Atheism takes courage

[sealybobo]

But you don't know that. It might be Satan's disguised spirit you're feeling. After all, unless you've felt both you wouldn't know the difference. Even then I imagine both would be telling you they were the holy spirit. You might be more aligned with the sweet, sweet promises of Satan and not even know it.

It might be Satan's disguised spirit you feel.

sorry but he proves himself next...

You're deceived.

I worry that daisiesRwild should not be in this forum having this discussion. She's one of those people I don't want to take God away from. Sounds like she needs him. But then she shouldn't be coming to this forum. I hope she isn't hoping to convert anyone. That's never going to happen.

Yesterday I was watching a show on our Milky Way galaxy. We are just one planet surrounding one small star in a network of 400 billion stars. And the amount of distance between each star in our galaxy is mind blowing. The idea that we are alone in the universe is laughable. And how many galaxies are in the universe? Roughly 100 billion.

worry about yourself dollnot me cos you are the one going to hell not me

There it is! Idiot

 

[sealybobo]

Pot works. I heard Ecstasy comes close too.

pot noooo that makes people bitchy when they come down or are out of it.. and ecstasy is just a tad of what the love you feel from God is

Clearly you've never smoked pot. NEXT.

That's when God should have revealed himself to me. When I was doing hard drugs in the 90's Jesus should have appeared in my bathroom mirror right after I did a big line.

yeah cos that akes a lot of sense lol

Were you on drugs when you met and talked to God?

I talked to (what seemed to have been) "God" on LSD. I can't talk to anyone about it, so here I am. • r/LSD

The people who take drugs to see God

Psychedelic Drugs for Seeing God | Inverse

Now this makes sense.

i do not drink take any drugs and am not mental sorry doll

You sound mental.

 

[daisiesRwild]

pot noooo that makes people bitchy when they come down or are out of it.. and ecstasy is just a tad of what the love you feel from God is

Clearly you've never smoked pot. NEXT.

That's when God should have revealed himself to me. When I was doing hard drugs in the 90's Jesus should have appeared in my bathroom mirror right after I did a big line.

yeah cos that akes a lot of sense lol

Were you on drugs when you met and talked to God?

I talked to (what seemed to have been) "God" on LSD. I can't talk to anyone about it, so here I am. • r/LSD

The people who take drugs to see God

Psychedelic Drugs for Seeing God | Inverse

Now this makes sense.

i do not drink take any drugs and am not mental sorry doll

You sound mental.

no you do lol thats the funny part anyone who cannot look around and see God exists has lost their tiny mind

 

[sealybobo]

Clearly you've never smoked pot. NEXT.

That's when God should have revealed himself to me. When I was doing hard drugs in the 90's Jesus should have appeared in my bathroom mirror right after I did a big line.

yeah cos that akes a lot of sense lol

Were you on drugs when you met and talked to God?

I talked to (what seemed to have been) "God" on LSD. I can't talk to anyone about it, so here I am. • r/LSD

The people who take drugs to see God

Psychedelic Drugs for Seeing God | Inverse

Now this makes sense.

i do not drink take any drugs and am not mental sorry doll

You sound mental.

no you do lol thats the funny part anyone who cannot look around and see God exists has lost their tiny mind

“Science adjusts it’s understanding based on what’s observed. Faith is the denial of observation so that belief can be preserved.” – Tim Minchin

“It is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.” – Carl Sagan

“God is an ever-receding pocket of ignorance that’s getting smaller and smaller as time goes on.”– Neil deGrasse Tyson

“Because if the only way the supreme creator of the entire universe can demonstrate his existence to me is to create images of Mary or Jesus on food items, I’m not impressed.”

“Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones.”

