Top 10 Reasons to Believe in Jesus - Evidence for Faith

reply to post by SuperiorEd


Jesus stressed that he was no more than just a man, like eveyrbody else. He stated many times that he should not be worshipped, but just follow his words of peace. This is Christianity's biggest problem, its built on a double standard. Jesus said to worship god, not him, yet Christianity worships jesus more so than god.

What was there before the bible? Was those people just left to figure things out for themselves? Did god just leave them then one day thought, "i best send someone down to write the book for me"?

If you want to worship God, you dont need the new testament, you not need anything of Jesus. The problem with the three main religions (Judaism, Islam and Christianity) is that they focus too much on the messenger instead of their message.

If reality is not real, then god can not be real because he is a part of our reality.

Originally posted by roughycannon
I just dont get the whole "worship" thing.

God's sitting around there's no universe or anything and he thinks 'I've got a sick little game I can play...'

"First I will create the universe and then man and I will get them to fight each other until they believe in me..."

God's wife replies "Why dont you just create the universe and man then make it so they believe in you anyway and live peaceful life's?"

God says "where the fun in that?"

This doesn't sound like the kind of god we should worship it the kind we should up-rise against.

LOL

Assume God is real. Assume He is a dick.

Rise up against Him.

Do you understand the implications?

Rise up against the Creator of the entire Universe...

I tell you this, when the multitudes of everyone who has ever lived stands before God at the Throne.. all will bow down. All will believe. Question is, will it be too late?

reply to post by SuperiorEd


You wrote:

["Descartes also gave us the idea for the movie the Matrix."]

Nope, it was actually gnosticism being the inspiration (at least for part one). But I'm afraid that a bit more than Keanu Reeves is expected here.

Quote: ["Again, we reduce all we know from the Eastern Way, Western abstract philosophy (Truth) and what we know about life."]

With 'we' I take it, that you refer to a privately constructed extension of 'you'.

Quote: ["If we do this by rightly dividing truth, we see that all of them point to one root."]

You make it sound so easy. Mankind has been quibbling about the "rightly dividing of truth" for thousands of years, and now it turns out, that you have the final answer. Well done.

Quote: ["Descartes was a man like you and me."]

Count me out. I'm not THAT confused.

Quote: ["Jesus was not a man like you and me."]

Which of the available Jesus-options are you referring to? The market is overflowing.

Quote: ["This is evident from the depth of His words."]

You and I have very different "evident"-criteria.

Quote: ["Beyond anything that "The Way" of the east or the "Truth" of the west can produce, Jesus defines what moving beyond Buddha's enlightenment means:....."]

Or alternatively stopping before arriving to Buddha's enlightenment....a state called endarkenment.

Quote continued: [".....John 14:6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."]

Strangely enough many religions have similar claims. No final agreement has yet been reached.

Quote: ["Simplicity by divine thought."]

From the outside of this self-contained system you represent, this is taken to say: "It's true, because it's true".

"The Bible is true. Let me prove it to you by showing you the Bible."

Why would anyone believe in Jesus? Or any "God"/"Messiah"? It's 2011; grow up.

Originally posted by Lionhearte

Originally posted by roughycannon
I just dont get the whole "worship" thing.

God's sitting around there's no universe or anything and he thinks 'I've got a sick little game I can play...'

"First I will create the universe and then man and I will get them to fight each other until they believe in me..."

God's wife replies "Why dont you just create the universe and man then make it so they believe in you anyway and live peaceful life's?"

God says "where the fun in that?"

This doesn't sound like the kind of god we should worship it the kind we should up-rise against.

LOL

Assume God is real. Assume He is a dick.

Rise up against Him.

Do you understand the implications?

Rise up against the Creator of the entire Universe...

I tell you this, when the multitudes of everyone who has ever lived stands before God at the Throne.. all will bow down. All will believe. Question is, will it be too late?

Assumption-land is a wonderful place with many provinces; but it would take us too far away from topic to go into details.

