by Shining One 49 Replies latest watchtower bible
Jesus is just one of a long line of mythological gods that die a horrible death and is later resurrected. Christianity borrowed from older mythology.
The man we call Jesus was born of a human father, if not Joseph, then maybe Roman Centurian Naughtius Maximus or another man.
When Jesus was on the cross and said,"My God my God why have you forsaken me?" That is when he realized he was not the Messiah but a deluded human being.
When Jesus died he stayed dead and has long ago turned to dust.
Let's see if you can back yo your loud mouth assertiosn with your own fact, Nate Boy:
(LOL what a child you are! Lose the temper Jumior, m'k? )
>The best response to this sort of fundamentalist/literalist drabble is some probing, critical questioning, followed up by some sold facts, rather than repeated tired worn out cliches.
Why that's a good idea, Nate but what were you doing in the paragraph below?
>I see little difference between mainstream fundies and Watchtower fundies, both types are frightened of science
(This is my personal experience with many dozens of fundiots, from many fundiot churches. I was myself a fundiot for 15 years. It was simple ignorance. Ignorance can be fixed, but syupidity last for a lifetime Junior, m'k?)
How are fundamentalists (your label, not that I accept it as I would be proud to be a 'fundy' but I am really a moderate) 'frightened of scientists'? Typically, creationists use the same evidence as evolutionists and are honest enough to admit that they begin their reasoning with presuppositions. This is what the evolutionists do but rarely admit.
(Sounds to me like you need to read some evolutionists rebuttals of creationism. Remember Junior (you started this by calling me Nate Boy, junior, m'k?) I was a fundiot myself, and had almost evry anti-evolution pro-creation book cranked out by the ENGINEERS (not scientists) in the Scientific Creationism movement)
> of logical deeply probing questions,
Where does logic and rational thinking come from in the first place, Nate? What has given us the ability to think above the level of animal instinct? How has 'evolutionary pressure' done this on its own?
(Well, junior, this ability [on a physical level] comes from the Yahweh Elohim, on a spiritual level it comes from the Heavenly Father of Jesus the Christ, who is NOT the Yahweh Elohim.)
>and the use of our adult critical thinking faculties when it comes to religion.
Define this as the presupposition that no miracles have happened because we do not admit they can happen. You can see the views of the infamous, wacked out 'Jesus Seminar' scholars for more detail on that statement.
(Miracles happen junior, just as horrible genetic mutations, such as yourself, occur, m'k junior?)
> Thye put their religion in a special compartment to keep it safe from examination, then lash out at others who don't dribble their drabble.
Actually, we hold skeptics accountable to a truly unbiased view of religion and deny them the right to set the limits of any debate. A liberal believer typically 'caves in' to skeptics demands and presuppositions, giving away the battle before it begins.
(LOL I am no typical liberal, m'k junior? No one is truly unbiased, m'k junior? Neither you nor I nor anyone else)
> Sound familiar? WTBTS! So many Witnesses leave the WTBTS only to become enslaved to a fundy version of the same mental and spiritual bondage in another package.
>I have yet to meet a fundamentalist who wanted to be anything else but a fundy, but I will make some recommendations anyway.
Don't bother, we have already seen the blasphemous and ridiculous parodies of god that skeptics pass off as 'good to read'.
(As I said, fundiots such as yourself enjoy being fundiots, right junior? M'k? Now junior, I didn't read the entire post because it was long and BORING and I have already been a fundiot for FIFTEEN of my 52 years, even becoming a Baptist minister after Bible College, and continued my ministry through cemetary...er, seminary. Just as I do NOT need to read John 3:16-17, I do not need to read fundiot drabble, m'k junior? Fundiotism is predictable and BORING. Just remember junior, m'k, that you won't ever grow beyond being a fundiot unless you take a step away from it and read other materials, m'k?)
Okay Rex, now that we're finished with the testosterone crap and all the nonsense, why did you take my response personally? That post is NOT YOUR WORDS and I did not realize you agreed with it! I was tired tired tired when I was reading your post and made the mistake of thinking you disagreed with it, so I responded to you as I would to someone who disagreed with the article. I'm sorry. My mistake. I'm no one's boy Rex, just as you are no one's junior. Continued blessings to you sir!
