Archaeologists, scholars dispute Jesus documentary

[vraiblonde]

Just get him to swab His cheek. How hard is that? Duh!

 

[Tonio]

Just get him to swab His cheek. How hard is that? Duh!

Just get a swab from Oprah Winfrey's cheek, since she seems to think of herself as God.

 

[blitz10]

Just get a swab from Oprah Winfrey's cheek, since she seems to think of herself as God.

hey leave Oprah out of this

 

[wxtornado]

Good question.

God (being infallible) set her up. So why is the Serpent the evil one? God is the one who knowingly set Eve up to listen to the Serpent, thereby damning mankind with the burden of Sin.

And who actually tempted Eve? the Serpent or God who knew she was doomed to fail from the beginning?

Wait a second, isn't this the foundation of the Christian religion? And how is this different than say a caring, loving parent leaving a loaded pistol in the playroom of a five year old child, knowing full well what the result will be, and watching from a crack in the door as the child blows his brains out?

 

[Toxick]

Wait a second, isn't this the foundation of the Christian religion?

No. It's not.

 

[Thor]

But it is kind of hard to gather 12 guys together and convince them that you're performing miracles while they watch - and convince them so thoroughly that they would not ever deny seeing them, even on pain of death.

That's a really tough trick to pull off.

Jimmy boy got a whole bunch of people to drink poison cool aid. The Heavens gate dude got tens of people to kill themselves, David got his guys to burn themselves alive. Being a cult leader makes controlling your "flock" a lot easier, so it's no surprise to me that those twelve guys believed in him until the end. Makes perfect sense in fact.

 

[Dondi]

Good question.

God (being infallible) set her up. So why is the Serpent the evil one? God is the one who knowingly set Eve up to listen to the Serpent, thereby damning mankind with the burden of Sin.

And who actually tempted Eve? the Serpent or God who knew she was doomed to fail from the beginning?

I think something about the free will to love God back through obedience has something to do with this. Much can be learned in the story of Job, where a similiar thing happened. Of course, Job got blessed in the end.

 

[Tonio]

what kind of God would purposely inflict this cruelity for a wager...

That is my central objection to the literal reading of the Old Testament. That kind of cruelty and manipulation is wrong, and God doing the inflicting doesn't make it okay. Sure, the Greek myths show the Olympian gods inflicting the same types of cruelty. But the Greeks never claimed that the Olympians were all-benevolent or all-righteous or all-wise.

 

[PsyOps]

That is my central objection to the literal reading of the Old Testament. That kind of cruelty and manipulation is wrong, and God doing the inflicting doesn't make it okay. Sure, the Greek myths show the Olympian gods inflicting the same types of cruelty. But the Greeks never claimed that the Olympians were all-benevolent or all-righteous or all-wise.

Oh, so we can judge God? I've pretty much gotten myself in the position that I can't, nor will I, question how and why God does things. Why? Because God doesn't give us all the details of His purpose.

 

[PsyOps]

The Bible is Judging God.

You cant have it both ways, if the Bible is the "Word", then how do you balance when it calls God Evil and Destroyer of the Perfect, through the story of Job?

The Bible, the word of God is judging God. Very interesting. Please allow me to read back in this thread more so I can get a clue about what you are talking about.

 

[Tonio]

Oh, so we can judge God? I've pretty much gotten myself in the position that I can't, nor will I, question how and why God does things. Why? Because God doesn't give us all the details of His purpose.

I think you miss my point. I believe that everything should be questioned and examined. We should never be reluctant to ask why things happen, while accepting that life involves a certain amount of random suffering. It has nothing to do with "judging God." It has to do with examining all scripture as text without any preconceived notions about scripture being either the literal or inspired word of deity, and making our own conclusions about the words. It has to do with not automatically assuming that there is even such a thing as deity. In my view, once you start attributing life's suffering to a higher being, that leads to the hateful idea of suffering being some kind of punishment.