“I would love to believe that when I die I will live again, that some thinking, feeling, remembering part of me will continue. But much as I want to believe that, and despite the ancient and worldwide cultural traditions that assert an afterlife, I know of nothing to suggest that it is more than wishful thinking. The world is so exquisite with so much love and moral depth, that there is no reason to deceive ourselves with pretty stories for which there’s little good evidence. Far better it seems to me, in our vulnerability, is to look death in the eye and to be grateful every day for the brief but magnificent opportunity that life provides.” – Carl Sagan

“I do not fear death. I had been dead for billions and billions of years before I was born, and had not suffered the slightest inconvenience from it.” – Mark Twain

“Christianity: The belief that a cosmic Jewish zombie who was his own father can make you live forever if you symbolically eat his flesh and telepathically tell him you accept him as your master, so he can remove an evil force from your soul that is present in humanity because a rib-woman was convinced by a talking snake to eat from a magical tree.”

Why there is no god

 

[sealybobo]

Clearly you've never smoked pot. NEXT.

That's when God should have revealed himself to me. When I was doing hard drugs in the 90's Jesus should have appeared in my bathroom mirror right after I did a big line.

yeah cos that akes a lot of sense lol

Were you on drugs when you met and talked to God?

I talked to (what seemed to have been) "God" on LSD. I can't talk to anyone about it, so here I am. • r/LSD

The people who take drugs to see God

Psychedelic Drugs for Seeing God | Inverse

Now this makes sense.

i do not drink take any drugs and am not mental sorry doll

You sound mental.

no you do lol thats the funny part anyone who cannot look around and see God exists has lost their tiny mind

What do you think after watching George Carlin say these things? I think he is right on the money.

 

[daisiesRwild]

yeah cos that akes a lot of sense lol

Were you on drugs when you met and talked to God?

I talked to (what seemed to have been) "God" on LSD. I can't talk to anyone about it, so here I am. • r/LSD

The people who take drugs to see God

Psychedelic Drugs for Seeing God | Inverse

Now this makes sense.

i do not drink take any drugs and am not mental sorry doll

You sound mental.

no you do lol thats the funny part anyone who cannot look around and see God exists has lost their tiny mind

What do you think after watching George Carlin say these things? I think he is right on the money.

i love george very funny --- i agree with organized religion but that is different than a personal relationship where he proves himself

 

[daisiesRwild]

pot noooo that makes people bitchy when they come down or are out of it.. and ecstasy is just a tad of what the love you feel from God is

Clearly you've never smoked pot. NEXT.

That's when God should have revealed himself to me. When I was doing hard drugs in the 90's Jesus should have appeared in my bathroom mirror right after I did a big line.

yeah cos that akes a lot of sense lol

Were you on drugs when you met and talked to God?

I talked to (what seemed to have been) "God" on LSD. I can't talk to anyone about it, so here I am. • r/LSD

The people who take drugs to see God

Psychedelic Drugs for Seeing God | Inverse
if being mental means I have God in my world rather than be in your hate filled lunatic world i will take mental every day of the weelk

Now this makes sense.

i do not drink take any drugs and am not mental sorry doll

You sound mental.

 

[daisiesRwild]

it is you playing hard to get doll not him he reads hearts and minds dont forget

So does Satan, right? That's how he determines your weaknesses. Like a longing for spiritual love.

My God reveals himself satan is easy to tell once you have the truth

 

[Czernobog]

it is you playing hard to get doll not him he reads hearts and minds dont forget

So does Satan, right? That's how he determines your weaknesses. Like a longing for spiritual love.

My God reveals himself satan is easy to tell once you have the truth

How? Precisely how does your god "reveal himself"?

 

[sealybobo]

it is you playing hard to get doll not him he reads hearts and minds dont forget

So does Satan, right? That's how he determines your weaknesses. Like a longing for spiritual love.

My God reveals himself satan is easy to tell once you have the truth

How? Precisely how does your god "reveal himself"?

I'm confused. How can Daisy agree with George Carlin that Christianity is the greatest bullshit story ever told, but then she believes the story? Very strange.

The mormons also made up a story that Jesus visited Joseph Smith. Does Daisy understand that the Mormon faith is made up but then believe the stories they tell about when Jesus' visited North America?

