Author Topic: Christianity basically is not about good vs evil but about living forever and p  (Read 57842 times)

Hope

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Do you have any evidence that these disciples had families or even existed?

Perhaps you'd like to start with a definitive list of their names.
jeremy, perhaps it would be better to ask this of DU, who introduced the idea of leaving family behind - "leave my productive employment to wander around with him (leaving family behind in the process)" [post #197] or Len who introduced the idea of leaving a 'dependent' family (and therefore by implication 'without support') [post #203].

I would just note here that there are references to a number of disciples' family members in the Gospel record.  I wonder whether either of the two above can find them.
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jakswan

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...

So you pick the first point from a list of points and then misrepresent it as being a stand alone argument that the gospels are mythical.

I thought Christians were supposed to value honesty.
If I have misunderstood what you wrote, then please explain.
Quote

Quote
No, no magic involved. Just God incarnate.
You don't get to define magic to exclude certain things just because you don't like the connotations. If Jesus really did feed 5,000 with a few loaves and fishes, it is magic whether God did it or Gandalf. However, the episode is mythical and apparently a reworking of the manna in the desert episode in Exodus, according to Spud.
If Jesus really did feed 5000+ with a few loaves and fishes, then it was supernatural and not "The power of apparently influencing events by using mysterious or supernatural forces." Rather it would have been "The power of the actual influencing of an event by ... a supernatural force." That is the difference and thus would make it not magic.

No, it would still be magic, it would just mean that magic was real.

Agree, apparently means:
as far as one knows or can see.
« Last Edit: September 29, 2015, 11:07:34 AM by jakswan »
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Alien

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...

So you pick the first point from a list of points and then misrepresent it as being a stand alone argument that the gospels are mythical.

I thought Christians were supposed to value honesty.
If I have misunderstood what you wrote, then please explain.
Quote

Quote
No, no magic involved. Just God incarnate.
You don't get to define magic to exclude certain things just because you don't like the connotations. If Jesus really did feed 5,000 with a few loaves and fishes, it is magic whether God did it or Gandalf. However, the episode is mythical and apparently a reworking of the manna in the desert episode in Exodus, according to Spud.
If Jesus really did feed 5000+ with a few loaves and fishes, then it was supernatural and not "The power of apparently influencing events by using mysterious or supernatural forces." Rather it would have been "The power of the actual influencing of an event by ... a supernatural force." That is the difference and thus would make it not magic.

No, it would still be magic, it would just mean that magic was real.

O.
Look up what "apparently" means.
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Alien

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So you pick the first point from a list of points and then misrepresent it as being a stand alone argument that the gospels are mythical.

I thought Christians were supposed to value honesty.
If I have misunderstood what you wrote, then please explain.
Quote

Quote
No, no magic involved. Just God incarnate.
You don't get to define magic to exclude certain things just because you don't like the connotations. If Jesus really did feed 5,000 with a few loaves and fishes, it is magic whether God did it or Gandalf. However, the episode is mythical and apparently a reworking of the manna in the desert episode in Exodus, according to Spud.
If Jesus really did feed 5000+ with a few loaves and fishes, then it was supernatural and not "The power of apparently influencing events by using mysterious or supernatural forces." Rather it would have been "The power of the actual influencing of an event by ... a supernatural force." That is the difference and thus would make it not magic.

No, it would still be magic, it would just mean that magic was real.

Agree, apparently means:
as far as one knows or can see.
So you don't understand the difference between "apparently" and "actual", between "as far as one knows or can see" and "is the reality"?
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Andy

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Where are we looking up what "magic" and "apparently" mean? The OED or Stanford Uni?

wigginhall

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I thought that there was a difference between magic as illusion, as practised in stage shows, and magic for real (or believed to be real), as practised in some religions.   My memory is that there were Jewish magicians in Old Testament times, and afterwards, not sure of the dates:

"There are a variety of different types of Jewish textual sources that can be used for the study of Jewish magic in Late Antiquity, these range from rabbinical rulings, aggadic folk tales, magical recipe books as well as actual amulets which are the practical products of magical praxis. There is a wealth of evidence to show that in the Near East the practice of magic was wide-spread, so much so that some scholars claim it to have been an expression of popular religion that was common to all the peoples of the region."

