Here is a serious question for you: Since you claim to believe in God, how do you know that I am not God? Would you like for me to give you a sign?
You don't believe the words of Jesus or the many testimonies of those who knew him. But you do believe the condemnations, mockeries, and dismemberment of his doctrines by those who were never there, who didn't know him, who saw and heard nothing of the matter first hand. You must acknowledge the frivolity and weakness of your evidence and rationale, as if the further from the truth the closer you are to it. Barring modern means of memorializing, there is no evidence of your birth or the innocence of your youth. Does that make it a fairy tale that you were ever young and innocent?
It is just a fairy tale. Do you believe Jack & the Bean Stalk, the Sherlock Holmes and Tarzan stories, Robin Hood, Superman, Batman, the Lone Ranger? A committee wrote the biblical fairy tale to provide propaganda to counter the Koran. If thou had seen them do it you would still believe the fairy tale. It is amazing that some people have responsible jobs where they are expected to use their intelligence yet they believe in fairy tales without any evidence whatsoever.
According to the Bible, God lies all the time. 2 Thessalonians 2:11-12 (NLT) = 11 So God will cause them to be greatly deceived, and they will believe these lies. 12 Then they will be condemned for enjoying evil rather than believing the truth.
The Bible also says that one must acknowledge Jesus as the only begotten Son of the Father as the way, truth and life, that we must repent of our sinfulness in light of the recognizance of his divinity and sacrifice, be baptized, have and maintain faith in following and essentially be reborn to see or enter the kingdom of heaven. If you believe what you quoted, you will believe this too for the sake of honor, honesty, and continuity. But I know that you neither know nor believe. And that you are simply toying with the matter, not unlike the soldiers his garments at his feet. If you knew, you'd instead be thanking him for his unfathomable sacrifice, and your heart would go out to him forever.
Not sure where you found that in the Bible but Jesus says no such thing. Sounds like something gleaned out of the Pseudopigrapha (books in the Bible purporting to be from Paul - Peter ... but are not)
No, disbelief is your belief. I operate from a position of certainty. You must understand that I don't merely believe that God lives. I know that he does. I realize that that sounds radical or unknowable. And yet it is not, or I could not know it. It's possible that I could be lying...but to what end. Do you think that I find deceit delightful to my soul? The fairy tales you mention cause you no trouble. But the gospel of salvation causes you great consternation because you know that it is near to a truth that stirs your conscience and troubles your soul. Why would you say the Quran precedes the Bible when Christianity and Judaism are mentioned in the Quran, but Islam is not mentioned in the Bible? One does not beget but is begat by the truth. We know it is wrong to murder, rape and steal. We do not invent or lead these values by the hand. But they, us. To it we submit. And if it is the more by the bringing of divinity to our door....then is it not a great blessing? Is it a sin to say that God lives? If we are led by the hand, and bye and bye our eyes begin to see or are of a sudden to behold the personage of our guidance....then is it any more the fairy tale than our first trust? Ones values can't be weighed or measured but in the enormity of the results born of trust and application.
Not all of what you said is in the Bible - none is from the mouth of Jesus. Regardless "More importantly" - Jesus doesn't say any of this .. and in fact contradicts much of it. See Matt 5-7 for Jesus instructions on how to enter the kingdom
you may very well consider it a fairy tail, however unlike Jack & the Bean Stalk, the Sherlock Holmes and Tarzan stories, Robin Hood, Superman, Batman, the Lone Ranger that we have proof for the bible we do not.
I understand it far better than you do .. "one must acknowledge Jesus as the only begotten Son of the Father as the way, truth and life, that we must repent of our sinfulness in light of the recognizance of his divinity and sacrifice, be baptized, have and maintain faith in following and essentially be reborn to see or enter the kingdom of heaven." 1) Jesus never claimed we needed to recognize his divinity to be saved .. nor the sacrifice ... nor baptism. You claim "Im getting this from the Bible" - but give no support for claim - but either way - it didn't come from Jesus. 2) When Jesus was talking about being "Reborn" - as Jesus was "Reborn" - the promise of the resurrection - the part you are missing is that you first have to die. Sure later folks - such as Paul - folks who never knew Jesus nor heard his teachings directly - talk in terms of a spiritual rebirth .. but this has nothing to do with securing passage through the pearly gates .. as being some kind of defacto requirement .. some ritual one can undertake. To be reborn - like Jesus - you first have to die.
I don't have any info on the monetary motive, but a more sublime motive is behind the steadfast policy of prohibiting marriage of clergy, since the money issue may not have been a factor in other countries. The clergy is supposed to be on the path to transcendence, one that does not divert energy to sex, procreation, family issues, etc., i.e. celibacy. The directional flow of energy up or down the spine involves the chakras. The halo depicted over the heads of advanced individuals such as Christ, various saints, and some gurus is a sign of soul refinement generating surplus energy upward and outward. Maybe call it spiritual radiance.
Religion is a step in the right direction, but advocates and adherents and far from obtaining the ideal mindset from its literal content. The "silly fairy tales" are challenges to be overcome by being stimulated to see associations with deeper meanings.
Well religion has a lot of positives and a lot of negatives. In the plus column it gave large communities a unified identity and a central figure whose behaviour you could model your own after to improve the quality of life for everyone. It helped people feel comfortable with their station in life whether they were a landless peasant or a soldier fighting against all odds. It provided a sense of purpose in what might otherwise become a meaningless existence. It clearly established good from bad and right from wrong. It also provided some measure of social services and mental health support. In the minus column religion was a vehicle for political power, a hiding place for perverts, a lazy thinkers haven, a cause of arrogant, ego driven racial superiority and of course the justification for countless wars and genocides.
I pretty much agree with everything you say. However, I would like to add that IMHO your remarks certainly apply to religions other than Christianity as well as Christianity. That being said, I do find Christians (out of all religions I have been exposed to) to be the most sanctimonious. But perhaps that comes from living in a society with a Christian heritage and growing up in a Christian home. I have related my story here before about being punched in the face as a child for refusing to go to church. One thing we disagree on -- I do not think that the major reason for religion is to control the masses. Rather, it is a need for the masses to believe they and their families will not really die. Evolution has designed us to fear death, so somehow the reality of death must be denied. Ergo, religion. The fact that religion is a fairly tale is proven here on PF on an ongoing basis by the fact that not one religious claim of the supernatural has been substantiated with empirical evidence.
The above just seems like an appeal to emotion fallacy. Can you provide any empirical evidence that supports the assertion made in your first sentence?
So are you claiming modern researchers can impregnate a woman without penetration? Cause if you don't rule out penetration, supernatural powers are not required for reproduction without "intimate relations." Just a date rape drug, sperm and a insemination device. https://www.babymed.com/home-artificial-insemination-get-pregnant-turkey-baster-method#
Well, they can believe what they want, but they need to keep their BS out of the school systems. It really makes me cringe every time I hear some Christian say "they took God out of the schools" as the explanation for every natural disaster, economic disaster, etc.
The extortionist Moses set the Levites up with a very cushy retirement plan. The common man had to work till the day he died but the Levite priests got a fully paid retirement plan and didn't have to work at all after reaching fifty years-old. Talk about having it easy.