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Mark1615

Member
*I apologize if there is already a thread similar to this one* The title may be a little bit misleading, but I don't plan on answering any questions...yet. I just want to know any and all (as much as possible) questions and objections to Christianity and or Jesus/God. First of all, I am a Christian who would like to take the time (along with some of my friends) to compile and research your questions and objections. Once I do that, then I would be more than happy to answer them for you all.

But first, I need to know what you are thinking. ALL questions and concerns are FAIR GAME as long as they are legitimate - unlike: "how many angels can dance on the head of a pin?"

I am genuinely interested in answering your concerns. So, as they say, "Let the games begin!"

Also, I will answer questions in order!
 

Quiddity

UndertheInfluenceofGiants
So I can't ask "how many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie pop"?
Bah humbug....:D
Well Mark, this forum is full of valuable objections for you to ponder over. The list is immense.

~Victor
 

Mark1615

Member
Well, I can answer this question right off the bat. I came to my belief through my upbringing by my parents. An analogy: a two-year old boy was once staring at a heater, fascinated by its bright orange glow. His father saw him and warned, "Don't touch that heater, son. It may look pretty, but it's hot." The little boy believed him, and moved away from the heater.

Some time later, after his father had left the room, the boy thought, "I wonder if it really is hot." He then reached out to touch it and see for himself. The second his flesh burned, he stopped believing it was hot; he now knew it was hot! He had moved out of the realm of belief into the realm of experience.

I was taught to believe in the Bible and God, which I did. But as I grew older, I wanted to test this belief out and "touch the heater of God." I experienced Him. It is no longer just a belief; it is an experience that I can't ignore.

Hope that helps.
 

Mark1615

Member
Truth be told, I actually do know how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll Pop! I did it in high school. I forget the exact number, but somewhere around 2,600 licks. It took me three hours.:D
 

Halcyon

Lord of the Badgers
1. Why do you believe that the texts chosen to be in the new testament were/are the most reliable?

2. Why do you believe St. Paul's account of Jesus's form and teachings even though they never met and Paul only ever saw Jesus in a dream?

3. Which is the most accurate of the four gospels, since each gives a contradictory account of events?

4. Why do you believe Jesus was the son of God, or God himself - even though Jesus never, ever said anything like that?

5. If the Bible is the word of God, why does it contradict itself and give various accounts of events?

6. If there is only one God, why is He a jealous God - what could He possible be jealous of?

7. Jesus's bloodline is traced back to King David - through Joseph, yet by your account Jesus was not the son of Joseph. Explain?

8. Jesus rose from the grave and lived amongst his disciples for 40 days before ascending, why isn't there any record outside the bible of the walking corpse of a notorius executed criminal?

That should do for now, have fun!

(I won't be back online till tomorrow, so don't expect any immediate replies :) )
 

Mike182

Flaming Queer
Mark1615 said:
*I apologize if there is already a thread similar to this one* The title may be a little bit misleading, but I don't plan on answering any questions...yet. I just want to know any and all (as much as possible) questions and objections to Christianity and or Jesus/God. First of all, I am a Christian who would like to take the time (along with some of my friends) to compile and research your questions and objections. Once I do that, then I would be more than happy to answer them for you all.

But first, I need to know what you are thinking. ALL questions and concerns are FAIR GAME as long as they are legitimate - unlike: "how many angels can dance on the head of a pin?"

I am genuinely interested in answering your concerns. So, as they say, "Let the games begin!"
my first point of informatin would be that the the scriptures were written by men - you cannot provide any non religious arguments to disprove the fact that they are very open to mistakes

in the same way, these scriptures have been translated several times, so much so that the messages in the bible have changed - again, you cannot offer any non religious arguments to disprove this

third of all, the bible was written for a culture completely different to our own, again, you have no non religious arguments to say that the bible is relevant today

sorry, i figured you wanted some tough points to debate - i guess im mainly saying that debating christianity will not convince people who don't already believe in it
 
A

angellous_evangellous

Guest
Mark1615 said:
*I apologize if there is already a thread similar to this one* The title may be a little bit misleading, but I don't plan on answering any questions...yet. I just want to know any and all (as much as possible) questions and objections to Christianity and or Jesus/God. First of all, I am a Christian who would like to take the time (along with some of my friends) to compile and research your questions and objections. Once I do that, then I would be more than happy to answer them for you all.

