"And no religion, too"

[Intense]

Many people have not believed in or experienced God before they then believed. These people can relate to both nonbelievers and believers alike as they know first hand what it was like to walk in such sandals.

Those who have never experienced God, however, have no knowledge but that. And they are hardly in a position to know what it is to have a relationship with the living God or to dismiss the experience of those who have such a relationship.

I was a believer for 30+ years. I had spiritual experiences on a daily basis. I concluded, however, after a critical examination of my faith that it was not logical and did not hold together evidentially, and I left the Christian faith back around 2003. I am no longer a Christian, but I still have spiritual experiences.

Your paradigm is limited. Many of us who are non-believers used to be as "faithful" as you.

Sounds like your Faith was in your perception of what you thought God was. It was tested, and you came up short, and you gave up on God. When We choose to believe in something like God, something greater than our comprehension, we accept that we are neither in control, or the final word, just along for the ride, the experience. Do we put Faith in God living in the present, seeing through our own eyes, or continue to jump through hoops, seeing through the eyes of others. Be fruitful, multiply, replenish the earth. Witness and tell the truth about what you see, from your own unique perspective. It's a start. We learn as we go. Christianity, like similar Faiths, is a path that transforms, brings into harmony and communion, it is a refining, a process, we go through in life that makes us each better for having gone through it, each test, each stumbling block. Whatever your faith, choose Conscience, feed it, learn from it. There is no harm in that. Learn to trust it, and It will lead you to salvation, enlightenment. The blind cannot lead the blind, each of us has the ability to discern right from wrong, that is what we should be encouraging in each other, inside the Christian perspective or beyond it.

 

[Unkotare]

I don't feel the least bit foolish, the overwhelming majority of people in the US and on this forum are christians.

Yes, but the bulk of them are in name only, both on the board and in the country.

And you know that because you are... God?

That's exactly what atheists want to believe they are.

 

[catzmeow]

Sounds like your Faith was in your perception of what you thought God was. It was tested, and you came up short, and you gave up on God. When We choose to believe in something like God, something greater than our comprehension, we accept that we are neither in control, or the final word, just along for the ride, the experience. Do we put Faith in God living in the present, seeing through our own eyes, or continue to jump through hoops, seeing through the eyes of others. Be fruitful, multiply, replenish the earth. Witness and tell the truth about what you see, from your own unique perspective. It's a start. We learn as we go. Christianity, like similar Faiths, is a path that transforms, brings into harmony and communion, it is a refining, a process, we go through in life that makes us each better for having gone through it, each test, each stumbling block. Whatever your faith, choose Conscience, feed it, learn from it. There is no harm in that. Learn to trust it, and It will lead you to salvation, enlightenment. The blind cannot lead the blind, each of us has the ability to discern right from wrong, that is what we should be encouraging in each other, inside the Christian perspective or beyond it.

I understand that within your paradigm, you must dismiss my life experiences and attempt to diminish the role that my faith played in my life. It must be me, and not your religion, which fell short. But, having said that, your post is stupid. You know nothing about me, you know nothing about my life, and you have no idea what you're talking about.

I researched the historical roots of Christianity. I found that there was almost zero evidence that Christ actually lived. The evidence that did exist was highly suspect and questionable. There wasn't a single copy of the new testament that was newer than 200 years after the supposed death of your messiah (http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/papyrus/texts/manuscripts.html).

Even the name Jesus Christ is a false creation. There was no one called Jesus Christ. The name would have been Joshua, and the term Christ is a later creation.

You have faith, but in what? A figment of mythology.

 

[daveman]

Because the religious never do that, right?

You can't hardly get two Baptists to agree on anything. You may like to pretend there's a vast religious conspiracy, but there isn't.

Can't tell if srs.

Am.

 

[catzmeow]

You can't hardly get two Baptists to agree on anything. You may like to pretend there's a vast religious conspiracy, but there isn't.

Can't tell if srs.

Am.

