Wikipedia is a joke not only because of it's the lazy persons way to research, but also because of serious bias issues in politics.
XJW4EVR
JoinedPosts by XJW4EVR
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Using Wikipedia to Quote Sources
by Georgiegirl inrecently, i've seen alot of posts using cut-n-pastes from wikipedia.
.now, i love wikipedia - but - for those of you who may not be aware - wikipedia is not a credible source.
we aren't allowed to use it as a reference for any paper in university, and anyone who wants to be taken seriously as a scholar and researcher would lose all credibility by using wikipedia as a direct reference.. wikipedia is user-created - which means i can create a wiki on any subject i choose (whether i know anything about it or not).
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What made Jesus' followers believe that Jesus rose from the dead?
by John Kesler inwhat made some of jesus' followers believe that jesus rose from the dead?
my best guess--and as e.p.
sanders says, we really don't know--is that jesus' followers--distraught, sad, and disillusioned--had visions in what we now call altered states of consciousness, a condition that can be induced by fasting, sleep deprivation, and fatigue.
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XJW4EVR
It is my hope that you are truly searching for answers. It is my hope and prayer that some of what I offer will help you in your search.
Jesus' followers--distraught, sad, and disillusioned--had visions in what we now call altered states of consciousness, a condition that can be induced by fasting, sleep deprivation, and fatigue.
Regarding psychological phenomena we must first define terms. If we are talking about illusions then we are dealing with distorted perceptions of reality. If we are talking about hallucinations, then we are dealing with false perceptions of something that really does not exist. If we are talking about delusions, then we have false beliefs that can be demonstrated as false once contrary information is presented.
First, hallucinations are not group occurences, but are unique to individuals, like dreams. Hallucinations do not explain the empty tomb. Hallucinations do not explain the conversion of Paul who did not have the mindset of a follower of Christ at the time of Jesus' death and resurrection. Hallucinations do not explain the conversion of James, the brother of Jesus, who has a skeptic, and was not a follower of Jesus during Jesus' ministry. There are too many variances in the appearances of Jesus. The appearances included men and women; they were seen by groups and individuals; they were affrimed by friend and foe; there were appearances to hard headed Peter and soft hearted Mary Magdalene; the appearances were indoors and outdoors; there was not just one appearance, but many appearances over the period of 40 days.
Second, delusions do not explain the empty tomb. Delusions do not explain the conversion of Paul. Candidates for delusions believe something so deeply that their logic gets screwed up. Paul was so commited to his Jewish faith that he was hostile to Christians. Why would Paul want to follow a rightly executed blasphemous false prophet, and lose his eternal soul, if the resurrection was a delusional event? Delusions do not explain the conversion of James the brother of Jesus for the same reasons.
If what you mean by vision, you mean an "objective" vision, then Jesus is truly risen. Jesus was actually sin but not in a physical state. Jesus then survived death and the consequences are the same as the bodily resurrection; God exists and Christianity is true. Further, this objection does not dispute the resurrection, but disputes the form of it, material or immaterial. If the visions are subjective, then they were hallucinations or delusions. I have addressed those objections above.
I think that Paul probably had a vision of Jesus also, though I am not sure of the mechanism that caused this (epilepsy, feeling of shame about persecuting Christians, etc.)
If you have any evidence of Paul suffering from epilesy please present it. While I have just completed a rather extensive study of the resurrection of Jesus, it is possible that I missed something. That said, I find no scholar that remotely hints at Paul having epilepsy.
If Paul felt any guilt over his persecution of Christians, we find no evidence of it. In fact, Paul's own writings indicate that he was rather proud of his actions against the Christians and was very content in his Judaism (Phil. 3:5-6). Even if Paul felt guilt to the point of conversion, that does not explain the Jesus' appearances to the other disciples and the conversion of James the brother of Jesus. Paul's guilt does not account for the empty tomb.
My thought is that the gospel ends this way on purpose as a way to explain why it took so long to proclaim the empty-tomb message.
This is a rather silly statement, because the "empty tomb" message was a message that the Jewish religious leaders had to account for it by bribing the tomb guards. Further, 50 days is such an incredibly loooooooong time to concoct an "empty-tomb message." Peter referenced the resurrection in his Pentecost sermon (Acts 2:29-36).
whether Paul's belief that Jesus' rising as a "spiritual body" (1 Cor. 15:44) meant that Jesus' physical body was left behind (thus, no empty tomb, if Jesus was even buried in a tomb) or whether he believed that Jesus' physical body was changed into a "spiritual body," whatever that meant to Paul.
Paul, and the rest of the NT writers believed in a bodily resurrection. If they had not believed that, and wished to communicate that, they had vocabulary available that would have communicated this belief.
Further, the empty tomb is a fact that has been affirmed by approximately 75% of the scholars studied by Gary Habermas (The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus).