The Mormon description of Christ’s visit to the Americas is 100% divine, supernatural, and miraculous. It takes place after his death and ascension into heaven. It involves Heavenly narration and accompanying angels and glowing figures descending from the sky. Completely, unmistakably divine manifestation.

And yes, Mormons officially believe in angels and rare, occasional divine intervention. Christ’s visit to the Americas is one example of that.

 

[sealybobo]

Clearly you've never smoked pot. NEXT.

That's when God should have revealed himself to me. When I was doing hard drugs in the 90's Jesus should have appeared in my bathroom mirror right after I did a big line.

yeah cos that akes a lot of sense lol

Were you on drugs when you met and talked to God?

I talked to (what seemed to have been) "God" on LSD. I can't talk to anyone about it, so here I am. • r/LSD

The people who take drugs to see God

Psychedelic Drugs for Seeing God | Inverse
if being mental means I have God in my world rather than be in your hate filled lunatic world i will take mental every day of the weelk

Now this makes sense.

i do not drink take any drugs and am not mental sorry doll

You sound mental.

Christians must stop saying the following things.

1. The Bible is the inerrant, infallible Word of God.

Why? Because no such “original” manuscripts even exists. .

2. We just believe the Bible.

That, too, is false. What you really believe is your interpretation of the Bible. And the last I checked, the history of the Christian church is the history of disagreement over “interpretation.” How else do you explain the scores of denominations within Christianity alone?

A third thing Christians should stop saying:

3. Jesus is the only way to heaven.

What you are really saying is, “The way we interpret John 14:6 is that Jesus was clearly drawing a line in the sand and telling us “If you do not believe in Me, you won’t go to the Father when you die.’”

For this, I refer back to No. 2 above: what you and your group of believers really mean to say is, “It is our interpretation of John 14:6 that Jesus is saying that He is the only way to heaven.”

There are scores of Christians, however, and I am one of them, who do not interpret Jesus’ words in John 14 the same way. Just because I do not makes me no less Christian than you are. So stop drawing lines in the sand, please, between equally sincere followers of Jesus.

When I read the 14th chapter of John, I see a context that yields an alternative reading of the text. Instead of Jesus starting some new religion here and saying, “OK, fellas, I’m going to go away soon but, before I go, you should know that where I’m going you, and others who believe just like you, will one day be, too — that is, of course, if they believe like you believe that I am the only way to heaven. That is to say, if the people around you and who come after you don’t believe that I am the only way to heaven, then, of course, they’ll have to go to hell. Is all that clear?”

I offer an alternative interpretation: So Thomas, speaking on behalf of the others, asks, “But where are you going and why can’t we go with you? Furthermore, how will we know the way?”

Jesus reassures them that, in God’s house are many rooms, “mansions” or places. Yes, He’s going away but where He’s going they, too, will go. Just as He has led them this far, He will lead them further still (and what follows in the latter part of John 14 is the beautiful reassurance of the on-going presence of God in the Holy Spirit).

So, for me personally, and many other Christians, too, Jesus is no more pointing to himself as the “one-and-only-way” to God than Thomas is expressing in his question concern for Hindus, Muslims or Buddhists and whether they’ll go to heaven? I can assure you that Thomas, and the others, were only concerned about themselves. And yet, even at that point, Jesus is tender in His care of them and seeks to reassure them that, just as He and the Father were one, and just as they had trusted the things He had been saying to them during his time with them, so they could trust him and what he was saying at this time, too. Yes, he was leaving them. But no, they would not be left alone. Where he was, they would be. He had shown them the way to the Father. But, even after He’s gone from them, they will know the way then, too. The Comforter would guide them.