(Uni of Southampton course on Early Jewish Magic).

PS. forgot to say that 'Ancient Jewish Magic' is quite a hot topic at the moment, there are books coming out on it, and even courses as above.   
« Last Edit: September 29, 2015, 12:02:35 PM by wigginhall »
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jakswan

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So you don't understand the difference between "apparently" and "actual", between "as far as one knows or can see" and "is the reality"?

In the context of 'Jesus changed water into wine' no I can't see a difference, magic is a valid term using the definitions you have given.
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Alien

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Where are we looking up what "magic" and "apparently" mean? The OED or Stanford Uni?
Very good, sir.
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Walt Zingmatilder

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So you don't understand the difference between "apparently" and "actual", between "as far as one knows or can see" and "is the reality"?

In the context of 'Jesus changed water into wine' no I can't see a difference, magic is a valid term using the definitions you have given.
Yes but we know the word can be used derogatory and funnily enough by people of an inferior technology describing a superior technology..... How are you using the term.

wigginhall

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There is a book, 'Jesus the Magician' (Morton Smith), but it seems to have a poor reputation.

Geza Vermes, the foremost Jewish writer on Jesus, links Jesus to Jewish traditions of healing, exorcism, and 'charismatic prophecy', but not Jewish magic.   In fact, he uses the term 'hasid' which I suppose means holy man.
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jakswan

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So you don't understand the difference between "apparently" and "actual", between "as far as one knows or can see" and "is the reality"?

In the context of 'Jesus changed water into wine' no I can't see a difference, magic is a valid term using the definitions you have given.
Yes but we know the word can be used derogatory and funnily enough by people of an inferior technology describing a superior technology..... How are you using the term.

It could be used that way glad you agree. I think Alien is taking it in a derogatory way as he believes Jesus did magic, not the way he likes to spin things. :)
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Outrider

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So you don't understand the difference between "apparently" and "actual", between "as far as one knows or can see" and "is the reality"?

No, but the difference between 'appearing' to affect reality by supernatural effects and 'actually' affecting reality by supernatural effects is the difference between the 'appearance' of magic and 'actual' magic.

O.
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Alien

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So you don't understand the difference between "apparently" and "actual", between "as far as one knows or can see" and "is the reality"?

In the context of 'Jesus changed water into wine' no I can't see a difference, magic is a valid term using the definitions you have given.
I wouldn't brag about that if I were you.
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Alien

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So you don't understand the difference between "apparently" and "actual", between "as far as one knows or can see" and "is the reality"?

No, but the difference between 'appearing' to affect reality by supernatural effects and 'actually' affecting reality by supernatural effects is the difference between the 'appearance' of magic and 'actual' magic.

O.
No, the definition of OED, which was quoted here, was, "The power of apparently influencing events by using mysterious or supernatural forces." Thus you would be taking about

1) The appearance of the power of apparently influencing events by using mysterious or supernatural forces.
2) Actually having the power of apparently influencing events by using mysterious or supernatural forces.

(My italics throughout).

Did you really mean to say that?
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Outrider

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So you don't understand the difference between "apparently" and "actual", between "as far as one knows or can see" and "is the reality"?

No, but the difference between 'appearing' to affect reality by supernatural effects and 'actually' affecting reality by supernatural effects is the difference between the 'appearance' of magic and 'actual' magic.

O.
No, the definition of OED, which was quoted here, was, "The power of apparently influencing events by using mysterious or supernatural forces." Thus you would be taking about

1) The appearance of the power of apparently influencing events by using mysterious or supernatural forces.
2) Actually having the power of apparently influencing events by using mysterious or supernatural forces.

