Thursday, August 29, 2013

O.T. vs. N.T. parallels are not prophetic

And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?" (which means "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"). Mark 15:34

Most will recognize these to be the last words of Christ as he hung on the cross. But in reality this is actually taken from the Old Testament and put into the mouth of Christ in the narrative. Many Christians who haven't read the Bible in its entirety would be oblivious to this fact. Others who do know of it will reinterpret those Old Testaments texts as prophetic. While there are still others who will state that many of the things in the Old Testament as a type of what was to come (Christ). 

For the director of music. To the tune of "The Doe of the Morning." A psalm of David. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish? Psalm 22:1

As you can see those words are taken from Psalm 22 and it is a lamentation of David where he cries out to his God for help in troubling times. One thing to note is that the Old Testament was written in ancient Hebrew or Aramaic and that the New Testament was written for the most part in Greek Whenever there are portions of the O.T. used in the N.T. it has to be translated into the Greek. The New Testament for the most part uses the translation known as the Septauagint (LXX) which is a Greek translation of the O.T. Hebrew/Aramaic. 

"The Septuagint, from the Latin word septuaginta (meaning seventy), is a translation of the Hebrew Bible and some related texts into Koine Greek. The title and its Roman numeral acronym "LXX" refer to the legendary seventy Jewish scholars that completed the translation as early as the late 2nd century BC. Its contents comprise the Eastern Orthodox Old Testament for which reason it is sometimes called the "Greek Old Testament" ("Η μετάφραση των Εβδομήκοντα'"). This translation is quoted in the New Testament, particularly in the writings of Paul the Apostle, and also by the Apostolic Fathers and later Greek Church Fathers."  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Septuagint

Incidentally, Psalm 22 also has elements within the texts that fundamentalists believers interpret as prophetic texts regarding the sufferings of Jesus during his crucifixion and subsequent execution at the hands of the Romans. The same can be said about Psalm 53 which if you did not bother to read the 52 chapter you would be oblivious to the fact that it is not referring to Christ but to the nation of Israel.

First let's define what a Psalm is not. It is not a prphecy of anything and should not be taken as such. Let's take a quick look at what a psalm is according to the Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary

1. (n.) A sacred song; a poetical composition for use in the praise or worship of God.
2. (n.) Especially, one of the hymns by David and others, collected into one book of the Old Testament, or a modern metrical version of such a hymn for public worship.

So a psalm is a song of worship and praise to God it's not to be taken as a prophecy. David in Psalm 22 was singing a song of praise to his God which started out with his lamentations and ended in praise. The introduction to this Psalm states this fact:"For the director of music. To the tune of "The Doe of the Morning." A psalm of David. In verse 25 David again reminds us that it is a song of praise.

"From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly;
before those who fear youf I will fulfill my vows." Psalm 22:25

Incidentally, in the psalm there are elements that like the first verse were taken from this very psalm that seem to describe details from the crucifixion of Christ. I will try to match them up to their so called fulfillment in the N.T. of which we will talk about afterwards. The first verse has already been illustrated and taken care of so we will skip it and point out some other similarities.

16Dogs surround me,
a pack of villains encircles me;
they pierce my hands and my feet.
17All my bones are on display;
people stare and gloat over me.
18They divide my clothes among them
and cast lots for my garment.  Psalm 22:16-18

In these three verses we have the crucifixion as it is described in the N.T. they pierced his hands and feet, the mocked him, and they cast lots for his garments. We are going to be using the gospel of Mark although all of these elements are spread out through all four gospels regarding the crucifixion of Christ. Mark is believed to be the first gospel narrative written and all the others are believed to have borrowed elements from it.

They pierced his hands and feet (crucified) 
25It was nine in the morning when they crucified him.

They mocked him
29Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, “So! You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, 30come down from the cross and save yourself!” 31In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the law mocked him among themselves. 

They cast lots (gambled) for his garments
24And they crucified him. Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots to see what each would get.