And so, the Church is here today. But not because Christians declare, “There is no way to go to heaven if you don’t believe in Jesus.” The Church is here today because when people do trust the things Jesus said about HImself, about HIs relationship to the Father...when people believe and so live the teachings of Jesus they, too, are changed — they, too, become “new creations in Christ,” as Saint Paul put it (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Now, I took longer with this one thing Christians need to stop saying because many Christians seem stuck here, thinking that there’s only one way to interpret Jesus’ words about being the way. It is my hope these Christians will know there are equally sincere Christians like myself and others who do not believe Jesus was drawing a line in the sand between him and some new religion he was creating and all the other religions of the world.

Again, it’s your right to “believe” or, more accurately, interpret Scripture as you wish. You do not, however, have permission to arrogantly assume your way of interpreting the words of Jesus are the only way to understand His words. Last I checked, no one’s interpretation of anything is infallible. Not yours. Not mine.

 

[LittleNipper]

yeah cos that akes a lot of sense lol

Were you on drugs when you met and talked to God?

I talked to (what seemed to have been) "God" on LSD. I can't talk to anyone about it, so here I am. • r/LSD

The people who take drugs to see God

Psychedelic Drugs for Seeing God | Inverse
if being mental means I have God in my world rather than be in your hate filled lunatic world i will take mental every day of the weelk

Now this makes sense.

i do not drink take any drugs and am not mental sorry doll

You sound mental.

Christians must stop saying the following things.

1. The Bible is the inerrant, infallible Word of God.

Why? Because no such “original” manuscripts even exists. .

2. We just believe the Bible.

That, too, is false. What you really believe is your interpretation of the Bible. And the last I checked, the history of the Christian church is the history of disagreement over “interpretation.” How else do you explain the scores of denominations within Christianity alone?

A third thing Christians should stop saying:

3. Jesus is the only way to heaven.

What you are really saying is, “The way we interpret John 14:6 is that Jesus was clearly drawing a line in the sand and telling us “If you do not believe in Me, you won’t go to the Father when you die.’”

For this, I refer back to No. 2 above: what you and your group of believers really mean to say is, “It is our interpretation of John 14:6 that Jesus is saying that He is the only way to heaven.”

There are scores of Christians, however, and I am one of them, who do not interpret Jesus’ words in John 14 the same way. Just because I do not makes me no less Christian than you are. So stop drawing lines in the sand, please, between equally sincere followers of Jesus.

When I read the 14th chapter of John, I see a context that yields an alternative reading of the text. Instead of Jesus starting some new religion here and saying, “OK, fellas, I’m going to go away soon but, before I go, you should know that where I’m going you, and others who believe just like you, will one day be, too — that is, of course, if they believe like you believe that I am the only way to heaven. That is to say, if the people around you and who come after you don’t believe that I am the only way to heaven, then, of course, they’ll have to go to hell. Is all that clear?”

I offer an alternative interpretation: So Thomas, speaking on behalf of the others, asks, “But where are you going and why can’t we go with you? Furthermore, how will we know the way?”

Jesus reassures them that, in God’s house are many rooms, “mansions” or places. Yes, He’s going away but where He’s going they, too, will go. Just as He has led them this far, He will lead them further still (and what follows in the latter part of John 14 is the beautiful reassurance of the on-going presence of God in the Holy Spirit).

So, for me personally, and many other Christians, too, Jesus is no more pointing to himself as the “one-and-only-way” to God than Thomas is expressing in his question concern for Hindus, Muslims or Buddhists and whether they’ll go to heaven? I can assure you that Thomas, and the others, were only concerned about themselves. And yet, even at that point, Jesus is tender in His care of them and seeks to reassure them that, just as He and the Father were one, and just as they had trusted the things He had been saying to them during his time with them, so they could trust him and what he was saying at this time, too. Yes, he was leaving them. But no, they would not be left alone. Where he was, they would be. He had shown them the way to the Father. But, even after He’s gone from them, they will know the way then, too. The Comforter would guide them.

