God is...

[themickey]

"The four canonical gospels were probably written between AD 66 and 110. All four were anonymous (the modern names were added in the 2nd century), almost certainly none were by eyewitnesses, and all are the end-products of long oral and written transmission. Mark was the first to be written, using a variety of sources...."
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gospel

Can anyone see a problem with this?
It's like writing about Jesus today when he died during the first or second world wars.

So Jesus died a hundred years ago and we now write about his life, miracles and resurection.
Remembering; this is 2000 years ago, no newspapers, radio or computers to record accurate details, and Christians back then were lower class, working class, they weren't scribes and gentry.

Then you talk about prophesy from Isaiah being fulfilled, yeah, a hundred years later lets claim this chap was raised from the dead, a bunch of old wives tales made by a group of transient riff raff who weren't even there.
How professional is that?
And the Jews, they say "Jesus, wtf is he?"

Jesus body never found, guess what, buried in a paupers grave.

 

[themickey]

Ironic we celebrate Christmas with Santa and Easter with bunnies and rabbit eggs.
That about sums it up.

 

[userque]

Believing is not knowing.

In other words, just because you believe something to be true doesn't mean it's actually true.

I realized for the first time that all I had done in my life up to that point was view life based upon what I was taught to believe instead of viewing life for what it really was. After that, I looked up the definition of belief, and sure enough, it said that a belief is just something you accept to be true. And that's exactly what I had done.

This applies to everything.

We were taught the Earth was flat. And that appeared to be true. And we believed it to be true.

Once our perspective grew, we were taught it was spherical. And now, we believe that. Even those who have never been high enough to see the curvature, believe what they been taught since childhood.

Believing and accepting teachings as facts is not relegated only to religions; it's everywhere. People biased against religions tend to notice things more so when they are applied to religion.

So that's when I stepped back and started looking at other religions, namely the following:

• Islam
• Hinduism
• Buddhism
• Sikhism
• Judaism
• Jainism

I did something similar, but I looked at each religion's texts. None but Christianity contained prophecies that were later regarded as being fulfilled by the vast majority of scholars.

And that led me to the following thought: If I didn't have the Bible or any other past work to reference, how would I describe God, this life, and the world in which we live?

God is described in the Bible, so we wouldn't have his description without The Bible.

The physical descriptions of life and the world would be the same with, or without The Bible. The Bible existence hasn't physically changed anything on the planet.

A fifth grade public school teacher told our class, "The Bible explains why; Science explains how."

Without The Bible, most everyone would be taught The Big Bang Theory, and believe in The Big Bang Theory ... (which can't be proven) ... even though they can't see The Big Bang. Exactly the same things you point out about religion.

 

[themickey]

Christianity or any religion for that matter, are ongoing movements perpetuated by cultists, a human failing where some people have a complex where they need a leader to lead them to a fictional promised land.

Once the movement gains impetus it's fueled by further gullible people.

 

[studentofthemarkets]

"The four canonical gospels were probably written between AD 66 and 110. All four were anonymous (the modern names were added in the 2nd century), almost certainly none were by eyewitnesses, and all are the end-products of long oral and written transmission. Mark was the first to be written, using a variety of sources...."
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gospel

Can anyone see a problem with this?
It's like writing about Jesus today when he died during the first or second world wars.

So Jesus died a hundred years ago and we now write about his life, miracles and resurection.
Remembering; this is 2000 years ago, no newspapers, radio or computers to record accurate details, and Christians back then were lower class, working class, they weren't scribes and gentry.

Then you talk about prophesy from Isaiah being fulfilled, yeah, a hundred years later lets claim this chap was raised from the dead, a bunch of old wives tales made by a group of transient riff raff who weren't even there.
How professional is that?
And the Jews, they say "Jesus, wtf is he?"

Jesus body never found, guess what, buried in a paupers grave.

Alright. I'll play along for a bit.

Here's a few questions for you. Is it really like writing today when if Jesus had died during the first or second world wars? Let's see if we can build a case based on the whatever evidence you accept.

1. What do you accept as truth about Jesus and what are your sources.

2. Do you really believe Jesus was just a regular chap and invented by a group of transient riff raff who weren't even there? Please provide your evidence, or admit that this originated from your own imagination, if that is your source.

 

[themickey]

Cultists, a band of likeminded simpletons who gain strength and encouragement from each other and form a common bond.
The fact they may face opposition does not deter them, they have each other.

 

[studentofthemarkets]

Alright. I'll play along for a bit.

Here's a few questions for you. Is it really like writing today when if Jesus had died during the first or second world wars? Let's see if we can build a case based on the whatever evidence you accept.

1. What do you accept as truth about Jesus and what are your sources.

2. Do you really believe Jesus was just a regular chap and invented by a group of transient riff raff who weren't even there? Please provide your evidence, or admit that this originated from your own imagination, if that is your source.

Cultists, a band of likeminded simpletons who gain strength and encouragement from each other and form a common bond.
The fact they may face opposition does not deter them, they have each other.

You didn't answer my questions. You aren't providing facts of what can be known about Jesus. You are avoiding the issue. It's easy to turn a blind eye to evidence and make up lies if you don't really care about truth.

I'm going to give you some time to respond to the questions, then I'll respond with actual evidence, regardless of whether or not you answer the questions.

 

[Baron]

Without The Bible, most everyone would be taught The Big Bang Theory, and believe in The Big Bang Theory ... (which can't be proven) ... even though they can't see The Big Bang. Exactly the same things you point out about religion.

That's exactly the point I'm trying to make. Everyone is searching for a belief to insert as answers to life's biggest questions. If you were to ask me how the universe was created or where do we go when we die, this is the answer I would give you, the most honest answer that you'll ever hear from anyone:

"I have absolutely no idea. And I'm completely comfortable with not knowing."

See, when you become OK with not needing to fill in the blanks with stories and theories, you stop worrying about what happened before you came into existence and what will happen after your existence ends, and in place of all that, you really start to appreciate every day of THIS LIFE. You embrace the word "death" and stop trying to replace it with terms that make so sense whatsoever like "afterlife".

Then you begin to get real with how much you really know about this life (virtually nothing) and how significant you are in this universe (not much). And instead of praying to a higher power out there somewhere to change things, you turn inward instead and understand that it's the choices you make and the actions you take that shape the course of your life.

 

[themickey]

I'm going to give you some time to respond to the questions, then I'll respond with actual evidence, regardless of whether or not you answer the questions.

Your mind is set in concrete, no amount of my explaining will change it.
I'm happy for your cultist mindset if that is what you want.

 

[themickey]

What do you accept as truth about Jesus and what are your sources.

I have no opinion, Jesus is a nobody to me.