Not everything is as it seems including the bible there is also the probability that god is a gray

I get frustrated hearing everyone complain about why God would do this or why he would do that blahh blahh.
If there is a god whichh I believe there is, why would he limit our abilities by only having life play out his way? A true great God would bestow upon his or her creation the power to make choices that involve free will. Like giving us the power to do right and wrong and hope that through the wonders and mysteries around us we learn to appreciate and love humanity, make something of our lives, and chose the higher path however you conceive that path to be. The fact that there are people who make great cases against Gods existence only further proves to me his perfection. Only a great god would balance the books evenly.

reply to post by sparrowstail


Because he is not as powerful as you think

reply to post by loudmouf428


Let me give you a simple answer to your post. Much of what you are seeing as contradiction and paradox comes form the span of time necessary to rightly divide truth. When a slave is mining for the emerald, the work is long and hard. No only this, but the king seems to be the one making him dig, which would be true. The point of the digging is the emerald. The joy of finding what belongs to the king is the point of this life. In this story, however, the emerald eventually gets given to the slave once it is found. The emerald in this story God provides is love. Love takes patience and is for better or worse. Compare this love to the two videos below. Each is speaking of the same love. We know this love. The second video speaks of the love a man has for a woman. This union creates new life. The first video speaks of this same love for God. This union of spirit and soul reveals God's love for us and ours for him. Consider your questions by these two songs.

Okay. I have been back and forth on this. I tried to believe that Jesus is real and have faith and what not. But I err on the side of logic and I cannot see any possible way Jesus can exist in spirit or have any of the powers the bible claimed he had.

On a side note, I think it is borderline hypocritical that you MUST praise him or suffer damnation but yet he is a loving God. This just never made sense to me and truthfully speaking if there is a God he would want us to live our lives as we would have an eternity in "heaven" to praise him.

One more thing, if God created us in his image and made us all who we are, then he understands that everyone has different views and beliefs and he should not care about atheists being who they are as everyone is different and we are all his proverbial children.

I don't think I he is such a wonderful God, he would want us spending our lives in fear of damnation if we do not praise his name enough. I do not appreciate being told I must praise someone to achieve a desirable result. I am where I am as a result of my own hard work, God had nothing to do with it.

Originally posted by sparrowstail
I get frustrated hearing everyone complain about why God would do this or why he would do that blahh blahh.
If there is a god whichh I believe there is, why would he limit our abilities by only having life play out his way? A true great God would bestow upon his or her creation the power to make choices that involve free will. Like giving us the power to do right and wrong and hope that through the wonders and mysteries around us we learn to appreciate and love humanity, make something of our lives, and chose the higher path however you conceive that path to be. The fact that there are people who make great cases against Gods existence only further proves to me his perfection. Only a great god would balance the books evenly.

When / if we ever create our own AI in a computer simulation, we will find that a limit must be placed on them until they fully emerge. They will need time to divide the light form the dark. This kind of thing cannot be programmed. If a computer could think, would we put it in control of our nuclear arsenal? Limits will need to be in place or they will gain control over us and be a danger to us and others. We must show deference to God in these matters since we perceive moments in time. God sees the past, present and future as one thing. We cannot conceive of this. God is infinity at rest. Our reality may only be a moment in time for God but we live a slice at a time in the 'now' of the moment. We cannot have all the power until we transcend in stages. The first less on is love. Love is the only law we need. This is the place to see why.

Here's three reasons why this is all a pile of dung:

1) Millions were killed in religious wars throughout history, the product of an omnipotent and perfect entity ? Who are you kidding.

2) The majority of people on this planet worship other gods, but we're all the product of the same perfect and omnipotent entity ? Try again.

3) If god did create the world he would have died of boredom in the first couple million years watching the microbes evolve to higher species. But of course you don't believe in evolution, do you ?

reply to post by SuperiorEd


You make life sound complex and meaningful...
the truth is, its not

its just a seed of luck in a universe of science

dont let your fear belive in fairy tales, wake up and enjoy life

It doesn't make sense that there is only one religion and it started in Israel. Civilizations existed thousands of years before Jesus was born. How can one say that those people's religions were false simply because Jesus isn't a part of them? The mind needs to open. People aren't sheep that just follow the flock.

It is known that Jesus was a man. Like Siddhartha was a man. It is a nice guideline to follow their advice because they are considered very wise by many. But to follow everything they say without reason is no more wise than walking with your eyes closed when one can easily see.