And so, the Church is here today. But not because Christians declare, “There is no way to go to heaven if you don’t believe in Jesus.” The Church is here today because when people do trust the things Jesus said about HImself, about HIs relationship to the Father...when people believe and so live the teachings of Jesus they, too, are changed — they, too, become “new creations in Christ,” as Saint Paul put it (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Now, I took longer with this one thing Christians need to stop saying because many Christians seem stuck here, thinking that there’s only one way to interpret Jesus’ words about being the way. It is my hope these Christians will know there are equally sincere Christians like myself and others who do not believe Jesus was drawing a line in the sand between him and some new religion he was creating and all the other religions of the world.

Again, it’s your right to “believe” or, more accurately, interpret Scripture as you wish. You do not, however, have permission to arrogantly assume your way of interpreting the words of Jesus are the only way to understand His words. Last I checked, no one’s interpretation of anything is infallible. Not yours. Not mine.

This is what the Bible says: 2 Peter 1:19-21 Yes, we have the prophetic Word made absolute. You will do well to pay attention to it as to a light gleaming in a dark, murky place, until the Day dawns and the Morning Star rises in your hearts. 20 First of all, understand this: no prophecy of Scripture is to be interpreted by an individual on his own; 21 for never has a prophecy originated as a result of human willpower — quite the contrary, people motivated by the Holy Spirit spoke a message from God.

 

[sealybobo]

Were you on drugs when you met and talked to God?

I talked to (what seemed to have been) "God" on LSD. I can't talk to anyone about it, so here I am. • r/LSD

The people who take drugs to see God

Psychedelic Drugs for Seeing God | Inverse
if being mental means I have God in my world rather than be in your hate filled lunatic world i will take mental every day of the weelk

Now this makes sense.

i do not drink take any drugs and am not mental sorry doll

You sound mental.

Christians must stop saying the following things.

1. The Bible is the inerrant, infallible Word of God.

Why? Because no such “original” manuscripts even exists. .

2. We just believe the Bible.

That, too, is false. What you really believe is your interpretation of the Bible. And the last I checked, the history of the Christian church is the history of disagreement over “interpretation.” How else do you explain the scores of denominations within Christianity alone?

A third thing Christians should stop saying:

3. Jesus is the only way to heaven.

What you are really saying is, “The way we interpret John 14:6 is that Jesus was clearly drawing a line in the sand and telling us “If you do not believe in Me, you won’t go to the Father when you die.’”

For this, I refer back to No. 2 above: what you and your group of believers really mean to say is, “It is our interpretation of John 14:6 that Jesus is saying that He is the only way to heaven.”

There are scores of Christians, however, and I am one of them, who do not interpret Jesus’ words in John 14 the same way. Just because I do not makes me no less Christian than you are. So stop drawing lines in the sand, please, between equally sincere followers of Jesus.

When I read the 14th chapter of John, I see a context that yields an alternative reading of the text. Instead of Jesus starting some new religion here and saying, “OK, fellas, I’m going to go away soon but, before I go, you should know that where I’m going you, and others who believe just like you, will one day be, too — that is, of course, if they believe like you believe that I am the only way to heaven. That is to say, if the people around you and who come after you don’t believe that I am the only way to heaven, then, of course, they’ll have to go to hell. Is all that clear?”

I offer an alternative interpretation: So Thomas, speaking on behalf of the others, asks, “But where are you going and why can’t we go with you? Furthermore, how will we know the way?”

Jesus reassures them that, in God’s house are many rooms, “mansions” or places. Yes, He’s going away but where He’s going they, too, will go. Just as He has led them this far, He will lead them further still (and what follows in the latter part of John 14 is the beautiful reassurance of the on-going presence of God in the Holy Spirit).

So, for me personally, and many other Christians, too, Jesus is no more pointing to himself as the “one-and-only-way” to God than Thomas is expressing in his question concern for Hindus, Muslims or Buddhists and whether they’ll go to heaven? I can assure you that Thomas, and the others, were only concerned about themselves. And yet, even at that point, Jesus is tender in His care of them and seeks to reassure them that, just as He and the Father were one, and just as they had trusted the things He had been saying to them during his time with them, so they could trust him and what he was saying at this time, too. Yes, he was leaving them. But no, they would not be left alone. Where he was, they would be. He had shown them the way to the Father. But, even after He’s gone from them, they will know the way then, too. The Comforter would guide them.

