Julio

Chili, very good.
I don't believe in any "plan of salvation", since I would propose that God is the one in need of being saved from all 'his" failures.
A decent god would not need to plan a "Plan of Salvation", because there should be a better plan, if designed earlier on.
On the other hand, Catholics are as much victims of religious charlatans as the Protestants.
It is all done to grant a [parasitical] elite of constricted conscripts a nice living molesting the brain of innocent [superstitious] folk.
I always say:
Switch your brain back to NORMAL MODE and you'll see how rotten the fruit of religion is.

Chili

Religion does not owe me much as I took religion up until grade 6 (because we had to), and always thought that if God was in that sacred host I would poop him out to and left it at that.

I was more of a realist and kind of saw it as a 'tale tale' telling event, which being a good sport is soon what my confessions came to sound like.

But I liked the pictures in our Cathechism and one of them I remember showed a stairway to heaven serving as the backdoor out of the Church while the front doors always send us West again.

Julio

Why is this portent not mentioned in the other three gospels, and why would John mention it only sixty years after Pentecost?
There must be a strong reason for the incredible omission and sinister delay.
If Jesus performed more than one thousand miracles, raising the dead many times (we are told), why wouldn’t the synoptic mention even one clear case?
When Jesus gathered the twelve disciples around him, he soon dispatched them to the surrounding districts with the strict instruction to go “preach” the arrival of the eagerly awaited “kingdom of heaven”.
As usual, the text is very limited in detail, forcing us to make liberal use of our imagination.
Jesus told them to go heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, RAISE THE DEAD, cast out devils, and more.
Then he added the most disconcerting words never observed to the letter by the future hierarchy:
“Freely ye have received, freely give.”
If this had been obeyed, we would not have today religious empires, organisations and popes all of them despising the stern order.
Where did Jesus ever tell his followers to build churches, cathedrals, headquarters, Vaticans, altars, publish Bibles, raise billions in real estate, and more?
The truth is that all the disrespect towards the commandment to give [the gospel?] for free was never followed.
Religion was to carry on being a BUSINESS with FEAR of inexistent wrathful demiurges.
The churches, consequently, are in direct confrontation with that statement of Jesus; the rest is cheating the contributor.

Julio

Do we next hear of anybody raised from the dead?
Not one!
Do we hear of any leper cleansed of his disease?
Not one!
What about devils cast out of the possessed?
No documentation whatsoever.
But if the disciples ever raised one dead corpse the incredible feat was forever forgotten.
Why?
Because it wouldn’t have been performed by the christ in fashion at that time, the only one with rank high enough to be detailed in the sacred gospels!
Oh, oh, oh! How cynical, is it not?
We had here TWELVE highly energised disciples, on the go to perform the most amazing portents to welcome the arrival of the eagerly expected “kingdom of heaven”, and not one raised one single dead?
Oh, heavens, what’s then about lepers being cleansed, the sick being healed and the demons being expelled?
NOT ONE SAMPLE TO PRESENT?!
No, I don’t believe it!
There must have been MANY performed by the TWELVE ambassadors!
Imagine, on the other hand, those terribly IMMATURE evangelists, preaching the kingdom, and doing miracles, just imagine!
If Jesus created a revolution, imagine TWELVE of the same calibre!!
Isn’t that also true of the church in general?
How much offence and prejudice does the church create wherever it goes to evangelise?

Julio

Sorry, folks, it is irrational.
The biblical truth is that there isn’t one single sample of one miracle acted out by a disciple.
Nothing even inferred in that department.
NOT ONE.
The adventure was a complete flop.
Meanwhile, observe Jesus in the following verses threatening anybody who would reject the new evangelists (Matthew 10 and 11).
IMMATURITY AFLAME.
Those passages of Christ THREATENING those who were simply sympathetic enough to hear him out always angered me.
What right did he have to intimidate others to bring in the “Kingdom of Heaven”, the ignorant!
Just bring the kingdom without any fuss, for goodness’ sake!
But it was the greatest DELUSION a christ ever brought out from heaven into this disillusioned planet.
He – that Jesus – lied to his supporters; for that he was crucified (if that story could hold water; the data we get is not convincing, unless you run a BUSINESS from it).
Religion is cheating other humans with stuff you know nothing about.

