Part 38 of Post Your Tough Questions Regarding Christianity

Today is Easter Sunday (or the zombie holiday). How do you think you would react if a group of long-dead people you once knew showed up at your door today like they did in Matthew 27:52-53 (CEV) = "52 Graves opened, and many of God’s people were raised to life. 53 Then after Jesus had risen to life, they came out of their graves and went into the holy city, where they were seen by many people."

 

Mitt quote.

19 They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. 20 For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.

This was written 2000 years ago. Since then science has given us many answers. You keep quoting from a book 2-3000 years old. Man has moved on since then.

 

Science and hydrology (along with archaeology and History) proves that the flood could not have happened as the Bible declares it.

1)There is not enough water on the planet to cover the whole planet.

2) The Ice cores (which date back hundreds of thousands of years) do not show a flood occurring during the Bible timeline.

3) The Bible timeline dates the flood at between 2100 and 2300 BC - we have continuous civilization in Europe, China, South America, Egypt, Australia and numerous other places during this time period. If there was a global flood, art, culture, language, genetics would stop. Population at a later date (by the descendants of Noah) would then speak a different language, have different art, culture and genetics, bone structure and so on. This does not happen ... the cultures are continuous.

4) If the flood happened there would be a continuous flood layer. You should be able to dig down in the plains of the US (and everywhere else) and find this flood layer. It is not there.

That the flood story of Genesis was plagiarized from Sumerian and near east creation stories is now generally accepted by legitimate religious scholars.

You can believe what you like but, claiming that science supports this belief is abject nonsense.

 

I find it really strange that a Christian would reject all science to avoid looking at the messages intended in the Bible stories.

 

They have no choice when confronted if they wish to maintain their faith.

 

I think the messages are more important then the children's stories.

 

Imo it is interesting to consider how human understanding in virtually every domain has changed over the last 2-3,000 years. If you believe Christians, even god has changed his covenant with mankind.

Realistically, we have to acknowledge that even our ideas about morality have changed remarkably.
Just consider the death penalty. Who among us considers it moral to stone people to death, or burn them at the stake, or execute pick pockets. We no longer gather to share the thrill at public executions.

We no longer think it is necessary to beat children or wives.

We have rejected slavery, and mostly rejected genocide

Mostly people are coming to realize that homosexuality and transsexualism are normal variants of humanity.

We even discuss humane treatment of animals

Our view of morality is clearly changing... let's say evolving. This makes it perplexing to hear earnest religionists claims that immutable laws of morality were layed down thousands of years ago by god

Imo, the most important religious idea is NOT that we should cling to the past, but that we should continue to struggle to understand what it means to be moral and to be human.

 

What a great post. Thanks.

 

Thx Margot

Btw
I added the following thought

Imo, the most important religious idea is NOT that we should cling to the past, but that we should continue to struggle to understand what it means to be moral and to be human.

Imo religious texts like the Bible can be important tools to grapple with understanding our humanity

 

Absolutely right!

 

I find it very disconcerting to be honest. When adherents (be it to religious or secular ideology) get to the point where their minds are so blocked that they can no longer engage in rational thought it is a problem. Such people become capable of very irrational behaviors and political actions.

 

Rational people know that there was never a flood as described in the Bible. It's simply a war story. Even the Bible says that such a flood never happened although it describes the story using the image of a flood. But since people are clueless about such basic things as to what the real Ten Commandments are it's easy to understand how the they simply can't understand the Noah flood story.

The flood story may have been based on other area civilization myths, like the idea of guardian angels. But here we are thousands of years later believing in silly ancient ethnocentric Middle Eastern religious myths as if they were actual events. How dumb is that?

