Part 8 of Post Your Tough Questions Regarding Christianity

Part 8 is a continuation of Post your tough questions pertaining to God/Jesus/Holy Bible and I will do my best to clarify and make sense of it to those who are unaware...I still have questions unanswered in Part 3, 4, 5 6 & 8.

Also I might answer questions that are on other members threads and so this will keep me real busy with the many questions that I will answer from my point of view/perspective keeping in line with Scripture.

I don't want my intentions to come across as converting you or whatever lol... but rather clear up things etc... so ask away.

 

Quote Posted by Giftedone on pg. 49 #481 of Part 3

The only denial here is denial of what is written in the Bible. You seem to like to make things up as you go along.

Jesus gave specific details of what would happen at the end of the world. He said these things would happen in the lifetime of the people he was speaking to.
34 Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.
These things never happened.

You should review Matt 24.
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I have but sorry your view is wrong. There are other plausible reasonable explanations as to what our Lord Savior Jesus Christ meant in Matt. 24.

But as we all know skeptics of the Bible are not open to other reasonable explanations.

What else is new...eh?

And so needless to say the Christian faith has not been tarnished by claims made from skeptics to discredit the faith. Look around the world, it's a fact

that the religion continues to grow with more and more followers every day entering the faith.

There are currently approx. close to 3 billion Christians world-wide...wow!

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Correction: Part 8 is a continuation of Post your tough questions pertaining to God/Jesus/Holy Bible and I will do my best to clarify and make sense of it to those who are unaware...I still have questions unanswered in Part 3, 4, 5 6 & 7.

 

you still have not admitted you were wrong in your claimed "fact" that the moon has no air.

Possibly not, but it sure is discredited by the claims of the fundies.

http://www.pewforum.org/2011/12/19/global-christianity-exec/

so to a fundy, 2.18 billion is "approximately close to 3 billion"

But then accuracy is never a strong point for fundies.

 

Quote Posted by pjohns on pg. 49 #485 of Part 3

The so-called "Documentary Hypothesis of the Pentateuch" (a.k.a. "the Wellhausen Hypothesis")--to which most biblical scholars now hew--holds that the first five books of the Old Testament were not authored by Moses, but by four separate writers; two of whom were the Elohist (who uses "El" for God) and the Yahwist (who uses the Tetragrammaton, YHWH--or, Latinized, JHVH--for God).
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My Holy Bible clearly tells me the first five books were authored by Moses, who by the way was inspired by God to write them.

 

1. Then it is up to personal interpretation. Not exactly authoratative.

2. No-one knows how many Christians there are in the world. Figures vary between 2 and 3 million depending on the source. Again the increase is in the poorer countries as is usual, and a gradual diminishing in the more 'educated' countries. And how do you define Christians? Many today will put down Christian, if asked on a questionaire, but don't actually practise it.

3. If Moses wrote the Pentateuch he simply copied much of the practises of nations around, and earlier Codes already in practise. Which is fair enough because they were good practises. but not new for the Hebrews.
Some of the practises of the Hebrews reflect Egyptian practices. If Moses actually existed perhaps he was responsible for this.

 

Why are the posters answering in the thread the most ignorant about christianity? And the world?

 

Just because 3 billion or even 100 billion people believe in something doesn't make their belief accurate.

Were all of the billions of people who believed in other deities besides the current favorite ones more or less accurate than Christians, Jews or muslims?

 

Quote Posted by Woody on pg. 49 #488 of Part 3

Odd how you ignored that entire post and cherry picked that one statement. I also ask for non christian references for this jesus (witnesses) who saw him. Sit around for another 2000 years and people are going to be having this same discussion when he still has failed to show.
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Asking a question that you know full well is impossible to answer, like that is the proof you need to verify that Jesus didn't exist...which is ridiculous!

However, even though I could not produce what you asked for I have something else to present.

CORNELIUS TACITUS (55 - 120 A.D.) Tacitus was a 1st and 2nd century Roman historian who lived through the reigns of over half a dozen
Roman emperors. Considered one of the greatest historians of ancient Rome, Tacitus verifies the Biblical account of Jesus' execution at the
hands of Pontius Pilate who governed Judea from 26-36 A.D. during the reign of Tiberius.

Nobody knows when our Lord Savior is to return, only the Father knows. And so regardless if Jesus doesn't show up in the next 2,000 yrs. that doesn't
mean He will never show up...are we understanding this?

Jesus said, "However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows." Matthew 24:36 NLT

Meantime we believers are just going about our lives, living it to the fullest, feeling blessed, all the while accepting and praising our Lord Savior Jesus Christ.

While guys like you are going through your lives not knowing what to believe, staying confused and frustrated, not knowing who to put your faith in.