Julio

This 12-year-old girl wasn’t dead or was then raised to life by the Lord (Matthew 9:18-25; Mark 5:22-43; Luke 8:41-56).
There is nothing in the text to substantiate her death.
Jesus would tell the mourners that she was NOT dead but only “sleeping”, probably in coma or so sick physically, incapable of movement with a very light breathing.
The father of this little girl did not tell Jesus “my daughter is dead”, as the commentator will explain based on the Greek word, which would mean “about to die”.
Therefore, this is not a clear case where Jesus raised a dead corpse to life in the synoptic gospels.
It wasn’t the case, period.
That means that there are no such cases in the three first gospels to support and corroborate the theory that Jesus and the disciples performed many such miracles.
There is nothing in that department from both or either teams of miracle-doers. But surely, if we have to accredit this miracle, we would recognise that [the good] Jesus had enough ENERGY to heal people.
That is not a great mystery, for other human beings have been observed having such powers.
That lies in the paranormal “science” whereby certain individuals arrive on earth with - or later acquire - POSITIVE karma that other humans are influenced by.
Apollonius of Tyana was one such individual wondering around Palestine at that time of Jesus, or as some believe, “Jesus” himself was this other famous healer by a different name-de-plume.
What we can find in the gospels without a doubt is that there are two characters acting with the same name of some “Jesus”.
One would be full of POSITIVE ENERGY perhaps healing some sick people while dispensing some helpful morality.
The other, that followed by the church in general, was a terrible sample of Old Testament immoral aggression, always claiming to be the Son of some weird Father which the church would identify as Jehovah.
Yet, to prove he was that man is altogether another “thing” (Matthew 28:20 – “things”)

Julio

This miracle (Luke 7:12-17) has no parallel passage in the other three gospels and is particularly interesting for it is proof AGAINST the raising of the dead.
Its suspicion lies in the fact that Luke replaces Lazarus’ miracle with this one. Since Luke says in its introduction that he would endeavour to find the true gospel, it then stands to reason that he never heard of Lazarus’ resurrection.
How could that be, since Luke was supposed to have been written many years before John?
Had he heard about Lazarus?
Obviously not, otherwise he would have mentioned it on its own or together with the other one.
No true gospel writer would miss the story of Lazarus.
But did John hear about the widow’s child?
If he had been near the miracle, he considered it of inferior quality to that of Lazarus; that’s why he preferred the latter; a conflicting situation, is it not, for on one hand we have John telling us about one single resurrection of one person, and by its lengthy description he wanted to emphasise its importance.
But on the other hand we have Luke making no reference at all about Lazarus and finding the widow’s child miracle the only one relevant to mention.
And who would have told Luke about this widow’s child raised from the dead, since no other canonical gospel mentions it?
An anonymous eyewitness or a disciple Luke refused to mention by name?
You see, this is enough evidence for the careful student to discredit BOTH cases of somebody being raised from the dead.
Besides, the context of John’s disciples arriving to inquire whether Jesus was the true prophet does not agree with the parallel sections in Matthew and Luke.
In Matthew, John’s disciples arrive after Jesus spoke about the cost and benefits of discipleship, whereas in Luke immediately after the widow’s child raised from the dead.
There is no parallel sequence.
Jesus would tell John’s disciples to report back to him about the miracles, including raising the dead.
But nothing like that happens in Matthew; Jesus resurrects no widow’s child.
Verse 16 uses the word “fear” [phobos] to describe the reaction to this miracle.
So, naturally, the writer (Luke) wanted to express the superstitious tendencies of that folk observing the event.
Also, in the next verse, he uses the word “rumour”, as the story was told around town and elsewhere.
Among those who witnessed the “miracle” was the disciple John, who would not record it in his gospel.
Yes, much of the stuff Luke heard from ANONYMOUS eyewitnesses were nothing but FOLKLORE exaggerated by superstitious folk.
How can we then formulate theology based on two mutually discrediting resurrections in the gospels?

