The Gospel

[UrsulaV]

I suppose it's the same reason the God in the bible created the snake. No snake, no temptation, no story.

You know, if people like Kathy would use this argument, I'd take it. If the answer to "Why is there original sin?" was "To keep God from dying of boredom watching bored people wander through the boring Garden of Eden," I'd consider that worthy of discussion. "Why did God set this whole plan in motion?" "Perfect worlds are dull."

But nooooo, it's only the heretics who come up with anything interesting like that...

 

[articulett]

Yes, everything in that book came from God.

Slavery is ok by God. Women are beneath men, and should do as they are told. God requires blood sacrifices in order to be pleased. God can and does command his people to commit violent cruelty against non-believers, including children. Jonah was swallowed by a whale for three days and lived. Multible spouses are ok for men, but not for women. And as an after-thought, God made the stars also...

From my Biblical readings, it seems God favors Men. I wonder why? Could it be that Men had something to do with the writing and editing? Just a thought.

It amazes me that people can accept this book as having anything to do with God. All you have to do is read it and think about what you are reading. But thinking seems to be difficult for the average believer. It is easier to just accept and follow.

And why didn't god clue people in about things like germ theory (wash your hands for godsakes!--especially when birthing babies and cover your mouths when you cough...could have saved lives).

God is a fraud. Kathy nourishes her brain with mental junk food. Religion leads to stupidity.

 

[delphi_ote]

You know, if people like Kathy would use this argument, I'd take it. If the answer to "Why is there original sin?" was "To keep God from dying of boredom watching bored people wander through the boring Garden of Eden," I'd consider that worthy of discussion. "Why did God set this whole plan in motion?" "Perfect worlds are dull."

But nooooo, it's only the heretics who come up with anything interesting like that...

If they did that, they could keep "all powerful" and "all knowing," but they'd have to throw "loves every individual" right out the window!

 

[kurious_kathy]

Name one. And don't forget, you said "...to the letter."

I have already posted this info a couple different times, but I will repeat it again if anyone cares to pay attention to it. If you have even a tiny bit of faith you would be able to see the truth of God's word, and the prophecies that have been fulfilled to point the way to our Saviour.

How can we recognize the Messiah?
Centuries ago prophets spoke of the coming of a great leader. He would be sent by God and would be called God’s Anointed One, the Messiah. The current interest in the State of Israel awakens renewed interest in the Messiah. Here are six descriptions that identify Him:
He must be of the seed of Abraham. Genesis 22:18
He must be of the tribe of Judah. Genesis 49:10
He must be of the house of David. Isaiah 9:7
He must be born of a virgin. Isaiah 7:14
He must be born in Bethlehem as foretold by the prophet Micha. Micha 5:2
He must be God. Isaiah 9:6

Two thousand years ago, a child was born in a stable in the town of Bethlehem. He was of the seed of Abraham. He was of the tribe of Judah and the house of David. His mother was a virgin. The Messiah has come!
Who is the Messiah? The only one who meets the requirements is Jesus. As a devout Jew, Jesus lived a remarkable life. He restored sight to the blind, healed crippled limbs, and even raised the dead. He astounded the Jewish leaders of that time by His insight, wisdom, and teaching of the Scriptures. By His words and works He proved Himself to be God’s Anointed One.
Then according to the predetermined plan of God, Jesus gave Himself as God’s Passover Lamb- He died for the atonement of His people’s sins. As the prophet Isaiah predicted: “He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not…But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all” Isaiah 53:3-6
Jesus, the Redeemer, the Suffering Servant of God, died on the cross of Calvary and was buried. On the third day He rose from the dead and appeared to hundreds of witnesses.
By the resurrection, God clearly demonstrated that Jesus is the Messiah. If you have not received Jesus as your Messiah, He invites you:” If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved” Romans 10:9

This is what the Gospel is all about.

 

[Palimpsest]

He must be of the seed of Abraham. Genesis 22:18
He must be of the tribe of Judah. Genesis 49:10
He must be of the house of David. Isaiah 9:7
He must be born of a virgin. Isaiah 7:14
He must be born in Bethlehem as foretold by the prophet Micha. Micha 5:2
He must be God. Isaiah 9:6

He must be named Immanuel. Isaiah 7:14
He must reign over Israel. Isaiah 9:7

Oops.

