The bible states that men were created with free wills, and that they have within them the choice to do either good or evil. It is also said that the biblical God cannot violate a persons will and so based on this understanding man does as he pleases.Yet,there is one story in the bible where God has done just that! It is the story of Jonah.
When I was coming up this story used to be called the tale of Jonah and the whale, although the bible never says that it was a whale. The scriptures refer to it rather, as a big fish. Like the tale of Adam and Eve and the forbidden fruit people have somehow with the passage of time turned that fruit into an apple, although again the bible does not specify what type of fruit it was.
This tale is found in the book of Jonah chapters 1-3 in its entirety. Basically, God had told Jonah that he must go to Nineveh and warn them that if they did not repent of their works that their city would be destroyed and they would all perish. Jonah did not want to go to Nineveh, so he boarded a ship going in another direction. Because of his actions God brought up a huge storm at sea and if it were not for the crew tossing Jonah into the sea, they would have all perished. When Jonah was in the sea he was swallowed up by a big fish, and he miraculously was preserved from death in the belly of this fish.
After he repented and decided to do God's will he was then spit out on dry land, where he was once again given his instructions by his god to go to Nineveh and relay his message of warning. Now here is my problem with this story besides the obvious stupidity of the "big fish" and his apparently non-functional digestive tract. If God went through all of this just to relay a message to a people why did he not just do it himself.
The way I see it a thundering voice from heaven would have been just as effective, the bible is full of tales where God can manipulate matter and interfere in nature etc. yet for some reason he could not do anything here. Not only that, he forced Jonah to go to Nineveh, this was definitely one situation where Jonah had no choice or free will to deny the lords request. In my view this tale alone throws that whole free will defense to the dogs. It states that Jonah fled from the presence of the Lord, as if this were possible. Since the bible teaches that God is everywhere present or omnipresent.
This is just one but there are many, it is theological inconsistencies like these that let me see the bible for what it is: a fraudulent work by fraudulent men.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
God's actions contradict his attributes
According to most Christians and the bible itself God is omnipotent (all powerful) Mark 10:27, omniscient (all knowing) 1 John 3:20, omnipresent (everywhere at all times) Psalm 139:7-10. If these attributes of God are true then why would God create mankind only to then later in Genesis 6:6 regret having ever created mankind? If he were truly omniscient he would not be surprised that man was a “sinful” creature, yet here he regrets having created man in response to man not meeting his expectations.
If he is omnipresent, then why would he have to “come down” to see if what he heard about man building a tower with the intention of reaching heaven were true Genesis 11:5? This passage and many others puts in question the claim that he is omnipresent, in fact, there are many instances in the bible where he relies on angels to relay messages or give him information about certain things.
If god were omnipotent, then why could he not help Judah dispossess the inhabitants of the plain simply because they had chariots of iron Judges 1:19? Are we to believe based on this scripture that iron is to God as kryptonite is to Superman?
Basically, what I am saying is that if we were to take the bible seriously we would be in some serious trouble. As you can see in this post it tends to contradict its own claims and I believe this is because it was written, edited, and produced by man. There is no divine influence whatsoever in the entire bible. If were to step back and put your reverence aside, you would surely see the reflection of man in all of its pages.
My approach is simple: if you get your concept of God from the bible, and the bible is wrong, then your god does not exist. He is exactly what the bible shows him to be; a creation of man and nothing more. You can sit back and say that when you pray you “feel” his presence but in reality all you are feeling is the result of your psycho-emotional attachment to your imaginary being. You are not thinking with your mind, instead you are trying to interpret with your heart.
All of God’s so called attributes can be placed in some point in time in our history and be put to question based on his inactivity. For instance, where was God while his “chosen people”: the Jews were being summarily exterminated at the hands of Adolph Hitler? I am sure that out of the over 6 million Jews that died there were many pleading for God’s help and intervention.