There are many instances in the New Testament where themes from the Old Testament are borrowed and taken out of context to refer to the life, death, and crucifixion of Christ. Another important factor to mention is that the word Christ is not a name but a title. Strongs Greek Lexicon defines it as thus:

Christos: the Anointed One, Messiah, Christ
Original Word: Χριστός, οῦ, ὁ
Part of Speech: Noun, Masculine
Transliteration: Christos
Phonetic Spelling: (khris-tos')
Short Definition: Anointed One, the Messiah, the Christ
Definition: Anointed One; the Messiah, the Christ.

It is my theory that Jesus Christ was a fictional figure derived from the Old Testament narratives regarding the hopes of a Messiah for the Hebrews. Once you realize this you can read those O.T. texts properly without trying to read into them what is not there or taking them out of context to conform to what you believe. 

Note: All biblical citations are taken from The New International Version of the scriptures. All other references have been hyperlinked.

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Why theists visit atheist sites

Since I have had my blog and youtube page up, I have come across from time to time what I like to refer to as theists trolls. Since this blog is primarily about atheism and refers specifically to the Christian faith for the most part; when I say theists here I will be referring mostly to members of the various Christian faiths.

Now my question is why would a Christian want to visit an atheist website, blog, or forum at all? When I first accepted the fact that I was an atheist and had completely rejected my former faith as false and delusional I expended a lot of energy going online attacking Christians. I was a bitter atheist in those days and I hated the fact that I had wasted so much time and energy and had given so much of myself to the so called work of the Lord. I went to church on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays (twice), and on Saturday and Sunday during the day I was outside with my ministry partner at one of two local shopping districts with my mic in hand preaching and ministering to the masses. When I wasn't doing that I was visiting the sick at the hospitals or in their homes or preaching at some local church. I lived and breathed Jesus twenty four hours a day literally!

I have matured greatly since then and no longer harbor feelings of resentment or hatred towards Christians nor the faith. I feel that everyone is entitled to believe as they please as long as they are not hurting anyone or trying to force those beliefs on others either directly or indirectly by influencing politicians and legislation. I have not been on a Christian website in years and I try to avoid reading Christian books on apologetics because I can spot a logical fallacy a mile away and their arguments for their god have not changed in quite some time. I basically have the "I don't bother them they don't bother me" attitude about the whole matter. I could only think of several reasons why a theist would go to an atheist website, blog, or forum. The first is that they are commanded to proselytize the world and to preach the gospel to all nations.

The great commission! 

He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Matthew 16:15

This order according to the anonymous author of Mark, came from Jesus himself! And so based on this information it is the duty of all Christians to make known their faith to all those that they come in contact with and are willing to listen. Of course there are those that wont accept their message but Jesus was made to provide instructions for this situation as well by the biblical authors. 

And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, leave that place and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them." Mark 6:11  

Basically what Jesus was saying here was that if their message was not received then just leave them alone. They have been warned and so they will have to deal with the consequences of their own decision in the future. But that is not what theists do today. They harangue and nag you to death and like a good sales representative can't seem to take no for an answer. It's almost as if they find it hard to believe that not everyone is going to buy into the product that they are selling. 


I agree with all options but four please don't ask again.

I can understand if you are a Christian apologists and just want to see what arguments are being made against your beliefs. Or maybe you feel that you are competent enough to hold your own in a rational debate in defense of your faith. But even this violates those very scriptures you swear to uphold in your lives as the word of God. 

15Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. 16Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. 

Verse 15 deals with defending the gospel from other false gospels and beliefs. Christ demonstrated this in the New Testament on various occassions when confronted by the scribes and Pharisees. The second verse deals with not getting caught up in godless discussions which is exactly what you are doing if you are arguing the existence of God with an atheist! Your job my dear Christian is to present the gospel to the world and leave the converting to the individual. Remember your beliefs are not based on facts but faith. 

 Faith is not a fact! 

