Questions From Thinkers

Perry

How do you explain David's graphic portrayal of Jesus' death by crucifixion (Psalm 22) 1000 years before Christ lived?

How do you account for the odds (1 in 10 to the 157th power) that even just 48 (of 300) Old Testament prophecies were fulfilled in Jesus Christ?

In what sense was Jesus a "good man" if He was lying in His claim to be God?

If Jesus' resurrection was faked, why would twelve intelligent men (Jesus' disciples) have died for what they knew to be a lie?

How can something as small as a brain understand extremely complicated aspects of the universe, even though it is (supposedly) just a bunch of chemical reactions and electrical signals? But at the same time, this brain can’t create another brain like itself, so how can nature, that has no brain, create a brain?

Why can't this brain even create a simple living twig?

Why is the simple cell likened to the complexity of large functioning city by experts?

Is it absolutely true that "truth is not absolute" or only relatively true that "all things are relative?"

What do you say about the hundreds of scholarly books that carefully document the veracity and reliability of the Bible?

Have you ever considered the fact that Christianity is the only religion whose leader is said to have risen from the dead?

Why don't non-believers refer to Jesus as the late Jesus Christ?

If the authorities stole Jesus' body, why?

Why would they have perpetrated the very scenario that they most wanted to prevent?

If Jesus merely resuscitated in the tomb, how did He deal with the Roman guard posted just outside its entrance?

How can one realistically discount the testimony of over 500 witnesses to a living Jesus following His crucifixion (see 1 Corinthians 15:6)?

What do you make of all the anthropological studies indicating that even the most remote tribes show some sort of theological awareness?

If every effect has a cause, then what or who caused the universe?

How do you explain the thousands of people who have experienced heaven or hell and have come back to tell us about it?

How do you explain the cosmological constant?

Is it wrong to ask such questions? Why?

leavingwt

"I have to say, that's the most amazing story I ever heard. What amazes me most is you were taken in by it."

still thinking

How do you explain the thousands of people who have experienced heaven or hell and have come back to tell us about it?

Lack of oxygen maybe?

If every effect has a cause, then what or who caused the universe?

Maybe the 'Big Bang' happened after the big collapse...maybe this just keeps happening ad infinitum. So the universe keeps imploding and exploding...energy that just goes on and on and on and on....maybe humans have existed before and been destroyed before and the elements required for life never get destroyed they just keeps reinventing themselves....

Perry

Man is that an Elder look or what leavingwt? He looks like he was just notified that apostates are picketing the Kingdom Hall during the Memorial.

leavingwt

"Man is that an Elder look or what leavingwt? He looks like he was just notified that apostates are picketing the Kingdom Hall during the Memorial."

Good question.

Shawshank Wardens and Guards = WT Elders and Circuit Overseers?

Shawn10538

What you should be asking is why are there not just Biblical Christ stories that prerdate Christ, there are PRE SEMITIC Christ stories that describe the crucifixion or other Christ story. Why stop with the Old Testament? Read Doane's "Myths of the Bible and their Origins in Other Religions." You will see quite a few Christ stories there that predate the Jewish people even. Christ stories arise pretty much as far back as writing of any form.

NOLAW

If every effect has a cause, then what or who caused the universe?

Why was the universe created?

OnTheWayOut

How do you explain David's graphic portrayal of Jesus' death by crucifixion (Psalm 22) 1000 years before Christ lived?

The writers of the fiction of Jesus' death by crucifixion had read Ps. 22 and tried to write the fiction to accomodate it.

How do you account for the odds (1 in 10 to the 157th power) that even just 48 (of 300) Old Testament prophecies were fulfilled in Jesus Christ?

Pretty much the same answer as above. Writers wrote it in their fictions.

If Jesus' resurrection was faked, why would twelve intelligent men (Jesus' disciples) have died for what they knew to be a lie?

Fiction.

It sounds like the answers in Perry's mind to "Questions from Thinkers" are for those who close their minds.

Fernando

Hey Perry!

Better ™ the great OP title before WBTS gets hold of it.

On second thoughts they'd never dare...

OldGenerationDude

While I am a theist, I am very embarrassed at the hypocritical challenges like these aimed at those who feel differently about things.

I know that some people think that some of my convictions may not be fully in line with their own views, but I am very, very tired of Christians complaining about the "atheist threat" while at the same time fanning the flames (and adding fuel) to the so-called debate.

I am also very tired of the "we tolerate atheists" view too. Tolerating is not the same as accepting someone on their own terms. If you don't like the way somebody believes and want to attack it, then you are saying you don't like the person. People are what they believe, it's part of the complicated tapestry that makes them unique. You pull one string from it that you don't like, then its not the same tapestry and may even begin to unwind, destroying the "work of art," so to speak.

My friends who are atheists never throw challenges at me. I never do likewise. We know where we disagree, but guess what, we're friends because we share so much in common.

And I've learned to be more critical in my thinking because of my atheist friends. Sure, critical theology is often frowned upon in traditional religion, but there's 2000 years of it, and we wouldn't have the translations of Bibles that we have today if it were not for this type of thinking.

If you live a life that has qualities to it that are admirable and others want to imitate, they will. But if you don't, they won't.

In a world where I can put up a Christmas tree or a menorah without anyone raising a holler but my atheist neighbor gets hell because he puts up a billboard that tells people to open their minds to reason and think whether or not believing in God is reasonable...I'm sorry, that's a sorry world, especially for one where the majority of its population claims to believe in and worship a loving God. What use are all your questions if you can't answer why the atheist is not as free to express her or his beliefs, hmmm? That's the answer I would like to hear--no, that's the answer I want to see at work, not just in words.

Someone said that if people really let the atheists speak, people might listen and far less people would claim to believe in God and go to church. When then maybe that has to happen. Because if that's all it will take to shake people's faith, then they're just taking up space in the churches (and likely the one's making religion look idiotic as it does to many with an open and reasoning mind).

Besides, if there is a God, then take a lesson from God in how to deal with atheists. He brought them into existence, he gives them air for every breath, a life to live and enjoy, doesn't toss a bunch of challenges at them but lovingly lets them freely choose to live they life they wish, never insulting them or calling them for their convictions. If believers are supposed to be reflections of God, why aren't more believers like that when it comes to how they deal with atheists?

Who do you think will enter the Kingdom first? Those who claim to believe but hate and persecute those who do not share their beliefs or those who, though they use their minds to search for God find none and say: "I won't believe unless I have rational reason for doing so"? If the believer hates the unbeliever who doesn't hate back, will God reward the hateful unbeliever in the next life and damn the unbeliever who didn't want to possibly offend God by making a mistake and believing in something that was truly not real? Be careful. God may give these people just what they need to satisfy the rational mind, and should that happen, where does that leave you, the claimed believer filled with hatred for the one who is just giving intelligence its rightful due? Who sat you in the seat of judgment reserved for your Lord?

Questions From Thinkers

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