I dislike the south.
Why?
Where to begin… let’s start with Jesus billboards.
Why?
I found them patently inappropriate, especially the one that suggested I might die at any minute.
Why?
I shouldn’t be told I’m damned for eternity just because I wanted to take a drive and a church wants more asses in the pews.
Why?
Christians bitch and moan about atheist billboards, and they even vandalize them, leading me to believe I need to vandalize their billboards.
Why?
Christians believe that we should do unto others as we would have done unto ourselves.
Why?
I’m assuming when Jesus said that, he assumed people wouldn’t take that to mean, “Be rude to other people in my name.”
Why?
The Jesus as recorded in the gospels is not that kind of jerk.
Why?
There are not many things attributed to Jesus that are very offensive.
Why?
Probably a little artistic license.
Why?
It’s not like the people who wrote the Bible ever met Jesus.
Why?
It’s just a well established fact that the earliest New Testament writings were done long after the fact.
Why?
The earliest are the works of Paul, who admits to having never met Jesus.
Why?
I guess it’s easier to explain the inconsistencies that way.
Why?
Well, if Paul never met Jesus, that would account for why he has a very loose interpretation of Jesus.
Why?
It’s not enough to read about a guy based on his fans, because you cannot truly understand someone until you get to know them personally.
Why?
Human beings are not objective witnesses.
Why?
Primarily, our memory is imperfect, and we also have a tendency to lie or exaggerate.
Why?
We humans often let emotions get the best of us.
Why?
We are beings of chemistry, and emotional responses are chemical signals that influence our thought process and behavior.
Why?
Humans are merely bags of chemicals, not puppets controlled by flawless and perfect souls.
Why?
I don’t know, I guess that’s the best life could offer.
Why?
Several billion years isn’t enough time to create the perfect sentient being through natural selection.
Why?
I don’t know.
For those interested, the billboard had an arrow pointing to the ground at an actual graveyard and an arrow pointing to a church nearby, and it read "Before you end up here (graveyard), go here (church)."
ReplyDeleteI plan to walk my dog in that graveyard. Many, many times.
Please share the facts you know that prove the gospels were written too late for them to have been written by eyewitnesses.
ReplyDelete@ Anonymous - This is widely, if not universally, accepted.
ReplyDeleteWiki Answers...
This one has a chart at the bottom.
Another Christian source.
Some more details on how the dates are estimated. Comments on this one are interesting, too.
Does that help?
The most convincing is that 2nd and even 3rd century Greek is used in various New Testament accounts. Then there is the small matter of the eye witnesses not even being Greek...
ReplyDeleteThanks for the links and info. I am going to take time to read these and will get back to you. I have also read much information that supports early dating for the gospels (before 70 AD).
ReplyDeleteThere's no evidence that any "prophecy" regarding the second temple's destruction was written before 70 AD.
ReplyDeleteI dislike the south too.
ReplyDeleteWhy?
I live in it.
"The Jesus as recorded in the gospels is not that kind of jerk."
This is what I've heard all my life, but now I'm reading a gospel, and, I'm really surprised, but the Jesus I'm reading about really is a jerk. A big one. He lies, doesn't follow his own advice, disses his parents and non-Jews. So i have to disagree with this point.
That's true, Jesus also said stuff like that it would be better for someone to be drowned than to lead others from God. Perhaps this is why I don't follow Jesus or his teachings, even though you can do so without the religions (which are honestly worse).
ReplyDeleteBret, The destruction of the temple is not mentioned in any of the gospels. If they were written after the destruction surely such a major event would have been recorded. Especially since the fulfilled prophesy would have added to the validity of the Christian message.
ReplyDeleteThe chronology would make no sense. The four Gospels specifically detail the life of Jesus. If I were writing a biography of Joseph Smith, I would not include information about Mormon relocation to Utah, as this happened after Smith's death. Sure, it would add some victimhood to the tale, but it wouldn't fit because it was long after the fact.
ReplyDeleteActs is a record of early church history and the destruction of 70 AD is not mentioned there either. Nor Nero's persecution of the Christians or the deaths/martyrs of Paul (64 AD) or Peter (65 AD). Acts 12 does mention the death of James, however, Peter and Paul are the primary figures of Acts so this suggests Acts was written prior to their deaths. Luke was written prior to Acts and Matthew and Mark prior to Luke. Almost all biblical scholars agree that the New Testament documents were written before the close of the first century when there would still have been eyewitnesses who could dispute any inaccuracies being recorded.
ReplyDeleteThey have those billboards in Ohio too
ReplyDelete