The last reason I can think of for a theist to visit an atheist website, blog, or forum is to simply be a constant distraction and annoyance to the regulars of the website. They come to condemn those who don't believe as they do. They come to belittle those how cannot accept their claims on faith alone without first requiring evidence of their claims. They come to disrupt the flow of the conversation or disturb the activity of the other users. This is what is known on the internet as a troll.

A Christian troll in action!
 a troll (/ˈtrl/, /ˈtrɒl/) is a person who sows discord on the Internet by starting arguments or upsetting people, by posting inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community (such as a forum, chat room, or blog), either accidentally or with the deliberate intent of provoking readers into an emotional response or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion.
Note: All biblical citations are taken from the New International Version of the scriptures.
The definition for internet troll was taken from Wikipedia here

Sunday, August 25, 2013

Stupid things Christians say and why

1. Evolution is just a theory

This response is usually caused by the fact that theists don't understand the difference between the meaning of the word theory in common parlance and the meaning of the same word in a scientific context.

Theory

a : a hypothesis assumed for the sake of argument or investigation
b : an unproved assumption 

Scientific theory

In science, the word "theory" means much more. A scientific theory is a well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world, based on a body of facts that have been repeatedly confirmed through observation and experiment.  


2. You have faith in science

This is clearly a misunderstanding between the definition of faith in a religious context and can be cleared up quite easily. 

Faith

Now faith is the assurance that what we hope for will come about and the certainty that what we cannot see exists. Hebrews 11:1  International Standard Version

According to this definition faith is synonymous with hope. You hope for something and have confidence that it will come to pass without evidence to the contrary. You believe in the unseen in the same manner. 

Faith does not apply to science because science deals with facts of the empirical kind. This is why science is always changing its views because it is led by the evidence and not the other way around. 

3. If you don't believe in God then you are immoral, because objective moral values come from the Lord. 


1The fool says in his heart,“There is no God.”They are corrupt, and their ways are vile;there is no one who does good. Psalm 53:1 New International Version

Thus our need for "salvation" Pffft! 

4. You say you don't believe in God because you don't want to be accountable for your sins. 

Sin  

The truth is that sin, as defined in the original translations of the Bible, means "to miss the mark." The mark, in this case, is the standard of perfection established by God and evidenced by Jesus. Viewed in that light, it is clear that we are all sinners.

There are two things that the theist must realize here. As an atheist I don't believe that God exist and so to miss the mark of his perfection makes no sense to me outside of a religious context. The word sin in a religious context is nonsensical and therefore sin does not exist either. I am accountable first and foremost to myself for my own actions, my society and its laws, and the culture in which I was reared. 

5. Prove to me that God does not exist! 

Unfortunately since you are the one making the positive assertion that he does and all I'm doing is doubting your statement due to lack of evidence, the onus is entirely on you to prove me wrong. Good luck with that one. 

6.Where do you think that the universe and life came from? Nothing can come from nothing.

We may not know the exact process of how life sprang from inanimate matter (abiogenesis) but we are humble enough to admit it and scientists are working hard at trying to come up with answers. If you posit that God is the beginning of everything all you are doing is begging the question of where did your God come from. To say that he just always was, is, and forever will be is stating that he too came from nothing thus making your argument null and void. 

7. Jesus loves you

How could a possible fictional character love me? Even if he did exist he did in the early first century and allegedly died around 33-35 CE and I don't believe the resurrection story. Therefore someone who allegedly died almost two thousand years ago is nowhere around today and thus makes it utterly impossible to love me or anyone else for that matter.

8. When you find yourself in hell it will be too late to repent!

See reasons #'s 3 and 4. I don't believe in God, sin, or the need to repent. This amounts to nothing more than an idle threat with no substance.

9. You worship the devil

I don't believe in any supernatural beings, especially the ones mentioned in the so called holy Bible. 

10. The Bible is the word of God

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 2 Timothy 3:16 

For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. 2 Peter 1:21

Using the Bible to vouch for its own authenticity is what is know as circular reasoning. This argument is thus invalid.


Note: All biblical citations are taken from the New International Version of the scriptures unless indicated otherwise after the citation used.

