Part 23 of Post Your Tough Questions Regarding Christianity

Part 23 is a continuation of Post your tough questions pertaining to God/Jesus/Holy Bible and I will do my best to clarify and make sense of it to those who are unaware...I still have questions and comments I haven't responded to in Part 7 thru 22.
Also I might answer questions that are on other members threads and so this will keep me real busy with the many questions that I will answer from my point of view/perspective keeping in line with Scripture.

I don't want my intentions to come across as converting you or whatever lol... but rather clear up things etc... so ask away.

 

Mitt Ryan
Mitt Ryan is offline Analyst

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Quote Originally Posted by trevorw2539 View Post
So? What's your point?
Ask Margot...she should know the point I'm making...lo


I asked you. Margot was simply pointing out the truth. It has nothing to do with whether the events in the early part of the Bible.

'The consensus among biblical scholars today is that there was never any exodus of the proportions described in the Bible.[15] According to Exodus 12:37–38, the Israelites numbered "about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children," plus many non-Israelites and livestock.[16] Numbers 1:46 gives a more precise total of 603,550 men aged 20 and up.[17] The 600,000, plus wives, children, the elderly, and the "mixed multitude" of non-Israelites would have numbered some 2 million people,[18] compared with an entire Egyptian population in 1250 BCE of around 3 to 3.5 million.[19] Marching ten abreast, and without accounting for livestock, they would have formed a line 150 miles long.[20] No evidence has been found that indicates Egypt ever suffered such a demographic and economic catastrophe or that the Sinai desert ever hosted (or could have hosted) these millions of people and their herds.[21]

Some scholars have rationalised these numbers into smaller figures, for example reading the Hebrew as "600 families" rather than 600,000 men, but all such solutions raise more problems than they solve.[22] The view of mainstream modern biblical scholarship is that the improbability of the Exodus story originates because it was written not as history, but to demonstrate God's purpose and deeds with his Chosen People, Israel.[3] Some have suggested that the 603,550 people delivered from Egypt (according to Numbers 1:46) is not a number, but a gematria (a code in which numbers represent letters or words) for bnei yisra'el kol rosh, "the children of Israel, every individual;"[23] while the number 600,000 symbolises the total destruction of the generation of Israel which left Egypt, none of whom lived to see the Promised Land.[24]
Archaeology

A century of research by archaeologists and Egyptologists has found no evidence which can be directly related to the Exodus captivity and the escape and travels through the wilderness,[3] and most archaeologists have abandoned the archaeological investigation of Moses and the Exodus as "a fruitless pursuit".[4] A number of theories have been put forward to account for the origins of the Israelites, and despite differing details they agree on Israel's Canaanite origins.[25] The culture of the earliest Israelite settlements is Canaanite, their cult-objects are those of the Canaanite god El, the pottery remains in the local Canaanite tradition, and the alphabet used is early Canaanite, and almost the sole marker distinguishing the "Israelite" villages from Canaanite sites is an absence of pig bones, although whether even this is an ethnic marker or is due to other factors remains a matter of dispute.[26]
Anachronisms

Despite the Bible's internal dating of the Exodus to the 2nd millennium BCE, details point to a 1st millennium date for the composition of the Book of Exodus: Ezion-Geber, (one of the Stations of the Exodus), for example, dates to a period between the 8th and 6th centuries BCE with possible further occupation into the 4th century BCE,[27] and those place-names on the Exodus route which have been identified – Goshen, Pithom, Succoth, Ramesses and Kadesh Barnea – point to the geography of the 1st millennium rather than the 2nd.[28] Similarly, Pharaoh's fear that the Israelites might ally themselves with foreign invaders seems unlikely in the context of the late 2nd millennium, when Canaan was part of an Egyptian empire and Egypt faced no enemies in that direction, but does make sense in a 1st millennium context, when Egypt was considerably weaker and faced invasion first from the Persians and later from Seleucid Syria.[29] The mention of the dromedary in Exodus 9:3 also suggests a later date of composition – the widespread domestication of the camel as a herd animal did not take place before the late 2nd millennium, after the Israelites had already emerged in Canaan,[30] and they did not become widespread in Egypt until c.200–100 BCE.[31]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Exodus#Historicity

 

MittRyan.....


is there anything in the Scriptures referring to Barabbas as a "rapist"? Yes or No?

 

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It is getting close for WR to exit for a while and Inc to return.

 

"Is god willing to prevent evil but unable? Then he is not omnipotent.
Is he able but not willing? Then he is malevolent.
Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil?
Is he neither willing nor able? Then why call him god?" -Epicurus

 

Where did you ever get that falsehood from? Jesus is unique in His teachings.

Basically, Jesus taught that He was the fulfillment of messianic prophecy, that God requires more than external obedience to rules, that salvation comes to those who believe in Christ, and that judgment is coming to the unbelieving and unrepentant.

Sorry but I have just shown you with just a glimpse that His teachings are not essentially the same as what every faith teaches. Don't be mislead into thinking that any other religion is ok because they teach the same as Christianity....far from it.

I have no idea what you're trying to express here....because it's incoherent in my view.

