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Merged (edited) General thoughts about Christianity and the bible

Roger Ramjets said:
52% of New Zealanders are non-religious. Only 32% identify as Christian. We accept that the Bible is a 2,000 year collection of stories from Israel and a Roman religious cult that began there. That doesn't make us 'Christians'.

You are wrong about 50% or better. Worldwide the proportions are:- Christian 29%, Islam 26%, unaffiliated 24%, Hindu 15%, Buddhism 4%, other religions 2%. In order to be over 50% accepting the Christian Bible as 'true' it would have to include at least 21% 'unaffiliated', leaving only 3% actual non-believers. This is (pun intended) unbelievable.

Of course the number who purport to be 'People of the Book' has no bearing on the validity of what is written in it. But what if it did? Then Christianity would lose because over twice as many people don't believe it.
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And the percentage is getting less year after year. There are many reasons for the decline, but the number one reason is time. Religiosity just can't withstand the modern world.
 
Whenever someone talks about the healing power of prayer, I wonder what those faithful who prayed for their sick loved one and got answered with a hearty 'LOL, ◊◊◊◊ off" must think. "The Lord works in mysterious ways", I guess. Funny how they are only mysterious when you are not getting what you want, tho.
 
Thermal said:
Whenever someone talks about the healing power of prayer, I wonder what those faithful who prayed for their sick loved one and got answered with a hearty 'LOL, ◊◊◊◊ off" must think. "The Lord works in mysterious ways", I guess. Funny how they are only mysterious when you are not getting what you want, tho.
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Years ago I was eating lunch at a restaurant and a group of three or four people were sitting near me. By their conversation, they were obviously involved in some church outreach group. At one point one of them related a story in which he'd been with some other people on some church business in downtown Greenville, and he'd said "we'd better start praying for a parking space now". So they did, and they found a conveniently located parking space almost immediately, which was seen as evidence of divine intervention for their benefit. Not only did I marvel at the imbalance of granting parking spaces vs. preventing the Holocaust, but I remembered a number of times when I, an atheist, had driven downtown and found a good parking space with little effort, rather than the usual hunt and long walk.
 
A reason the hate the bible is of course that whenever a nation catches Christianity it will fail.

Look at the Roman Empire. The more Christian it became, the worse off it's situation.
When the Vikings were Christianized they rapidly declined into weak kingdoms.
When Christianity enveloped Europe it became a patchwork of feuding areas, which lasted until the religion was sidelined.
And look at the current US. The more the Evangelical Christians started becoming politically relevant, the more decrepit the nation became to the point that most former allies now consider it a non-friendly or even hostile nation while it's long dominance in science and economy is rapidly eroding.
 
Lukraak_Sisser said:
A reason the hate the bible is of course that whenever a nation catches Christianity it will fail.

Look at the Roman Empire. The more Christian it became, the worse off it's situation.
When the Vikings were Christianized they rapidly declined into weak kingdoms.
When Christianity enveloped Europe it became a patchwork of feuding areas, which lasted until the religion was sidelined.
And look at the current US. The more the Evangelical Christians started becoming politically relevant, the more decrepit the nation became to the point that most former allies now consider it a non-friendly or even hostile nation while it's long dominance in science and economy is rapidly eroding.
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Adopting Christianity worked out pretty good for the Catholic church in that time frame tho?
 
Lukraak_Sisser said:
A reason the hate the bible is of course that whenever a nation catches Christianity it will fail.

Look at the Roman Empire. The more Christian it became, the worse off it's situation.
When the Vikings were Christianized they rapidly declined into weak kingdoms.
When Christianity enveloped Europe it became a patchwork of feuding areas, which lasted until the religion was sidelined.
And look at the current US. The more the Evangelical Christians started becoming politically relevant, the more decrepit the nation became to the point that most former allies now consider it a non-friendly or even hostile nation while it's long dominance in science and economy is rapidly eroding.
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The British Empire would be a counterexample.
 
zooterkin said:
The British Empire would be a counterexample.
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Ah, but the British never tried to impose Christianity or export it. They were just in it for the money.