Saturday, August 24, 2013

Belief is synonymous with morality

This post is about Christianity and why Christians believe that one cannot be moral without acknowledging the existence of their god. One cannot know the "truth" or obtain any kind of valid knowledge unless he/she recognizes that God is the source of all these things. But as an atheist who has been living without God since 1994 I can assure you that all of these assumptions are nothing but the lies of the deluded.

For the director of music. Of David. The fool says in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good. Psalm 14:1

Notice that the above citation makes certain claims. The first is that if you don't believe in God you are automatically classified as a fool, the next one deals with your inability to live morally without God.

I guess this makes me a fool! 

The Bible makes God the source of all things including wisdom, and often differentiates between the wisdom of God and the wisdom of man.
8“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,neither are your ways my ways,”declares the Lord.9“As the heavens are higher than the earth,so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:8-9

This is the one reason that Christians are so judgmental of everyone who does not accept their faith or believe as they do. Christianity is a club of exclusivity where you are either a member and a friend or an outsider and a foe. This is not entirely their fault though since the Bible clearly often makes a distinction between believers and unbelievers. Even in the Old Testament the Hebrews were to be separate from everyone else since they were considered God's chosen people. This is the reason that the so called conquests of Canaan as narrated in the scriptures involved the killing of the people whose towns and cities they allegedly took over.

26If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. Hebrew 10:26-27

9Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! 10For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Romans 5:9-10


According to the scriptures you are either with God or against him. Those are the only two choices in the Christian faith of today. Serve God willingly or suffer the consequences of your rebellion in the afterlife. This is not free will as many are inclined to believe. In fact, this is nothing more than coercion to believe utilizing fear tactics combined with threats of violence. The Bible teaches an us against them mentality and thus creates the harsh and ugly judgmental attitudes of some Christian fundamentalists towards those who don't believe as they do.

7The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
 Proverbs 1:7


18For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19For it is written:“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.” 1 Corinthians 1:18-19

As the verses just cited state there is no such thing as knowledge without first having the fear of the Lord. Anyone who refuses to believe in God particularly the biblical deity is by default a fool in the eyes of the believer. But as the title of this post states it is also impossible to be moral if you lack God in your life since it is believed that only he is just and moral and the author of objective moral values that we all must live by. 


This concept of the corruptness of men stems all the way back to the book of Genesis and is thus the reason why Christ had to come and redeem mankind. 

5The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. Genesis 6:5

Just as it was impossible to obtain true knowledge without God it was also impossible to live right without God. Based on the scriptures the reason for this is because man lives only to fulfill the desires of the flesh. But when a man accepts Jesus into his life he is born again unto the spirit and becomes a spiritual man. The problem I have with this is that those same scriptures portray God as a moral monster himself. Things we humans consider appalling such as mass murder and torture are not only carried out by the biblical deity against mankind but by his followers themselves (the Hebrews)under his instructions.

Many of the acts attributed to God and his followers are so horrible that I would never even consider committing such acts for any reason. Murdering men, women, and children for instance simply because they worshiped a different god or practiced a different religion is absurd. There is nothing moral nor in my opinion any excuse for the biblical monster you call God to do the things the Bible says he did. He demands first of all fear, worship, and devotion from those that profess to love him. Putting fear in the hearts of others is something we should never do and love is something you earn not demand. In light of this conclusion I feel that the biblical deity is not worthy of worship, recognition, fear, respect, or love. 

Note: All biblical citations are taken from the New International Version of the scriptures. 

Monday, August 19, 2013

The Gospel as propaganda

Propaganda

1capitalized : a congregation of the Roman curia having jurisdiction over missionary territories and related institutions
2: the spreading of ideas, information, or rumor for the purpose of helping or injuring an institution, a cause, or a person
3: ideas, facts, or allegations spread deliberately to further one's cause or to damage an opposing cause; also : a public action having such an effect 
 
The above citation comes from the online Merriam Webster dictionary. I thought it would be important to define the word before I lay out my argument regarding Christianity as propaganda. For the purpose of this article we will not be utilizing the first definition given as it is irrelevant to this post. The second and third definitions on the other hand are very much alike and in fact get right to the point about the matter. 
 