(My italics throughout).

Did you really mean to say that?

That's because the OED understands that magic isn't real, and I understand that the Jesus depicted in the New Testament wasn't real.

I meant to say that if Jesus had done the work as depicted it would mean that magic was real, and that would be magic. As it is, I don't think he did it, and therefore magic is still a myth.

O.
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jakswan

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So you don't understand the difference between "apparently" and "actual", between "as far as one knows or can see" and "is the reality"?

In the context of 'Jesus changed water into wine' no I can't see a difference, magic is a valid term using the definitions you have given.
I wouldn't brag about that if I were you.

Evasion noted.
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Sassy

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(1) But nor do we know that it didn't, Floo.

The onus isn't on us to show that something extraordinary didn't happen - you have to give sufficient grounds to think it did, or you just have an assertion.

The onus is on you to find out for yourself what if anything did happen.
You won't find that asking others to provide proof of what they believe because faith is an individual matter whatever form it takes.

You have to provide your own proof to show what you believe is anything but freewill choice on your part by just choosing without any personal investigation or evidence what you believe.

So stop asking others to provide what you have to decide for yourself.

Quote
(2) Yet you have never been able to produce any evidence to support this suggestion, despite making it on numerous occasions on different forums and threads. The English 11th century leader Hereward the Wake has very little written about him but he is still regarded as having lived.  He is mentioned in 4 documents - the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles, the Domesday Book, Liber Eliensis and - most importantly - the Gesta Herewardi.  This last is thought to have been written between 1109 and 1131 by one of Hereward's brothers-in-arms - and therefore an eye-witness account.  Even if we discount everything that occurred before the Battle of Senlac Ridge, that's still 40-60 years after the events.  Why should taht be any more reliable than - say Mark's Gospel - which was likely written 30-40 years after the events it records and may have been written by someone who both experienced the events, and at the dictation of someone who was there.

Hereward was a king, and had widespread noticable effects on many people, resulting in four independent accounts of varying unexceptional events that are not intrinsically questionable, and are fragmentary. Little is made of the those claims except that Hereward most likely existed.

By contrast you have a singular account, with evidence of subsequent tampering, from a vested interest group, making extraordinary claims in a vacuum of mentions from what would be considered the expected reliable sources of the area in that era. That combination of extraordinary claim, uncorroborated account and the lack of any sort of commentary from the areas that might be expected to carry such information given what we understand of that time period make your claim more difficult to accept than the accept historicity of Hereward.

That said, the prevailing opinion is that the Jesus myth is most likely based on someone real, there is enough evidence to suggest someone was preaching in that area who elicited some attention, but the supernatural elements would need an supremely high level of support for us to accept, and instead they have a highly questionable level of support.

O.
[/quote]

I think we both know Jesus was NEVER a myth. And the truth is that all history is irrelevant when it comes to proof which is in written form as to being acceptble as true.
Even then the above with the exception of Christ is not really anything to ague with against or for Christ. Because Christ is part of the individuals truth and what is more important the truth from God.

If you said you can understand all the scientific details however small which enabled a man to walk on the moon then you would be lying.
How we reason and we determine proof are two different things.

For instance:- Jesus being sent by God, how do we determine this...

He who sends is greater than he who is sent.

Jesus always makes God the centre of the praise and worship.

If you love me then you will keep my commandments. Those commandments were:-
Quote
Matthew 22:37-40King James Version (KJV)

37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

38 This is the first and great commandment.

Jesus teaching by example and in his commands that to love God as he did with all your being is how you show love for Jesus. He does not request man love Jesus Christ with all their being but they Love God with everything. Hence Jesus was not and never has been the one to worship as God or to love as God. You can only love Christ by following his example and loving God first.
Only the anti-christ the man of perdition would claim to be God or put himself above all that is called God. Christ did NOT do this.
Quote

39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

A lot of people say that Jesus had given 50 commands but he made it plain that these two summed up all the laws and teachings of the Prophets.

