Atheists - If the Bible isn't true, why is it so remarkable?

[Revolutionarily]

It predicted perfectly everything Jesus Christ did, for one thing.

Its funny, wasnt the bible written hundreds of years after he died

The bible predicted what happened to jezus the same way my history textbook knows about the second world war! ALL HAIL US A NARRATIVE HISTORY VOLUME 2!

The New Testament was written roughly between 40-90 AD. The year that the modern day bible is commonly known to have been canonized was 397 AD.

The old testament prophecies of Jesus were written much before he was alive on earth. You do know that the old testament in the christian bible is the same as Jewish scripture? From long long long before Jesus was on earth in the flesh. It was not written hundreds of years after.....that is definitely a widely known fact....

[DarkSith]

Or hashish.

Hashashins

Actually, the term "hashashins", which is the original for the word "assassin", refers to a muslim episode in history, which is beyond the subject of the thread. And yes, it comes from the word "hashish".

Back to the Bible, it is as remarkable as the Quram, the Torah, the Veddas or any other holy book in human history. But that doesn't make it more or less truthful than any of them.

To each his/her own superstition.

Besides that, the first five books from the Bible are STOLEN (no other word for it) from the Hebrew Torah. Basically, the whole Old testament is stolen from Hebrew tradition one way or the other. So stating ANY of it is true, makes AUTOMATICALLY true any Hebrew claim by default.

In other words, any attempt in using the Old Testament in proving something makes Judaism the only true religion. Think of it.

[Norstal]

Besides that, the first five books from the Bible are STOLEN (no other word for it) from the Hebrew Torah.

Plagiarism. *nods*

[The Batorys]

Well If everybody stopped believing in him...heaven would get awfully lonely so I'm pretty sure that is a check.

Or he would throw a tantrum and send plagues and diseases and destruction and what not, because he could get a little prissy when he's ignored.

And if that only turned more people away? What then?

With the image of Christians you paint, it is a religion of cowardly enablers.

[Revolutionarily]

This is the most ridiculous, exaggerated, absurd, contradictory, idiotic, illogical, senseless, overstated, embellished and foolish thing I've read in months.

Just looking at it makes me... ugh...

For one, you're making statements without actually backing them up with facts! You're saying that the Bible can predict everything because it predicted Jesus' Coming as the Son of God, but do we actually have ANY evidence whatsoever that Jesus performed any of his miracles, he rose on the third day after being crucified, or that he was the Legitimate Son of God? No, saying that something is 'remarkable' doesn't instantaneously make it fact. And that thing about dinosaurs, could you actually provide some textual references instead of stating the verses and then saying that they're evidence? I could say Acts 3:9 provides the prediction that the first human genome would be mapped by 2003, it doesn't mean that it does though.

Just... Just...

Why is the bible not considered valid evidence? It was a book written by the people it says(some books have no proclaimed authors but due to various things like writing styles they scholars have logically deduced the authors. The new testament was written between 40-90 AD. There are various things you could point on proving validity of events from the bible for example the first witness scripture uses for the resurrection was a woman. At the time they were not considered valid witnesses, therefore to make up a story that people would not believe is invalid. I realize that piece of information probably did not mean much to you. The point was to show that it is not necessarily a made up story.

[Revolutionarily]

Or he would throw a tantrum and send plagues and diseases and destruction and what not, because he could get a little prissy when he's ignored.

And if that only turned more people away? What then?

With the image of Christians you paint, it is a religion of cowardly enablers.

In scripture it states he is not a God of the cowardly

[Revolutionarily]

Well If everybody stopped believing in him...heaven would get awfully lonely so I'm pretty sure that is a check.

Or he would throw a tantrum and send plagues and diseases and destruction and what not, because he could get a little prissy when he's ignored.

Destroying evil is not getting a"little prissy"

[The Batorys]

Then why hasn't he? Remember I use the ebil magiks.

Because God works in mysterious ways- he kills base on his whims, if he doesn't want to kill you immediately, he wouldn't. God's whim are mysterious, he chooses who gets into heaven and who are sent to hell, as St. Paul tells us, and, his predestination has nothing to do with the merit of the person he chooses. If this is the system he chooses who to save, that even those who love him greatly may end up in hell because of his predestined reprobate status, then how can man possibly comprehend how he kills?

Then why bother worshiping him?

I mean, since you could end up in hell anyway based on one of his psychopathic whims.

I'd rather worship gods that aren't quite as douchebaggy as that.