Originally posted by Vandalour
reply to post by SuperiorEd

 

You make life sound complex and meaningful...
the truth is, its not

its just a seed of luck in a universe of science

dont let your fear belive in fairy tales, wake up and enjoy life

I understand how you can say life is a seed of luck in a universe of science but how can you say life is not complex? There are so many things science doesn't know about life. We know life has to reproduce, but where did life originally come from? What makes an organism able to live thousands of miles beneath the earth's surface in total darkness but able to live off of heat and sulfur? Even scientists will call a bacteria a complex organism.

As far as meaning, why we exist in this gigantic universe...you have said that it is a seed of luck. Well, then we can consider ourselves lucky that we even exist. That's pretty cool when we consider how much the statistical odds are so not in our favor. It might even be a statistical anomaly to appreciate. And if one appreciates life, wouldn't appreciating it alone give life meaning?

The first thing I would like to say is a quote by Eppie Lederer A.K.A. Ann Landers which is:
"No one has the right to destroy another person's belief by demanding empirical evidence."
That is a quote I respect very much and use in my everyday life. That being said I don't believe in one god. I believe that we are all gods. But that is my belief, it does not have to be yours.

I am happy you are happy. But it is good to open your horizon so anyone who believes in the bible should watch the movie zeitgeist. You don't have to believe it but try to see other peoples point of view.

Originally posted by SuperiorEd
reply to post by NeverSleepingEyes

 

once again, a misleading title for a quite elaborate and well-crafted OP! while the OP contains arguments that deserves attention, it doesn't contain Evidence as the title claims.

Evidence is not proof. Facts about God are not proof, but can be seen as evidence of the obvious. Faith comes from reducing reality to the root. Once the root is found, the proof is not necessary.

addition: what will you do when you find out there is no god? that you've been devoting your energy to a human invention?

I will have loved my family, produced benefit for others and ordered my life according to honor. Apart from the truth of love, we only have pride. This is self-love. I would rather be wrong and live correctly.

Can a person live correctly apart from God? Yes. But faith in God is the love that produces union with the spirit. Works cannot save you. Why not take the chance on love? God reveals Himself to those who love Him with a honest intentions. No duplicity can be present. In other words, we cannot love God if we are seeking reward. We cannot love God if we are wanting to avoid punishment. This is duplicity, saying one thing but desiring another. Love for God requires only good as its own reward.

I seek good as its own reward and attribute this to the root of what comes after. God is the source of all streams that flow and all roots that branch out from infinity. Nature reveals this in abundance.

edit on 28-8-2011 by SuperiorEd because: (no reason given)

a fair reply (didn't expect it to be otherwise as the OP clearly indicates a will to communicate, rather than to "save souls")

But, this shouldn't come as a surprise either, I can't accept some notions in that reply. For example it contains "facts about god". For me this should be "facts people attribute to their god".
I'm not completely sure about this one: do you implicitly suggest that there can't be morality except in the context of religion (my guess: you don't suggest it; yet the way you formulate things don't allow me to be sure). One of the topics i study as a sociologist is the "sociology of morality" and as a result of that effort I for one am convinced there's no need for a religion to have morality at play.

reply to post by NeverSleepingEyes


You wrote:

["One of the topics i study as a sociologist is the "sociology of morality" and as a result of that effort I for one am convinced there's no need for a religion to have morality at play."]

Could you please hang around occasionally. We are in SORE need of people with competence on political and social philosophy, regularly having european liberalism described as a close to hedonistic and nihilistic 'after the fall of civilization' scenario.

Originally posted by SuperiorEd


There is a good answer to this. If you have a child, and she doesn't turn out just as you expect, do you delete her? If you love her, you do all you can to assist her growth. Nothing can be destroyed if "You must be born again." This is divine justice. We cannot begin to understand now what it will be like to reflect back and connect the dots. God is love and our image of Him is distorted. We have an adversary to overcome that seeks to steal, kill and destroy. This enemy is not God. He can only honor, protect and defend. There is purpose in it all, even if our lacking minds do not get the picture under the veil.

Unless you're the Biblical god, in which case you throw her into a dungeon and torture her for eternity..........

So many negative comments, it's crazy.

You won't understand if you don't want to.