Furthermore God taught that the new covenant would be as Jeremiah 31:31-34.

His words within us. The Holy Spirit makes this possible.

To you... you would not fathom this when reading the bible. Because your search isn't for truth to make the change in your life. You don't feel you need God and don't want him in your life because all you can see is this life. But there is a next life and you need to make decisions where you want to spend that life and if the search for the truth is really worth it. I don't mean adopting a belief, that won't save you. I am on about sincerely searching for the truth because it will make the change for you.
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Hope

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Hereward was a king, and had widespread noticable effects on many people, resulting in four independent accounts of varying unexceptional events that are not intrinsically questionable, and are fragmentary. Little is made of the those claims except that Hereward most likely existed.
Sass, you aren't the only person to have made this claim, so this isn't a personal response as such.  There is no record of Hereward having been king - in England or anywhere else.  He is recorded as having been a leader of a freedom struggle during the time of William the Conqueror, as well as being declared an outlaw by Edward the Confessor.

My point was that the earliest mention of him was some 45 years after the Norman Conquest of England and perhaps 55 years after his being declared an outlaw.  Despite the very sketchy written information about him, few if any of us regard him as being a mythical person.  There are a few here who seem to regard Jesus - evidence for whom dates to about 10 years after his death and possible resurrection - as no more than a mythical being.  That seems to me to be double standards.
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Outrider

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The onus is on you to find out for yourself what if anything did happen. You won't find that asking others to provide proof of what they believe because faith is an individual matter whatever form it takes.

No, the onus is not on me to prove or disprove anything, I'm not the one making the claim. Christians are alleging Jesus rose from the dead and performed miracles, it's incumbent on them to provide sufficient evidence or I can simply dismiss the claim, just like I dismiss claims of Allah, Zeus, Thor and Thetans.

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You have to provide your own proof to show what you believe is anything but freewill choice on your part by just choosing without any personal investigation or evidence what you believe.

You haven't even shown that free will is a valid concept, and that at least has an evidentiary basis to work on.

Quote
I think we both know Jesus was NEVER a myth. And the truth is that all history is irrelevant when it comes to proof which is in written form as to being acceptble as true.

No, we don't both know this. You think you know this, but you're wrong. You believe this, that I'll happily accept. All history is provisional, the more distant the history the more provisional.

Quote
Even then the above with the exception of Christ is not really anything to ague with against or for Christ. Because Christ is part of the individuals truth and what is more important the truth from God.

You appear to have a different understanding of 'truth' to me. To me 'truth' is a verified, sound judgement, not merely a fervently held belief.

Quote
If you said you can understand all the scientific details however small which enabled a man to walk on the moon then you would be lying.

My degree in aeronautical engineering would suggest that you're wrong - maybe this is another of your 'truths'.

Quote
How we reason and we determine proof are two different things.

How we reason is simple. Whether we reason when we decide what we accept as proof is a different thing, I'll grant you that.

Quote
For instance:- Jesus being sent by God, how do we determine this...

We don't need to determine this until you can demonstrate a reason to think that it's true.

Quote
Jesus always makes God the centre of the praise and worship.

Whomever writes the stories about Jesus depicts him as making God the centre of praise and worship, but then whomever writes the stories about Harry Potter makes family and friendship the focal points...

Quote
If you love me then you will keep my commandments. Those commandments were:-
Quote
Matthew 22:37-40King James Version (KJV)

37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

38 This is the first and great commandment.

Jesus teaching by example and in his commands that to love God as he did with all your being is how you show love for Jesus. He does not request man love Jesus Christ with all their being but they Love God with everything. Hence Jesus was not and never has been the one to worship as God or to love as God. You can only love Christ by following his example and loving God first.

Why are you continuing to cite scripture at me when I've already explained that I see no reason to give it any more credence than any other ancient text?

Quote
To you... you would not fathom this when reading the bible. Because your search isn't for truth to make the change in your life. You don't feel you need God and don't want him in your life because all you can see is this life.