 

[psy kick]

What about my query, kathy?

 

[Roadtoad]

I would go with 2. If it's 1, and God cannot solve the problem, He cannot be God by definition. Pretty simple, actually.

This means that when we see children suffer, since God will not act, we must. This is what differentiates man from God: Man will act, God, it seems, will not.

 

[Genesius]

I have already posted this info a couple different times, but I will repeat it again if anyone cares to pay attention to it. If you have even a tiny bit of faith you would be able to see the truth of God's word, and the prophecies that have been fulfilled to point the way to our Saviour.

Seems to me I've heard something about a tiny bit of faith before. . .

Oh yeah, Matthew 17:20

. . . for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.

So Kathy, moved any mountains lately?

 

[Freethinker]

He must be of the house of David. Isaiah 9:7

The Jews did not consider matriarchal lineage, so Jesus couldn't have been god's son AND of the house of David. He would only have been considered of the house of David if Joseph had been his father.

He must reign over Israel. Oops! You forgot to include this one. Maybe it was because it totally disproves your point????? In no way, shape or form did or does Jesus rein over Israel. He was never king, and in case you haven't discovered this on your own, Israel is a Jewish country. Jews don't believe Jesus was the messiah.


And the call him Immanuel thing too. You said "...to the letter.."

Sad that you find writings by Christians that can't stand up to the most trivial scrutiny by godless heathens a fitting substitute for thinking.

 

[UrsulaV]

If they did that, they could keep "all powerful" and "all knowing," but they'd have to throw "loves every individual" right out the window!

Oh, I dunno. I loved (for a certain rather lame value of love) most of the RPG characters I played over the years, but that doesn't mean I decided to have them settle down to an emotionally fulfilling life in the first village we came to--I threw 'em at any monster that came our way and delighted when the situation got Really Really Nasty.

Perhaps our hypothetical God loves us that way. Y'know...shallowly and geekily, for our amusement value.

 

[Genesius]

Perhaps our hypothetical God loves us that way. Y'know...shallowly and geekily, for our amusement value.

I believe Edmund Blackadder said it best: "As private parts to the Gods are we; they play with us for their sport."

 

[delphi_ote]

Oh, I dunno. I loved (for a certain rather lame value of love) most of the RPG characters I played over the years, but that doesn't mean I decided to have them settle down to an emotionally fulfilling life in the first village we came to--I threw 'em at any monster that came our way and delighted when the situation got Really Really Nasty.

Perhaps our hypothetical God loves us that way. Y'know...shallowly and geekily, for our amusement value.

Do you think we all have character sheets? If so, I wonder what my class is...

 

[Ossai]

kurious_kathy

How can we recognize the Messiah?
Centuries ago prophets spoke of the coming of a great leader. He would be sent by God and would be called God’s Anointed One, the Messiah. The current interest in the State of Israel awakens renewed interest in the Messiah. Here are six descriptions that identify Him:
He must be of the seed of Abraham. Genesis 22:18
He must be of the tribe of Judah. Genesis 49:10
He must be of the house of David. Isaiah 9:7
He must be born of a virgin. Isaiah 7:14
He must be born in Bethlehem as foretold by the prophet Micha. Micha 5:2
He must be God. Isaiah 9:6

That is rather sad. You don’t even know the criteria for the Messiah.


First of all, he must be Jewish - "...you may appoint a king over you, wham the L-rd your G-d shall choose: one from among your brethren shall you set as king over you." (Deuteronomy 17:15)

He must be a member of the tribe of Judah - "The staff shall not depart from Judah, nor the sceptre from between his feet..." (Genesis 49:10)

He must be a direct male descendant of King David and King Solomon, his son - "And when your days (David) are fulfilled, and you shall sleep with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who shall issue from your bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will make firm the throne of his kingdom forever..." (2 Samuel 7:12 - 13)

He must gather the Jewish people from exile and return them to Israel -"And he shall set up a banner for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth." (Isaiah 11:12)

He must rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem - "...and I will set my sanctuary in their midst forever and my tabernacle shall be with them.." (Ezekiel 37:26 - 27)

He will rule at a time of world-wide peace - "...they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore." (Micah 4:3)

He will rule at a time when the Jewish people will observe G-d's commandments - "My servant David shall be king over them; and they shall all have one shepherd. They shall follow My ordinances and be careful to observe My statutes." (Ezekiel 37:24)

He will rule at a time when all people will come to acknowledge and serve one G-d - "And it shall come to pass that from one new moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before Me, says the L-rd" (Isaiah 66:23)

Now go read the ones you listed in context and the ones I listed in context.


