Justin70

I give up, bro.

It's like putting the same song on repeat and letting it run into infinity. You say the same thing over and over and over again and yet you don't have anything to truly backup anything you say other than quotes and testimony from the source that you're trying to prove? And when for just a second you go outside of the bible, all you do is say a simple statement and do absolutely nothing to prove jack crap.

What's the point, Magus? All the atheists and agnostics here want some evidence, some proof to backup your claims and you offer none.

I remember when I read some of your first posts. You totally blasted us with a TON of prophecies daring us to prove us wrong! I think a multitude of people here have taken that challenge and throw tons of doubt and proof against the prophecies of which you hold dear. Did you even for a second consider or even read any of the information/sites that they quoted? Cuz All I see here is regurgitated crap day after day from you and it's getting old.

So I must jump to this question: Why are you here? Why are you posting on these boards? I am here to read rational discourse and debates. I'm here to LEARN and to expand my mind. I'm here to help others with what I've learned throughout MY life. Why are you here, Magus?

If you're here to try and teach us the 'truth' and evangalize us then give it up! It's simply not going to work and I'd rather spend my time scrolling through discussions about life and death and Biblical evidence and non-evidence. So, why not provide some actual MEANINGFUL discourse instead of spitting out page after page of the same dribble all of us have heard millions of times growing up. Many of us LEFT that religious life and now we're seeing it again online? In forums? I'm not cruisin' www.theologyweb.com here, ya know? I EXPECT that type of talk over there and not here.

Yeah, I'm still very new to this board but I'd really like to make a plea for one thing: If you're gonna spout off more religious rants, save it. If you've got something MEANINGFUL to add to the conversation, then please do! But this constant crap about us going to hell and absolutely meaningless statements on how Evolution is garbage, how the historicity of Jesus is SOLID and how archeology has PROVEN the bible time and time again doesn't mean jack crap without PROOF and you've shown near to none.

Post when you've got something meaningful to say. Or hell, if you've got a good joke, share that too! But keep the sermons and the tired Christian talk for your friends and your church. It really doesn't do ANYTHING here.

<sigh>

Justin

Cthulhu

Firstly, thanks for your response, Fiach.

You know, you're right, it wasn't particularly nice, but then I have never claimed to be a nice person.

Seriously, perhaps I could and should clothe my responses in a more cordial fashion, but tact and diplomacy have never been my strong points. To echo what Justin70 says above, I have simply lost patience with Magus and his ilk (not that I had an abundant supply to begin with). It used to be that preaching and proselytizing were forbidden on the upper fora, and were restricted to RR&P. Now, I don't know if there has been a shift in policy in that regard, but it seems that ever since the dissolution of that forum that these drive-by preachers have spread out and infected the entire board with their inanities (and let me specify that I am not referring to all the Christians on this board, only those such as our friends Magus and Gemma who offer nothing but their best parrot impersonations.) But that's just my opinion, and I could be wrong.

It's simple: I don't go into Evolution & Creation, Biblical Criticism & Archaeology, or Philosophy and start spouting off left and right. I don't feel myself to be well-versed enough in those areas to offer a truly informed opinion. So, like Magus, I am also ignorant. The prime difference is that I am honest about my ignorance and I'm trying to correct those deficiences by learning about these subjects. Magus has already demonstrated that he has no interest in listening and learning, only in shouting from the pulpit.

However, all that being said, perhaps it would be better for the maintenance of a civil atmosphere (and the maintenance of my blood pressure) if I simply ignored our buddy Magus in the future.

Harumi

"I bring not peace, but a sword."

Yup, real peaceful there, right.

Biff the unclean

I still haven't figured out how on that same page Magus55 went from Jesus crashing asteroids (asteroids aren't stars BTW. The bible says quite clearly STARS and you are changing it) into the Earth to 'love, peace, turn the other cheek, forgiveness' without even blinking. :banghead:

Magus55

First of all, yes it says Star, but since Stars are enormous compared to the earth ( well most anyway unless you count White dwarfs, neutron stars etc) therefore, its more likely that John saw the vision of an asteroid/comet falling from the sky, but since he didn't know the technical term for it, he called it a star. Thats what asteroids look like, stars falling from the sky. What difference does the word make? Its gonna be something outside our atmosphere that destroys a huge portion of the earth's population and pollutes the water with debris. Common sense suggests its something like an asteroid, but it really doesn't matter. Stop being so technical, the Bible is not a science book.