 

this utterly inconsequential difference in posturing seems to be something many Christians regard as a deal breaker. that's like saying that anyone who simply says a certain thing about themselves must be taken seriously. and once taken seriously, this initial claim becomes far more important than the actual content of the person's 'teachings'. it's absurd.

if two men were standing in front of you today, Mitt, and one said he was sent personally by the great woo beast who lives outside the universe and controls space/time, and the other said he was gifted with a special supernatural receiver via which he could receive and relay direct messages from the great woo beast - but the 'message receiver' taught peace and love, while the special envoy taught wrath and control, would their initial claims make the slightest bit of difference to the value of what they had to teach?

 

Not true, there were a couple first-hand eyewitness accounts from the Gospel writers of the New Testament and none had strong vested political interests...where did you come up with that falsehood? Furthermore there is historicity of Jesus Christ outside of the Bible and so He did exist.

The birth, life, the teachings of His ministry, the miracles He performed, the death and resurrection of our Lord Savior Jesus Christ is what persuades me to believe in the Christian faith. Furthermore Scripture tells us the belief in Jesus Christ as our Lord Savior leads us to eternal life in paradise with our Lord and others who are saved... I'm all for that...oh yes indeed!

What is there not to like about the Christian faith?

I have taken a glimpse into Hinduism to see what their religion is all about and I must honestly say I did not like their belief system. Basically they believe in reincarnation that goes on repeatedly until one achieves "moksha"

They also view mankind as divine...wow! imagine that, despite the fact that we are all a bunch of sinners their religion view all of us as being divine...nonsense!...what say you?

 

The Moses & Exodus story could be related to the events in Jeremiah. Jeremiah has a fanciful tale about the Jews wanting to go bunk out in Egypt and Nebuchadnezzar ranting about how he's going to destroy Egypt. It ties in with the tale about how the Lord flapped his jaws with Moses in Exodus and even intended to kill Moses in Exodus 4:24.

 

Mitt Ryan?

Are there any references in the Gospels to Barabbas being a "rapist"? Yes or No?

 

Of course what Mitt has posted is what Jesus said to the Jews. He never preached to the Gentiles and when he sent his disciples out he specifically said 'don't go to the Gentiles'. His call to 'go into all the world and preach the Gospel is a later addition to the gospels.
Of course the books of Acts is slanted towards Christianity and away from the Jews. It even has a soft approach to Rome. Luke is aware that they need to keep Rome, as far as possible, on their side. Not only that but Paul has Roman 'free' citizenship, giving him rights others do not have.

 

Still waiting for a response on this.

 

And I have an extension to it, which is more directly connected to Christianity.

God is all knowing

God is unable to be the cause of evil directly, or indirectly.

God created Lucifer, knowing of the evil that he would cause, and thus knowingly caused evil to come into existence.

How does the OP explain this contradiction.

 

The golden rule is universal. The rest of that crap is just superstitious window dressing.

 

There were not. This is simply false.

No, there is not. Your claim is false.

The problem is, all of that is fiction. And not even original fiction. Your belief doesn't make it real.

Christians make up fiction, and try to brainwash it into their children. It's evil.

And what's not to like about that?

Really, you Christians are a hoot. Basically, you believe that some space alien who creates universes somehow had fertile sex with a human woman, giving birth to a demigod who did stuff other mythological figures did, all done well offstage and with no witnesses, who then rose from the dead as did quite a few other fictional characters of the day, and because of this we are somehow all lower than dirt and must poison our brains to clean them! Righto!

I'm not surprised folks like you never entertain even the slightest doubts. Let one doubt creep in, and this whole preposterous balderdash vanishes like the nonsense it always was.

 

Mitt Ryan????

Are there any references in the Gospels to Barabbas being a "rapist"? Yes or No?

 

I also want a response for this.

 

1. So what kind of a criminal is Barabas?
2. Between Barabas and Jesus Christ are you guys saying that the crowds were justified to chose Barabas over Jesus Christ?
3. Would you chose Barabas over Jesus Christ just like the crowds did?

 

Barabas was refer as a criminal. So what kind of criminal do you think he is if he is not a rapist is he a thieve, a swindler, a male prostitute?
Do you think the crowds are correct to chose Barabas over Jesus?
Would you chose Barabas over Jesus too?

 

God is able and willing to prevent evil that is why evil is not triumphing.
Satan is malevolent that is why God is with us.
Satan is very aggressive and will always try everything to be god.
Satan will hide behind something that feels and looks good.

 

One religion teaches people are inherently good(devine) and the other teaches people are inherently bad(sinners). I say go with devine. Why not?

 

So if somebody is guilty of petty larceny....it's a good assumption they're a rapist?


Seriously, WR, how can a person like you CLAIM to "believe in the Bible"....when you just MAKE UP STUFF and claim that it's in it.

At this point, you could claim Jesus had a IPhone 6 and Moses started the Xerox Corporation...and be no less credible.

- - - Updated - - -

BTW....real quick...


MittRyan? Are there any references in the Gospels to Barabbas being a "rapist"? Yes or No?

 

Barabas was considered a criminal by the Romans because he was a zealot and a rabble rouser opposing the Roman occupation.

 

And apparently there is "secret Bible code" that says he was a rapist.

BTW, I have it on the same authority that Judas Iscariot was a traitor to Christ, who sold him out, and was a member of the Communist Party of Judea.

 

LOLOL.. Nice one.. Now our literalist has company inventing Bible stories.