Anyway, when the fairy tale is read as a whole a case can be made that the flood story is related to the threat in Zephaniah chapter 1 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=zephaniah1&version=NKJV;MSG;CEV;RSVCE;TLB

It's like understanding that the purpose of Jesus' miracles is to validate the idea expressed in Exodus 34:10 (TLB) = "The Lord replied, “All right, this is the contract I am going to make with you. I will do miracles such as have never been done before anywhere in all the earth, and all the people of Israel shall see the power of the Lord—the terrible power I will display through you."

 

As I mentioned in my previous response to you, religious affiliation is not what determines your eternal destiny. Only faith in Jesus Christ will save.

We Read in Scripture:

12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life. ---1 John 5:12 NLT

Only Christianity....faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ....leads to God’s forgiveness and eternal life. This is God's simple message to all.

And yes, there are many denominations. But if any church distorts the original doctrines of the religion then they are an unorthodox sect...a cult. A cult is defined as "a religious group that denies one or more of the fundamentals of biblical truth." They claim to be Christian but really are not Christian. These cults teach doctrines that, if believed, will cause a person to remain unsaved.

The two most common teachings of Christian cults are that Jesus was not God and that salvation is not by faith alone. A denial of the deity of Christ results in the view that Jesus’ death was insufficient to pay for our sins. A denial of salvation by faith alone results in the teaching that salvation is achieved by our own works.

 

Is this Johns teaching, or a quote from jesus

 

Below is what Jesus taught about divorce:

Teaching about Divorce

31 "You have heard the law that says, ‘A man can divorce his wife by merely giving her a written notice of divorce.’32 But I say that a man who divorces his wife, unless she has been unfaithful, causes her to commit adultery. And anyone who marries a divorced woman also commits adultery." ---Matthew 5:31-32 NLT

Homosexuality is a sin and will always be a sin.

We Read in Scripture:

22 "Do not practice homosexuality, having sex with another man as with a woman. It is a detestable sin." ---Leviticus 18:22 NLT

Depending on the situation, fighting can be noble and good or it can be sinful, but fighting is not wrong in itself.

 

Are you a Jew? If you aren't then why do you want to live by Jewish rules?

 

What happens to Christians who get a divorce? Donald trump for example?

Everything that Leviticus says is a sin... is a sin?

Lev 11:9-12---- Christians who eat shrimp have a special place in hell, along side homosexuals no doubt!

Seems to me that jesus said to turn the other cheek....

 

Jesus also said in Luke 19:26-27 (NKJV) = "26 ‘For I say to you, that to everyone who has will be given; and from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. 27 But bring here those enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, and slay them before me.’”

 

Wow!
If Christians really follow that verse.... we have another isis on our hands
I wonder if jesus has a preferred way to slay unbelievers
.... waiting with trepidation
Perhaps we should proactively bomb the Vatican with a mother of all bombs....preferably a virgin

 

To understand Zephaniah one needs understand the historical context - the times at which it was written.

The Israelite's did not pay much attention to YHWH. There is no YHWH prior to Moses - The Israelite's are still worshiping the God's of the Sumerian Pantheon with El as the Supreme deity. Joshua 24

So ... Abraham's father Terah was not worshiping YHWH, Abraham was worshiping some God called El Shaddai (Canaanite God of the Mountain which is associated with El) and neither were those in Egypt.

What is strange is that Joshua i giving the people a choice ? The laws of Deuteronomy say that if a few people in a town are worshiping other God's the whole town is to be killed. Obviously they were not following these rules. It is also very odd that anyone would be worshiping other God's given these people actually witnessed the supposed miracles ... and had God following them around in the tent of the Lords presence.

In fact as soon as Moses left for a few weeks the people -egged on by the brother of Moses Aaron - returned to their old forms of worship - Bull El/Asherah - the Golden Calf.

Then we are told as soon as Joshua dies the Israelite's go right back to worshiping other Gods (El - Consort Asherah - and son Baal) The original Holy Trinity = Father, Son and Mother Goddess.

YHWH appears to have been useful in times of War but, there is no real devotion to this God. By the time we get to Solomon - who supposedly spoke directly to God - .. Solomon is building temples to other Gods - including the Child sacrifice God Molech.