 

[Bustem' Down]

I believe that everything should be questioned and examined.

Good point, questioning and examining is what got us out of the dark ages.

 

[itsbob]

Oh, so we can judge God? I've pretty much gotten myself in the position that I can't, nor will I, question how and why God does things. Why? Because God doesn't give us all the details of His purpose.

So you would, without question, drink the Kool Aid too??

Just like the 7th Day's when they were told that God said the Earth was going to cease to exist, they quit their jobs, sold their homes.. imagine their surprize when they found out God lied.

 

[PsyOps]

I think you miss my point. I believe that everything should be questioned and examined. We should never be reluctant to ask why things happen, while accepting that life involves a certain amount of random suffering. It has nothing to do with "judging God." It has to do with examining all scripture as text without any preconceived notions about scripture being either the literal or inspired word of deity, and making our own conclusions about the words. It has to do with not automatically assuming that there is even such a thing as deity. In my view, once you start attributing life's suffering to a higher being, that leads to the hateful idea of suffering being some kind of punishment.

Keep in mind that is what YOU believe. I respect that. Equally, as a Christian, I don’t question God’s motives. If you are a believer you know that God created this earth and every living thing in it. To even try to comprehend that is impossible. To take it a step further and understand his purpose behind it is beyond anyone. Not that we shouldn’t pursue it, but none of us are in a position to question God’s purpose. The typical answer Christian will give you is: You may not understand why God does what he does until then end when he opens all our (the believers) eyes.

If you are seeking these answers to somehow find God in all this, you will… eventually. If you are doing only to disprove the existence of God, how do you really do this? How do you disprove faith?

 

[Tonio]

If you are seeking these answers to somehow find God in all this, you will… eventually. If you are doing only to disprove the existence of God, how do you really do this? How do you disprove faith?

I'm trying to take a religion-neutral perspective. Religions make different claims about life or existence beyond this life. While there is no factual evidence for that, I think that when atheists belabor that point, they miss the big picture. Instead, I ask, why would one religion's claims have more validity than the others? Why not treat the various teachings not as literal claims, but allegories or metaphors designed to teach certain lessons? I suspect there may be such a thing as the divine, although one whose nature does not fit literal readings of any religion's teachings. I'm suggesting that there is no certaintly about anything in life, and that perhaps each of us must find the answers to life's questions on our own.

 

[RadioPatrol]

Nobody's family record speaks of their great great great grandma.. being cured of leprosy, or being blind and being cured with sight. The only place these miracles are mentioned is in the Bible.. why is that? There is no medical record, there is no historical record, no historical city records speak of it, only the Bible.

Would you recognize a miracle if you saw one ? Does someone have to be raised from the dead, be cured of an incurable sickness ?

If a man fell off a building and happened to land in a trash truck stalled beside the building, would you say he was "LUCKY" or God's providence in sending an Angel down from heaven to stall the truck, or would you write the whole thing off ? What Defines a Miracle? Who Defines a Miracle ? Do you really think God, he would allow you do define him ? God's not an ATM Machine you access with a Prayer ...... "Oh God i need XYZ Give it to me please" and you get all pissy when you material needs arenit met ....... Everything Comes in God's Time, and in His Will. not when man thinks he deserves it

It is about God the Father, God the Son, and the Holy Spirit. not what miracles happened today .............

 

[RadioPatrol]

So you admit that they died for what they believed to be the truth as nobody could prove to them that it was a hoax, , even though you know the Muslim faith to be a hoax and the Koran to be false...

Hey at least my God's tomb is Empty.

Mohomad is still in his ....... never heard of any miracles from Allah ?

Budda ........ Dead

 

[Penn]

Would you recognize a miracle if you saw one ? Does someone have to be raised from the dead, be cured of an incurable sickness ?