[Jassysworth 1]

The Bible... the all time best seller work of fiction. Seriously, Harry Potter is overrated.

People have been reading it since almost a thousand years ago and they are still reading it NOW? Think about it. How REMARKABLE. What other work of fiction has this much longevity?

And it's really quite a morbid story. Can't really be surprised when the protagonist is a very bad tempered and very powerful immortal invisible man who lives in the clouds with super powers...

[Transmaris]

Christians, if Twilight isn't true, why is it so remarkable?

Twilight is a silly fairy tale with silly monsters.

Don't compare it to the Holy Bible.

..do I even have to comment on this?

[Revolutionarily]

Because God works in mysterious ways- he kills base on his whims, if he doesn't want to kill you immediately, he wouldn't. God's whim are mysterious, he chooses who gets into heaven and who are sent to hell, as St. Paul tells us, and, his predestination has nothing to do with the merit of the person he chooses. If this is the system he chooses who to save, that even those who love him greatly may end up in hell because of his predestined reprobate status, then how can man possibly comprehend how he kills?

Then why bother worshiping him?

I mean, since you could end up in hell anyway based on one of his psychopathic whims.

I'd rather worship gods that aren't quite as douchebaggy as that.

He wishes for all to go to heaven(a place for the clean) however we have fallen short and have sinned. Therefore we all and yes even me deserve to go to hell. The messiah, yes Jesus, died for the sins of all of those willing to lead a life of repentance and follow the Lord. I am just clarifying, if you thought he meant he just chooses random people to torture for fun or something he does not. He wants all humans to live with him which is why the sacrifice was made. However God being a just God will punish evil and we are all evil and all should be punished. God does not wish for his creation to be evil.

[Jassysworth 1]

Twilight is a silly fairy tale with silly monsters.

Don't compare it to the Holy Bible.

..do I even have to comment on this?

The Bible is a much more successful bestseller than Twilight. I mean, it boasts a resume of wide readership for thousands and thousands of years... Definitely, no comparison there.

And the protagonist of the Bible is WAY cooler (all-powerful and immortal invisible man who rules the world)!

[Xathranaar]

And if that only turned more people away? What then?

With the image of Christians you paint, it is a religion of cowardly enablers.

In scripture it states he is not a God of the cowardly

It also says that "your God is a jealous God," "God is love," and "[Love] does not envy."

So perhaps we should allow for the possibility that it likes to have things both ways.

[Revolutionarily]

The Bible... the all time best seller work of fiction. Seriously, Harry Potter is overrated.

People have been reading it since almost a thousand years ago and they are still reading it NOW? Think about it. How REMARKABLE. What other work of fiction has this much longevity?

And it's really quite a morbid story. Can't really be surprised when the protagonist is a very bad tempered and very powerful immortal invisible man who lives in the clouds with super powers...

What makes it fiction? Please use an intelligent response rather than attacking your fellow human who happens to have a different belief than you. (Here comes another attack saying Christians are "intolerant")

[Xathranaar]

The Bible... the all time best seller work of fiction. Seriously, Harry Potter is overrated.

People have been reading it since almost a thousand years ago and they are still reading it NOW? Think about it. How REMARKABLE. What other work of fiction has this much longevity?

And it's really quite a morbid story. Can't really be surprised when the protagonist is a very bad tempered and very powerful immortal invisible man who lives in the clouds with super powers...

What makes it fiction? Please use an intelligent response rather than attacking your fellow human who happens to have a different belief than you. (Here comes another attack saying Christians are "intolerant")

You're coming on a little strong with the martyr complex there. Much more likely he'd just point to the total lack of corroborating evidence of any supernatural occurrences.

[Revolutionarily]

In scripture it states he is not a God of the cowardly

It also says that "your God is a jealous God," "God is love," and "[Love] does not envy."

So perhaps we should allow for the possibility that it likes to have things both ways.

If you read before that idol worship is being condemned. It is saying that God will not let you worship idols when he alone deserves worship. (Praise and worship are different things as a clarification).

[DarkSith]

Why is the bible not considered valid evidence? It was a book written by the people it says(some books have no proclaimed authors but due to various things like writing styles they scholars have logically deduced the authors. The new testament was written between 40-90 AD. There are various things you could point on proving validity of events from the bible for example the first witness scripture uses for the resurrection was a woman. At the time they were not considered valid witnesses, therefore to make up a story that people would not believe is invalid. I realize that piece of information probably did not mean much to you. The point was to show that it is not necessarily a made up story.

