Posts by MadGiant

97

Did Jesus really exist?

by slimboyfat in

i had been wondering over the past few years whether there really was a historical jesus at all, until a few months ago when i read bart ehrman's latest book "did jesus exist?

" initially i was persuaded by his argument that the nt contains multiple sources that testify to jesus' existence.

but more recently i have been reading the christ myth position of richard carrier and his responses to ehrman.

"Unless I'm mistaken the official Witness belief on this event is not that dead people rose in terms of a ressurection. Rather they believe the earthquake caused graves to open and expose the corpse of the dead individual."-Randy

Hi Randy, hope all is well. Appreciate the comment

I never been a witness's, not intend to be one ever. I have no idea what is the spin the organization give to these verses. But, even their bible said something similar.

Thanks,

Ismael

Matthew 27:51-53
NEW WORLD TRANSLATION OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES
51 And, look! the curtain+ of the sanctuary was rent in two, from top to bottom,+ and the earth quaked, and the rock-masses were split.+ 52 And the memorial tombs were opened and many bodies of the holy ones that had fallen asleep were raised up, 53 (and persons,* coming out from among the memorial tombs after his being raised up, entered into the holy city,)+ and they became visible to many people.

Matthew 27:51-53
New International Version (NIV)
51 At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split 52 and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. 53 They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and[a] went into the holy city and appeared to many people.

Matthew 27:51-53
New King James Version (NKJV)
51 Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, 52 and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; 53 and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.

39

Where Do You NOW Think Wickedness Comes From? The Devil or... ?

by LoisLane looking for Superman in

jw
friends

i think wickedness comes from evil people.. there are many people in between the two extremes of, overly good people and overly evil persons.. i do not believe in a devil.. i think he is a concept dreampt up by evil ones to blame bad behavior, as a red herring, on anyone but themselves.. the watchtower makes up attrocious lies, brow beats good people not to better themselves,.

all the while, they are building their own empire.. they say, do not isiolate yourself.

it is not good for you.. but if you don't agree with them and their current teachings, you will be shunned, disfellowshipped.. that can and does, have earth shattering results.. so many things, i was taught as a born in, are now considered apostate teachings.

MadGiant

"Well, I do believe the Adversary (Satan, the devil, the deceiver, etc) exists... but he only exploits what is IN man to begin with. Many people allow themselves to BE decieved, because they are being told what they WANT to hear, or that they can have something that they want to have... (Satan plays the friend card... of COURSE you can eat of this tree, or have these kingdoms, or take the kingdom of God for yourselves... you DESERVE it) ... by some other means than what God has said to them."

With all due respect, I don't get what you are saying here.
According to your book, God cast Satan and his minions into "hell" instead of Puerto Rico: Your book reads that "Hell" sucks for everyone including imps and demons. According to 2 Peter 2:4: "God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but sent them to "hell", putting them into chains of darkness to be held for judgment."

That's right, chains and prisons ... for them. No iron fortresses, no fiery thrones, no mention of Satan ruling the cell block ...

If you are saying that "Satan plays the friend card... of COURSE you can eat of this tree, or have these kingdoms, or take the kingdom of God for yourselves...", I have a question.

How let the dog out?

Take care,

Ismael

PS: I know, I know, again I am misquoting the book, it's out of context.

38

Are we alone?

by Xanthippe in

jw
friends

the title of this thread is the title of a chapter in the book by richard dawkins that i'm really enjoying in spite of or perhaps because of it having been written for young people.

i thought i would share a couple of paragraphs on his theories of the kind of bodies aliens on other planets might have :-.

'let's exercise our imaginations a bit more.

MadGiant

"No one has ever seen an atom."

Mmmmmm, yeah, we have. Even atomic bonds.

http://io9.com/the-first-image-ever-of-a-hydrogen-atoms-orbital-struc-509684901

http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/31/scientists-capture-images-of-molecules-forming-atomic-bonds/

http://m.sciencemag.org/content/337/6100/1326.abstract

Take care,

Ismael

38

Are we alone?

by Xanthippe in

jw
friends

the title of this thread is the title of a chapter in the book by richard dawkins that i'm really enjoying in spite of or perhaps because of it having been written for young people.

i thought i would share a couple of paragraphs on his theories of the kind of bodies aliens on other planets might have :-.

'let's exercise our imaginations a bit more.

MadGiant

When we talk about the likelihood of aliens existing, we tend to think about how many millions and millions of planets there are and figure, well, the odds are at least one of them nearby has green people on it we can talk to. But what we tend to totally discount is time.

Think about it; Earth was round for four billion years before humans appeared. Maybe there was a thriving alien civilization nearby, and maybe they mastered space travel and gave us a visit. And maybe all they found here were a bunch of big, dumb lizards. So it's not just that two intelligent, space-faring civilizations would have to arise physically close to one another, but they would have to overlap chronologically, too.