In mankind’s most dire moments of need God has been absent, and the only reason or explanation I have for this is that he does not exist. It is not that he does not care, it’s because he cannot care. Fictional beings have no emotions other than those that their creators give them. It’s time for man to push these old and silly superstitions aside and stare life in the face and make the most of it, because believe me when I tell you this, it will be over before you know it. Enjoy your life, make the most of it, live long and prosper etc.
If he is omnipresent, then why would he have to “come down” to see if what he heard about man building a tower with the intention of reaching heaven were true Genesis 11:5? This passage and many others puts in question the claim that he is omnipresent, in fact, there are many instances in the bible where he relies on angels to relay messages or give him information about certain things.
If god were omnipotent, then why could he not help Judah dispossess the inhabitants of the plain simply because they had chariots of iron Judges 1:19? Are we to believe based on this scripture that iron is to God as kryptonite is to Superman?
Basically, what I am saying is that if we were to take the bible seriously we would be in some serious trouble. As you can see in this post it tends to contradict its own claims and I believe this is because it was written, edited, and produced by man. There is no divine influence whatsoever in the entire bible. If were to step back and put your reverence aside, you would surely see the reflection of man in all of its pages.
My approach is simple: if you get your concept of God from the bible, and the bible is wrong, then your god does not exist. He is exactly what the bible shows him to be; a creation of man and nothing more. You can sit back and say that when you pray you “feel” his presence but in reality all you are feeling is the result of your psycho-emotional attachment to your imaginary being. You are not thinking with your mind, instead you are trying to interpret with your heart.
All of God’s so called attributes can be placed in some point in time in our history and be put to question based on his inactivity. For instance, where was God while his “chosen people”: the Jews were being summarily exterminated at the hands of Adolph Hitler? I am sure that out of the over 6 million Jews that died there were many pleading for God’s help and intervention.
In mankind’s most dire moments of need God has been absent, and the only reason or explanation I have for this is that he does not exist. It is not that he does not care, it’s because he cannot care. Fictional beings have no emotions other than those that their creators give them. It’s time for man to push these old and silly superstitions aside and stare life in the face and make the most of it, because believe me when I tell you this, it will be over before you know it. Enjoy your life, make the most of it, live long and prosper etc.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
The stupidity of Mormons and Mormonism
I personally do not care for neither Christianity nor Mormonism, I think they are both as true as the tale of Little Red Riding Hood. But one thing I have noticed is that Mormons don’t know a thing about the bible, because if they did they would reject Mormonism outright. When I was a Pentecostal evangelist I found that when I was out witnessing and ministering to people on the streets the easiest religious sect to refute was the Mormons.
It was all in the so called foundation of their church where I found the one major flaw that basically made all the rest of their doctrines obsolete and completely worthless. The founder of Mormonism Joseph Smith claimed that he received a visitation from an angel named Moroni that basically told him that he would lead him to some golden tablets buried under a mountain in upstate N.Y.
Smith also claimed to have received a Urim and Thummim, two seer stones that were supposed to aid him in translating the text of an unknown language on the plates into English. Of course when he was done translating what is now known as “The Book of Mormon”, conveniently the angel Moroni came back to claim the tablets and the stones. So once again to be a Mormon you have to accept this charlatans story on faith.
Mormonism in my opinion is just one of many other religious sects that just goes to prove my theory that people are willing and gullible enough to believe anything regardless of education. My problem with Mormonism is that if you are going to be an offshoot of a religion you should at least follow the rules set down by the religion you are borrowing from. Obviously, Joseph Smith must have overlooked Galatians chapter 1 verses 6 through 9. Mormons when you have a chance you can read it for yourselves.
The main focus of Galatians 1:6-9 that interest me the most and that is the most damning to Mormonism is particularly verses 8 and 9. 8 But even if we ourselves or an angel from heaven preaches to you a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let God's curse be on him. 9 I repeat again what we declared before: anyone who preaches to you a gospel other than the one you were first given is to be under God's curse. (NJB) The apostle Paul knew and even experienced in his day opposing doctrines and beliefs, so he warned the Galatians apparently because some of them were being led astray.