Regarding your issues with the gospels, I do not believe that they are problems. The reason is that each writer was interested not in total harmony with the other writers (which would actually be a strike against their verasity), but with communicating with his intended audience. This fact should not be held against the authors.
what happened to make the disciples believers, whether there was an empty tomb, what explains the empty tomb,
I believe that a real resurrected Jesus accounts for all of these things. It is the only event that could transform those fearful early disciples of Jesus in to men and women that turned the world upside down (Acts 17:6). There was an empty tomb. Unless you have an alternative explanation, like the Jesus Seminar. What explains the empty tomb? In my opinion only the resurrection of Jesus explains the empty tomb. All other opposing theories or combination of theories fall far from offering any sort of effective explaination for the empty tomb.
how did Mark's gospel end
Based on everything scholarly I have read (liberal and conservative), Mark's gospel ends with verse 8. I don't have aproblem with it, because this is pointed out in every Bible translation, including that abomination, the New World Translation, I have read. I do not believe that the additional verses affect any core doctrine, because we have accounts that are more full in the other Gospels.
I have looked extensively at the resurrection for the past few months. My trust in the accounts has grown stronger. Stronger than before starting on this task. I hope that everyone does this, it is a task that is deeply rewarding.
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XJW4EVR
The trick with these sorts of questions to to try and think how the player would compete in all ages of the game. Pele, was a player that could compete now, and be just as strong a player as he was in his prime.
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What made Jesus' followers believe that Jesus rose from the dead?
by John Kesler inwhat made some of jesus' followers believe that jesus rose from the dead?
my best guess--and as e.p.
sanders says, we really don't know--is that jesus' followers--distraught, sad, and disillusioned--had visions in what we now call altered states of consciousness, a condition that can be induced by fasting, sleep deprivation, and fatigue.
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XJW4EVR
I will post on this tomorrow, as I am currently researching the resurrection of Jesus for a blog post. To night, I am just too tired to put together anything cogent.
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Did You Attend the "Big" Generation Watchtower Study Today?
by UnDisfellowshipped indid you attend the meeting today?
this is a thread for anyone who attended the "big" generation watchtower study today to post their experiences/stories.. let's hear some wholesome, upbuilding encouragement from our brothers and sisters out there today!.
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XJW4EVR
had lunch at Chipotle.
Chipotle rocks!
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XJW4EVR
The top teams right now are, in my opinion and no particular order, Brazil, Argentina, Spain, Italy, Germany and England. The USA has beaten Spain, and got a draw on England, BTW.
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Why Did I Allow My Hopes to Get Raised?
by XJW4EVR ina couple of months back, my son asked me to get in touch with my jw/elder father.
he is planning a trip to colorado to visit his mother's family there, and thought it would be good to see his grandfather.
since i have no contact with my father, i asked my cousin to broach the subject with him.
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XJW4EVR
Was it a "Hi Dad!" email?.....Or....A "your religion is Bullshit!" email?..
I have never taken that sort of approach with him. I don't take it with any person I speak to. There is no need to make a bad situation worse by going off in that manner. In the times we have talked, I have never brought up the religion. He has, but I always brushed it aside or ignored the comment. My email was just to tell him I love and miss him, and I am available to him anytime.
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Why Did I Allow My Hopes to Get Raised?
by XJW4EVR ina couple of months back, my son asked me to get in touch with my jw/elder father.
he is planning a trip to colorado to visit his mother's family there, and thought it would be good to see his grandfather.
since i have no contact with my father, i asked my cousin to broach the subject with him.
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XJW4EVR
A couple of months back, my son asked me to get in touch with my JW/Elder father. He is planning a trip to Colorado to visit his mother's family there, and thought it would be good to see his grandfather. Since I have no contact with my father, I asked my cousin to broach the subject with him. She did and later told me that my dad wanted to hear from me. I ignored her statement. She was never a part of that God foresaken religion and does not understand the issues involved.
A couple of weeks later, I asked my son if he got in contact with his grandfather. He said that he did, and that my dad wanted to hear from me. I agonized over this for a couple weeks. Then like a dummy got my hopes up that maybe the changes in doctrine had caused him to rethink his position. So against my better judgment, I sent him an email. That was 3 months ago. I have not recieved a reply, though my son and my cousin have told me that he mentioned he got it.
Why, why, why do I allow myself to get hopeful that things will change!? I am not sure why I am posting this, but it just pisses me off that this man loves that damned religion more than his own son!
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XJW4EVR
Are you South African XJW4EVR?
No, I am not. I am American.
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XJW4EVR
1-1 Mexi-hole. They tied a game the should have won as they dominated the entire game. Too bad Bafana Bafana couldn't put it together in the second half, they played a great game.