Right. And...?

Quote
But there is a next life and you need to make decisions where you want to spend that life and if the search for the truth is really worth it. I don't mean adopting a belief, that won't save you. I am on about sincerely searching for the truth because it will make the change for you.

There's no evidence for a 'next life', and no reason to think that anything that could be considered 'me' has any way of continuing beyond the degradation of the brain-patterns that currently manifest as my consciousness. I do sincerely search for the truth, I just don't accept wild stories without basis because they make me feel better about things.

I have one life, and I focus on living it well - enjoying it where I can, tolerating it when I can't, appreciating it for the opportunity it is throughout, and attempting to ensure that everyone else can do the same. That's not a lack of sincerity preventing me from accepting the stories of gods and Jesus, it's a lack of credulity.

O.
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floo

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(1) But nor do we know that it didn't, Floo.

The onus isn't on us to show that something extraordinary didn't happen - you have to give sufficient grounds to think it did, or you just have an assertion.

The onus is on you to find out for yourself what if anything did happen.
You won't find that asking others to provide proof of what they believe because faith is an individual matter whatever form it takes.

You have to provide your own proof to show what you believe is anything but freewill choice on your part by just choosing without any personal investigation or evidence what you believe.

So stop asking others to provide what you have to decide for yourself.

Quote
(2) Yet you have never been able to produce any evidence to support this suggestion, despite making it on numerous occasions on different forums and threads. The English 11th century leader Hereward the Wake has very little written about him but he is still regarded as having lived.  He is mentioned in 4 documents - the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles, the Domesday Book, Liber Eliensis and - most importantly - the Gesta Herewardi.  This last is thought to have been written between 1109 and 1131 by one of Hereward's brothers-in-arms - and therefore an eye-witness account.  Even if we discount everything that occurred before the Battle of Senlac Ridge, that's still 40-60 years after the events.  Why should taht be any more reliable than - say Mark's Gospel - which was likely written 30-40 years after the events it records and may have been written by someone who both experienced the events, and at the dictation of someone who was there.

Hereward was a king, and had widespread noticable effects on many people, resulting in four independent accounts of varying unexceptional events that are not intrinsically questionable, and are fragmentary. Little is made of the those claims except that Hereward most likely existed.

By contrast you have a singular account, with evidence of subsequent tampering, from a vested interest group, making extraordinary claims in a vacuum of mentions from what would be considered the expected reliable sources of the area in that era. That combination of extraordinary claim, uncorroborated account and the lack of any sort of commentary from the areas that might be expected to carry such information given what we understand of that time period make your claim more difficult to accept than the accept historicity of Hereward.

That said, the prevailing opinion is that the Jesus myth is most likely based on someone real, there is enough evidence to suggest someone was preaching in that area who elicited some attention, but the supernatural elements would need an supremely high level of support for us to accept, and instead they have a highly questionable level of support.

O.

I think we both know Jesus was NEVER a myth. And the truth is that all history is irrelevant when it comes to proof which is in written form as to being acceptble as true.
Even then the above with the exception of Christ is not really anything to ague with against or for Christ. Because Christ is part of the individuals truth and what is more important the truth from God.

If you said you can understand all the scientific details however small which enabled a man to walk on the moon then you would be lying.
How we reason and we determine proof are two different things.

For instance:- Jesus being sent by God, how do we determine this...

He who sends is greater than he who is sent.

Jesus always makes God the centre of the praise and worship.

If you love me then you will keep my commandments. Those commandments were:-
Quote
Matthew 22:37-40King James Version (KJV)

37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

38 This is the first and great commandment.

Jesus teaching by example and in his commands that to love God as he did with all your being is how you show love for Jesus. He does not request man love Jesus Christ with all their being but they Love God with everything. Hence Jesus was not and never has been the one to worship as God or to love as God. You can only love Christ by following his example and loving God first.
Only the anti-christ the man of perdition would claim to be God or put himself above all that is called God. Christ did NOT do this.
Quote

39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

A lot of people say that Jesus had given 50 commands but he made it plain that these two summed up all the laws and teachings of the Prophets.