It is my contention that Christianity is not based on facts but rather on carefully devised stories based on popular myths and superstitions of the time from which it arose. A careful reading of Christian literature specifically the gospels demonstrates clearly that this belief system is based entirely on propaganda. Christians work hard at disparaging society at large and the social order and offers in its place its very own beliefs and ideologies. 
 
 Christianity claims absolute truth and everything else is a lie and a deception.
 
One of Christianity's most popular citations is in reference to the so called truth of its doctrines and beliefs.  
 
16For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  John 3:16
 
In this one verse there are several claims made without evidence. The first and most important claim is that God; specifically the god of the Jews, Yahweh exists. Next it says that Jesus Christ is his son, and finally it promises perdition or eternal life contingent on your believing all of the above mentioned statements on faith alone. One thing atheists fail to understand is that the Bible and belief are not based on evidence, but rather on faith. Faith is literally hoping that what you choose to  believe is the truth. In fact, often times God is said to have taken offense at anyone who dares question him and his authority. 
 
"Woe to those who quarrel with their Maker, those who are nothing but potsherds among the potsherds on the ground. Does the clay say to the potter, 'What are you making?' Does your work say, 'The potter has no hands'? Isaiah 45:9

 
But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? "Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, 'Why did you make me like this?' Romans 9:20

The very preaching of the gospel is a form of propaganda that offers the members of society a choice not based on facts but rather based on faith. The gospel is preached and presented to a potential convert and after having heard it he/she has the choice to accept it or reject it. If you accept it you are promised an eternal life of bliss and joy, but if you reject it you are sure to be judged and possibly tormented eternally for your sins while living on the earth. Remember that sins are literally considered to be anything that God finds offensive although to date his existence has yet to be proven.

Christians like to lead you to believe that God gives us all a choice for good or evil, and that we have the free will to choose which way to go and to face the consequences of our choices. But the fact of the matter is that this choice is one that has no solid evidence to back it up and thus is not a viable choice at all. There is no evidence for the imaginary guy in the sky, nor the realms of heaven or hell, nor that Jesus if he existed was indeed the son of God or God incarnate. 

The reason that there are so many discrepancies in the scriptures and self contradictory texts is because it was written by so many different people with different beliefs and ideologies. In both the Old and the New Testament you can see as you read the individual books the variance in beliefs by its authors as compared to one another. Each book was a work unto itself until they were eventually combined and canonized by the church. It is also because of this that Christians are forced to cherry pick the Bible to promote their ideology.

Ideology :a systematic body of concepts especially about human life or culture 
 
There is absolutely nothing divine about the Bible. It is as I have often said a work that was written, edited, and produced by man. Gods themselves are the creation of the fertile imagination of man as the history of religions so ably demonstrate. Science has and continues to push back the ignorance caused by the many superstitions of mans ancient past. 
 
Contrary to what Christianity wants us to believe there is no such thing as absolute truth. As science has shown the more we learn about the world, the universe, and our origins, truth is often subjective. It is subject to evidence and that evidence itself is not absolute either. It too is subject to change due to the discovery of better evidence and observations.  

Christianity promotes Jesus as the one and only way to redemption with God and thus eternal salvation. 

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

The New Testament is full of this sort of propaganda, it is nothing more than mere self-advertisement. All religious movements tend to claim the same things. They all say that their system of belief is the way to  enlightenment, nirvana, one with the universe, one with some particular god or gods. What they don't tell you is that they are all obviously the inventions of men and nothing more. 

Note: All biblical citations are taken from the New International Version of the scriptures and all word definitions are taken from the Merriam Webster dictionary online which I have linked to in the appropriate places as needed. 