Second, Jesus at as second coming will return with a sword. The sword is a sign of his coming judgement on the sinning world. He taught peace and love to the people, but the people that will face his judgement and destruction will be those who ignored him and didn't heed his warnings. Jesus will pour out God's wrath on the world, thats what the sword means. He said he would come when he taught his ministry, the people facing his wrath are those who ignored his warning.

Entropic_Gnosis

You tell me magus, you seem to be touting the absolute nature of the bible and if this is so, does it not follow that the WORD is important. A litteral interperatation of the bible does not allow for allow for such liberal views of the nature of words. Say all you want that a word is just a word, following the tradition of the Bible and of the Church fathers the nature of words is of the untmost importance. Name and words are all we have to go on.

Now if you take an alegorical approach to the bible then i can see what you mean, star/asteroid fine it evokes the same meaning (ie something flaming falling from the sky) but a litteralist cannot afford to do this without hypocracy.


:banghead:

Debbie T

Ah but many xtians believe the bible is inerrant. So if the author can't tell the difference between a star and an asteroid or that a rabbit doesn't chew cud, it doesn't appear his writings then are inspired or given by a god.

The passages where Jesus says he is coming back says he is coming back in the lifetime of his listeners. He's been at the verge of coming back for two thousand years, with each xtian generation believing they live in the last days.

This teaching I have watched mess up many people's lives. I watched a young woman decide to get married instead of going to college (her dream) because she thought that 2000 was going to bring the end of the world. She felt there was no use for college since it was going to end. She now has two children and on the verge of divorce. She became a stay at home mom and has no skills to earn a decent living. Living in fear or not being able to see any future beyond the return of some myth creature seems to be an absurd and destructive way to live one's life.

Anyway your message of fear is what you live with, I don't buy it anymore. It's a horrible way to live one's life and a waste of a life too.

Ab_Normal

I was discussing this with my husband last night. He was raised in a church that believed that the end times were nigh. According to their teachings, we're supposed to be at Rapture + 15 by now. He was so thoroughly indoctrinated that he ended our conversation with a nervous laugh and "I hope that I'm right" (that the Rapture ain't never comin').

Biff the unclean

Thats what asteroids look like, stars falling from the sky. What difference does the word make? Its gonna be something outside our atmosphere that destroys a huge portion of the earth's population and pollutes the water with debris.

What difference does it make??!! YOU are trying to impose primitive superstitions on the real world. YOU are the one who thinks that this garbage is the inspired word of God. YOU are the one who thinks this God made everything, stars and asteroids included so he should know WTF they are.

Stars are balls of gas in a plasma state undergoing nuclear fusion. They can be millions of miles across and they are Light Years distant from our planet.
If God made them he should know this.

Asteroids are rocks that orbit the Sun.
If God made them he should know this.

Saint John the Divine thought that the stars were lanterns hung from the firmament. The firmament is a solid dome over the Earth, a league or two above the ground. That's where Jesus went when he ascended, Mary too. They didn't go into orbit. The firmament is what was on the other end of Jacob's ladder.

John's vision was of these big lanterns falling from the solid sky to the ground. Stars not asteroids. He may not have known the word asteroid but the guy lived in a cave…he knew what a rock was, and he didn't say rocks. He could have. The guy lived so near the Stone Age he must have had a dozen different words for rocks. He could have--but he didn't.

You, however live in the 21st century. You know that the sky isn't solid. You know that stars can't fall, and that if the Earth hit a star bitter water wouldn't be our biggest problem. So to keep you superstition you change what the bible says to fit what you know to be a fact.
Which means that you know that what the bible says isn't true. Because if you thought it were true you wouldn't change it.

That's what difference a word makes. The difference between truth and a lie.
:banghead:

Debbie T

Hi Ab, Wow he sounds like he still has residuals from his upbringing. I hope he is completely clear of that fear someday. It's a tough one to break, I know as I had the same thing. The rapture was supposed to be somewhere in the near future and I am 50 years old now and those predictions never happened. The Y2K fiasco was a biggie and I thought that would shut them up, but I see that a few years has made them forget and new predictions are here. You know what they say about crying wolf.

Anyway I think it is sad that people live with that fear since it is based on myth. I feel for those under its control.