Posts by trevor

140

Are atheists less imaginative about the unknown?

by sabastious in

jw
friends

almost every atheist i have ever come across i can get along with well.

i love to debate and talk about the world around us and they seem to as well, but i feel like i get a lot of "eye rolls" from the atheists i speak to.. it's ironic that i am six feet six inches tall because i would describe myself as a man with his head in the clouds.

it's up there most of the time and i feel at home when thinking of the future.

trevor

DagothUr Your observations make sense to me.

The first humans had no idea how the world came to be; why thunder & lightning, volcanoes and earthquakes occurred. They attributed these events to invisible humans that became known as gods. In time, those that believed in gods proudly wore a label that said ‘theist.’ Those that were not convinced were automatically labelled ‘a-theist.’ The rest is history.

All people are on a journey through life on planet earth and are looking for answers. Imagining something, then setting out to see if it exists is a common scientific method. Often imagination leads to new discoveries.

Once one decides to wear a badge that says, ‘Theist,’ they are declaring that they have found the answer to the mystery of the life on earth. A god is responsible and he will take care of everything so long as they love and obey him. No further imagination is required. Their search is at an end. They are, in their own words, ‘saved.’ Those who are still searching for the answers to the mystery of life need to employ their imagination in order to continue their search.

Personally, I prefer not to wear a badge of any kind. The knowledge I have gleaned in my short time on this planet is so incomplete and inadequate, that to wear a badge stating my ‘position’ would make me look very foolish.

I am not an ‘eist’ of any kind - Just a seeker of truth, looking among the seaweed for profound answers. That takes a hell of a lot of imagination. My belief is that I will die, so I am unlikely to be disappointed and things should work out very neatly.

175

Does the Christian message fall apart without a literal interpretation of Genesis?

by nicolaou in

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what's the point of jesus if adam & eve did not 'fall' and condemn us all to sin?.

trevor

Ah -Tammy, What are we to do with you? Thank you for your kind comments.

I must back away now and leave you to defend your beliefs. No doubt, doing so strengthens your faith and makes you feel closer to Jesus. I truly hope he exists. Such love and devotion should not be wasted.

Tread carefully.

175

Does the Christian message fall apart without a literal interpretation of Genesis?

by nicolaou in

.

what's the point of jesus if adam & eve did not 'fall' and condemn us all to sin?.

trevor

If I chose to be a Christian, I would have to accept the Genesis account as true and literal. Why? Because according to the bible, Jesus came to earth to be tortured to death to atone, or compensate, for Adams fall from grace. Adam has to be believed as real if Jesus is to be believed as real. To my knowledge, no bible writer has ever expressed an opinion different to that which I have stated above.

To me the account of Adam and Eve is a mythical tale, a fable, a story with a moral. All religions have them. Not being a follower of Christ I am at liberty to smile and walk on by.

Tammy, I understand your desire to make sense of your belief in Jesus and admire your tenacity. I hope that it lasts you a lifetime and continues to bring you comfort. I wish you well but my concern is that you are too smart and inquiring to debate with people on this forum indefinitely without the penny dropping. Replacing such faith and hope as you have is not easy.

175

Does the Christian message fall apart without a literal interpretation of Genesis?

by nicolaou in

.

what's the point of jesus if adam & eve did not 'fall' and condemn us all to sin?.

trevor

Tammy - The difficulty is that according to the bible, both Jesus and Paul quote from Genesis and repeat its references to Adam.

If The Adam story is not to be taken literaly, then we have to see Jesus and paul as symbolic figures also.

204

Paul, leading authority on Christianity, does NOT quote Jesus!

by Terry in

paul's letters practically invent christianity.. the gospels trickled in after him.. paul never walked with jesus and yet explains him.. never a quote from the master at all.. yet, paul is such a maven.. if jesus couldn't be bothered to actually reveal what he was all about to his apostles with whom he ate, drank, spoke and slept---why this persecutor, saul?.

the apostles heard every word jesus spoke and were willing to die for him.. paul didn't--yet--miraculously explained every detail of the entire history of god's purpose including his messiah.. .

can anybody provide a non-gimmick answer?.

trevor

Terry - Documents that did not agree were rounded up and burned.

So were People that did not agree, once the church was established!

175

Does the Christian message fall apart without a literal interpretation of Genesis?

by nicolaou in

.

what's the point of jesus if adam & eve did not 'fall' and condemn us all to sin?.

trevor

JustHuman14 You have written some wonderful prose. It's on par with 'The Lion the lion the Witch & the Wardrobe.' Alas it is all smoke and mirrors with no substance.

I could take the same ingredients and produce an entirely different dish. What you entertain yourself believing makes sense to you but it is totally subjective without a shred of evidence to back the theory.

This is why Christians argue among themselves about whether Adam & Eve really existed. Did god use evolution instead of creation? All you have as a reference point is the bible and you can’t agree which bits of that, if any, are inerrant.

175

Does the Christian message fall apart without a literal interpretation of Genesis?

by nicolaou in

.

what's the point of jesus if adam & eve did not 'fall' and condemn us all to sin?.

trevor

misocup I have never understood how Christians can dismiss Genesis and still find a basis for the animal sacrifices and prophets that led to Christ, 'the lamb of god that takes away the sin of the world.'

Either man was created in god's image and Adam sinned or Adam never existed. In which case we were not created in god's image and we have not fallen from grace. Therefore we cannot be sinners. Just humans doing the best we can.

24

Adam was by himself for 35 1/2 years and counting....

by dozy in

according to jw bible chronology , adam was created some 6000 years before 1975 & as armageddon hasn't arrived yet , he has been alone for all the equivalent years since then (despite the wtbts claiming that adam was only on his own for just a few weeks or months.).

luckily as a perfect man , he had no sexual desires.... .

adam felt no desires of sex.

trevor

Well Black Sheep - The bible states that god placed man in he garden of Eden. Without the requisit tackle Adam would not have been a man.

38

If you had the choice to name yourself, what names would you choose for first name and last name?

by Iamallcool in

jw
friends

be creative.

have some fun.

.

trevor

Hello Darling

24

Adam was by himself for 35 1/2 years and counting....

by dozy in

according to jw bible chronology , adam was created some 6000 years before 1975 & as armageddon hasn't arrived yet , he has been alone for all the equivalent years since then (despite the wtbts claiming that adam was only on his own for just a few weeks or months.).

luckily as a perfect man , he had no sexual desires.... .

adam felt no desires of sex.

trevor

Adam would have watched the birds, bees and animals having sex. He did not know what a woman was. It would have been prefectly natural to snuggle up to a friendly monkey and have it away. Would this be a worse sin in the eyes of his voyeuristic god than eating an apple?