Now let’s look at this text in perspective, Paul said “if we ourselves” (the apostles) and in this case Joseph Smith or an angel from heaven such as Moroni was purported to be, preaches to you a gospel…. As you can see the entire foundation of the Mormon church based on the words of Paul come crashing down. Although both religions are false; Christianity being the parent religion takes precedence over its bastard child Mormonism.
It was all in the so called foundation of their church where I found the one major flaw that basically made all the rest of their doctrines obsolete and completely worthless. The founder of Mormonism Joseph Smith claimed that he received a visitation from an angel named Moroni that basically told him that he would lead him to some golden tablets buried under a mountain in upstate N.Y.
Smith also claimed to have received a Urim and Thummim, two seer stones that were supposed to aid him in translating the text of an unknown language on the plates into English. Of course when he was done translating what is now known as “The Book of Mormon”, conveniently the angel Moroni came back to claim the tablets and the stones. So once again to be a Mormon you have to accept this charlatans story on faith.
Mormonism in my opinion is just one of many other religious sects that just goes to prove my theory that people are willing and gullible enough to believe anything regardless of education. My problem with Mormonism is that if you are going to be an offshoot of a religion you should at least follow the rules set down by the religion you are borrowing from. Obviously, Joseph Smith must have overlooked Galatians chapter 1 verses 6 through 9. Mormons when you have a chance you can read it for yourselves.
The main focus of Galatians 1:6-9 that interest me the most and that is the most damning to Mormonism is particularly verses 8 and 9. 8 But even if we ourselves or an angel from heaven preaches to you a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let God's curse be on him. 9 I repeat again what we declared before: anyone who preaches to you a gospel other than the one you were first given is to be under God's curse. (NJB) The apostle Paul knew and even experienced in his day opposing doctrines and beliefs, so he warned the Galatians apparently because some of them were being led astray.
Now let’s look at this text in perspective, Paul said “if we ourselves” (the apostles) and in this case Joseph Smith or an angel from heaven such as Moroni was purported to be, preaches to you a gospel…. As you can see the entire foundation of the Mormon church based on the words of Paul come crashing down. Although both religions are false; Christianity being the parent religion takes precedence over its bastard child Mormonism.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
The hypocrisy of Christianity
Christians claim to be followers of Christ; and to this day they claim that they are in all things only doing God’s will, yet they demonstrate with their deeds the very hypocrisy of their beliefs and their own convictions based on those beliefs. According to the scriptures Jesus supposedly said: 36 “Be compassionate just as your Father is compassionate. 37 Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven.” Luke 6: 36, 37 (NJB)
Upon first glance it seems like a simple and direct commandment, but it is not as simple as it seems. I don’t care who you are or from what walk of life you come from it is in our nature to judge one another. Not necessarily on religious beliefs and convictions but also on societal norms. We even judge each other on the weirdest things such as how a person dresses, smells, walks, or talks. It is natural to judge certain people, places, and things based on our own life experiences and convictions. John 15: 18-20, Matthew 5: 13-15
Because of the many commandments of the biblical god from the old testament under the law and the commandments from the new testament under grace, Christians are filled with unreasonable biases. Christianity in general is sexist, homophobic, pro-slavery, bigoted, etc… In order to be a true Christian you must be willing to sacrifice your ability to reason and rationalize, you must put unquestioning faith now matter how impossible it is first.
You must accept that you are nothing more than a piece of navel lint and that without God you are absolutely worthless, you must sacrifice your will for his will whatever you believe that will might be. You must be untrue to yourself since everything that might bring you joy out of life for instance a homosexual relationship is a sin before the Lord. Or not having an abortion after having been impregnated by a rapist simply because the church tells you it is a sin before God.