Things really go downhill for YHWH after that. By the time we get to Elijah - he states that he is the only prophet left for "YHWH" in all of Israel - 450 for Asherah and 500 for Baal.

Over then next few centuries YHWH is all but forgotten. The Israelite's are happily sacrificing children and worshiping other Gods.

Then ... just prior to the Babylonians laying waste to Israel and destroying the Temple ... a King by the name of Josiah supposedly finds "the book of the law". How long this book had been lost for - we are not told but, if the book existed at all, it would have been centuries.

It is during this time - or shortly after the destruction of the temple - that Zephaniah is writing. Israel has declined - or has been completely destroyed as a nation. As was normally the case for cultures during those times, the downfall was attributed to displeasing the God's.

In a huge stroke of luck the Persians take over - kick Babylonian butt. The Persians are very advanced socially. They abhor child sacrifice and they are very tolerant of other religions. (they even let the Jews rebuild the temple). One of the main Persian religions is Zoroastrianism - a monotheistic religion. The Persian Emperor - Cyrus the Great is written about in Chronicles and Isaiah if memory serves. He is called "God's anointed Shepherd" ( better than Jesus because this guy had power !)

The Jews then recreate their religion borrowing from Zoroastrianism. They adopt strict monotheism (for the first time) and stop sacrificing children.

 

People are saved when they become born-again Christians. So what does it mean to be a born-again Christian? Let me present a passage from Scripture that essentially answers this question.

We Read in Scripture:

There was a man named Nicodemus, a Jewish religious leader who was a Pharisee. 2 After dark one evening, he came to speak with Jesus. "Rabbi," he said, "we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you."

3 Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God."

4 "What do you mean?" exclaimed Nicodemus. "How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?"

5 Jesus replied, "I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. 6 Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. 7 So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit."

9 "How are these things possible?" Nicodemus asked.

10 Jesus replied, "You are a respected Jewish teacher, and yet you don’t understand these things? 11 I assure you, we tell you what we know and have seen, and yet you won’t believe our testimony. 12 But if you don’t believe me when I tell you about earthly things, how can you possibly believe if I tell you about heavenly things? 13 No one has ever gone to heaven and returned. But the Son of Man has come down from heaven. 14 And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life.

16 "For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.

18 "There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son. 19 And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. 20 All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. 21 But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants." ---John 3:1-21 NLT

So the phrase "born again" literally means "born from above." In other words it's a spiritual transformation...this new birth, being born again, is an act of God whereby eternal life is imparted to the person who believes. Believers then become children of God through trust in the name of Jesus Christ.

 

Excellent.....

 

Mitt Ryan,

When did this Great Flood occur?

 

From when Adam was made to the flood 1656 years, and Shem Noah’s first born died 502 years after the flood happened. If my memory serves by most who have studied it, Shem died 1600 +- bc. So by the calendars used in most of western culture the flood would be 2102 bc. +- of course.

So, in the Jewish view and Christian view it is very close to 4119 years ago. A lot can happen in 4 thousand years. A lot could happen in the 1656 before the flood, and there is no reason other than what one believes or wants to believe that the earth in its natural processes didn’t have changes and conditions that would accommodate the possibility of a earth covering flood then.

Also if I may add, there are engineers that have examined the evidence and claim that the dinosaurs that where huge couldn’t have sustained their own weight on the earth as they were, but again if the earth was smaller with less gravitational pull then they could prance around like it was easy. This is not to say man and dinosaurs coexisted on the planet it’s just fact that there were such animals and there’s no reason to consider how it was possible for them to exist when they did.

 

The flood was a four day flood in the Euphrates river basin in 2900 BC. The flood foot print was 150 miles wide and 300 miles across. Several barges carrying livestock, grain and beer broke loose and floated south on the flood waters into the Persian Gulf.