Am familiar with a S. Baptist church that split over whether the church would purchase a microwave for the kitchen. Was a member of a S. Baptist church that split over whether women would be allowed to teach adult sunday school classes and handle the financial accounts.

 

[Dr.Drock]

One example, just one, I'm not asking for volumes, give me one post where I categorically say something negative about all christians.

Ready..........

Set...........................

GOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You really think that because you're passive-aggressive, you're not bashing?

http://www.usmessageboard.com/religion-and-ethics/182545-and-no-religion-too-5.html#post4071798

You're alone in your belief.

I bashed one person (the idiot who I was responding to), not christianity, take another swing. You're down 0-1 in the count.

 

[Dr.Drock]

\
You really think that because you're passive-aggressive, you're not bashing?

http://www.usmessageboard.com/religion-and-ethics/182545-and-no-religion-too-5.html#post4071798

You're alone in your belief.

If you claim that Drock is anti-CHRISTIAN, please feel free to provide evidence of these claims. Suggesting that there is zero evidence that proves Christianity is a simple statement of fact, it isn't bashing Christians.

However, since you enjoy proving negatives, please let us know when you quit beating your wife.

Well to be honest his latest lame attempt was better than his last one.

In the last one he said I blamed christianity for the immoral actions of our government, and directly in my quote I said "christianity nor the fact that they're christians has anything to do with it."

Uncensored is like the USMB jester.

 

[koshergrl]

Sounds like your Faith was in your perception of what you thought God was. It was tested, and you came up short, and you gave up on God. When We choose to believe in something like God, something greater than our comprehension, we accept that we are neither in control, or the final word, just along for the ride, the experience. Do we put Faith in God living in the present, seeing through our own eyes, or continue to jump through hoops, seeing through the eyes of others. Be fruitful, multiply, replenish the earth. Witness and tell the truth about what you see, from your own unique perspective. It's a start. We learn as we go. Christianity, like similar Faiths, is a path that transforms, brings into harmony and communion, it is a refining, a process, we go through in life that makes us each better for having gone through it, each test, each stumbling block. Whatever your faith, choose Conscience, feed it, learn from it. There is no harm in that. Learn to trust it, and It will lead you to salvation, enlightenment. The blind cannot lead the blind, each of us has the ability to discern right from wrong, that is what we should be encouraging in each other, inside the Christian perspective or beyond it.

I understand that within your paradigm, you must dismiss my life experiences and attempt to diminish the role that my faith played in my life. It must be me, and not your religion, which fell short. But, having said that, your post is stupid. You know nothing about me, you know nothing about my life, and you have no idea what you're talking about.

I researched the historical roots of Christianity. I found that there was almost zero evidence that Christ actually lived. The evidence that did exist was highly suspect and questionable. There wasn't a single copy of the new testament that was newer than 200 years after the supposed death of your messiah (Dating the Oldest New Testament Manuscripts).

Even the name Jesus Christ is a false creation. There was no one called Jesus Christ. The name would have been Joshua, and the term Christ is a later creation.

You have faith, but in what? A figment of mythology.

It's not that your life experiences are being dismissed. It's that we believe that life experience can be misleading and lead people to the wrong conclusions. People often have skewed perceptions and make mistakes because they either don't have all the information or they have a bias. Christians believe that when it comes to God, MAN is often (usually) incorrect and imperfect...but God never is. Error comes from man, not God. And Satan works to foster doubt. Man's arrogance and innate desire to be on the same level as God, and to define God according to our own limited view, is well known and proven.

When believers hear "I know there's no God because evidence points to the contrary" we know we're listening to somebody who thinks the power of their own perception and their own knowledge surpasses all else. It's arrogance pure and simple, the bible addresses it SPECIFICALLY and repeatedly, and predicted that as time passed, more and more people would cling to false knowledge and wisdom. It's addressed in the bible, and actually acts as more evidence of the inerrancy of the bible.

