Wednesday, January 11, 2012

The Witness of the Spirit and Christ's Return


7 Still, I am telling you the truth: it is for your own good that I am going, because unless I go, the Paraclete will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 13 However, when the Spirit of truth comes he will lead you to the complete truth, since he will not be speaking of his own accord, but will say only what he has been told; and he will reveal to you the things to come.14 He will glorify me, since all he reveals to you will be taken from what is mine. John 16: 7, 13, 14 (NJB)


The above are what Christians generally believe to be some of Jesus last words to his apostles before his trial, crucifixion, and death. As you can see by reading the above text these words contain yet another promise to the apostles specifically from their Lord. The word Paraclete is just another appellation for the Holy Spirit or as it is called in the King James translation of the scriptures the comforter. This is what many modern day believers refer to as the inner witness of the Holy Spirit that confirms to them the truth of what they believe. As I pointed out in an earlier post noted apologist William Lane Craig and others put much stock on this inner conviction over actual objective evidence.

According to the scriptures the Holy Spirit was sent by God and Christ to serve as a sort of intermediary between Jesus and his believers. His job was to comfort, lead, and instruct believers to all truth regarding the teachings of Christ and matters of a spiritual nature. As promised by Christ the Spirit was received on the day of Pentecost according to the book of Acts 2: 1- 4. As a result of this event, the apostles begin offering this so called “gift of the Spirit” to all those who would repent, and be baptized for the remission of sins (Acts 2: 38, 39).

One thing that is made clear by Christ in the gospel of John chapter 16: 17 is that he would be back soon. He also makes this abundantly clear in all three synoptic gospels that there were some among his apostles that would not taste of death before witnessing his return. You can read all about it in Matthew 16:28, Mark 9:1, and Luke 9:27 specifically don’t forget to read the context so Christians can’t accuse you of misinterpreting what is said.

Not too long ago I had a debate with a couple of theists on the meaning behind these verses. Their pathetic defense for the failed prophecy was that Christ was actually referring to the transfiguration. They come to this conclusion because immediately after he speaks those words he takes Peter, James, and John with him to a mountain and is transfigured right before their eyes. The only problem with this interpretation is that that is a far cry from Jesus coming down on a cloud surrounded by angels. In its proper context all that occurred was that those particular apostles were given a glimpse of Christ's true divinity.

Following the above line of reasoning in the book of Matthew 24:34 Jesus is recorded as having said these words: ‘In truth I tell you, before this generation has passed away, all these things will have taken place.’ A generation was believed to be around 35 to 45 years in those days but if this is true it also means that Christ’s promise of returning in all power and glory never came to pass.

After the alleged death of Christ and the day of Pentecost it is evident that the apostles and their converts believed that Jesus would return during their lifetime. They preached repentance and the imminent coming of the kingdom of God. Two thousand years later the Church has utilized one passage of scripture to try and make up for this huge and damaging discrepancy. In reference to his return Jesus states in Mark 13:32 that: 'But as for that day or hour, nobody knows it, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son; no one but the Father.’ If you believe and cling to this verse and others like it hard enough, then you can dismiss the fact by faith; that Christ’s prophecy about his return has failed.  

Two thousand plus years later Christians cling to the so called witness of the Holy Spirit to convince themselves that despite these discrepancies Jesus is coming back soon. They don’t see the absurdity of their beliefs, and choose to ignore the evidence against their beliefs as outlined in their own holy book. It should be of no surprise because I can tell you from experience that these are the symptoms or side effects of faith. Faith relieves you of your ability to reason and to think for yourself.

Being led by faith in any and all matters is a detriment to all those that choose this path. It’s akin to being blind folded and led by the hand by a complete stranger through a maze of uncertainty. It is delusional and untrustworthy as a source of information or facts, and keeps you from seeing and appreciating the real world for what it is.

I want my readers to know that although I cite the so called words of Christ often, it does not mean that I believe that Christ was an historical figure. In fact, I actually believe the contrary. I think that Jesus Christ was a mythological fabrication of the church and never actually existed nor walked this earth. I have my reasons for believing this and I will discuss that in the near future in another post.

In conclusion I have proven through the very texts used by Christians that Christ is not coming back, and that he was not talking to the church of today but rather directly to his apostles and their generation not ours. Also, I have shown that the so called witness of the Holy Spirit is not real nor trustworthy. In fact this “divine” experience is nothing more than a subjective and emotional response to the words of the bible inspired by ones own personal convictions and beliefs.

8 comments:

  1. Anyone dumb enough to believe Christ never existed, needs more than a blog to work out his issues. What other so called "mythological fabrication" has had the type of impact on the world that Christ's has? Dude, just because you're pissed off that Jesus didn't return in accordance to your finite understanding of the timetable, doesn't mean He ain't returning. Time will tell dear one...may God bless you in spite of your doubt.

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  2. @morethananadman, when you could provide evidence that Christ did in fact exist than do so. By the way subjective experiences or blind faith in ancient myths as told in the bible do not count. Finally, if you don't see the absurdity of your statement that a so called man who allegedly died over 2,000 years ago is somehow coming back from the dead in his "glorified" body then you are more delusional than I thought. Do you not see the absurdity of this belief. Also, its not my time table your stupid bible states that Jesus said he would return in the generation of the apostles. Read you bible before you run your mouth.

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  3. Exactly there is literally no evidence outside the BuyBull that the big Jeez ever existed - this in one of the most documented periods of ancient history. Not only that the story is almost identical to a few earlier myths. Believing he existed because that retarded book said so is as dumb as beliving Spiderman exists because he's in the comic books.

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  4. I totally agree that God and the bible is a myth but, Also I believe the concept of Jesus and all other pagan Gods came from Astrology. Pagan Gods and Jesus are all Sun Gods. In ancient times people had great admiration for the sun and their is a connection of Pagan Gods and the so-called savior Jesus. From my research they all were born on Dec.25th which coincides with the winter solstice. Also Christmas is in fact a pagan Holiday as well as Valentines day and Halloween. My point is Jesus was and is a Pagan God. Christianity is no different than Wiccan. I feel like an alien with religion all around me due to the fact I live in the bible belt. Just call me the Lonely Atheist

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    1. Thanks for your comment, I also have done similar research and have come to the same conclusions. I have always said that the Jesus story is nothing more than a conglomeration and plagiarism of more ancient myths and legends of the time.

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  5. Trying to figure out how to join this site Can someone tell me.

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  6. Aha! Well I have a brain after all. lol Btw I just wanted to let you all know I also posteTook me a few to figure this site out :-)

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  7. Godless on the right side of the post over the members list there is a button that says join this site. Click there and follow the instructions and you will then be a member of this blog. Thanks for your support and stay tuned.

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