If a man fell off a building and happened to land in a trash truck stalled beside the building, would you say he was "LUCKY" or God's providence in sending an Angel down from heaven to stall the truck, or would you write the whole thing off ? What Defines a Miracle? Who Defines a Miracle ? Do you really think God, he would allow you do define him ? God's not an ATM Machine you access with a Prayer ...... "Oh God i need XYZ Give it to me please" and you get all pissy when you material needs arenit met ....... Everything Comes in God's Time, and in His Will. not when man thinks he deserves it

It is about God the Father, God the Son, and the Holy Spirit. not what miracles happened today .............

In the last 7 years since I started(or should I say re-started) to look at the Lord God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, all over again in a new light, there have been countless times where I have been placed in a position to help someone in need.

Some small deeds, some larger efforts. It doesn't matter, because I've found myself involved with them - which I never knew before it happened.

Who cares? I was in a position to aid somebody, to help them out, those who needed it.

Call it what you will; in the right place at the right time, or God was guiding me there, to make a difference. I choose the latter.

 

[PsyOps]

So you would, without question, drink the Kool Aid too??

Just like the 7th Day's when they were told that God said the Earth was going to cease to exist, they quit their jobs, sold their homes.. imagine their surprize when they found out God lied.

It’s not about aimlessly following others. It’s about personal faith. I wonder about a lot of things in the Bible and what is going on in the in the world. But I always keep those questions in the context of realizing God has a purpose and will that is beyond our understanding.

The SDAs prediction proved itself wrong. Then end is signified by the second coming of the Messiah. The bible warns of false prophets and those that try to predict the end is near. In Matthew 24 Jesus warns us about false prophets and predictions of the end:

Many false prophets will arise and deceive many… 24:11

If anyone says to you then, 'Look, here is the Messiah!' or, 'There he is!' do not believe it. False messiahs and false prophets will arise, and they will perform signs and wonders so great as to deceive, if that were possible, even the elect. Behold, I have told it to you beforehand. So if they say to you, 'He is in the desert,' do not go out there; if they say, 'He is in the inner rooms,' do not believe it. For just as lightning comes from the east and is seen as far as the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be… 24:23-27

So God didn’t lie, God warned us about those that would try to deceive us and those that followed the SDAs were deceived by men, not God.

 

[PsyOps]

I'm trying to take a religion-neutral perspective. Religions make different claims about life or existence beyond this life. While there is no factual evidence for that, I think that when atheists belabor that point, they miss the big picture. Instead, I ask, why would one religion's claims have more validity than the others? Why not treat the various teachings not as literal claims, but allegories or metaphors designed to teach certain lessons? I suspect there may be such a thing as the divine, although one whose nature does not fit literal readings of any religion's teachings. I'm suggesting that there is no certaintly about anything in life, and that perhaps each of us must find the answers to life's questions on our own.

For me the Bible is full of parables and lessons. For example… I happen to believe the 7 day creation in Genesis may not be a literal 7 days. God lives in eternity which means a year or even 1000 years is a blink of an eye. But, if God wanted to do it in a literal 7 days as we know it, He could have. I actually think it’s a moot point and is only used to drive doubt into the minds of believers. What difference does it make in all reality?

But I believe, literally, there was a Messiah named Jesus, who is our savior from sin and spiritual death. While Jesus was here he almost always used parables to explain things spiritual.

You said there is no certainty about anything in life. But there is certainty about life. We are here. I accept that we are not here just by some random chemical events. To me, life (and everyone should really look at that word deeply) feels spiritual. I have no idea how to explain that. I just feel it.

Let me just say this, in the context of this latest archeological “discovery”… I feel there are folks that have the purpose of trying to disprove the existence of God and Jesus as the Son of God. They will find what they want because it’s easy to fabricate such things. It’s also easy to fabricate God in what we imagine Him to be or not be. That doesn’t prove He doesn’t exist. Billions of people over the millennia are either wrong or they are right. In that light you will find the answer on your own. There is plenty of information out there to get you there or not. My words wont do it, nor will anyone else’s. Only God will move your heart.