[erl]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('rogerhb', 'R')evelations - scary story to get your children to be good

[erl]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('rogerhb', '
')Five hundred first hand documented witnesses, cool!

[rogerhb]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('erl', 'T')hat leaves out a lot of people: Plato, Aristotle, Archimedes, Homer, most of the Roman emperors. Gosh. Where would history be without "first hand documented witnesses?"

[erl]

Josephus was not a witness to Jesus' life. He was born a few years after Jesus' death. He was a chronicler, a historian. I used him as an example of a historian who believed Jesus was an actual person, not a myth. And who lived near the time in question and was not himself a believer.

Sorry if that wasn't clear before.

[Rabid_aGnostic]

Usually, talking about/discussing religion with others is like trying to teach a dog to sing: it wastes your time, and annoys the dog.

That said, I view religious people like smokers: it may be bad for you, but if it somehow helps you get through the BS of life, then rock on. Just don't smoke or proselytize in my car

[lotrfan55345]

Who wants to worship me?

[killJOY]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'W')ho wants to worship me?

[elizabethlea]

I am so sick and tired of evangelistic christians, who I feel are misguided in their interpretation of the Gospels. That said, I am a christian But I don't take the bible as literal fact. Why???...

The hebrew concept of 'truth' was different to our modern concept, which is greek based. The hebrew concept saw 'truth' as our present understanding of how things are, which can be revealed as different at any time. The greek understanding saw 'truth' as one concrete fact which could never be altered.

Those who wrote the old testament and gospels were mostly Jews. So they would have thought of truth in the hebrew sense of it. For example, the first 2 chapters of genesis are contradictory in detail. So if we are to believe that the Bible is God authored truth in the GREEK sense, then the validity of the Bible falls apart in the first 2 chapters. But if we are looking at the Bible from a Hebrew perspective, we would conclude that there were two different understandings of how the universe came to be, at the time that genesis was written. They were equally valid to the Jews at the time, hence two versions.

When I read the gospels I read them as a piece of literature, a piece of symbolic text, expressing different understandings of who Jesus was. The authors of the gospels were NOT writing with the aim of recording a historical occurence, so to assume that the gospels are fact, in the greek concrete sense is not how they were intended to be read (I believe).

I believe in God (Bod to me means the undefinable infinite, not a theistic being who needs a blood sacrifice to satisfy the debt of sin... that idea is ridiculous IMHO.. that's a whole different discussion..). But that's a matter of faith, as is everyones' spirituality.

I guess my point is that not all christians are evangelical, we are not all fanatics, and do not all believe what evangelicals say we do. Pease don't flame me, I'm not trying to convert anyone, just to explain a different understanding of who christians are.

[EnemyCombatant]

I'm looking forward to the rapture so God can take all of you Christians and leave the rest of us in peace.

[elroy]

The reason why the bible contradicts itself is also because there were several authors with differing interests. Check out this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Documentary_hypothesis

[swingbolder]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'A')ll religion (the belief in gods) is nothing but fairy tales and in the last century it has hijacked the concept of morality such that most religious people think they are the same thing and that if you don't believe in THEIR god you must be amoral. This is almost the furthest possibe extreme of stupidity.

[BabyPeanut]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('killJOY', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'W')ho wants to worship me?

[Ebyss]

You know if you squint a little.. the red "thing" in the middle of the cake kind of looks like Mary in her robes.

[uNkNowN ElEmEnt]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Rabid_aGnostic', 'U')sually, talking about/discussing religion with others is like trying to teach a dog to sing: it wastes your time, and annoys the dog.

That said, I view religious people like smokers: it may be bad for you, but if it somehow helps you get through the BS of life, then rock on. Just don't smoke or proselytize in my car

[pip]

Whenever I start to think the whole peak oil thing is becoming somewhat mainstream, I'm reminded that it's biggest proponents are a long, long way from mainstream.

[cat]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'W')henever I start to think the whole peak oil thing is becoming somewhat mainstream, I'm reminded that it's biggest proponents are a long, long way from mainstream

[erl]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('elizabethlea', 'T')hat said, I am a christian.

[lotrfan55345]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('killJOY', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'W')ho wants to worship me?

[erl]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('uNkNowN ElEmEnt', '[')The whole New Testament (other than the gospels which are so contradictory its a joke) is based on a bunch of letters Paul wrote to different churches. This is a guy who didn't even know Jesus and was actually called back to face James (who took over for Jesus after his death) and was called to account and repent for his sins by fasting for 3 days. its all in the new testament.