And so, the Church is here today. But not because Christians declare, “There is no way to go to heaven if you don’t believe in Jesus.” The Church is here today because when people do trust the things Jesus said about HImself, about HIs relationship to the Father...when people believe and so live the teachings of Jesus they, too, are changed — they, too, become “new creations in Christ,” as Saint Paul put it (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Now, I took longer with this one thing Christians need to stop saying because many Christians seem stuck here, thinking that there’s only one way to interpret Jesus’ words about being the way. It is my hope these Christians will know there are equally sincere Christians like myself and others who do not believe Jesus was drawing a line in the sand between him and some new religion he was creating and all the other religions of the world.

Again, it’s your right to “believe” or, more accurately, interpret Scripture as you wish. You do not, however, have permission to arrogantly assume your way of interpreting the words of Jesus are the only way to understand His words. Last I checked, no one’s interpretation of anything is infallible. Not yours. Not mine.

This is what the Bible says: 2 Peter 1:19-21 Yes, we have the prophetic Word made absolute. You will do well to pay attention to it as to a light gleaming in a dark, murky place, until the Day dawns and the Morning Star rises in your hearts. 20 First of all, understand this: no prophecy of Scripture is to be interpreted by an individual on his own; 21 for never has a prophecy originated as a result of human willpower — quite the contrary, people motivated by the Holy Spirit spoke a message from God.

You’re arguing with other Christians. Do you see? You all can’t even agree. So us atheists don’t care what any of you say.

 

[Czernobog]

Oh I didn’t have an open heart and mind? I couldn’t have been more open. Sorry. The only difference between us is I was unable to convince myself. You have completely convinced yourself.

It’s like you are asking me to toss out common sense and logic and let wishful thinking rule

i have completely convinced myselfbecause Jesus has completely proven himself to me doll

Unfortunately, that is evidence of nothing. All you are sharing your your interpretation of a personal experience.

no kidding and that is all i can share duh you to can have it though

Yeah...I don't want that, cupcake. You see one's experiences are coloured by one's hopes, fears, prejudices, and preconceptions. That's why experiential evidence is considered unreliable. Get back to me when you have some objective, verifiable evidence to share, sunshine.

why dont you go and prove it to yourself s we all had to oh lazy one

That would be because, apparently unlike you, I can't willingly ignore reason, and logic. You are dismissed.

 

[sealybobo]

i have completely convinced myselfbecause Jesus has completely proven himself to me doll

Unfortunately, that is evidence of nothing. All you are sharing your your interpretation of a personal experience.

no kidding and that is all i can share duh you to can have it though

Yeah...I don't want that, cupcake. You see one's experiences are coloured by one's hopes, fears, prejudices, and preconceptions. That's why experiential evidence is considered unreliable. Get back to me when you have some objective, verifiable evidence to share, sunshine.

why dont you go and prove it to yourself s we all had to oh lazy one

That would be because, apparently unlike you, I can't willingly ignore reason, and logic. You are dismissed.

Daisy is the typical cherry picker. She claims not to be involved with any organized religion but she’s definitely been taught by a southern baptist or born again sect. She cherry picks from one or many denominations.

She has interpreted that Jesus said follow me or burn in hell.

I can’t believe Jesus told her this when he visited her

 

[LittleNipper]

i do not drink take any drugs and am not mental sorry doll

You sound mental.

Christians must stop saying the following things.

1. The Bible is the inerrant, infallible Word of God.

Why? Because no such “original” manuscripts even exists. .

2. We just believe the Bible.

That, too, is false. What you really believe is your interpretation of the Bible. And the last I checked, the history of the Christian church is the history of disagreement over “interpretation.” How else do you explain the scores of denominations within Christianity alone?