Going through life confused and frustrated must be some tough thing to cope with...eh? Well what can I say to guys like you to ease your

burden?...absolutely nothing, for yall are too stubborn to put your faith in Almighty God, the Creator of the universe and everything else that exists.

 

Seriously. Look how few here will recognize others as "True Christians".

 

Um, why is one of the most ignorant people on the forum offering to answer "tough questions"?
Esp. as he dodges ("invalid question") the ones that are actually hard, or, easier still, ignores them.

 

Quote Posted by thebrucebeat on pg. 50 #492 of Part 3

Science isn't religions enemy. They are partners in the search for answers to the greatest questions man can ask.
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I wholeheartedly agree, I mean scientists have pretty much concluded that the universe had a beginning (the big bang), well scriptures tells us, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." Genesis 1:1 NLT

There are numerous other discoveries made by scientists that authenticates the credibility of the Holy Bible.

But of course we can't be totally naive here, there are some atheist scientists whose agenda is to discredit the Holy Bible, let's be honest here.

Looking at the big picture though, science as a whole has been very helpful in regards to giving credibility to the Holy Bible.

 

The Bible says that if a prophet says that something will happen but it doesn't happen during the prophet's lifetime, then the prophet was full of bat guano. Jesus made a specific prophecy and it didn't come true. So by the Bible's criteria Jesus was a liar. It's really that simple.

 

What does it say in Deuteronomy 18:21-22 (NLT) = “But you may wonder, ‘How will we know whether or not a prophecy is from the Lord?’ [SUP]22 [/SUP]If the prophet speaks in the Lord’s name but his prediction does not happen or come true, you will know that the Lord did not give that message. That prophet has spoken without my authority and need not be feared."


Jesus never did anything godly. A whole herd of guys did tricks like he did.

Jesus was born in sin. His mother committed adultery and got pregnant with him. The Bible says that such children will never amount to anything.

 

That's probably the worst explanation of the situation I've heard. Given the acceptance that Mary was still a 'child', in our modern view, when she bore Jesus, and the customs of the time, it is highly unlikely that she would have been left alone with any young man other than Joseph, her husband. Yes he was already her husband although the actual 'handing over' between parents had not yet occured.There was no marriage service such as today. She would have been kept under fairly close survelliance by the family and the village folk where she lived.

We think in terms of today's Western Morals. Just look at the Middle East even today for an example.

 

He dodges more than answers. Just look, he's 4 threads behind. Answering questions from 8 months ago.

 

Dodges, yep. But in the process is revealed something worse, never being willing to admit to being wrong.
Like all fundamentalists we've seen.
It is so perversely dishonest, coming from as it does, "Christians" that a person who believed in such things might
well think they are taking their marching orders as dupes of the Dark One.

Would it kill him to admit he was wrong when he said it is a fact that the moon has no air?

Probably, close to it. For lo, admit to one error, and it could lead to admitting another, a whole chain reaction that
would shatter the hard brittle bubble they build around themselves.

No, better to let those who would put him at risk try to chase him like a squirrel thro' the treetops, as he skips from
one topic to the next.

 

Quote Posted by Akhlut on pg. 50 #494 of Part 3 in response to my post.

Sorry that doesn't qualify as having absolute proof of God being non-existent. You and everyone else for that matter have never seen gravity but it exists. (Post by Mitt Ryan)

We have very strong evidence for its existence, though. We can predict the movement of celestial objects very accurately based on our knowledge of their masses which allows us to know what their gravitational fields are, which allows us to predict celestial movements with extreme accuracy. Not only that, we've developed tools that can measure changes in gravity on earth between areas with different altitudes and different soil and rock compositions (for instance, an area with a large concentration of metal ores high in the mountains is going to have a stronger gravitational pull than a sandy beach at sea level) and even determine the gravitational pull of large buildings. We can clearly observe, replicate, and predict gravity and its effects on the universe at large. We cannot do the same with any deity. (Post by Akhlut in response to my post above)
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Exactly! We cannot do the same with any deity, and just because we don't know that something exists, it doesn't mean that it doesn't; in other words absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.

So we can conclusively say no one can prove/disprove the existence/non-existence of God.

Am I making good logical sense here?...no need for anyone to answer cause I already know the answer...I know I am!

 

Quote Posted by Giftedone on pg. 50 #493 of Part 3 in response to WanRen's post

Jesus Christ did not give the specific day;
Matthew 24: 36 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only (Post by Wan Ren)

No one said he did ?

He said it would happen during the lifetime of those listening to him.

Never happened during their lifetime.

