Kosh

As it has recently come out in your latest posts
that you are a recent convert to Christianity,
would you mind answering a few questions for us?

- What is your age?
- Educational background?
- Background prior to converting?
- What led to your conversion?
- What were the specific arguments/reasons which
led you to believe the Gospel story?
- How much research did you do into the gospel
claims?

Give us a testimony, brother bird!

Fastfalcon

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Kosh:
[QB]As it has recently come out in your latest posts
that you are a recent convert to Christianity,
would you mind answering a few questions for us?

- What is your age?
- Educational background?
- Background prior to converting?
- What led to your conversion?
- What were the specific arguments/reasons which
led you to believe the Gospel story?
- How much research did you do into the gospel
claims?

1. a few months from 18
2. near the end of High School
3. ordinary kid
4. left behind books and a dream that Jesus said "I am the Alpha and the Omega..."
5. Just read the gospels myself and came to the conclusion that they were true.
6. Fairly new at Christianity so not much research.

Kosh

I dont' think there can be anything ordinary
about being a kid while living in Bermuda. Unless
that's not really where you are?

Interesting. So you converted to a religion based
on a couple of fictional books? Did the dream occur
after you'd read the books and become educated
the passages from Revelation?

Edited to add: When I was your age, I had a
dream about Obi Wan Kenobi telling me the force
was strong in me. Does that make Star Wars true?

What criteria led you to the conclusion that they
were true? How did you verify any of the rather
fantastic claims that were made in the Gospels?
Do you know who wrote the Gospels? What year they
were written? Have you even read the Old Testament?

So, you decided to make a serious life commitment
and lifestyle changes based a minimal (if any)
investigation into the claims of a religion? Did
you compare the claims of Christianity with any
other religions? Buddism? Islam? Hinduism?

[ May 16, 2002: Message edited by: Kosh ]</p>

Berenger Sauniere

And your mission is to convert us all to Christianity, right?

Bree

I too am interested in why you took the Left Behind series so seriously. First of all, they're a work of fiction. If you read the Bible at all (and most Christians don't, so I won't knock off points there) it's obvious that the authors picked-and-chose between what to literally interpret for the series and what to figuratively interpret.

For example, Revelations says that when the Raputure comes, people will be whisked away in a blink of an eye. Two people will be climbing a hill, one will look back - and the other will be gone. Etc. - and that is exactly what is portrayed in the Left Behind books. Also - the locust plague (the ones that scream "Apollyon") are also LITERAL translations from Revelations.

Then we get to the muddy parts. Revelations says that the head of the Anti-Christ will be pierced with a sword. In the series, he is SHOT in the head with a really big gun called "Sabre" - so this is not a literal translation. Somewhere along the lines the authors decided to go liberal on you and interpret things themselves. Which just goes to show you that you can't trust it (Left Behind) simply because the authors screwed with a few details to make it more interesting.

I could draw the more obvious conclusion but I'll leave it here for now.

beachbum

FastFalcon

Here are a couple of books I would recommend

"Who wrote the Gospels" Randel McGram Helms

"Christianity Before Christ" John G. Jackson

"The Demon-Haunted World" Carl Sagan

If you will read these (especially the last two with an open mind I am sure you will learn a lot.

Stan

MOJO-JOJO

Your Honor, nothing more to say, we rest our case.

sullster

Fastfalcon,

Go to the bookstore, go to the Library, read. YOu do not have to abandon your religious beliefs.

There is a big world out there. Science, history, philosophy, literature is all there for you to read and think about. You are very young and it would be a shame to dead-end in one area of thought. You can do it.

BibleBelted

Fastfalcon,

Take a breath. We know you mean well, but most of us here have heard this type of preaching before.

If your a new xian, and a rambunctious teenager, you may be over-reacting to a flood of emotion. I wouldn't doubt that even some of the theists here would say the same.

We're glad you're happy and want to share your joy with us, it's just that we have found that we can be happy without the permission or forbearance of any supreme being.

You can do the same . . . if you're willing to learn.

Anunnaki

This is just ridiculous and is a perfect example of the problem we are up against. Fastfalcon knows nothing about Christianity except that it`s popular and has some warm and fuzzy stories about an afterlife.
Instead of letting it sink in or learning more he/she immediatly goes on a Billy Graham type crusade to convert the infidels.

We should make these trolls pass a religion quiz before they are allowed to access the forums. This would weed out the kiddies and save us a lot of grief.

[ May 16, 2002: Message edited by: Anunnaki ]</p>