The Bible is a Book of Fairy Tales

7,000 people took time off work to go and hear Jesus? I wonder what their employers, or their wives who would be short of money, said. How did they find him in a 'desert' place. How did they beat him to his landing place in Mark and Luke when they didn't know where he was going. They came from 'many cities' having been told by the first to find him over his mobile. Then they all got in their cars and made a dash for the 'desert' place. They were living in the 1st century CE. Not even a bush telegraph would have got that many in so short a time - on foot. The story is simply made up. It's quite possible a few local people found him, and he preached to them. 7000/5000 Nah.
How often people equate their day and age with ours without thinking. Mary and Josephs supposed journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem wasn't a 2 hour drive by car. It was several days journey. And not even 'god' - or Joseph - would have asked Mary to walk/donkey ride 90+ miles when she was 9 months pregnant. My own view is that simple events in Jesus, the Jewish preachers life were magnified by early Christian writers.

 

What is happening here is you getting upset that someone challenge your religion and you're asking childish questions in retaliation. What I think about other religions is irrelevant here. I've been on both side of this fence. I know the condemnation that comes with confronting and not participating in your false religion. It appears your mindset is that I should shut up and stay in a closet.

As I've stated before, I was a Christian for more than 35 years. After using honest discernment when reading the entire bible, I found it contrary to my years of indoctrination.

Luckily, Christianity is evolving away from its absurd morals(stonings, slavery, genocide, inquisitions, mass murder, rape etc..)and conforming(slowly) to the modern world. I could supply a long list of immoral laws, events and traditions of your religion that you blindly ignore.

The reality is that our country is a secular country that is dominated by "Christians". Despite biblical teachings, we no longer respect misogynic tenants, racism and slavery. While I consider homosexuality a deviation of our species, I do not consider it a sin. Many Christians believe that non-believers deserve eternal torment in a hell, which is insanely sadistic. It does not matter how good you are, how smart you are or how qualified you are for public office, if you aren't a knuckle dragging Christian, good luck getting voted for.

I'm astonished at how may Christians are ignorant of their bible and ignorantly defend it. It is just another man made religion. It has it's good tenants and it's bad. What is clear to me is that all intellectual rationale and honesty are thrown out the window when practicing this religion. I'm sure the same can be said for Islam, which IMO, is worse.

 

Well that equals things up a little. All you have to offer is the belief in some mystical being that created man and allows him to suffer. We don't even do that to animals.
Ancient man did not have great intelligence, in the main he relied on superstition, and experience - of which he had little.
And your view of having no purpose to life if we are not religious is rather sad - though often repeated by Christians. Many of us make it a purpose to be of help to others. We don't need to be religious for that. There are no Kudos for us to stand us in a good position with any 'god' for doing this. The Church has not been immune from 'depravity'. On the contrary it has been depraved many times.
This term 'depraved' is very misleading. The biggest majority of people in this world get on living in a way that they have always lived. The fact that a small minority of the worlds population behave badly is used as an excuse to blame all mankind as being 'depraved'. Have you read what the Bible says 'god' ordered the Hebrews to do to millions of innocent people, innocent children. Is that not depravity? How he hardened Pharaohs heart and caused the Egyptians to suffer when Pharaoh might have let them go earlier. Incidentally I don't believe the Hebrews were ever in Egypt, or in the Exodus - but that's what the Bible says.

 

First off, you have no proof of this. You might as well be worshipping superman. He has done great things for the world and the American way. I'm a fan of the truth and not blind faith in fairy tales. And, it is funny how such events happened and did not make it into any contempary unbiased historical writings.

Is it not strange that the disciples questioned Jesus ability to feed the second large crowd after feeding the first? Even one of his disciples refused to believe he was God without seeing his crusifiction wounds, yet we are expected to believe this nonsense 2000 years later with 0 evidence it even occurred.

 

Jews of Jesus time traveled far and in large groups. Most walked every year to Jerusalem or the city of their birth to pay taxes. Capernaum was a very large city.

 

Thomas believed and gave his life for the Gospel. He told Jesus "I now believe, but now help my un belief. You could ask that of Jesus but your pride won't let you.

 

This reads better =
"Verifiable by whose standards? Who, exactly, are you to define standards? Does Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews and the God of the armies, ask for evidence of YOUR existence?"

 

That is so wrong.

 

How can you challenge my religion when you don't even know what it is? So, that brings me to another question here:

Are you offended by things Christians believe in like not answering matters before you've inquired as to what they are about?

In what sentence have I suggested that you shut up and stay in a closet? Don't questions elicit responses wherein you have to communicate? It's really going to be a trick for you to tell me what's wrong with my religion when you don't know what I believe in, but knock yourself right out. What happens when you're wrong?

What happens if you misread the Bible and / or listened to people that were not attuned to the truth... whatever the truth really is??? Do you really think Donald Trump is a "knuckle dragging Christian?" Is he a representative example of what a Christian is?

 

I don't care what religion you are. You have attacked me for attacking Christianity and not others. No, I don't think Trump is a true Christian, but he had to claim to be to get elected.

As to reading the bible. I know the English language. As usual, you who defend the bible always throw out these qualifiers to understand it, which is complete nonsense.

Yes, the Christian God sanctions slavery, murder, genocide and rape. It is a childish bully. It is a blood thirsty monster. This is not debatable.

 

Inane attempt at deflection that failed miserably.

 

But there is not one single independent contemporary account to corroborate any of that.