The Earth is relatively young compared to the rest of the universe, which has theoretically been spinning around in operatic blackness for billions of years. Statistically speaking, any number of the trillions of celestial bodies out there would have produced intelligent life millennia ago -- if they haven't mastered the science of awesome spaceships by now, they probably never will. And our window to do the same is equivalent to a tiny coiled butt hair on the epic universal timeline of existence.

So there is a very real possibility that our historic first visit to another galaxy might yield nothing but a bunch of big-headed skeletons and about a zillion gallons of wasted rocket fuel.

Or, Alien civilizations may not be trying to talk to us for the same reason that we don't spend a whole lot of time trying to talk to goldfish -- we really don't have anything worthwhile to say to each other.

Take care,

Ismael

97

Did Jesus really exist?

by slimboyfat in

i had been wondering over the past few years whether there really was a historical jesus at all, until a few months ago when i read bart ehrman's latest book "did jesus exist?

" initially i was persuaded by his argument that the nt contains multiple sources that testify to jesus' existence.

but more recently i have been reading the christ myth position of richard carrier and his responses to ehrman.

MadGiant

“My take after reading lots of books recently, like Erhman and Aslan, is that a man like him started the myth. I think it was Glenster who likened it to Mohamed. Good analogy. Probably existed, wasn't miraculous. But, I'm not sure on this. It's just how I lean.” - Comatose

Jefferson wrote a letter to his nephew on August 10, 1787, trying to get Peter to think.

“Examine upon what evidence his pretensions are founded, and whether that evidence is so strong, as that its falsehood would be more improbable than a change in the laws of nature, in the case he relates. For example, in the book of Joshua, we are told, the sun stood still several hours. Were we to read that fact in Livy or Tacitus, we should class it with their showers of blood, speaking of statues, beasts, &c. But it is said, that the writer of that book was inspired. Examine, therefore, candidly, what evidence there is of his having been inspired. The pretension is entitled to your inquiry, because millions believe it. On the other hand, you are astronomer enough to know how contrary it is to the law of nature that a body revolving on its axis, as the earth does, should have stopped, should not, by that sudden stoppage, have prostrated animals, trees, buildings, and should after a certain time gave resumed its revolution, & that without a second general prostration. Is this arrest of the earth's motion, or the evidence which affirms it, most within the law of probabilities? You will next read the New Testament. It is the history of a personage called Jesus. Keep in your eye the opposite pretensions: 1, of those who say he was begotten by God, born of a virgin, suspended & reversed the laws of nature at will, & ascended bodily into heaven; and 2, of those who say he was a man of illegitimate birth, of a benevolent heart, enthusiastic mind, who set out without pretensions to divinity, ended in believing them, and was punished capitally for sedition, by being gibbeted, according to the Roman law, which punished the first commission of that offence by whipping, & the second by exile, or death in fureâ”

Again, this is 1787; 226 years later and some people are trying to figure out if this guy was real.

Take care,

Ismael

97

Did Jesus really exist?

by slimboyfat in

i had been wondering over the past few years whether there really was a historical jesus at all, until a few months ago when i read bart ehrman's latest book "did jesus exist?

" initially i was persuaded by his argument that the nt contains multiple sources that testify to jesus' existence.

but more recently i have been reading the christ myth position of richard carrier and his responses to ehrman.

MadGiant

First, I would like to apologize in advance for any misspellings and errors. English is my second language. - The very core of Christianity is the belief that a virgin woman gave birth to a half-blooded demigod who then wandered around the Middle East preaching a message of divine salvation and performing miracles. He healed the sick, raised the dead, walked on water, turned water into wine, and took the sins of the entire world unto himself as a form of ritual blood sacrifice to appease the perfect justice of him/his father-God. Then, three days after being crucified, he rose from the dead. All evidence we have for any of the spiritual events described within the Bible is the Bible itself. Literally, the pure, unfettered say-so of human authors; oral traditions that were scribbled down centuries ago by members of highly superstitious, illiterate cultures, teeming with rampant frauds and religious cults; copies of copies that were selectively edited and compiled by a series of politically-motivated committee decisions and then translated through multiple languages. That been said, after Jesus is crucified, the Book of Matthew describes a series of very extraordinary events, including massive earthquakes followed by a darkness covering the land. You would think that if something like this really happened, then maybe a few local historians might have recorded it or that maybe the local astronomers would have noticed the sun blotting out three entire hours. But strangely enough, no such records exist (For the benefit of those using Flavius Josephus,Cornelius Tacitus, Lucian of Samosata they offer no proof for a super jesus). Even more extravagant is how Matthew also describes dead people rising from their graves and roaming the streets. Surely, it’s reasonable to expect at least a few locals to mention a sudden zombie apocalypse somewhere in their memoirs, isn’t it? Yet not even the other three gospels are kind enough to corroborate any of this stuff, and these are supposed to be independent narratives of the exact same events. Jesus is a myth, the bible is crap!!! Take care, Ismael

22

Evolution vs. God

by Perry in

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0u3-2cgomq&list=plimax6whtnhc34_zbxbtcgvgvgxk3qzvu.

