not me, I have smoked alot of weed in my life, that is all. I used to be an alcoholic drug addict. It was very hard on my wife. I don't consider that any factor in what I believe, I really enjoyed using drugs , just lost the motivation. There is no need to be confused about Jesus when you can get a bible and read His story. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John in the bible, I like the New Living Translation among others.
Perhaps, but those people truly believe in what they would die for. I am saying that if Jesus didn't rise from the dead, then several people died and suffered for a story that they personally know is make believe.
If you read in a newspaper today that some people belonging to a cult in a third world country were willing to give their lives to testify that their spiritual leader rose from the dead, how would you interpret that? Is it more likely that these people were delusional/lying, or that their leader actually rose from the dead? And for those offended at my comparison of Christianity to a cult, I would think that in 1st-century AD that's essentially what most people considered it to be -- rightly or wrongly. I'm no historian, but I think it's reasonable that throughout history and across many different faiths you'll find people who had "visions" and were willing to die for what they believed in. And relatively speaking, we live in a particularly comfortable place/time in history. When there's so little to live for, death probably wouldn't seem like such a bad option.
Firstly, did that really happen? Secondly, Jesus didn't just appear to people who were already his believers, he appeared to skeptics as well.
Yes, actually. Paul was a non-believer and persecutor of Christians until Jesus appeared to him risen from the dead.
I don't know if it has happened. But supposing it did, in present day, I would consider it far more likely that the followers have just deluded themselves rather than a man actually rose from the dead.
That the American church has taught you that...and that it's your perception of the faith of the people I know, including my own....accounts for about 95% of the disagreement you and I have over faith. I see huge presumptions and assumptions about why people who believe actually believe. I don't find any of them to comport with why I believe. I need to avoid this thread. I'm fine with good discussion...but I think the potential of this thread is to go far more negative than spark any real discussion.
What if there was no religion? Disagreements in sports and mass killing are different..... "Imagine there's no Heaven It's easy if you try No hell below us Above us only sky Imagine all the people Living for today Imagine there's no countries It isn't hard to do Nothing to kill or die for And no religion too Imagine all the people Living life in peace You may say that I'm a dreamer But I'm not the only one I hope someday you'll join us And the world will be as one Imagine no possessions I wonder if you can No need for greed or hunger A brotherhood of man Imagine all the people Sharing all the world You may say that I'm a dreamer But I'm not the only one I hope someday you'll join us And the world will live as one"
I define religion as a body of doctrine (teaching) and practices that attempts to address the ultimate questions in life. Contemporary U.S. culture is so superficial, so silly, and preoccupied with the unimportant, that even the most religious are not very reflective or serious about their lives. Even contemporary evangelicalism is so slogan ridden, so vacuous, so implicated in pop-culture that it offers no meaningful or compelling reason to listen. However, as one who has studied all the world religions, who has read hundreds of books on philosophy and theology, and has searched relentlessly for the "truth," I am convinced that the Jesus of the New Testament documents, not the fanciful Jesus of modern pop-christianity, is and always will be the Unique and Supreme Person of human history. If you will study Him directly, listen to what He said, and watch what He did, you will find True Religion. For a season, stop listening to people, stop reading this board, stop reading anything, and just read the Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. I promise you, you will never be the same. And as you read, I challenge you to say your first prayer, "God, if you are real, if you are there, show me, prove it." Prepare to be rocked.
what exactly do you mean by this? I'm always interested to hear personal anecdotes of this type. as a backsliding Christian, i can only remember one time when i experienced something that i felt was truly divine. When i was baptized i remember feeling slightly dazed and my mouth was moving but i had no control of it. Since then, i could see how that could be rationalized as me being cold.
I don't believe in a "religion." It wasn't until I was 30 years old that I began following Christ. I'm 36 as of yesterday. So I lived 30 years in a world of pleasure and pain....running towards pleasure and running away from pain. That was it. Sex, alcohol, light drug use, just basically living to get that next 'high" of whatever variety I could. I'd echo rhester's statement on enjoying life then. I sure enjoyed all those things. Still tempted by many of them today. Why do I believe what I believe? I had one crazy event in my life, and God just showed up on the scene, even though I didn't really believe in Him. That even sparked a curiousity in me like never before, and I went on a personal journey to figure out what was true, who God was, and why he intervened in my life even though I never truly gave Him the time of day. There's much more to the story....but my carpal tunnel is acting up.
The thing that I don't get with atheist people is if they think that there's no God then who created you and when you die what will you become? Nothing? Like nothing has ever happened, like nothing you will remember? If you die tomorrow and don't believe in God or you're not religious, spiritual than what shall you become? Nothing? I'm religious but I don't like the fact that people use religion as a motive to kill other people and I don't like the extremist that ruin the one's religion.
Yea, i know that. I was more interested in what specifically happened to you. But, if you feel that is private then i'm fine with that as well.
I will say this, my quest revealed that the Jesus of the N.T. is not the action figure caricature of Jesus which dominates the modern discourse, the phony Jesus of pop christianity, but you have to meet Him for yourself, He is there, waiting. The reality is shocking, but you must go deep and it will take time. And in the final analysis, there are not enough words to describe Him. Just remember, the Way is narrow, and the Gate is small. Few go in.
