Register | Sign In


Understanding through Discussion


EvC Forum active members: 65 (9162 total)
5 online now:
Newest Member: popoi
Post Volume: Total: 915,815 Year: 3,072/9,624 Month: 917/1,588 Week: 100/223 Day: 11/17 Hour: 0/0


Thread  Details

Email This Thread
Newer Topic | Older Topic
  
Author Topic:   What is Christianity?
ringo
Member (Idle past 412 days)
Posts: 20940
From: frozen wasteland
Joined: 03-23-2005


Message 320 of 451 (776538)
01-15-2016 10:48 AM
Reply to: Message 315 by John 10:10
01-15-2016 12:00 AM


Re: Is Christianity the one and only true religion?
John 10:10 writes:
Reject this and you cannot be "born again" or a Christian.
In John 3, when Jesus talked about being "born again" He implied that Nicodemus ought to know what He meant since he was a "master of Israel". So being born again must be something related to Judaism, not what you claim it is.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 315 by John 10:10, posted 01-15-2016 12:00 AM John 10:10 has not replied

  
ringo
Member (Idle past 412 days)
Posts: 20940
From: frozen wasteland
Joined: 03-23-2005


Message 327 of 451 (779621)
03-06-2016 1:36 PM
Reply to: Message 325 by GDR
03-06-2016 11:40 AM


Re: The Hills Are Alive
GDR writes:
You cannot read through the NT without seeing that the writers firmly believed in Jesus' bodily resurrection. There is no motivation for them to lie....
But there's plenty of reason for them to be mistaken. You don't need to turn every mistake into a deliberate lie.
The resurrection was also a convenient fiction for spreading the word. (In The Last Temptation of Christ, Paul is aware of the fiction but deliberately uses it for the greater good.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 325 by GDR, posted 03-06-2016 11:40 AM GDR has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 329 by GDR, posted 03-06-2016 5:06 PM ringo has replied

  
ringo
Member (Idle past 412 days)
Posts: 20940
From: frozen wasteland
Joined: 03-23-2005


(1)
Message 351 of 451 (779710)
03-07-2016 10:39 AM
Reply to: Message 329 by GDR
03-06-2016 5:06 PM


Re: The Hills Are Alive
GDR writes:
To use the "Last Temptation of Christ" as an argument against it is just a tad peculiar. It is a work of fiction based on nothing but the writer's imagination.
So are the gospels.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 329 by GDR, posted 03-06-2016 5:06 PM GDR has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 352 by GDR, posted 03-07-2016 2:10 PM ringo has replied
 Message 354 by Phat, posted 03-07-2016 4:08 PM ringo has replied

  
ringo
Member (Idle past 412 days)
Posts: 20940
From: frozen wasteland
Joined: 03-23-2005


Message 361 of 451 (779782)
03-08-2016 10:43 AM
Reply to: Message 352 by GDR
03-07-2016 2:10 PM


Re: The Hills Are Alive
GDR writes:
You can claim that they are wrong but there is no evidence for the idea that they believed they were writing fiction.
I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt. You posed a false dichotomy: truth or lies. I pointed out a third option: fiction, which is less "true" than yesterday's news but more useful.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 352 by GDR, posted 03-07-2016 2:10 PM GDR has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 369 by GDR, posted 03-12-2016 10:41 PM ringo has replied

  
ringo
Member (Idle past 412 days)
Posts: 20940
From: frozen wasteland
Joined: 03-23-2005


Message 362 of 451 (779783)
03-08-2016 10:46 AM
Reply to: Message 354 by Phat
03-07-2016 4:08 PM


Re: The Hills Are Alive
Phat writes:
There is a difference between an author who creates characters,stories, and plots based entirely upon the authors imagination and a report on what an author actually sees or hears form those directly at the scene.
Sure there's a difference - but you don't know which it is. How would you tell the difference?

This message is a reply to:
 Message 354 by Phat, posted 03-07-2016 4:08 PM Phat has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 363 by Phat, posted 03-09-2016 12:33 AM ringo has seen this message but not replied

  
ringo
Member (Idle past 412 days)
Posts: 20940
From: frozen wasteland
Joined: 03-23-2005


Message 383 of 451 (780443)
03-15-2016 11:54 AM
Reply to: Message 369 by GDR
03-12-2016 10:41 PM


Re: The Hills Are Alive
GDR writes:
My point is though that they are written in a manner that is obviously not to be understood as fiction.
What may seem obvious to you is not obvious because of its content but because of your beliefs. The clear distinction between fact and fiction is a fairly modern concept.
GDR writes:
I also contend that they believed it themselves.
I don't doubt that the gospel writers believed the gist of what they wrote. However, they were also liable to embellish, such as claiming to be eyewitnesses to events that they only heard about second-hand. (There's a joke about a carpet-layer who noticed a bump in the carpet and pounded it out flat - only to find that the homeowner's parakeet was missing. I met a guy who knew that carpet-layer.)
GDR writes:
I suggest that the question is not truth or lies but right or wrong....
That's what I'm trying to tell you.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 369 by GDR, posted 03-12-2016 10:41 PM GDR has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 384 by GDR, posted 03-15-2016 1:13 PM ringo has replied

  
ringo
Member (Idle past 412 days)
Posts: 20940
From: frozen wasteland
Joined: 03-23-2005