Furthermore God taught that the new covenant would be as Jeremiah 31:31-34.

His words within us. The Holy Spirit makes this possible.

To you... you would not fathom this when reading the bible. Because your search isn't for truth to make the change in your life. You don't feel you need God and don't want him in your life because all you can see is this life. But there is a next life and you need to make decisions where you want to spend that life and if the search for the truth is really worth it. I don't mean adopting a belief, that won't save you. I am on about sincerely searching for the truth because it will make the change for you.
[/quote]

Funny that a number of Christians on this forum don't accept your version of the elusive 'truth'! ::)

Hope

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No he doesn't, because he has taken the focus off God when Christianity askes people to believe in Jesus as some sort of divine entity and that your being saved relies heavily on a belief in Jesus as opposed to "just" a faith in God.
Which is problematic in itself since Jesus is God.  He was and is God made human.

"Which you are not doing because the focus is on Jesus and being saved not on God, Christianity has also rather assumed that everyone finds living forever as important as it is for them.  It's not so. See above, Rose.

But if you don't focus on Jesus you are not saved no matter how much you love God ( or so the various groups of Christians tell us.)
No, the various groups of Christians tell us that God loved the world so much that he sent his only Son (ie himself) so that whoever believes in Jesus' action on and beyond the cross will not perish but have eternal life.  Another indication that God and Jesus are one.

Yes he did, Christianity demands you believe in Jesus, it's Jesus that comes first as Christianity says there is no other way to God ... See above. ... ( even though the Jews and people seem to have managed before Jesus ) other than through Jesus Did the Jews 'manage before Jesus'?  Perhaps you can tell us how they managed to fulfill the purpose for which they were chosen (selected)?

Which Christianity dumped from Judaism as being mindless rules, ...If Christianity 'dumped' any rules 'from Judaism' why does Judaism still contain them?  ... anyway Hillel a Jewish Rabbi did it in one, it was the Jewish version of the golden rule.In case you haven't noticed, not only was Hillel different in his purpose and wording, not all Jews have accepted Jesus' version, either.

I do search for the truth but am not prepared to be bribed by the issue of eternal life into accepting someone's else's version of truth.And what bribe would that be?  After all, eternal life isn't a bribe; it is something that occurs to all humanity. 

The truth is that I find that Christianity has moved the whole focus away from God and onto Jesus and being saved, which IMO is in conflict with the most important commandment I'm glad it's only your opinion, Rose, because the apostles clearly didn't think like you.

Also if your whole being was focused on God, you wouldn't even be focused on the next life.It seems to me that the only people here who are concentrated on the next life are the non-Christians, Rose.

As I said my focus isn't on a next life or on a person, even if he is called Jesus. You cannot assume what matters to one person matters to everyone.

It's no use telling people their focus should be on God and then taking away that focus with bibs and bobs of Christian theology who's whole aim is to take it away
You clearly adhere to a form of Christianity that doesn't match the mainstream forms, Rose, as I can't match the type of Christianity you are describing with any that I know of.
« Last Edit: October 07, 2015, 02:34:26 PM by Hope »
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Hope

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Hi Hope

You believe Jesus was God, not everyone does.
I'm fully aware of that, but it is a key point in Christianity.  The offer of salvation through grace is based on the understanding that Jesus and God are one.  It is the mainstream understanding as well.

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It's a circular argument that Jesus is God, you have to believe it to see it in the interpretations of the bible, as Christians do. If you don't believe it, you see something else.
Not sure that is true; I've come across plenty of scholars who understand that is what the New Testment is about without believing it to be the case.

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Did the Jews manage before Jesus?