Monday, August 12, 2013

Why literalist fundamentalist Christians are blind to reason

This post is to help my fellow atheist and agnostic friends who have never been literalist fundamentalist Christians like myself comprehend why the use of reason in arguments about faith are futile. Let me start by saying that when I was a Christian I took the Bible at its word, I was one of those who proclaimed with great pride: " God said it, I believe it, and that settles it!" It is because of this mentality that a theist can circumnavigate any argument you can think of.


When I was a believer the Bible was literally inspired by God, written by men under his inspiration, and literal in every way possible. I believed in the story of creation as it is narrated in Genesis and quite frankly I never once thought to question the discrepancies in the narrative. You see, my mind did not work that way. I lived and breathed Christianity entirely on faith and to question what I believed to be God's word would be in my mind to question God himself! A big no no in the Christian community. Faith is not just about believing that God exist, but also trusting in him to keep his word and his promises.

"And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." Hebrews 11:6

When I was a believer God's word (the Bible) was my guide to living. I dove into my beliefs head first and when asked about them or questioned on them I did not allow myself to get sucked into arguments to the contrary. What did I do when I was confronted with biblical contradictions or errors of known facts and common knowledge? I did what the Bible told me to do:

"See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ." Colossians 2:8

15Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. 16Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. 2 Timothy 2:15-16

As you can see I avoided any argument about the existence of God or the lack of logic and reason behind my faith. I would tell people what the Bible says and if you accepted it fine and if you didn't I would either ask to pray with the person or if they refused pray for them during my own private prayer sessions. 

It amazes me today how many Christians get caught up in arguments against their faith. The Bible clearly teaches them to avoid such arguments yet they never seem to listen. The fact that apologetics exist as well as so called Creationism or even its latest addition of Intelligent Design aka ID is telling. A true literalist does not feel the need to defend his beliefs since as the Bible states they are entirely based on faith.

When I was a believer faith was my blind fold to reason. In my mind the way I saw it there were things that we just didn't understand. There were so many "spiritual" truths in God's word that were so profound that in my corrupted and sinful nature I could never hope to comprehend so I did not bother trying to know those things at the time. Although I did not know about confirmation bias I was seriously deluded by what I accepted by faith to the the ultimate and universal truth. I literally had a biblical answer for everything a non-believer could throw at me!

22Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength. 1 Corinthians 1:22-25


In those days I believed that there was no way a mere mortal such as myself could ever know the mysteries of God completely while I inhabited this mortal flesh. Christians don't operate in the realms of reason and logic as we do. That is why when I first saw a Christian book in a book store written by William Lane Craig entitled 'Reasonable Faith' I began to laugh hysterically. There just simply is no such thing as reasonable faith. In fact, Dr. Craig makes this quite clear in the book itself when he says: Should a conflict arise between the witness of the Holy Spirit to the fundamental truth of the Christian faith and beliefs based on argument and evidence, then it is the former which must take precedence over the latter, not vice versa. [William Lane Craig, Reasonable Faith: Christian Truth and Apologetics, (Revised edition, Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 1994), p. 36.]

Even while the more advanced believers like William Lane Craig claim to use logic and reason in their arguments in defense of their faith anyone who reads some of their work would see that most of their arguments are actually filled with all sorts of logical fallacies. Theists who engage in apologetics twists the principles of logic and reason to defend the veracity of what they have already convinced themselves to be the truth. Literalist fundamentalist believers don't bother with philosophical arguments about faith. 

Fundamentalists view any arguments against their faith as nothing more than Satanic ruses to confuse the faithful. They also view those purporting the arguments as emissaries of Satan and these types of believers are literally living in a demon haunted world. Reason and faith are two blatant and contradictory terms that should never be used together or even considered possible. The two words constitute an oxymoron which in no way can be reconciled with one another, just as science and religion can never find common ground because of their methodologies of obtaining knowledge.

It is not even a Christians job to convince you of the truth of their beliefs. They are to serve as heralds proclaiming the gospels and nothing more. It is the job according to the Bible of  the Holy Spirit to move the listeners to conversion.  