(1)
Message 385 of 451 (780463)
03-15-2016 1:18 PM
Reply to: Message 384 by GDR
03-15-2016 1:13 PM


Re: The Hills Are Alive
CS Lewis writes:
Of this text there are only two possible views.
CS was no stranger to false dichotomies.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 384 by GDR, posted 03-15-2016 1:13 PM GDR has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 386 by GDR, posted 03-15-2016 1:25 PM ringo has replied

  
ringo
Member (Idle past 412 days)
Posts: 20940
From: frozen wasteland
Joined: 03-23-2005


Message 388 of 451 (780580)
03-17-2016 12:15 PM
Reply to: Message 386 by GDR
03-15-2016 1:25 PM


Re: The Hills Are Alive
GDR writes:
ringo writes:
CS was no stranger to false dichotomies.
This was his specific area of expertise.
Like the doctor who never gets sick?

This message is a reply to:
 Message 386 by GDR, posted 03-15-2016 1:25 PM GDR has not replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 389 by Phat, posted 03-17-2016 6:35 PM ringo has replied

  
ringo
Member (Idle past 412 days)
Posts: 20940
From: frozen wasteland
Joined: 03-23-2005


Message 404 of 451 (780651)
03-18-2016 12:13 PM
Reply to: Message 389 by Phat
03-17-2016 6:35 PM


Re: The Hills Are Alive
Phat writes:
Would you be able to say that you have as much personal experience with Jesus Christ as CS Lewis did?
Who has more personal experience with Long John Silver? You or me?

This message is a reply to:
 Message 389 by Phat, posted 03-17-2016 6:35 PM Phat has seen this message but not replied

  
ringo
Member (Idle past 412 days)
Posts: 20940
From: frozen wasteland
Joined: 03-23-2005


Message 430 of 451 (780711)
03-19-2016 11:53 AM
Reply to: Message 428 by Straggler
03-19-2016 11:50 AM


Re: The Hills Are Christ Is Alive
Straggler writes:
So with regard to 'exist' you are spouting the same (I quote) "word salad" incoherence that you are accusing others of doing with respect to their description of God as being 'alive'.
"Alive" is a fairly well-defined state. "Existing" is not.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 428 by Straggler, posted 03-19-2016 11:50 AM Straggler has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 431 by Straggler, posted 03-19-2016 12:07 PM ringo has replied

  
ringo
Member (Idle past 412 days)
Posts: 20940
From: frozen wasteland
Joined: 03-23-2005


Message 432 of 451 (780718)
03-19-2016 12:24 PM
Reply to: Message 431 by Straggler
03-19-2016 12:07 PM


Re: The Hills Are Christ Is Alive
Straggler writes:
Well ambivaguety is as ever jar's only real defence.
And you're just repeating yourself instead of addressing what I said: A well-defined concept is easier to "imagine or describe" than an ambivague one.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 431 by Straggler, posted 03-19-2016 12:07 PM Straggler has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 434 by Straggler, posted 03-19-2016 12:36 PM ringo has replied

  
ringo
Member (Idle past 412 days)
Posts: 20940
From: frozen wasteland
Joined: 03-23-2005


(1)
Message 436 of 451 (780725)
03-19-2016 12:40 PM
Reply to: Message 434 by Straggler
03-19-2016 12:36 PM


Re: The Hills Are Christ Is Alive
Straggler writes:
Blah blah blah... logical inconsistency... blah blah blah....
You're missing the rather obvious point that belief has nothing to do with logic. A belief doesn't require logical consistency.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 434 by Straggler, posted 03-19-2016 12:36 PM Straggler has not replied

  
ringo
Member (Idle past 412 days)
Posts: 20940
From: frozen wasteland
Joined: 03-23-2005


Message 440 of 451 (797598)
01-24-2017 11:03 AM
Reply to: Message 439 by Phat
01-23-2017 5:33 PM


Re: Remix
Phat writes:
Is it possible that God wants us to worship for our benefit rather than Hers? Sort of like an exercise in mindfulness?
Then why aren't believers more mindful than unbelievers?

This message is a reply to:
 Message 439 by Phat, posted 01-23-2017 5:33 PM Phat has seen this message but not replied

  
Newer Topic | Older Topic
Jump to:


Copyright 2001-2023 by EvC Forum, All Rights Reserved

™ Version 4.2
Innovative software from Qwixotic © 2024