Johnny Skeptic

Message to Chili: Please reply to my post #149.

Chili

In our mythology only Judaism and Catholicism are true.

I am not a scripture reader but I like Rev. 14:13 best since that is where the forerunners of protestantism just got send to hell (ending at verse 12).

Because evil is Gods counterpart and there seems to be lots of that around. Some evidence here is that religious wars have always been fought to combat evil. Remember here that homosexuality is not evil in itself but 'our' perception of it is. By 'our' I do not mean mine but only in the eyes of the valiant religionists.

They all get buried with the only difference that Catholics and Jews have the ability to end their Thousand Year Reign there.

Heaven is a state of mind while here on earth of which we can have full view and shared intimations. We call this communion with the saints in heaven who must exist before we can communicate with them.

Johnny Skeptic

Based upom what evidence? By what criteria did you determine that Judaism and Catholicism are the only true world views?

But surely Revelation 14:13 is not the basis of your acceptance of Christianity. What about the claim that Jesus bodily rose from the dead? Do you believe the claim?

Chili

They both are religions with their own testament and that should be good enough. Yes I do or the new testament would be a lie. It is important to keep track of the body that they crucified in this context to say that resurrection makes it a comedy and no resurrection a tragedy. So it is not a claim but a fact of life that the usurper must die before heaven can be regained.

Johnny Skeptic

That "is not" good enough. There is no need for you to call the writings testaments. They are simply religious writings, and many other religions have religious writings, and those writings are no less valid than the Bible is.

Maybe the New Testament is a lie. Even if Jesus did rise from the dead, there are not any good reasons at all for anyone to become a Christian. Please visit my thread that is titled 'Apologists assume too much about the nature of God.' I concede the Resurrection for the sake of argument and end up with much better arguments against Christianity than if I had asserted that Jesus did not rise from the dead. I reasonably prove that there is no logcial correlation that can be made between the ability to rise from the dead and goodness. There is in fact no evidence at all that God is good. At best he is amoral. What evidence do you have that God is good in tangible ways?

Chili

. . . but I have nothing against other religious writings outside our mythology. The OT and the NT will pave the way to heaven . . . which is the ultimate destiny of man in our mythology and that is why they are testaments.

Religious writings mean nothing if they do not lead to, and include this destiny. I mean, religion is not meant to be a social club, you know. It is never a good idea to become a Christian because that is not ever our choice to make. Christianity is for wannebe's and that is not a beattitude.

To rise from the dead is not an ability but a natural consequence of the good so that reason will prevail as it must to prove resurrection.

God is non-moral but good.

Wads4

Apart from the above statement being almost inconprehensible, does "splinter groups" refer to the tens of thousands of Christian sects all over the world? I think that veil is more than rent, -it is totally shredded.

Johnny Skeptic

Well the God of the Bible most certainly does. I can give you a number of examples if you wish.

But why do you believe what the Bible says? What gives it more validity than other religious writings? What gives it more validity than world views that do not have religious writings, such as Deism and native American Indian religions?

You said that Jews and Catholics have their own testaments, and that should be enough, but for many centuries there were no religious writings, but there were still a lot of religions, so why are you discussing the Old Testament and the New Testament? Do some other religious groups not have their own testaments? What makes one group's testament more valid than another group's testament?

Now you've got it. Eternal comfort is the necessary bait that religions offer to unwary people. It is an emotional need that is based upon the human genetic code. If one day chimpanzees were to become as intelligent as humans, they would dream up religions too.

To rise from the dead "is" an ability. Webster's 11th Collegiate Dictionary defines "ability" as follows:

1 a: the quality or state of being able *ability of the soil to hold water*; especially: physical, mental, or legal power to perform b : competence in doing : SKILL
2: natural aptitude or acquired proficiency *children whose abilities warrant higher education.*

To bake a cake is an ability. It is not a "natural consequence" since everyone is not able to bake a cake. A game of semantics is not necessary. My point was that if a person rises from the dead, that does not necessarily mean that he is good. If Elvis Presley rose from the dead and claimed that he died for the sins of mankind, would you worship him based solely upon that evidence? Of course you wouldn't.

Based upon what evidence? You make lots of assertions, but you never back them up with credible evidence. You are simply a "victim" if you will of the chief factors that determine religious beliefs. Kosmin and Lachman wrote a book that is titled 'One Nation Under God.' Billy Graham endorses the book. That authors cite a lot of documented evidence that proves that the chief factors that determine
religious beliefs are geography, family, race, ethnicity, gender and age.

Over many centuries, hundreds of millions of people have died without ever knowing about the specific existence and will of the God of the Bible. Such being the case, why was it necessary that anyone ever know about the specific existence and will of the God of the Bible? If you had children, you would tell all of them about the Bible, not just some of them.

Chili

Yes it does and that is what the parable means. They are evidence that they lost favor with God and therefore died in the sight of God, who is the God of the living and not of the dead.

Johnny Skeptic

Message to Chili: Please reply to my post #158.