 

[Intense]

Sounds like your Faith was in your perception of what you thought God was. It was tested, and you came up short, and you gave up on God. When We choose to believe in something like God, something greater than our comprehension, we accept that we are neither in control, or the final word, just along for the ride, the experience. Do we put Faith in God living in the present, seeing through our own eyes, or continue to jump through hoops, seeing through the eyes of others. Be fruitful, multiply, replenish the earth. Witness and tell the truth about what you see, from your own unique perspective. It's a start. We learn as we go. Christianity, like similar Faiths, is a path that transforms, brings into harmony and communion, it is a refining, a process, we go through in life that makes us each better for having gone through it, each test, each stumbling block. Whatever your faith, choose Conscience, feed it, learn from it. There is no harm in that. Learn to trust it, and It will lead you to salvation, enlightenment. The blind cannot lead the blind, each of us has the ability to discern right from wrong, that is what we should be encouraging in each other, inside the Christian perspective or beyond it.

I understand that within your paradigm, you must dismiss my life experiences and attempt to diminish the role that my faith played in my life. It must be me, and not your religion, which fell short. But, having said that, your post is stupid. You know nothing about me, you know nothing about my life, and you have no idea what you're talking about.

I researched the historical roots of Christianity. I found that there was almost zero evidence that Christ actually lived. The evidence that did exist was highly suspect and questionable. There wasn't a single copy of the new testament that was newer than 200 years after the supposed death of your messiah (Dating the Oldest New Testament Manuscripts).

Even the name Jesus Christ is a false creation. There was no one called Jesus Christ. The name would have been Joshua, and the term Christ is a later creation.

You have faith, but in what? A figment of mythology.

Blah. Blah. Blah. My point is that instead of losing the training wheels you lost the whole bicycle. For you to abandon your faith the way that you did, your foundation had to have been false all along. That is exactly what you are telling me. Your Faith was never rooted in God, it was rooted in what other people told you about God. Someday, given the opportunity, I hope you open your own eyes.
My Faith is neither rooted in Scripture, yet is is a tool, in being perfect of which I know I am not, but learning to let go and learning to put God first, nor about being higher or lower than anyone else, we each matter, we are all related.

 

[Wry Catcher]

God's existence cannot be proven or disproven logically, nor can it be proven by appeals to authorities. If God is a construct of the human brain as stated in the editorial, or exists as stated in religious writings, we will never truly know.

Does the answer to the question really matter? Does your belief in the existence of God cause you to behave in a manner different than if you did not? As an agnostic, yet one who was raised and confirmed Catholic, I still hold as true many of the values taught to me by the Nuns, whether Jesus Christ existed or not.

What most bothers me about religious zealots is that many seem to believe their faith makes them special, and provides them license to judge and even kill others who hold different beliefs.

I respect most people of faith, most are good and kind, able to practice good works without concern for a later reward or for forgiveness for lapses in a moral code. I do not well tolerate those whose faith is broadcast for all the world to see, those who use faith as a means to an end with little or no regard for those who believe differently.

Proof of God's existence would make little or no difference in my behavior; my moral compass is set on very simple principles: The golden rule, a respect for our planet and leaving the world and our nation a better place for future generations.

Do I always live up to these principles? Nope, but I suspect many who wear their religon on their chest
don't either.

 

[Intense]