Yes they managed quite well and are still doing so. christianity seems to assume they are the purpose for the Jewish religion, which only works if you are a Christian. ( replacement theology?)
Not sure what you mean by "christianity seems to assume they are the purpose for the Jewish religion".  I and many other Christians believe that the Jewish people were chosen for a purpose - namely to be a light to the Gentiles (Is 41 and 49).  The story of the latter parts of the Old Testament is the failure of the people to fulfill that purpose.  Many Jews will accept that.  Another way to put that is that they didn't manage.

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When you ask me how they fulfilled their purpose for which they are selected, you are assuming the answer is that Christian one,  that has been circulating since the last few thousand years, that Jesus and Christians are the purpose, and the Jews were to stupid to understand what God wanted and so failed.
Sorry, but this paragraph points out just how little you understand about Christian understanding.  As far as I am aware, your understanding has been circulating for about as long as it has taken since this last post of yours.  I have certainly never heard or read it before.

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Well there is another answer. Judaism is a different religion and Jews who follow it see it as having a different purpose.

For the answer to that, its best to explore Jewish sources
Which I have done plenty of times.  Oddly enough, your chosen example  ;) simply restates the Christain understanding -

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This is the idea of the Chosen People -- a nation of individuals who have been given the opportunity to sense G-d's closeness, hear His truth and relay his message to the world.
(my underlining)

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It's rather sad that Christianity seems to regard Judaism as some sort of failure.
Oddly enough, it was God who seems to have thought this, hence the arrival of Jesus

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The apostles didn't believe in modern Christianity because in their day it didn't exist.
Why do you say 'modern Christianity'.  What do you understand 'Early Christianity' to have looked like?

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Eternal life is a bribe and it isn't given to all humanity, only those that conform to varying Christian theology and dogma.
That certainly isn't waht parts of the Old and much of the New Testament suggest.  Rather they suggest that it comes to everyone in exactly the same that death comes to everyone.  What differs is just how one experiences that eternal life - is it in the presence of God, or not?

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I don't adhere to any form of Christianity.

Its why I say I'm not a Christian.
Yet, in several of your recent posts you have stated what Christans believe (or rather, you have stated some rather odd beliefs and told us that they are what Christians believe).

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All those theologies are only something someone else, an ordinary human being, thought, to explain things.
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Do you actually have any proof that this is the case in regard to Jesus' teachings?

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I prefer to think for myself, read Jewish sources, different things, make up my own mind.

Just having faith in theologies thought up by other people is just a cop out IMO.
I would agree wholeheartedly, which is why I don't follow some of the theologies and ideas that some here espouse.  In fact, I tend to question the  'theologies thought up by other people' pretty intensely.  For me, it isn't about theologies, its about a relationship with the Creator.
Are your, or your friends'/relatives', garages, lofts or sheds full of unused DIY gear, sewing/knitting machines or fabric and haberdashery stuff?

Lists of what is needed and a search engine to find your nearest collector (scroll to bottom for latter) are here:  http://www.twam.uk/donate-tools

jakswan

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Not sure that is true; I've come across plenty of scholars who understand that is what (Insert:jesus is god) the New Testment is about without believing it to be the case.

Actually that was a topic of recent Bart Ehrman debate.
http://www.religiousdebate.co.uk/
Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd.
- Voltaire

jeremyp

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If Jesus really did feed 5000+ with a few loaves and fishes, then it was supernatural and not "The power of apparently influencing events by using mysterious or supernatural forces." Rather it would have been "The power of the actual influencing of an event by ... a supernatural force." That is the difference and thus would make it not magic.

It should be obvious to you that I use the word "magic" in the "stuff that Gandalf does" sense and not the "stuff that David Copperfield does" sense.
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jeremyp

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jeremy, perhaps it would be better to ask this of DU, who introduced the idea of leaving family behind - "leave my productive employment to wander around with him (leaving family behind in the process)" [post #197] or Len who introduced the idea of leaving a 'dependent' family (and therefore by implication 'without support')

So you are not going to give me a definitive list of their names. You are running away instead.
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