Christianity and Religion

Sal

Hall of Fame Member
Sep 29, 2007
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So, something that is considered a fantasy, by both of you, is relevant. I see. Actually, no I don't see. I just can't fathom how any intelligent adult could bring up something that he/she considers to be a fantasy, or a falsehood and use it as an argument.
I can't help it if you can't see the relevance.
 

Motar

Council Member
Jun 18, 2013
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My point is in answer to Motar's supposition when he asked his question that there are really no divisions; that he doesn't view other Christians as heretics. A somewhat dishonest position.
Acknowledgement of those difference accentuates the personal nature of belief/non belief; that "truth is at the bottom of a bottomless well".

: ) You suppose much, Spade.
 

petros

The Central Scrutinizer
Nov 21, 2008
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Right, that's about where it starts, and that's where the logic of it begins to escape me. It's simply inconceivable to me that an omniscient, omnipotent, universally benevolent and loving deity would have created us so badly flawed with, you must believe, full knowledge of the consequences.
Ain't free will a bitch?
 

MHz

Time Out
Mar 16, 2007
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Red Deer AB
Yes, I did say you are like the other athiests. I didn't say you wouldn't be "saved", or that you would "go to hell". Those are both atheist and idiot sayings.


As for revelations, I don't believe any of it, as it pertains to Christ's return, of which he made perfectly clear that no one, not even himself, knows when it will be.

The when's, why's, hows, and wherefores do not concern me. They are in God the Fathers realm and will happen in his own time line. I actually feel it is a touch blasphemous considering what Christ already said about his return.
That's true, that doesn't mean there isn't prophecy that covers the 3 1/2 years before that return. You don't qualify as a child of the light if the prophecies are a mystery and the mystery dissolves away with just some reading.

1Th:5:2-5:
For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
For when they shall say,
Peace and safety;
then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child;
and they shall not escape.
But ye,
brethren, are not in darkness,
that that day should overtake you as a thief.
Ye are all the children of light,
and the children of the day:
we are not of the night,
nor of darkness.

In the number of words dedicated to an event the time surrounding the return is the most covered event in all of the bible, god doesn't do that if He doesn't want us to understand what all those references actually mean.
 

Motar

Council Member
Jun 18, 2013
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The need of the hour is to distinguish and differentiate between "religion" and Christianity. Christianity is NOT Religion What is religion? Was Jesus Christ religious? Is Christianity a religion?

Religion:
"Then John’s disciples came and asked him, “How is it that we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?" (Matthew 9:14 NIV)

Christianity:
"Jesus answered, 'How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast. No one sews a patch of (new) cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved." (Matthew 9:15-17 NIV)

The evidence for the OP as recorded in the gospels is monumental.
 

MHz

Time Out
Mar 16, 2007
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Right, that's about where it starts, and that's where the logic of it begins to escape me. It's simply inconceivable to me that an omniscient, omnipotent, universally benevolent and loving deity would have created us so badly flawed with, you must believe, full knowledge of the consequences, then some thousands of years later provide the means to rectify things by requiring us to believe, on very bad evidence, in the efficacy of a single human sacrifice, and dooming for all time those who fail to get it. That's not a benevolent and loving deity.

Or to take an example from Sam Harris: every year around the world 9 million children die before reaching the age of five. That's about 17 per minute, on average, which means in the time it takes you to read this post, some few children will have died in terror and agony. Their parents, most of them, will be believers of one sort or another and will be praying for their children to be spared. Their prayers will not be answered. Any deity that allows the innocent to suffer like that, and their parents to grieve like that, must be either powerless to prevent it, or chooses not to. He must therefore be either impotent, or wicked.

And there's a third possibility: he's not real, he doesn't exist. That's my position.
The deaths of those children are because we don't care for them enough yet the bankers can own trillions of dollars with our blessing. Their future doesn't look all that bright when God comes knocking.

M't:25:42-45:
For I was an hungred,
and ye gave me no meat:
I was thirsty,
and ye gave me no drink:
I was a stranger,
and ye took me not in:
naked,
and ye clothed me not:
sick,
and in prison,
and ye visited me not.
Then shall they also answer him,
saying,
Lord,
when saw we thee an hungred,
or athirst,
or a stranger,
or naked,
or sick,
or in prison,
and did not minister unto thee?
Then shall he answer them,
saying,
Verily I say unto you,
Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these,
ye did it not to me.

Jer:25:29:
For,
lo,
I begin to bring evil on the city which is called by my name,
and should ye be utterly unpunished?
Ye shall not be unpunished:
for I will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth,
saith the LORD of hosts.