It is valid evidence up to some level, and taking certain precautions.

Why?

Because as a text of religious nature, it is written specifically to support the beliefs of the religion behind it. So, everything in the Bible is tinted in Christian-colored shades.

You cannot take anything out of it at face value. You have to de-christianize the Bible to gleam the historical facts. And that is what the Christian mob cannot tolerate.

[Xathranaar]

It also says that "your God is a jealous God," "God is love," and "[Love] does not envy."

So perhaps we should allow for the possibility that it likes to have things both ways.

If you read before that idol worship is being condemned. It is saying that God will not let you worship idols when he alone deserves worship. (Praise and worship are different things as a clarification).

Right. Notice how this bit of context is completely irrelevant?

[Norstal]

The Bible... the all time best seller work of fiction. Seriously, Harry Potter is overrated.

People have been reading it since almost a thousand years ago and they are still reading it NOW? Think about it. How REMARKABLE. What other work of fiction has this much longevity?

And it's really quite a morbid story. Can't really be surprised when the protagonist is a very bad tempered and very powerful immortal invisible man who lives in the clouds with super powers...

What makes it fiction? Please use an intelligent response rather than attacking your fellow human who happens to have a different belief than you. (Here comes another attack saying Christians are "intolerant")

How many people do you know of that can turn water into wine?

Cause those kind of people don't exist in my reality.

[The Archregimancy]

The OP to this thread depresses me.

I sometimes wish I could find an excuse acceptable to all of NSG, regardless of their religious inclinations (or lack thereof), to offer a blanket disavowal of Evangelical Bible Literalist Protestants.

All I can say, fully accepting that many of you find all variants Christianity to be equally inherently ridiculous, is that regardless of the prominence they've achieved within American political and cultural discourse, Evangelical literalists remain a fairly small minority within global Christianity.

They do not represent most of us.

[Revolutionarily]

What makes it fiction? Please use an intelligent response rather than attacking your fellow human who happens to have a different belief than you. (Here comes another attack saying Christians are "intolerant")

You're coming on a little strong with the martyr complex there. Much more likely he'd just point to the total lack of corroborating evidence of any supernatural occurrences.

There is much much evidence of supernatural occurrences whether it be a healing performed or even "ghost" encounters. The supernatural definitely exists. Why is it wrong of me to point out that there was no real intelligent counter argument made?

[Norstal]

The OP to this thread depresses me.

I sometimes wish I could find an excuse acceptable to all of NSG, regardless of their religious inclinations (or lack thereof), to offer a blanket disavowal of Evangelical Bible Literalist Protestants.

All I can say, fully accepting that many of you find all variants Christianity to be equally inherently ridiculous, is that regardless of the prominence they've achieved within American political and cultural discourse, Evangelical literalists remain a fairly small minority within global Christianity.

They do not represent most of us.

It's okay Arch. I feel ya bro. I feel ya.

Even an Orthodox doesn't take the Bible literally. Mind = blown.

[DarkSith]

It also says that "your God is a jealous God," "God is love," and "[Love] does not envy."

So perhaps we should allow for the possibility that it likes to have things both ways.

If you read before that idol worship is being condemned. It is saying that God will not let you worship idols when he alone deserves worship. (Praise and worship are different things as a clarification).

Killing someone for their beliefs is wrong.

And yet, it is one of the first things Christians did as soon as they got a little power.

Ask Hypatia.

[The Tiger Kingdom]

You're coming on a little strong with the martyr complex there. Much more likely he'd just point to the total lack of corroborating evidence of any supernatural occurrences.

There is much much evidence of supernatural occurrences whether it be a healing performed or even "ghost" encounters. The supernatural definitely exists. Why is it wrong of me to point out that there was no real intelligent counter argument made?

You're seriously using *ghost encounters* as proof of the supernatural?
As soon as you can get me a ghost in a controlled environment, I'll listen to you. As for now, try a different straw to grasp at.

[Revolutionarily]

If you read before that idol worship is being condemned. It is saying that God will not let you worship idols when he alone deserves worship. (Praise and worship are different things as a clarification).

Right. Notice how this bit of context is completely irrelevant?

I am saying that the meaning of jealous is different here as jealous in general refers to wanting something you do not deserve while God fully deserves the worship. It is like if you won a competition and the prize went to someone who did not even compete. Would you not want your prize? Please do not pick apart my metaphor it was the best i could think of for now.