The Romans would have had to have taken notice of a crowd of that size over that time period and it would have been written up in their dispatches but there is no record of it whatsoever,

 

Prove it!

Show us the IQ and EQ tests of "ancient man" compared to"modern man".

Or just flail around with another ad hom laden non sequitur response.

Not hard to predict which option you are going to come back with.

 

So let's put this to the test, m'kay?

Where is the evidence of the great flood?

 

Nope! The challenge was to establish contemporary eye witness accounts that proved Lincoln had given the Gettysberg address. Since that has been established the onus is now on theists to provide the same contemporary evidence.

You can't because none exists. That you resorted to puerile ad homs says volumes.

 

They are not contemporary eye witness accounts and therefore don't meet the criteria established by Yabber. He started this challenge so take it up with him.

 

Hilarious. Capernaum was - in todays terms - a fishing village - around 1500 people. A city in those days was usually a large village or small town of today. Even Jerusalem had a population of only approx 40,000. Todays town.
And people did not walk to the village of their birth to pay taxes. Taxes were on property. You paid your tax where you were. That's why there was no reason for Joseph to go to Bethlehem. Roman censuses were also done at the residence in which you lived. Jews had 3 Festivals at which they were supposed to attend Jerusalem. Most didn't. In the Second Temple period it was often just once a year - if that. Samuels parents went once a year to Shiloh, to worship at the Tabernacle - the Temple still to be built in the future. Jesus parents went up once a year.
When the instructions were originally given the people were, supposedly, all together in the desert. When they had possessed the land it was not possible to fulfil every feast in Jerusalem. They had to support themselves.

You're still thinking in todays terms.

WHY don't people try to think in terms of 2000 years ago. Life was lived at a slow pace. No modern conveyances, media, telecommunications, printing presses. If you were travelling in Asia Minor from Jerusalem, it could be a week and more before news from home caught up with you.

 

Furthermore travel between settlements was risky because of banditry and wild animals. Traveling alone was not recommended so you had to find a group of others heading in the same direction especially when it came to using secondary roads. Curiously enough a group of males arriving at a village were far more likely to be perceived as a marauding gang than as Jesus and his disciples. The locals were more likely to set their dogs on them than to welcome them into their homes.

So to just abandon your own house and belongings and wander off across the secondary roads in the hope of encountering a messiah makes no sense at all given that you were risking your own life and would probably find your home ransacked when you returned.

 

That's a very good point about the attendance at the temple. Joseph was supposed of show up three times a year and if only went once a year he broke the 7th Commandment, Exodus 34:23-24 (ERV) =

"23 “Three times each year all your men must go to be with the Lord God, the God of Israel. 24 “When you go into your land, I will force your enemies out of that land. I will expand your borders—you will get more and more land. You will go before the Lord your God three times each year. At that time no one will try to take your land from you."

 

It didn't actually work out like that, did it. From the Northern perimeter to Jerusalem was 150 miles - as the crow flies - far more with the crude 'road' system. We're talking about 2 weeks travelling.in total. No wonder they didn't make it 3 times a year. And how many times were they invaded, in spite of the promise?

 

You are delusional. I have not, in any way, shape, fashion, or form attacked you for your attacks on Christianity. I have only asked you questions. You have been given an opportunity to state your case based upon things that each of us needs to know.

If you are going to attack the Bible and what it says and who it represents, then your background, character, etc. are fair game - as is their verification. If you're going to come along and tell me then Bible is a pack of lies; it's B.S.; it condones evil things, etc. then I have to establish your qualifications.

When you struggle at answering my questions, it calls your competence into question. If you cannot understand the difference between questions aimed at civil discourse and attacking people, it indicates you may have had trouble interpreting the Bible (or those portions you read.) How, under those circumstances, can anyone have any confidence in your condemnations of the Bible when you cannot differentiate between questions and an attack?

As for you believing that I somehow attacked you and not others, I've asked these questions of the other self appointed gurus here. Don't feel bad; they failed to answer the questions as well. You guys may think that attacking Christianity and belittling those who believe in it are effective tools, but they only make you feel good. It does nothing to educate nor enlighten. It only says to me that you guys are so insecure in what you believe that you have to drag others down and attempt to prove their supposed stupidity. I'd say the bulk of Christianity is traveling down a path led by charlatans. You, nor those attacking Christianity, have shown me that you have a better answer. It isn't enough to say, well at least I'm not Donald Trump.

 

BS, you are attempting to discredit mine and others opinions based on irrelevant personal information

Mine or anyone else's background is none of your business. I use the Bible itself and qualified experts to vet the Bible. If you want to discuss, then discuss the assertions presented.

Actually, we challenge Christians to think for themselves and recognize the blatant contradictions and absurdities of their religious book.

I don't need to believe in anything. Atheism is not a religion. I'm very secure in believing the Bible is fairytales.

 

You are extremely insecure. You use qualified people to vet the Bible??? What does that mean? WHO qualifies these people? Do you really think people believe you are qualified to show contradictions in the Bible when you don't even tell us about your qualifications?

You challenged me to think. I took your challenge. Since you cannot answer simple questions without making false accusations, I have no reason to believe you aren't doing the same thing where the Bible is concerned. Could it be that, as you're demonstrating here, you come up short in comprehension skills? You don't think that's a possibility?

 

Once again, the accuracy of oral tradition in passing information through generations is not related to the truth of the information. A myth, fictional play, recounting of a battle, history of a culture, can be passed accurately through oral tradition.

 

I too it up with you, in response to your post. Now that facts have caught up to you, you run away and deflect to someone else.