Magus55

Nope sorry, can't say that I do.

Starboy

They are classic orphan stories. They go something like this, I have a mommy and daddy that loves me. They love me sooooo much. I am just lost. When I am found they will take me home and love me soooo much. I will be so happy. We will all live happily ever after, the end. Very childish when you think about it.

Starboy

Queen of Swords

Aww, I guess you never saw the Simpsons episode where the sun is blocked by a giant shield.

How do you know that? Are you basing this on scientific fact, or your own unsupportable opinion?

Hallucinations, just like people looking into the sun and seeing the Virgin Mary.

Everything sounds like the tribulation for those who want it to happen.

Yes, we would. God could have started the entire experiment over again, for mysterious purposes of his own (though I'm guessing terminal boredom might be one of them).

Hyndis

Ooo, we got some gems here!

I would think saving one's eternal soul would be a somewhat important thing, do you not agree?

And then there is only one way to accomplish such during one's lifetime, and the way to do this was supposedly written down. Sounds simple so far.

But then we run into a huge, whopping problem. All religions claim to offer some kind of salvation. Christianity is a realtively recent religion. Hindus were around long before Christians, and so why if their method of salvation less valid than the Christian method? If this weren't enough, there's also the problem that the original stories have been hopelessly corrupted! Every time a story was passed on through oral history, it changes some. And every time a monk copies a book, things are changed. Sometimes its unimportant things, and sometimes its a really big thing. (Thou shalt comit adultery, anyone? ) As the Bible claims to be a book of instructions of how to reach salvation, then why would god allow all of these errors to happen? This goes for the oral tradition, when it was written down, and when it was copied and translated. Since god is supposed to be all knowing and all powerful (he created the freak'n universe) couldn't god have some sort of spellcheck to quietly fix any mistakes in the Bible when the monk is asleep at night?

That wouldn't violate free will, and ought to certainly be within god's power. Causing incredible amounts of water to fall on the world, setting shrubberies on fire, slaying infants...these make changing a few characters in a book seem like child's play!

So aparently saving one's eternal soul is not important enough for god to keep the instructions intact for later generations to read with accuracy...

Sure, humans are supposed to be imperfect and god is supposed to be absolutely perfect, but wouldn't a loving, all powerful and all knowing god care enough to just leave clear instructions?

And on the subject of hell, if I knew such a thing existed, than I would most definitely follow whatever rules are required to avoid it. But the whole point is that such a thing isn't known, and there are no clear rules!


Also, if George Lucas can think up a way to keep the power of those divine artifacts under control, I'd think that an all powerful being could at least meet him. Taking the Holy Grail beyond the seal is prohibited, and immortality only works behind the seal. Seems easy enough to both demonstrate and control that kind of power.

Warthur

It's entirely possible to believe that Jesus existed without believing he's Lord. The latter assertion brings with it a far greater burden of proof than the former.

After all, the original question was about reasons for refusing Jesus's offer of salvation, not saying "Jesus did not exist." It's a perfectly fair position to say "Jesus existed, but he was wrong."

Magus55

Yeah because its such a crime of humanity to look forward to finding people who love you.

Warthur

Doubt all you like, that's what the historical record tells us. Any scholarly, impartial account of early Christianity will tell you this.

Queen of Swords

The infamous Adultery Bible, where the word "not" was accidentally omitted.

Or was it an accident? Could that be Satan's vile and nefarious power? Or could it be god, trying to test people's long-term memory? Or could it be both?

Ad Astra

Magus, I know you have a lot of people to deal with, but please don't forget about my question. Thanks.

Queen of Swords

One more strawman for the collection. No one called it a crime.