And of course I'm being sarcastic, but it shows how easily some simple arguments can be made by ignoring all the rest of the circumstances.
 
The Bible says: Six days for the creation of everything.
Evolution says: Billions of years of mutations.

The Bible says: God created man (Adam) in their own image.
Evolution says: I'm a monkey's uncle.

The Bible says: Species reproduce after their kind.
Evolution says: Species are produced by mutations.

The Bible says: God created everything for a purpose.
Evolution says: There is no meaning.

The Bible says: Intelligent design.
Evolution says: The result of an explosion.

The Bible says: God spoke the universe into being.
Evolution says: No one knows who pulled the trigger on the big bang.

The Bible says: Jesus paid the death penalty for Adam's sin and ours.
Evolution says: There was no Adam.
 
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Dave Rogers said:
How about approaching it in the same way that someone might, for example, square Christ's exhortation to help the poor and needy with a xenophobic desire to expel immigrants to the poorer countries they came from? Many Christians don't seem to have a problem with that.
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You are framing illegal aliens as "the poor and needy".
We have already given them plenty. Yet they failed to complete the required documentation for citizenship.
They are bad for America. They need to go.

The Biden democrats had 4 years to change the laws. They opened the floodgates instead.
Now we have a serious problem to correct.
 
Rusty Tyler said:
You are framing illegal aliens as "the poor and needy".
We have already given them plenty. Yet they failed to complete the required documentation for citizenship.
They are bad for America. They need to go.

The Biden democrats had 4 years to change the laws. They opened the floodgates instead.
Now we have a serious problem to correct.
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So, ignore Christian dogma and thought, and simply believe what fits your prejudices. Question answered, thread closed.

Dave
 
Seriously: Talk to a priest. A Jesuit, if you can get one. But definitely not an Evangelical pastor. Meanwhile:

Rusty Tyler said:
The Bible says: Six days for the creation of everything.
Evolution says: Billions of years of mutations.
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Six days is metaphorical, or allegorical, or mystical, or otherwise poetic. Maybe the "days" are the incomprehensible time periods before the big bang, wherein God set all the parameters for the universe as we know it, before expanding it out to size. Maybe the whole long history of this planet is all the "eighth" day. Maybe "day" is the closest translation we have, for a transcendental experience will never know and could never understand.

Rusty Tyler said:
The Bible says: God created man (Adam) in their own image.
Evolution says: I'm a monkey's uncle.
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Cousin, really. Also, spiritual image.

Rusty Tyler said:
The Bible says: Species reproduce after their kind.
Evolution says: Species are produced by mutations.
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Both can be true.

Rusty Tyler said:
The Bible says: God created everything for a purpose.
Evolution says: There is no meaning.
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Evolution is agnostic about meaning.

Rusty Tyler said:
The Bible says: Intelligent design.
Evolution says: The result of an explosion.
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Both can be true.

Rusty Tyler said:
The Bible says: God spoke the universe into being.
Evolution says: No one knows who pulled the trigger on the big bang.
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It's metaphorical, or allegorical, or mystical, or otherwise poetic. "Pulled the trigger" is a figure of speech. So is "spoke into being". Seriously, you need to lighten up a bit.

Rusty Tyler said:
The Bible says: Jesus paid the death penalty for Adam's sin and ours.
Evolution says: There was no Adam.
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"Adam" represents the point in evolutionary history when God deigned to imbue one of the hominids - H. sapiens - with souls created in his image. The Genesis account is a poetical or mythologized retelling of whatever relationship and transgressions passed between those early humans and God.

That's the best I can do on short notice, very little sleep, and swiftly waning interest. Again, talk to a priest. They have all kinds of answers for this stuff. Hope this helps. Have a nice day!
 
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