Once the poison of Christian beliefs and biases enter your system and take over your mind, you become the most hypocritical bigot on the face of the earth. All of a sudden the world and everything in it has to conform to your beliefs and what you believe to be your gods will. The world becomes a hostile place and everything you can possibly think of as wrong with the world centers on its lack of submitting to your religious convictions and beliefs. What you fail to realize my dear Christian is that religious beliefs have been around since mankind’s infancy, and that throughout its existence it has varied and changed as knowledge about the world we live in has changed and increased.
Religious beliefs are a personal choice and are not meant to be shoved down the throats of those that differ or refuse to accept them. An atheist has free will in that he is much more closer to living his life and doing what makes him happy. As long as his life choices are benevolent and do not harm his fellow members of society they are acceptable. He is not a slave to dogma or religion everything he does is because he wants to and chooses to. He does not behave a certain way because it is what is required by his deity of choice, he does not withhold those things in life that bring him pleasure because it violates a command of an imaginary deity.
The atheist enjoys life to the fullest and when he decides to help out a fellow human in need he does so not because he is trying to do God’s will, but because he is doing his own will. And whenever he does a good deed he feels good and can take the full credit for his labor of love. Not having to hand over credit to the grace of God but rather to the goodness of his own heart and convictions. Christianity breeds hypocrisy, and hypocrisy separates man from his true nature and self.
Upon first glance it seems like a simple and direct commandment, but it is not as simple as it seems. I don’t care who you are or from what walk of life you come from it is in our nature to judge one another. Not necessarily on religious beliefs and convictions but also on societal norms. We even judge each other on the weirdest things such as how a person dresses, smells, walks, or talks. It is natural to judge certain people, places, and things based on our own life experiences and convictions. John 15: 18-20, Matthew 5: 13-15
Because of the many commandments of the biblical god from the old testament under the law and the commandments from the new testament under grace, Christians are filled with unreasonable biases. Christianity in general is sexist, homophobic, pro-slavery, bigoted, etc… In order to be a true Christian you must be willing to sacrifice your ability to reason and rationalize, you must put unquestioning faith now matter how impossible it is first.
You must accept that you are nothing more than a piece of navel lint and that without God you are absolutely worthless, you must sacrifice your will for his will whatever you believe that will might be. You must be untrue to yourself since everything that might bring you joy out of life for instance a homosexual relationship is a sin before the Lord. Or not having an abortion after having been impregnated by a rapist simply because the church tells you it is a sin before God.
Once the poison of Christian beliefs and biases enter your system and take over your mind, you become the most hypocritical bigot on the face of the earth. All of a sudden the world and everything in it has to conform to your beliefs and what you believe to be your gods will. The world becomes a hostile place and everything you can possibly think of as wrong with the world centers on its lack of submitting to your religious convictions and beliefs. What you fail to realize my dear Christian is that religious beliefs have been around since mankind’s infancy, and that throughout its existence it has varied and changed as knowledge about the world we live in has changed and increased.
Religious beliefs are a personal choice and are not meant to be shoved down the throats of those that differ or refuse to accept them. An atheist has free will in that he is much more closer to living his life and doing what makes him happy. As long as his life choices are benevolent and do not harm his fellow members of society they are acceptable. He is not a slave to dogma or religion everything he does is because he wants to and chooses to. He does not behave a certain way because it is what is required by his deity of choice, he does not withhold those things in life that bring him pleasure because it violates a command of an imaginary deity.
The atheist enjoys life to the fullest and when he decides to help out a fellow human in need he does so not because he is trying to do God’s will, but because he is doing his own will. And whenever he does a good deed he feels good and can take the full credit for his labor of love. Not having to hand over credit to the grace of God but rather to the goodness of his own heart and convictions. Christianity breeds hypocrisy, and hypocrisy separates man from his true nature and self.
Friday, October 1, 2010
No one has come back from the dead! Ever!!
Religious beliefs aside from being nothing more than wishful thinking and delusional; are also guilty of perpetuating a false outlook on life in general. Christianity for example emphasizes the so called spiritual life over that of the physical life, it teaches that this life is temporary which it is, and that it is that afterlife which is eternal and that each one should strive to achieve.