Julio

This miracle’s typical exaggeration is reflected in the expressions “arose a great tempest in the sea”, “the ship was covered with the waves”, and “but he [Jesus] was asleep”.
Matthew 8:23-27.
How could a human being sleep under such terribly conditions?
If the waves were “covering” the little boat, wasn’t Jesus soaking wet?
Wouldn’t he awake with water splashing on his face?
“Lord, save us: we perish!”
But Jesus retorted:
“Why do you fear, you of little faith!
[Go back to sleep and my Father will check the boat and let us arrive at the other side unscathed, you fanatical Pentecostals!]”
Yes, Lord, our faith is the least in this boat, or do you think we could cross the sea sleeping like you?!
What can faith do against this nerve-racking storm, really!
Come on!
Do you think we are divine like you?!
The facts are that gods spend their time SLEEPING while we suffer in this world.
It’s not that we are right now in the middle of a massive storm, but that there have been MANY ones where faith or no faith many perished!
Was it all a matter of faith, to cross the voracious seas without a scratch?!
Come on, Master, it’s not the right time to joke about our fear!
What shall we do NOW, before we all perish?
Why wouldn’t you foresee this storm and keep us inland until the sea was calm again?
What spiritual lesson did you want to teach us, poor victims of gods and christs?
Lately, we haven’t learned a thing from you!
When Jesus heard these valid observations, ashamed he stood up and ordered the wind, the waves and his disciples to calm down, for those were not nice moments to teach spiritual jargon!

Julio

The next miracle in Matthew (8:28-34) is the exorcising of “about” two thousand devils from two poor victims.
The parallel passages mention one man, and have other differences; ah, so much for scriptural accuracy.
This “miracle” is a disgrace and a disgusting flop; nothing in the gospels is more despicable!
Why would God allow so many evil spirits inside a defenseless man?!
Didn’t God see the evil spirits attacking and possessing him one after the other?
What can we do against INVISBLE SPIRTS, when it was God who gave them that advantage?
Wasn’t it Jehovah – presumably the “Father” of this deluded Jesus of the miracles [nothing is really clear in the Bible] – who “punished” the “Serpent” in the Garden of Eden by granting him PERMANET RESIDENCE and INVISIBILITY in OUR world?!
Come on!
We are victims of that orchestration!
Jehovah punished our “father” Adam by putting us “at the mercy” of this CRUEL LUCIFER!!
What God would not rush to protect the innocent?!
What sort of God are we dealing with here?!

Julio

What happened to God’s mind when there was only one, easy to squash?!!…
Come on!
Is this the gospel of grace, mercy and compassion?!!
If Jesus deserved one time to have charges laid against his wrongdoing was when he dispatched the evil spirits to the “herd” of swine, which next ran into the sea and perished!
What on earth was going through this weird Jesus’ mind, for heaven’s sake?!
But most importantly, what happened to the evil spirits after the swine were drowned?!
Oh, of course, they ESCAPED to go back and infest the same individuals or another innocent victim!
Jesus himself would later confirm this criminal activity against an innocent member of our society (Luke 11:24), when he said that if the unclean spirits are not completely eliminated they RETURN to the same human body!
So, naturally, Jesus kicked them from the demon-possessed for a few minutes but they went back to their original hideout.
Jesus is, in this episode, GUILTY of messing around with those spirits instead of destroy them once and for all.
The excuse some preachers offer is that evil or unclean spirits are indestructible, therefore eternal.
If so – where did the preachers get the information is another thing – Jesus did something terribly wrong, by interfering in the natural process his Father Jehovah had implemented!