Jer:25:34-38:
Howl,
ye shepherds,
and cry;
and wallow yourselves in the ashes,
ye principal of the flock:
for the days of your slaughter and of your dispersions are accomplished;
and ye shall fall like a pleasant vessel.
And the shepherds shall have no way to flee,
nor the principal of the flock to escape.
A voice of the cry of the shepherds,
and an howling of the principal of the flock,
shall be heard:
for the LORD hath spoiled their pasture.
And the peaceable habitations are cut down because of the fierce anger of the LORD.
He hath forsaken his covert,
as the lion: for their land is desolate because of the fierceness of the oppressor,
and because of his fierce anger.

Isa:56:10-12:
His watchmen are blind:
they are all ignorant,
they are all dumb dogs,
they cannot bark;
sleeping,
lying down,
loving to slumber.
Yea,
they are greedy dogs which can never have enough,
and they are shepherds that cannot understand:
they all look to their own way,
every one for his gain,
from his quarter.
Come ye,
say they,
I will fetch wine,
and we will fill ourselves with strong drink;
and to morrow shall be as this day,
and much more abundant.

Megahurts. Darby was a mentally imbalanced heretic. Dwelling on Revelations is for Born Yesterday moon bats.
Actually I use it as the index for all the prophecy in the OT that is somewhat vague, not that I expect you to grasp that, just like you can't grasp that Russia is now a free society.
 

Cliffy

Standing Member
Nov 19, 2008
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It never went away.
Huhh? What never went away?

Actually I use it as the index for all the prophecy in the OT that is somewhat vague, not that I expect you to grasp that, just like you can't grasp that Russia is now a free society.
I was once asked to attend a priesthood meeting at a Mormon temple. The missionary dudes there were talking about the line of prophets from the time of Abraham to Jesus and then jumped to Joseph Smith with a big blank in between. I asked, "what happened to all the prophesies of the Hopi and other aboriginal tribes, the Buddhist and Hindus etc?" I was never invited back.

There have been many prophesies throughout history from every religion. Many of the Hopi prophesies have come about. Why are they never taken seriously by bible thumpers (I know it is rhetorical question. You don't have to answer). Tunnel vision is not healthy.
 

Dexter Sinister

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Oct 1, 2004
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That's right, sorry to say, but every one of your actions is your own fault. Not someone or something else. As much as Dexter would like to be able to push off his insecurities and wrong doings on some "superior" being.
You misunderstand completely, as usual, and I think deliberately. That's not what I do, I know perfectly well I'm responsible for the consequences of my actions and I accept that. I'm merely pointing out what the logic of Christianity is, and why I reject it.
 

gerryh

Time Out
Nov 21, 2004
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You misunderstand completely, as usual, and I think deliberately. That's not what I do, I know perfectly well I'm responsible for the consequences of my actions and I accept that. I'm merely pointing out what the logic of Christianity is, and why I reject it.


Ummm...no..... you twist the logic to fit your own prejudices. That is all you do.
 

cj44

Electoral Member
Sep 18, 2013
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You misunderstand completely, as usual, and I think deliberately. That's not what I do, I know perfectly well I'm responsible for the consequences of my actions and I accept that. I'm merely pointing out what the logic of Christianity is, and why I reject it.
Dexter, there is nothing logical about Christianity. Is it logical to believe the sea was parted? Is it logical to think that Diety was born as a baby in a manger? Is it logical to think there is a Satan that prowls about looking for someone to devour? Is it logical to believe Jesus died on the cross and then rose from the dead? Is it logical that we will one day be resurected from the grave? None of it is logical.

Seems we found agreement on something. Is that even logical? :)

Christianity has nothing to do with logic. Why is the Bible seemingly an affront to reason & logic? Because logic cannot add to faith. Though, for me Creation is more logical than Evolution. I'm hard pressed to believe a squirrel evolved into an elephant or a fish evolved into a horse. THough I do see a resemblance of a dinosaur in some particular birds.

If you are looking for a logical religion, Christianity isn't it.
 

Motar

Council Member
Jun 18, 2013
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The need of the hour is to distinguish and differentiate between "religion" and Christianity. Christianity is NOT Religion What is religion? Was Jesus Christ religious? Is Christianity a religion?

Religion:
"At that time Jesus went through the grain fields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, 'Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath." (Matthew 12:1-2 NIV)

Christianity:
"He answered, 'Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread—which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests. Or haven’t you read in the Law that the priests on Sabbath duty in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are innocent? I tell you that something greater than the temple is here. If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” (Matthew 12:3-8 NIV)

Religion and Christianity at odds again.
 

Goober

Hall of Fame Member
Jan 23, 2009
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Yes, there's that element about it, but if this deity has the characteristics usually ascribed to him, he could have made us such that we'd treat each other a little better so that kind of thing wouldn't happen, or he could put a stop to it. He didn't, and doesn't. If we're wicked and inhumane, it can only be because he made us that way with, again, full knowledge of the consequences. If you knowingly made something defective and it injured and killed a lot of people, you'd be responsible for the consequences, they'd be your fault. Same logic applies here.

Free will and a number of messengers- Is it Gods fault that many do not listen? Nope.