SteveD

When I was trying to figure out the whole god thing I had a conversation with my mother, who is a devout catholic, and had several questions prepared to ask her. The ones that seemed to give her the most trouble were these.

1) Do you believe that everything in the bible is literally true?
1a) If not, then how do you decide what is true and what isn't?

2) You grew up in a Catholic family. What religion do you think you would be if you had grown up in a Hindu family in India?

3) What is a soul? What does it do? Does a soul think?


Steve

Magus55

Everyone falls short of God's perfection, and unworthy to be in prescence. He offered them a way to be saved, yet so many turn in down - do they deserve God's judgement? Yes, they can avoid it, but they care more about themselves and the world, then God.

Are most people on the outside, generally good people? Yes, but they all sin constantly. A lifetime of sin is what deems punishment in Hell - if you choose to remain in a life of sin, instead of giving up your sin to Jesus - you choose to be punished.

Magus55

Oh i'm sorry, you actually had a point? Thats so rare on this board, i guess i just missed it

Magus55

1) Everything in the Bible is literally true unless it says otherwise ( like when Jesus points out he is making a parable). Those that don't explicitly say it will make themselves clear with some study.

2) Lame excuse, many muslims, chinese, hindus have come to Christ, growing up in a non Christian family. And in many cases, being a Christian in some countries is a capital crime - yet people convert daily.

chekmate

Magus, as a favor to me, could you please stay out of this? You are derailing the topic...

keyser_soze

I'm guessing he will miss the point of the award...


Oops, guess I didn't read to the end...he DID miss the point of the award! WTF?

SteveD

Well Magus,

Unlike you, my mother actually thought about the question and was honest enough to admit that she would probably be a Hindu in that case.

Steve

Biff the unclean

You could show them a short collection of Magus55 's blurbs taken at random and ask them if they want to be associated with such people.

What knocked me out of my "Christian box" was being asked about the "historic Jesus" and then my going to look for him.
There's nothing like hearing again and again the Christ's death and resurrection were the best documented historic facts there were and then trying for yourself to find this documentation.

Radorth

Man, you must have been naive. I never believed that. In fact, I never even heard it. The greatest argument for the resurrection is the conversion and subsequent bravado of the apostles. There never was any more compelling evidence for it.

Shonfield's question is a good one- how do we know that Jesus really died in his short time on the cross? How do we know, given that no one has ever documented a resurrection, that Jesus did not simply swoon?

That to me is an intelligent and tough question.

Fortunately most atheists prefer to make wild assertions about how the Gospels came to be, which raise more questions than they answer, so nobody much listens to them. People likely to lose faith are people who want proof, and how ironic it is that so many atheists give them more theories which require the same amout of faith they are already using.

Rad

lpetrich

Magus55:
1) Everything in the Bible is literally true unless it says otherwise ( like when Jesus points out he is making a parable). Those that don't explicitly say it will make themselves clear with some study.

How can you tell, Magus55?

How can you be sure that the Bible does not have divinely-inspired errancy intended to show that it is not all literally true.?

2) Lame excuse, many muslims, chinese, hindus have come to Christ, growing up in a non Christian family. And in many cases, being a Christian in some countries is a capital crime - yet people convert daily.

However, they had a missionary con them into doing so. People who have never heard of Jesus Christ never seem to describe him appearing to them and identifying himself and describing his career and his teachings.

And what I mean by that is something as plain and straightforward as the text that I am writing.