Nathan
Hi. "Nate" here. Hmmmm. Nate's life did change 32 years ago when he was born again, and even more so a few weeks later when he was baptized in the Holy Spirit. Christ and the Father and the Holy Spirit continue to guide my life, thank you very much. Perhaps it's your turn now to repent and believe the Good News?
Nate
Jesus is just one of a long line of mythological gods that die a horrible death and is later resurrected. Christianity borrowed from older mythology.
INDEED! Bravo sir. Yet, those ubiquitous and perennial Myths (Myths in the Joseph Campbell sense, not the pointless and idiotic sense of "fable") of the dying and rising Godman are still powerful and transformative for the human psyche when stripped of literalism. When the Bible is recognized for what it is, a book of Mythology, and is interpreted accordingly (allegorically), voila! Something worthwhile. For me, that is. Everyone has to find their own path, even if it is no-path. Psst...I am working undercover.
Nate
This 'argument of embarassment' angle is often misapplied because of ignorance of the culture in which a story was written. There was absolutely no "shame" or embarassement in a hero being killed or dying an otherwise violent death in the Greek and Roman culture at the time of the birth of Christianity. If fact nearly all the heros of glory and legend had this destiny, it was a cornerstone theme of the stories of the day. At a time when most of the masses felt the pain of injustice and oppression the highest ideal was to die nobley. One of the aspects of the Jesus story that attracted folks was it's ending in tragic violence with the hero getting recognition in the end.
As far as arguing that the 'Nazareth' detail is evidence of historicity, we should consider the development of this element and whether it was part of the legend originally or was it a misunderstanding that later writers got stuck with and tried to make the most of. :Nazareth/Nazarite....answers? and Nazareth/ Nazarene revisited
>Jesus is just one of a long line of mythological gods that die a horrible death and is later resurrected. Christianity borrowed from older mythology.The man we call Jesus was born of a human father, if not Joseph, then maybe Roman Centurian Naughtius Maximus or another man.When Jesus was on the cross and said,"My God my God why have you forsaken me?" That is when he realized he was not the Messiah but a deluded human being.When Jesus died he stayed dead and has long ago turned to dust.
Your assertions, right Robert? I imagine (not) that proof is forthcoming or why not just do the rational thing and try to rebut the author?
Rex
Hi Tetly,
> science you ask? yes. you will have to show scientifically that: 1. god exists. 2. he even cares about us. 3. he created us and all things. 4. his name is jesus. before anything else, including this essay, makes even an inkling of sense.
Why not try to rebut the essay itself? Anyways, when we study the facts that are acually observable and measurable, we are led to the conclusion that the best explanation for our existence is that there is an Intelligent Designer. We do not have to prove any of your four points. We offer our conclusion as a more rational theory than naturalists have to offer.
After that fact, it is my opinion that Christianity provides the most reasonable explanation for WHY we are here and the truth about eternity.
Rex
I don't have the energy to argue, I'm too sick, and overtired. And it's unprofitable, for me anyway, at this point, to argue one way or the other. All I can do is observe, and my observation, as mentioned in other posts of mine, is that I don't see any evidence of any gods' interference in anything's origin, lifecourse, or destiny, and if any interference appears, such as ID or ghost-sightings, that they cannot be rationally explained in ways that require no gods. Most everything we do and decisions we make we do so under the assumption no god or supernatural entity will be pleased, displeased, reward or forsake us. Those that do, such as Christian Scientists, or JWs that refuse blood, or Christians fed to lions, or Heaven's Gate members, or Buddhist monks, are just in denial, it seems to me.
I would never tell someone not to believe in Jesus, or even prevent someone from choosing JWism. It just cannot (not that it DOES not, it CANNOT) work for me.
Cygnus,
I do hope and pray that you recover your health completely. May God bless you and someday reveal Himself to you in an unmistakable manner. When He does, please don't conclude that it is a coincidence. Small miracles are a little whisper to us from God. Pay attention when it happens then ask Him to show you more proof. That is the beginning of a relationship that will sustain you for the rest of your physical life and into eternity.
Rex
Rex, I sincerely appreciate your good wishes. But as I said, it can't happen for me. If something like that happened to me, I'd have myself checked in. I still might anyway. ;) I have before...
Believe me, there are times I really want to believe similar to your belief. I just can't.
