion

+4 If it's Christians that you're talking about, they believe it by shutting off a part of their mind to it. They can think about the story of Moses at a very basic summarized level but they will themselves to avoid any in depth thinking about the horrors of the OT laws and some of the other nastier elements of the OT and what they would mean about the nature of their 'all loving' God. . They give these kind of stories a kind of fairy tale gloss over. Noah's ark is another example - it's told in kids Sunday school classes like it was Jack and the Beanstalk or Cinderella. You have kids singing away happily about the animals marching into the ark two by two etc., There's not so much singing about God's actions shortly after all this when, in his all loving and merciful way, he drowns millions of people including kids and babies. . But for Christians generally the answer is that they have to believe it, no matter how ridiculous it is. The problem being that Jesus is supposed to have referred to Moses and to OT law. If Jesus believed it then they have to believe. If Jesus said it it can't be a lie, if it is then their whole belief system would fall apart. .

These are the same people that believe a physically handicapped mass murderer wrote "thou shalt not kill", and forecasted his own death and successor.

Yes, I can believe. The 10 commandments or moral law given to Moses are still just as valid today. The ceremonial and civil laws given to them do not strictly apply today, but the principles behind them do. Remember these people had been slaves for hundreds of years, and many of the laws given them were actually to keep them healthy or to teach them, since they were clueless. Some of the laws such as which animals to eat was to set them apart from pagans. (who may have used snakes in rituals for instance) Or to teach them which animals are unhealthy to eat (such as birds that eat dead animals) Some of these laws taught them preservation and land management, like leaving the fields fallow for a certain time. The guide for civil law was to teach them the punishment should fit the crime. Or how to set up a fair judicial system. Or how to set up a way to take care of the poor among them. The cermonial laws given to them such as animal sacrifice for forgiveness of sins became obsolete when Jesus Christ was sent as a sacrifice for sin. Again, it is fascinating really how God laid out for them a plan for living, since none of them had any experience caring for themselves. They were starting from scratch, which we cannot imagine with our volumes of books and internet and our advanced knowledge!

The same way one can believe that Russia and Alaska were once connected but are now on separate continents. The same way we believe that dinosaurs actually roamed the earth. The longer ago something happens, the harder it is to believe.

Faith