Palimpsest

He must be named Immanuel. Isaiah 7:14

This is not a messianic prophecy. Read it in context.

Ossai

 

[Trantor]

He astounded the Jewish leaders of that time by His insight, wisdom, and teaching of the Scriptures. By His words and works He proved Himself to be God’s Anointed One.

I find it interesting that none of these "astounded" Jewish leaders found the time to write anything about the amazing Jesus. We have historical records about a variety of issues written back in the time of Jesus, but NOT one mention of this amazing miracle worker who astounded all those around him and had thousands following him everywhere.

Even the historian Josephus, who lived at that time, only gives Jesus a very small mention as a religious teacher. The Romans also never mentioned Jesus at the time he was supposed to be doing miracles. Certainly not someone that was considered very special or important at the time.

Only in the Bible, which was written and put together much later, do we find Jesus the miracle worker.

I will also add that many historians doubt that even the minor mention by Josephus was actually written by him. Josephus's writings have been known to have been tampered with by later day Christian Church leaders. Most of those tamperings have been corrected, but the mention of Jesus as a teacher was left.

Do any of the Fundy's have a rational explaination for this?

 

[Palimpsest]

Palimpsest

He must be named Immanuel. Isaiah 7:14

This is not a messianic prophecy. Read it in context.

Well, I realize Isaiah 7:14 isn't a messianic prophecy. But as long as kkathy was quoting it, I thought I'd throw out the second half of the verse.

 

[Elind]

Not only do I believe it, but I believe if God had not kept his hand on me I would not have lived through lot's of things in my life! Now I am free and walking in the light

Good for you, but I note that there were many posts between your first and this one, irreverent or not, but all you do is talk to yourself. perhaps you are blinded by the light? (how does that song go?)

(Wow, I see I my post jumps from page 1 to 62 at warp speed. Time really is an illusion on this forum)

 

[delphi_ote]

Good for you, but I note that there were many posts between your first and this one, irreverent or not, but all you do is talk to yourself. perhaps you are blinded by the light? (how does that song go?)

(Wow, I see I my post jumps from page 1 to 62 at warp speed. Time really is an illusion on this forum)

Lunchtime doubly so.

 

[merentha]

Oh, I dunno. I loved (for a certain rather lame value of love) most of the RPG characters I played over the years, but that doesn't mean I decided to have them settle down to an emotionally fulfilling life in the first village we came to--I threw 'em at any monster that came our way and delighted when the situation got Really Really Nasty.

Perhaps our hypothetical God loves us that way. Y'know...shallowly and geekily, for our amusement value.

Wow! KK's right. God has been speaking to us. He's saying he makes bad things happen to his creations because it amuses him to do so, and because he loves his creations the way we love our Sims and RPG characters. Now put me on God Mode!

 

[Ossai]

Palimpsest

Well, I realize Isaiah 7:14 isn't a messianic prophecy. But as long as kkathy was quoting it, I thought I'd throw out the second half of the verse.

Sorry, I tend not to read KookyKathy that closely so I missed the reference to Isaiah 7.

Ossai

 

[Elind]

One of the things that makes me cringe the most when I see it in the media is when some person, who has accumulated great wealth, is described as a "self-made" man or woman, when nothing could be further from the truth, unless that august person operated in a total vacuum.

It's telling that you would base your example on the accumulation of wealth through nefarious means. How utterly modern.

M.

Now if that doesn't sound like sour grapes jealousy, generalized to the extreme, I don't know what does, unless we want to hearken back to the good old days when communism was believed in by many.

Do you think there is a point where wealth becomes nefarious automatically, or is it just if it's more than yours?