It teaches its adherents to abhor this life in exchange for a life that cannot possibly be proven to exist since no one has ever been known to return from the dead outside of mythology. You can argue that Christ returned from the dead but in doing so you face several dilemmas. Namely, having to prove that Christ existed as an historical figure, that the gospel narrative are reliable sources of information regarding his life and if possible provide secular evidence that corroborates those narratives.
There is also the issue of proving that he died by way of crucifixion, was entombed in a cave for three days, and finally that he rose from the dead. The gospels state that he was seen by his apostles and immediate followers, but according to Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:6 he was also seen by over 500 witnesses after his resurrection.
I don’t know about you but I find it hard to believe that if so many people saw Christ after he was allegedly dead that no one thought that this event was significant enough to write about. I do know that there was a huge amount of illiteracy in those days, but biblical accounts state that Jesus had contact with the scribes and the Pharisees often and they were certainly not illiterate. Yet there is nothing written by any of them that have survived or been discovered to this day.
According to Paul; Christianity hinges on the resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15: 14-17). The bible is full of tales and myths of men being brought back to life after having been dead as in the case of Lazarus and several others both in the old and new testaments. None of these so called resurrected figures uttered on single solitary word about what happened to them on the “other side”.
Evidence of this so called afterlife is scant and the so called evidence that does exist is dubious at best and very suspect. Don’t get me wrong I personally had some experiences as a child that I thought at the time were actual sightings of full bodied apparitions and such, but as an adult I question myself and wonder if these experiences were not the result of a young child’s active imagination. Let’s not forget that there are also several mental illnesses that make it difficult for a person to tell the difference between reality and fantasy.
I therefore conclude that no one has ever returned from the dead, especially after three days or more of being in the grave. I know the bible states that Jesus did not decay while he was in the grave, but that would be a miracle and we know miracles of a divine nature don’t exist. With rigor mortis and cellular death after a few hours of physical death this just makes Jesus resurrection an impossibility.
It teaches its adherents to abhor this life in exchange for a life that cannot possibly be proven to exist since no one has ever been known to return from the dead outside of mythology. You can argue that Christ returned from the dead but in doing so you face several dilemmas. Namely, having to prove that Christ existed as an historical figure, that the gospel narrative are reliable sources of information regarding his life and if possible provide secular evidence that corroborates those narratives.
There is also the issue of proving that he died by way of crucifixion, was entombed in a cave for three days, and finally that he rose from the dead. The gospels state that he was seen by his apostles and immediate followers, but according to Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:6 he was also seen by over 500 witnesses after his resurrection.
I don’t know about you but I find it hard to believe that if so many people saw Christ after he was allegedly dead that no one thought that this event was significant enough to write about. I do know that there was a huge amount of illiteracy in those days, but biblical accounts state that Jesus had contact with the scribes and the Pharisees often and they were certainly not illiterate. Yet there is nothing written by any of them that have survived or been discovered to this day.
According to Paul; Christianity hinges on the resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15: 14-17). The bible is full of tales and myths of men being brought back to life after having been dead as in the case of Lazarus and several others both in the old and new testaments. None of these so called resurrected figures uttered on single solitary word about what happened to them on the “other side”.
Evidence of this so called afterlife is scant and the so called evidence that does exist is dubious at best and very suspect. Don’t get me wrong I personally had some experiences as a child that I thought at the time were actual sightings of full bodied apparitions and such, but as an adult I question myself and wonder if these experiences were not the result of a young child’s active imagination. Let’s not forget that there are also several mental illnesses that make it difficult for a person to tell the difference between reality and fantasy.
I therefore conclude that no one has ever returned from the dead, especially after three days or more of being in the grave. I know the bible states that Jesus did not decay while he was in the grave, but that would be a miracle and we know miracles of a divine nature don’t exist. With rigor mortis and cellular death after a few hours of physical death this just makes Jesus resurrection an impossibility.
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