44“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day. John 6:44

65He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.” John 6:65

Even when shown how impossible some of the claims of the Bible are such as the Noah's ark narrative for example, a literalist remains unfazed by your arguments. It's not because they are stupid or lack understanding. It's because they are deeply indoctrinated to accept the Bible as literal fact. Their god is the god of the impossible for them he is the creator of all things great and small. He is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnibenevolent. What is impossible for man is nothing to God who can make all impossibilities possible because of who he is. 

 Note: All biblical citations are taken from the New International Version of the scriptures.
Should a conflict arise between the witness of the Holy Spirit to the fundamental truth of the Christian faith and beliefs based on argument and evidence, then it is the former which must take precedence over the latter. - See more at: http://commonsenseatheism.com/?p=2931#sthash.1knyKtHn.dpuf
Should a conflict arise between the witness of the Holy Spirit to the fundamental truth of the Christian faith and beliefs based on argument and evidence, then it is the former which must take precedence over the latter. - See more at: http://commonsenseatheism.com/?p=2931#sthash.1knyKtHn.dpuf
Should a conflict arise between the witness of the Holy Spirit to the fundamental truth of the Christian faith and beliefs based on argument and evidence, then it is the former which must take precedence over the latter. - See more at: http://commonsenseatheism.com/?p=2931#sthash.1knyKtHn.dpu

Thursday, August 1, 2013

Who are theists really trying to convince?

Since it's beginnings and according to the various texts that comprise the New Testament, Christianity is supposed to be based entirely on faith. In fact, even Jesus is said to have chastised the apostle Thomas for doubting his resurrection until he presented himself before him postmortem and fulfilled his requirement for proof. It wasn't till after he received the proof he requested of Jesus that he then recognized him as his Lord to which Jesus replied:

Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." John 20:29

In fact, the requirement for faith without evidence is often emphasized throughout the New Testament quite often. Hebrews 11:1 defines faith as: Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. Despite these requirements of faith without evidence Christians seem to lose their minds every time an "archaeological" find is believed to be related to Christianity or is considered by believers to be a holy relic. 

The James Ossuary

On October 21,2002 the discovery of the James ossuary was presented to the world. It was considered by the Christians to be a significant find because if proven authentic it would serve as evidence of the existence of an historical Jesus Christ. Inscribed on the side of the box in Aramaic are the words: Ya'akov bar-Yosef akhui diYeshua (English translation: "James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus"). There is no known direct physical evidence of the existence of an historical Jesus but theists for some reason feel the need to validate their myths. My question is the following: Who are they really trying to convince? 

The shroud of Turin

Everyone knows about the famous forgery the shroud of Turin. Many theists cling tenaciously to the belief that this was the actual burial cloth that Jesus body was wrapped in during his entombment! It is relics like these that many theists especially Catholics love to cling to as proofs that what they believe is true. There are enough nails of the so called cross of Christ the world over to build a house with! This is due for the most part that these so called holy relics are actually worth a lot of money and can be sold for a very high price. It has turned Christianity into a very lucrative enterprise and it is because of this that many people have gone out of their way to create very elaborate forgeries in hopes of landing a huge financial reward for their efforts. 

The blood of Jesus! 

Some churches are claiming to have samples of the blood of Jesus himself! The funny thing about this is that people actually believe it. Catholics seem more prone to believing in holy relics than any other Christian group on the planet. I think that the reason for this is because it has always been a part of their tradition to revere all things they deem to be holy. The church is known to preserve the bodies of people they deemed saints and in the earlier periods of their history they were even known to dismember bodies of saints and send the various body parts to different churches. Some claimed that these holy body parts were responsible for some very incredible miracles. 

My question is that if faith should be sufficient to sustain ones beliefs then why this interest in relics to supposedly validate your faith? 

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. Hebrews 11:6

Anyone who is interested in learning more about holy relics and the ridiculous claims surrounding them should read the following books which I highly recommend on the matter.





You can find these titles and more at http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s?store=allproducts&keyword=Joe+Nickell also you may be given some other recommendations on the subject matter. 

Note: All biblical citations are taken from the New International Version of the scriptures.