Jesus

The word Jesus is the Latin form of the Greek Iesous, which in turn is the transliteration of the Hebrew Jeshua, or Joshua, or again Jehoshua, meaning "Jehovah is salvation." Though the name in one form or another occurs frequently in the Old Testament, it was not borne by a person of prominence between the time of Josue, the son of Nun and Josue, the high priest in the days of Zorobabel. It was also the name of the author of Ecclesiaticus, of one of Christ's ancestors mentioned in the genealogy, found in the Third Gospel (Luke 3:29), and one of the St. Paul's companions (Colossians 4:11). During the Hellenizing period, Jason, a purely Greek analogon of Jesus, appears to have been adopted by many (1 Maccabees 8:17; 12:16; 14:22; 2 Maccabees 1:7; 2:24; 4:7-26; 5:5-10; Acts 17:5-9; Romans 16:21). The Greek name is connected with verb iasthai, to heal; it is therefore, not surprising that some of the Greek Fathers allied the word Jesus with same root (Eusebius, "Dem. Ev.", IV; cf. Acts 9:34; 10:38). Though about the time of Christ the name Jesus appears to have been fairly common (Josephus, "Ant.", XV, ix, 2; XVII, xiii, 1; XX, ix, 1; "Bel. Jud.", III, ix, 7; IV, iii, 9; VI, v, 5; "Vit.", 22) it was imposed on our Lord by God's express order (Luke 1:31; Matthew 1:21), to foreshow that the Child was destined to "save his people from their sins." Philo ("De Mutt. Nom.", 21) is therefore, right when he explains Iesous as meaning soteria kyrion; Eusebius (Dem., Ev., IV, ad fin.; P.G., XXII, 333) gives the meaning Theou soterion; while St. Cyril of Jerusalem interprets the word as equivalent to soter (Catechetical Lectures X.13). This last writer, however, appears to agree with Clement of Alexandria in considering the word Iesous as of Greek origin (The Pedagogue III.12); St. Chrysostom emphasizes again the Hebrew derivation of the word and its meaning soter (Homily 2 on Matthew, No. 2), thus agreeing with the exegesis of the angel speaking to St. Joseph (Matthew 1:21).
Christ

The word Christ, Christos, the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew Messias, means "anointed." According to the Old Law, priests (Exodus 29:29; Leviticus 4:3), kings (1 Samuel 10:1; 24:7), and prophets (Isaiah 61:1) were supposed to be anointed for their respective offices; now, the Christ, or the Messias, combined this threefold dignity in His Person. It is not surprising, therefore, that for centuries the Jews had referred to their expected Deliverer as "the Anointed"; perhaps this designation alludes to Isaias 61:1, and Daniel 9:24-26, or even to Psalms 2:2; 19:7; 44:8. Thus the term Christ or Messias was a title rather than a proper name: "Non proprium nomen est, sed nuncupatio potestatis et regni", says Lactantius (Divine Institutes IV.7). The Evangelists recognize the same truth; excepting Matthew 1:1, 1:18; Mark 1:1; John 1:17; 17:3; 9:22; Mark 9:40; Luke 2:11; 22:2, the word Christ is always preceded by the article.

Only after the Resurrection did the title gradually pass into a proper name, and the expression Jesus Christ or Christ Jesus became only one designation. But at this stage the Greeks and Romans understood little or nothing about the import of the word anointed; to them it did not convey any sacred conception. Hence they substituted Chrestus, or "excellent", for Christus or "anointed", and Chrestians instead of "Christians." There may be an allusion to this practice in 1 Peter 2:3; hoti chrestos ho kyrios, which is rendered "that the Lord is sweet." Justin Martyr (First Apology 4), Clement of Alexandria (Stromata II.4.18), Tertullian (To the Nations II), and Lactantius (Divine Institutes IV.7), as well as St. Jerome (In Gal., V, 22), are acquainted with the pagan substitution of Chrestes for Christus, and are careful to explain the new term in a favourable sense. The pagans made little or no effort to learn anything accurate about Christ and the Christians; Suetonius, for instance, ascribes the expulsion of the Jews from Rome under Claudius to the constant instigation of sedition by Chrestus, whom he conceives as acting in Rome the part of a leader of insurgents.

The use of the definite article before the word Christ and its gradual development into a proper name show the Christians identified the bearer with the promised Messias of the Jews. He combined in His person the offices of prophet (John 6:14; Matthew 13:57; Luke 13:33; 24:19) of king (Luke 23:2; Acts 17:7; 1 Corinthians 15:24; Apocalypse 15:3), and of priest (Hebrews 2:17; etc.); he fulfilled all the Messianic predictions in a fuller and a higher sense than had been given them by the teachers of the Synagogue.

CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: The Name of Jesus Christ

 

[Marie888]

Many people have not believed in or experienced God before they then believed. These people can relate to both nonbelievers and believers alike as they know first hand what it was like to walk in such sandals.

