ichabod crane

I know a number of sincere, truthful people who are convinced that they have seen miracles at Benny Hinn conventions. I wouldn't want to call them liars. Does that mean I have to accept that Benny Hinn does miracles? Do you believe that he does?

The problem is that, particularly in an environment where supernatural ideas are common, people will easily believe in miracles.

Add to this the issue of the historical reliability of the gospels (that there is only a valid historical core, plus many embelishments and errors), and I don't think you have a problem. For instance, perhaps only one disciple had a vision of the resurrected Jesus, and he told the others, who got excited and believed him. Later on, by the time the gospels were written, the story had become that they all saw him. And so forth.

Steven Carr

Doesn't the New Testament say that hardly anybody believed Jesus?

Christianity only took off when Jesus stopped preaching, and Peter and Paul took over that job. Clearly Jesus could not have been that authoritative.

Steven Carr

SO clearly, every single American soldier who fought and died in Iraq was convinced in his heart that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.

Magdlyn

I ask again, which disciples died for Jesus? None, besides Stephen, as far as the Bible tells.

This discussion is moot. No contemporary of Jesus died for him, except Stephen, and the AofA is fiction. Come on.

Chili

Jesus was franticly trying to work out his own salvation and that is why nobody would listen to him (except Peter who needed to be stripped of all his righteousness).

Steven Carr

Didn't Stephen die for proclaiming that Jesus had died and gone to Heaven?

Where does Stephen say he believed Jesus was resurrected?

Magus55

No, they were ordered to fight there. Do you think everyone of those soldiers felt they should be there?

Roland

This reminds me of a personal experience I had in the late '70's in Los Angeles. I was a Christian at the time (though not a charismatic one) and I decided, out of curiosity, to attend a faith healing service.

Before it began, I had a long and lovely conversation with the woman sitting next to me. About midway through the "show," the faith healer asked all the deaf people to stand and put their fingers in their ears, then pull the fingers out and voila they would miraculously be able to hear. Much to my amazement, the woman with whom I had been chatting so recently stood up and did as others in the auditorium were doing. Now this lady was either a hell of a good lip reader or a "plant" to deceive the unwary. I'll leave it to you all to figure out which one.

Magdlyn

In Acts 6, the "12" choose Stephen to feed Jewish Xtian widows who were being neglected in favor of Greek Jewish widows. But then Stephen suddenly becomes a preacher (so much for feeding widows)! And tells a history of the Jews to elders and scribes, who get angry at his emphasis.

Relevant verses:

Chili

". . . with fear and trembling" I must add.