God is Just and Remembers

Motar

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Jun 18, 2013
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Yes, it looked that way to me too, they both are, agreeing to disagree without judging each other negatively.

It is a spiritual principle in the body of Christ.

“Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.”
(Ephesians 4:2-3)

At the return of Christ, this principle will be universal practice.
 

Dexter Sinister

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He's not coming back, and there's no reason to think the being Christianity claims he is was ever here in the first place. That there was a charismatic preacher in first century Palestine the tales of him are based on seems beyond doubt, in fact there were likely quite a few of them, it was a time of great political and religious ferment in that area of the Roman Empire, but most of the tales about him are made up.
 

Tecumsehsbones

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If you were in a situation where you could choose between “winning” an argument or winning a friend, which would you choose and why, Dex?
"Why, Ed Barclay! What an ugly thing to say! Does this me we're not friends anymore? 'Cause if I thought you weren't my friend, I don't think I could bear it."

-- Doc Holliday, Tombstone
 

Dexter Sinister

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It is a spiritual principle in the body of Christ..
Such scholarly disputation was certainly happening in civilizations in ancient China, India, Greece, Egypt, and Rome, and it's a strong component of Judaism's rabbinical tradition, all long before Jesus' time, we have records. The great library at Alexandria was a centre of such activity in the ancient world, and its founding predates Jesus' time by several centuries. Christianity doesn't get to claim credit for that one, it's a bit of wisdom learned from others.
 

Motar

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If you were in a situation where you could choose between “winning” an argument or winning a friend, which would you choose and why, Dex?

God chose friendship in selecting Abraham:

“And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend.” (James 2:23)
 

Dexter Sinister

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Would that have been before or after god told Abraham to barbecue his boy Isaac? Abraham might have believed he was god's friend, but god was no friend of Abraham's.
 

Motar

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Would that have been before or after god told Abraham to barbecue his boy Isaac? Abraham might have believed he was god's friend, but god was no friend of Abraham's.

God chose friendship with humankind in choosing Abraham.

"But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the offspring of Abraham, my friend" (Isaiah 41:8 )
 

Dexter Sinister

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Isaiah and James saying it doesn't make it so. What kind of friend does what god did to Abraham, and what does your common sense tell you about that? The only conclusion I can draw from it is that in addition to his manifest other faults, god lies.


I'm reminded of Sam Harris' remark on such things: religion has people by the millions believing things that only lunatics would believe on their own. And he offers this example: if you believe that saying a few words over your pancakes in the morning turns them into the body of Elvis Presley, you have lost your mind. But if you believe the same thing about a cracker and Jesus, you're just a Catholic.
 
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Motar

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Isaiah and James saying it doesn't make it so. What kind of friend does what god did to Abraham?

Abraham is the human ancestor of Jesus who said:

“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15:13)

More than just speak about this kind of love, Jesus embodied it.
 

Dexter Sinister

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Sure. Once upon a time there was a lovely garden, with a talking snake who duped a gullible woman into eating the fruit of a magic tree that was forbidden, she tricked her equally gullible partner into eating it too, and as a result we all have an evil spell on us called original sin. A few thousand years later god decides to provide a way for humans to remove that spell, and the best he can come up with is a gruesome human sacrifice, making one man the scapegoat for everything we've ever done and ever will do wrong. Except he didn't really die, he was magically resurrected a few days later, so it's hard not to doubt the validity of that sacrifice. He promises eternal life and removal of the spell if we accept him as lord and master, believe the right things, and follow the proper rituals. That is the core claim of Christianity, stripped of its mysticism and specious niceties. It strikes me as a particularly noxious fairy tale, but today millions of people believe in the efficacy of that sacrifice, and look forward--many of them eagerly--to massive death and destruction all over the world when the man returns, as described in Revelation. Looks like a death cult to me.
 
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Motar

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“In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.” (John 1:4)

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (John 10:10)
 

Motar

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“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (John 10:10)

“Because I live, you also will live.” (John 14:19)
 

Dexter Sinister

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The Bible saying it doesn't make it so, that's just the tired old argument from authority fallacy. You might as well cite Greek mythology, it carries about as much weight. If you have no thoughts of your own and intend to just keep on trying to contradict me with biblical citations, I think we're done here.
 

DaSleeper

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May 27, 2007
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The only thing <I won't say worst> but as bad as religious fanatics who proselytize on forums is people who waste their time using logic against them!
I worked with a Jehovah witness for 15 years! It didn't take me long to learn my lesson.....lol
 

Dexter Sinister

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The only thing <I won't say worst> but as bad as religious fanatics who proselytize on forums is people who waste their time using logic against them!
You never know who might be reading this without engaging in the exchange, and finding it useful in sorting out their own thoughts. I think religious claims need to be challenged, it's long past time they stopped getting respect just because they have the religious label on them. I will, as you've seen, stop at some point when the person making the religious claims refuses to engage, then it becomes a waste of time, but the challenge needs to be issued.
 

Motar

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The hope of peace through the government of Christ.

In Him all controversy ceases:

“After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count from every nation, tribe, people, and language standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” (Revelation 7:9-10)

Marana tha!
 

DaSleeper

Trolling Hypocrites
May 27, 2007
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You never know who might be reading this without engaging in the exchange, and finding it useful in sorting out their own thoughts. I think religious claims need to be challenged, it's long past time they stopped getting respect just because they have the religious label on them. I will, as you've seen, stop at some point when the person making the religious claims refuses to engage, then it becomes a waste of time, but the challenge needs to be issued.
As you can see from his last post, which I didn't even bother to read, he has no interest in discussion, just using the internet as a virtual megaphone!
A waste of time ... maybe not for him, because he knows that at least one person is reading what he posts