So then, this leaves us with limited choices:

1) Jesus was mistaken
2) The Bible is not inerrant and the writer if Matt made a mistake
3) Deny reality and pretend the passage does not exist, or make up some ridiculous story to try and explain away reality. (Post by Giftedone in response to WanRen's post above)
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You forgot choice number 4 which is more than likely the culprit given what most readers of the bible are guilty of.

4) The passage was misinterpreted as to what Jesus really meant





Quote Posted by Giftedone on pg. 50 #493 of Part 3 in response to WanRen's post
Jesus Christ did not give the specific day;
Matthew 24: 36 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only (Post by Wan Ren)

No one said he did ?

He said it would happen during the lifetime of those listening to him.

Never happened during their lifetime.

So then, this leaves us with limited choices:

1) Jesus was mistaken
2) The Bible is not inerrant and the writer if Matt made a mistake
3) Deny reality and pretend the passage does not exist, or make up some ridiculous story to try and explain away reality. (Post by Giftedone in response to WanRen's post above)
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You forgot choice number 4 which is more than likely the culprit given what most readers of the bible are guilty of.
4) The passage was misinterpreted as to what Jesus really meant



Quote Posted by Giftedone on pg. 50 #493 of Part 3 in response to WanRen's post
Jesus Christ did not give the specific day;
Matthew 24: 36 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only (Post by Wan Ren)

No one said he did ?

He said it would happen during the lifetime of those listening to him.

Never happened during their lifetime.

So then, this leaves us with limited choices:

1) Jesus was mistaken
2) The Bible is not inerrant and the writer if Matt made a mistake
3) Deny reality and pretend the passage does not exist, or make up some ridiculous story to try and explain away reality. (Post by Giftedone in response to WanRen's post above)
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You forgot choice number 4 which is more than likely the culprit given what most readers of the bible are guilty of.
4) The passage was misinterpreted as to what Jesus really meant
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Oops sorry for the triple post, it twas an accident.

 

Quote Posted by Giftedone on pg. 50 #495 of Part 3

I have yet to see any of the "tough questions" answered with anything but avoidance (just have faith= don't question and just believe).
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But I have answered numerous questions, I don't know if they were necessarily tough though...lol

I know with absolute certainty I have never posted a message such as, "just have faith= don't question and just believe."

From the start of Part 3, I specifically said, "Part 3 a continuation of Post your tough questions pertaining to God/Jesus/Holy Bible and I will do my best to clarify and make sense of it to those who are unaware...I still have questions unanswered in Part 1 & 2, the moderators locked up Part 1 & 2 due to having over 700 posts.

I don't want my intentions to come across as converting you or whatever lol... but rather clear up things etc... so ask away."

 

Just "answering" does not make the answer correct.

And as for a non tough question, are you capable of admitting you are ever wrong?
I think that is why you dodged the thing about your FALSEHOOD presented as an example of fact, that the moon has no air.

If you are ignorant and false in the little things, you are not believable when you try the tough things.

 

Quote Posted by Akhlut on pg. 50 #499 of Part 3

Darwin never really said anything about the existence or non-existence of any deity.
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The quote he made below pretty much gives us a hint that he didn't believe in the existence of God and so your statement can be classified as being invalid.

"I cannot persuade myself that a beneficent and omnipotent God would have designedly created parasitic wasps with the express intention of their feeding within the living bodies of Caterpillars." ----Charles Darwin

 

Quote Posted by Akhlut on pg. 50 #499 of Part 3 in response to WanRen's post

S. Hawking should just stick to his physicist and mathematical abilities and stay away from the science of theology (Post by WanRen)

Ha! Theology is not a science. It does not partake in any part of the scientific method. (Post by Akhlut in response to WanRen's post above)
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I guess you never heard of "scientific theology"...eh? Many think the term scientific theology is an oxymoron. Theology, they say, has to do with God and the supernatural, and science is the study if nature, The two have nothing to do with each other.

But the reality is that science and theology have profound interactions with each other, thus we have scientific theology.

 

Quote Posted by Akhlut on pg 51 #503 of Part 3

Someone is unaware of the null hypothesis. Or the idea that something needs positive evidence to be considered, as opposed to lacking negative evidence. After all, do you seriously consider unicorns, leprechauns, werewolves, or the Flying Spaghetti Monster? There is no proof of their non-existence.
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When it comes to unicorns, leprechauns, werewolves, or the Flying Spaghetti Monster I could care less about their existence/non existence, I certainly don't need anyone to prove/disprove their existence/non existence to me, in other words...who cares, I certainly don't care?...lol

Furthermore I'm sure you could care less about those characters too but tell me why do you challenge the existence of an Almighty God, the Creator?

Why do you care about voicing /expressing your disbelief in the Almighty? Is His existence a threat to you? No need to answer that question cause I already know the answer.