MadGiant

I don't believe that adults come from babies. I observe them for hours and never seen one of them turning into a middle age man.

Take care,

Ismael

88

Changing the Goalposts

by braincleaned in

creationists are not consistant with their otherwise apparant logic:.

nothing comes from nothing check .

everything has a beginning check .

MadGiant

People just have to start looking at the universe to realize that a god, any god it's impossible.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubble_Ultra-Deep_Field Ismael

88

Changing the Goalposts

by braincleaned in

creationists are not consistant with their otherwise apparant logic:.

nothing comes from nothing check .

everything has a beginning check .

MadGiant

"No. Since God is not nothing (the absence of anything/everything)... this is untrue. Everything came from HIM. From HIS energy, that brought forth LIGHT/LIFE.

(though the statement... God created the universe from "Nothing"... the new definition, is not much different than what that physicist is saying (other than the God part), in that that the universe came from "Nothing". Because "Nothing" isn't nothing)"

“Don't you believe in flying saucers, they ask me?
Don't you believe in telepathy?
— in ancient astronauts?
— in the Bermuda triangle?
— in life after death?
No, I reply. No, no, no, no, and again no.

One person recently, goaded into desperation by the litany of unrelieved negation, burst out "Don't you believe in anything?"

Yes", I said. "I believe in evidence. I believe in observation, measurement, and reasoning, confirmed by independent observers. I'll believe anything, no matter how wild and ridiculous, if there is evidence for it. The wilder and more ridiculous something is, however, the firmer and more solid the evidence will have to be.”
? Isaac Asimov

Do you have any evidence to support this claim?
I have done some research and couldn't fine any evidence to support those claims. Only personals experiences, but those experiences don't count.

Here's why: I can claim that aliens adopted me for 10 days for 10 hours a day, 10 years ago. Proof me wrong.

The scary thing is this: every believer think that he/she have the right answer, every believer have his/her "own account" and everybody is correct. If you have 1,000 believer you are going to end up with 1,000 accounts. Their is no evidence.

Take care,

Ismael

95

Just this simple fact of life is proof of God....

by EndofMysteries in

i'll be curious for any alternative plausible explanations for this...... .

every lifeform on earth, humans, plants, bacteria, cells, anything with life originated with other life.

all trees come from living seeds from other trees, etc.

MadGiant

Haven't read all posts, only the OP but.

"EVERY lifeform on Earth, humans, plants, bacteria, cells, ANYTHING with life originated with other life."

I agree with that. But it's not magic.

"All trees come from living seeds from other trees, etc. There is no life that comes from nothing, even simple cells."

I agree with this to. But remember that it's a proses of natural selection. In you example, trees comes from seeds because that was the reproductive method that work. Remember that almost half the plant species in the world reproduce asexually, without creating seeds. Seed-bearing plants can also reproduce asexually under certain conditions. The daughter plants resulting from asexual reproduction are genetically identical to the parent plant. In fact, they are less daughters than clones of the original. Plants can reproduce naturally without seeds by many methods, including sending out runners and developing bulbs or tubers which split off bulblets. Plants also reproduce without seed via human intervention, such as through cuttings and grafts or by a gardener physically dividing a root clump with a shovel. All these are examples of methods that work better for the plants. (Still using your plant example), There are some fishes and reptiles that can change sex.

"So God forming these things then putting his life force into it, him being the originator of life for the start of these things, is the only thing that makes sense."

This opens a very interesting proposal. You admit that life need a creator. Who/What created the creator? I know that it sound stupid, but think about it for a minute.

"If it was possible that life can just appear out of nothing, and all life on Earth just happened,"

Follow the evidence.

"why can't intelligent life do it? Instead of the billions of lifeforms on Earth that just happened to happen somehow, why can't we trace how they all originated and create any type of life we can imagine."

At this moment humans are doing research. Remember, you are talking about DNA the genome project started in 1987 (I think). A working draft of the genome was announced in 2000 and a complete one in 2003, with further, more detailed analysis still being published. We still in diapers.

"Why would it still not be happening today? Why would it have stopped? "

It still happening. Natural selection is the gradual natural process by which biological traits become either more or less common in a population as a function of the effect of inherited traits on the differential reproductive success of organisms interacting with their environment

"Also think about this, according to the bible, man was formed out of soil. Written long before we knew the properties of soil such as copper, iron, calcium, zinc, etc. Our bodies need all of those things to survive and function properly. What happens if you are deficient in copper, iron, etc. It certainly seems like we were formed from soil and the start of life was God's lifeforce going into us." "I can understand Agnostic thinking because of distrust from anything written, but for athiests, not believing life came from a God seems even harder to make sense of since no life on Earth originates from plain dead matter. Do you have alternative explanations?

" Yeah, Instead of asking for an answer, why don't you do some research first. Read a couple of books about each subject you just mention. Read form apologists, opposers, critics (neutral sources) and draw your own conclusions.

Take care,

Ismael