Zealots suffering from cognitive dissonance after their mentor (and supposed messiah) was executed for high treason.Who would have thought of dying humiliated on a cross, to save all of humanity? — Fire Ologist
It's an "extension of Judaism" the same way the Latter Day Saints are an extension of Protestantism (which was an "extension" of Catholicism).it’s really, as an extension of Judaism, many thousands of years old. — Fire Ologist
Was it really more absurd than other religions of the time in which it became popular? Few taught there was an afterlife (Judaism was ambiguous on this) - that had its appeal. But in general, it's an interesting historical question.Absurd, yet it works - shows me something more at work than the human mind, interests, cultures - this absurdity should have died within years, even if he did rise from the dead. Why the absurdity? — Fire Ologist
Hence we now have thousands of Christian sects, some mutually hateful towards each other over doctrine and dogma. All interpreting god's will differently. God could settle this in a minute if he intervened. — Tom Storm
Was it really more absurd than other religions of the time in which it became popular? Few taught there was an afterlife (Judaism was ambiguous on this) - that had its appeal. But in general, it's an interesting historical question. — Relativist
If God intervened more, than what good would my friendship with him be? What good would our friendship with each other be, if we were not free to seek our own minds, our own wills and share our own hearts with each other. God wants us to be us, so he doesn’t intervene; but God wants us to be friends with him and each other, so he shows us what friends do, how friends talk to one another, how to love not matter what the cross. — Fire Ologist
To whom do you refer when you capitalize God? It's perfectly logical to say that Zeus, Quetzalcoatl, Osiris, Jehovah and Allah cannot possibly exist. Some nebulous supernatural entity somewhere might exist, but we wouldn't have been introduced to it.I was speaking more to the illogic of someone claiming that necessarily God cannot exist. — Fire Ologist
You can't? I wonder why. The late revisionists were able to scrape a couple of coherent verses out of Isaiah's rants to back up their claim - 60-300 years post-crucifixion - that a messiah had been promised to the Jews - who didn't buy it.I don’t think we could have thought of Jesus as the Messiah prophesized in Judaism. — Fire Ologist
There was nothing new in human sacrifice, or eating demigods.Why throw in the sacrament of gathering to eat his flesh and drink his blood to have eternal life? — Fire Ologist
So he could forgive the imperfect man he created for falling for his tainted fruit con.Or why was it God himself becoming a man, living poor and being killed, so that he could rise again? Why is the incarnation leading to poverty and bloody death needed? — Fire Ologist
No, the Pharisees largely considered him just another crackpot, though a few thought he was a prophet (of which Israel had a long tradition - even if they were mostly crackpots). I very much doubt they would have heard of Odin; Zeus would be out of bounds under Roman rule, while Jupiter had never really made a splash in Mesopotamia, and Baal was very much not the Jews' cup of poison. A long while later, Constantine got some serious mileage out of it. Then the Europeans converts ran with it - at considerable cost to common folk the world over.Already the religious institution committee would have said “nope - preposterous - it will never stick! Let’s go back to Zeus or Baal, or Odin and work around them.” — Fire Ologist
Yeah, all that. In action. When?And the message of action - love, sacrifice for others, forgiveness, the value of life, that God cared so much, held each one of us in such esteem, that he would rather die on a cross to lead us to him than leave us with nowhere to go, but preserving our freedom to live by our own choices, like creatures in the image of God. — Fire Ologist
I think no god was ever there at all. And 8 billion ain't exactly solitude.So you take the position of God then - leave us to figure out what to do for ourselves. — Fire Ologist
They needed to rationalize Jesus divinity with monotheism. Aristotelian metaphysics helped them do that.Three persons, like I am one person, but one God. Totally absurd. — Fire Ologist
I don't have to pretend a cracker is human flesh, or that a magic prince will eventually come back and take a second shot at rescuing us. — Vera Mont
I agree. To say anything determinate either way about an indeterminate, or generic, "God" is illogical (i.e. nonsense).the illogic of someone claiming that necessarily God cannot exist. — Fire Ologist
I admit the story is as far-fetched as it is incomprehensible. — Fire Ologist
On a personal level a theistic me is a stronger & healthier me. — BitconnectCarlos
My theism is intuitive and derived from the Bible and life events. — BitconnectCarlos
the bible is the greatest work of literature ever written. — BitconnectCarlos
And you don't need Jesus to be a theist. — BitconnectCarlos
Show me — 180 Proof
Doesn't need proving or disproving. You either buy a particular insurance package or you don't. I don't buy any of them.Ergo, proving that the Christian God "couldn't exist" is really just pointing out the universal historic fact that concepts are constantly being updated to keep pace with cultural evolution. — Pantagruel
Doesn't need proving or disproving. You either buy a particular insurance package or you don't. I don't buy any of them — Vera Mont
Let's face it, this God is a sloppy worker and doesn't pay attention.
You can never be sure of that! :smile:Practicing a religion could gain you divine favor in the afterlife. — Scarecow
This is an argument based on arbitrary and unfounded statement.atheism couldn't possibly gain you any divine favor, and therefore it is irrational to hold atheist beliefs. — Scarecow
Really. What are you talking about?Thinking is simply a road to truth. If you follow your road, then you will find your truth. If you try to follow somebody else's road, you will find only lies. — Scarecow
It does sound ridiculous! :smile:Well, it may sound ridiculous, but who's to say that a god wouldn't punish the theists? — Scarecow
proving that the Christian God "couldn't exist" is really just pointing out the universal historic fact that concepts are constantly being updated to keep pace with cultural evolution — Pantagruel
an aproximation with contradictions is not an aproximation but an impossibility. — Lionino
Exactly!I do not believe in gods. This is all it takes to be an atheist. — Tom Storm
Whether or not the approximation has contradictions is irrelevant to the fact that it is the approximation and the thing to which it points conceptually is that. — Pantagruel
Science is all approximations. — Pantagruel
Approximation of calculations, not approximation of concepts or fictions. — Lionino
I get that you're an atheist, Tom, but this a concept expressed in paganism/polytheism. So you're kind of a pagan atheist. — BitconnectCarlos
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