A third thing Christians should stop saying:

3. Jesus is the only way to heaven.

What you are really saying is, “The way we interpret John 14:6 is that Jesus was clearly drawing a line in the sand and telling us “If you do not believe in Me, you won’t go to the Father when you die.’”

For this, I refer back to No. 2 above: what you and your group of believers really mean to say is, “It is our interpretation of John 14:6 that Jesus is saying that He is the only way to heaven.”

There are scores of Christians, however, and I am one of them, who do not interpret Jesus’ words in John 14 the same way. Just because I do not makes me no less Christian than you are. So stop drawing lines in the sand, please, between equally sincere followers of Jesus.

When I read the 14th chapter of John, I see a context that yields an alternative reading of the text. Instead of Jesus starting some new religion here and saying, “OK, fellas, I’m going to go away soon but, before I go, you should know that where I’m going you, and others who believe just like you, will one day be, too — that is, of course, if they believe like you believe that I am the only way to heaven. That is to say, if the people around you and who come after you don’t believe that I am the only way to heaven, then, of course, they’ll have to go to hell. Is all that clear?”

I offer an alternative interpretation: So Thomas, speaking on behalf of the others, asks, “But where are you going and why can’t we go with you? Furthermore, how will we know the way?”

Jesus reassures them that, in God’s house are many rooms, “mansions” or places. Yes, He’s going away but where He’s going they, too, will go. Just as He has led them this far, He will lead them further still (and what follows in the latter part of John 14 is the beautiful reassurance of the on-going presence of God in the Holy Spirit).

So, for me personally, and many other Christians, too, Jesus is no more pointing to himself as the “one-and-only-way” to God than Thomas is expressing in his question concern for Hindus, Muslims or Buddhists and whether they’ll go to heaven? I can assure you that Thomas, and the others, were only concerned about themselves. And yet, even at that point, Jesus is tender in His care of them and seeks to reassure them that, just as He and the Father were one, and just as they had trusted the things He had been saying to them during his time with them, so they could trust him and what he was saying at this time, too. Yes, he was leaving them. But no, they would not be left alone. Where he was, they would be. He had shown them the way to the Father. But, even after He’s gone from them, they will know the way then, too. The Comforter would guide them.

And so, the Church is here today. But not because Christians declare, “There is no way to go to heaven if you don’t believe in Jesus.” The Church is here today because when people do trust the things Jesus said about HImself, about HIs relationship to the Father...when people believe and so live the teachings of Jesus they, too, are changed — they, too, become “new creations in Christ,” as Saint Paul put it (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Now, I took longer with this one thing Christians need to stop saying because many Christians seem stuck here, thinking that there’s only one way to interpret Jesus’ words about being the way. It is my hope these Christians will know there are equally sincere Christians like myself and others who do not believe Jesus was drawing a line in the sand between him and some new religion he was creating and all the other religions of the world.

Again, it’s your right to “believe” or, more accurately, interpret Scripture as you wish. You do not, however, have permission to arrogantly assume your way of interpreting the words of Jesus are the only way to understand His words. Last I checked, no one’s interpretation of anything is infallible. Not yours. Not mine.

This is what the Bible says: 2 Peter 1:19-21 Yes, we have the prophetic Word made absolute. You will do well to pay attention to it as to a light gleaming in a dark, murky place, until the Day dawns and the Morning Star rises in your hearts. 20 First of all, understand this: no prophecy of Scripture is to be interpreted by an individual on his own; 21 for never has a prophecy originated as a result of human willpower — quite the contrary, people motivated by the Holy Spirit spoke a message from God.

You’re arguing with other Christians. Do you see? You all can’t even agree. So us atheists don’t care what any of you say.

My argument is Bible based and their's is philosophical. Again, read what I copied and pasted --- these are not my thoughts or opinions... One either agrees with exactly what the Bible says or disagrees with it and throws in what they desire --- the Bible is not confusing at all.

 

[cnm]

One either agrees with exactly what the Bible says

But Shirley one has to interpret exactly what it is the Bible says?