Those who have never experienced God, however, have no knowledge but that. And they are hardly in a position to know what it is to have a relationship with the living God or to dismiss the experience of those who have such a relationship.

I was a believer for 30+ years. I had spiritual experiences on a daily basis. I concluded, however, after a critical examination of my faith that it was not logical and did not hold together evidentially, and I left the Christian faith back around 2003. I am no longer a Christian, but I still have spiritual experiences.

Your paradigm is limited. Many of us who are non-believers used to be as "faithful" as you.

I'm not sure if I asked you this before, but when you were a believer, may I please ask....whom did you say/believe/confess that Jesus Christ is? Who was He to you, in detail? Whom or what did you call Him when you called upon His Name?

I ask because personally knowing Jesus Christ is the whole point. Having the devine Revelation of Him, and from Him alone. This is something we cannot "unknow" or "unbelieve."

There are also some verses in the Bible that cover this also; when some say they were believers in Christ... but they "leave."

1 John 2
18 Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.

19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.

20 But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.

.

 

[Uncensored2008]

You've got the wrong poster. I'm the star Christian basher on this board.

You may desire to be, but lack the intellectual acumen to pull it off.

 

[Uncensored2008]

I understand that within your paradigm, you must dismiss my life experiences and attempt to diminish the role that my faith played in my life. It must be me, and not your religion, which fell short. But, having said that, your post is stupid. You know nothing about me, you know nothing about my life, and you have no idea what you're talking about.

I researched the historical roots of Christianity. I found that there was almost zero evidence that Christ actually lived. The evidence that did exist was highly suspect and questionable. There wasn't a single copy of the new testament that was newer than 200 years after the supposed death of your messiah (Dating the Oldest New Testament Manuscripts).

Even the name Jesus Christ is a false creation. There was no one called Jesus Christ. The name would have been Joshua, and the term Christ is a later creation.

You have faith, but in what? A figment of mythology.

Then why would you need to expend energy repressing what you have found to be a myth? That is illogical. Do you likewise spend time ensuring that no one mention Zeus in a socialized school? What if Mars were brought up in a class room (The teacher MEANT to say Marx, honest!) - would they be hauled off the same way as if they had mentioned Moses?

I too have researched Jesus, and I found the same thing you did. This is much of the reason that I am Laissez Faire about it, we fight what we are threatened by. I am not threatened by a myth, why are you?

 

[Uncensored2008]

I bashed one person (the idiot who I was responding to), not christianity, take another swing. You're down 0-1 in the count.

You bash anyone and everyone who holds Christian beliefs. You are a one man purge. Mao would be proud.

 

[Sky Dancer]

I bashed one person (the idiot who I was responding to), not christianity, take another swing. You're down 0-1 in the count.

You bash anyone and everyone who holds Christian beliefs. You are a one man purge. Mao would be proud.

Show evidence of that.

 

[Sky Dancer]

You've got the wrong poster. I'm the star Christian basher on this board.

You may desire to be, but lack the intellectual acumen to pull it off.

I'm certainly no intellectual, I'll grant you that. I certainly am the identified Christian basher on this forum.

Ask your pals.

 

[Dr.Drock]

I bashed one person (the idiot who I was responding to), not christianity, take another swing. You're down 0-1 in the count.

You bash anyone and everyone who holds Christian beliefs. You are a one man purge. Mao would be proud.

That's interesting, I get pos repped by christians all the time on here (hortysir, Immanuel, GaDawg, Marie, and on and on and on) so I can either believe them who have shown high character on this board, or I can believe a scumbag liar like yourself.

Pretty easy which is the right choice.

I do appreciate the entertainment you provide me, please don't change (unless you have children and/or a wife, then change everything about you for their sake).

Oh and I'll ask again, please provide any proof of the following

1.) Me bashing all christians

2.) Me saying anything even marginally good about Islam

3.) Me showing any similarity whatsoever to Mao or Stalin.

This should be good

 

[hortysir]

And here I am without rep.....

 

[Dr.Drock]

And here I am without rep.....

Hey I rep'd you!!