deank

Ok, I will try to post the most important ones. My friend is a "hard-core" Christian, and I have been doing a great job of seeding a little doubt with bible verses (thanks to all of you here, by the way). The verses that had the most impact were these:

Matthew 12:31 - 33
Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.

Kind of a slap in the face of the whole unlimited mercy thing. Also this one:

Matthew 27:50-53
And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus' resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people.

As I saw somewhere in this forum, it is one of three accounts that includes the dead rising from their graves.

I had him on the run for a while, but all he would say is "I'll have to read that again" which probably means he'll talk to his pastor. What arguments will he return with, or were my points valid in the first place?

Also, where can I get some good information on the translation error involving the Virgin (or not) Mary?

Thanks for your input, guys. I'm not trying to "destroy" his faith, I just want him be fully aware of what he's getting in to.

Regards,
Dean A. Klear

cloudyphiz

if jesus' death caused this 'night of the living dead' type scenario, we would expect that the other gospels would have noted it, and probably real historians too. but, xians have no answers for this, except to believe the account in and of itself.
i wouldn't bother with Matthew 12:31 - 33, they'll have rationalizations to fall back on. i'd focus more on jesus' prophesies of his own return; on many occasions he said it would occur within the lifetime of the people he spoke to. also, the god of the bible often took away the free will of people so that they could be 'utterly destroyed' and an example could be made of them. this sort of goes hand-in-hand with predestination, which the bible is big on. i can send you some verses if you want, just email me at garich at rochester.rr.com
-gary