But first, I need to know what you are thinking. ALL questions and concerns are FAIR GAME as long as they are legitimate - unlike: "how many angels can dance on the head of a pin?"

I am genuinely interested in answering your concerns. So, as they say, "Let the games begin!"
You will be able to get a handle on questions and concerns that folks have by simply poking around on the active threads. Then, you can start a new thread challenging an issue or answering a question.

Welcome to RF.

EDIT: WOW!! Such great questions were posted as I was typing! Good luck, Mark. :biglaugh:
 

Mark1615

Member
Halcyon and Mike! Why'd it take you so long to come up with questions?;) AWESOME! Great questions. I do know the answers to some of them right now...so I will alter my initial message and try to answer those questions that I can and defer to later those that I can't - because this is fun!

First, Halcyon, I wouldn't stop at the New Testament for reliability. The Old Testament is just as reliable. You are probably wondering how any of it is reliable, so I will answer that as well. This may be lengthy, so bear with me.

The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS) at Qumran in 1949 had significant effects in corroborating evidence for the Scriptures. The ancient texts, found hidden in pots in cliff-top caves by a monastic religious community, confirm the reliability of the Old Testament text. These texts, which were copied and studied by the Essenes, include one complete Old Testament book (Isaiah) and thousands of fragments, representing every Old Testament book except Esther.

The manuscripts date from the third century BC to the first century AD and give the earliest window found so far into the texts of the Old Testament books nad their predictive prophecies. The Qumran texts have become an important witness for the divine origin of the Bible, providing further evidence against the criticism of such crucial books as Daniel and Isaiah.

Carbon-14 dating is a reliable form of scientific dating when applied to uncontaminated material several thousand years old. Results indicated an age of 1917 years with a 200-year (10 percent) variant.

Paleology (ancient writing forms) and orthography (spelling) indicated that some manuscripts were inscribed before 100 BC. Albright set the date of the complete Isaiah scroll to around 100 BC.

Collaborative evidence for an early date came from archaeology. Pottery accompanying the manuscripts was late Hellenistic (c. 150 BC) and Early Roman (c. 63 BC to AD 100). Coins found in the monastery ruins proved by thier incriptions to have been minted between 135 BC and AD 135. The weave and pattern of the cloth supported an early date. There is no reasonable doubt that the Qumran manuscripts came from the century before Christ and the first century AD.

Previous to the DSS, the earliest known manuscript of the Old Testament was the Masoretic Text (AD 900) and two others (dating about AD 1000) from which, for example, the King James version of the Old Testament derived its translation. Perhaps most would have considered the Masoretic text as a very late text and therefore questioned the reliability of the Old Testament wholesale. The Dead Sea Scrolls eclipse these texts by 1000 years and provide little reason to question their reliability, and further, present only confidence for the text. The beauty of the DSS lies in the close match they have with the Masoretic text demonstrable evidence of reliability and preservation of the authentic text through the centuries. So the discovery of the DSS provides for the following: 1)confirmation of the Hebrew Text, 2)support for the Masoretic Text, 3)support for the Greek translation of the Hebrew Text (the Septuagint). Since the New Testament often quotes from the Greek Old Testament, the DSS furnish the reader with further confidence for the Masoretic texts in this area where it can be tested.

(Generated from Norman Geisler, Dead Sea Scrolls, Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics)
 

Halcyon

Lord of the Badgers
That's all fascinating stuff Mark. But what i really meant was, what makes the stuff that's in the NT now any more religiously reliable than the Gospels of Thomas, Philip, Truth or Pistis Sophia?
 

Bishka

Veteran Member
Do you believe members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints(LDS/Mormons) are Christians?
 

Mike182

Flaming Queer
beckysoup61 said:
Do you believe members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints(LDS/Mormons) are Christians?
oooo, good question

there is (in my mind) no doubt that the answer is yes
- but we shall see what verdict me mark makes ;)
 

Bishka

Veteran Member
Mike182 said:
oooo, good question

there is (in my mind) no doubt that the answer is yes
- but we shall see what verdict me mark makes ;)
Thanks Mike. You are so awesome. I wish I could meet you someday.:D
 

Katzpur

Not your average Mormon
Mike182 said:
oooo, good question

there is (in my mind) no doubt that the answer is yes
- but we shall see what verdict me mark makes ;)
Thank you, Mike. We always like hearing from people who feel as you do. I guess at the end of the day, though, it's not going to matter much what anybody thinks. Fortunately, God's not going to be asking our fellow Christians for their opinions on the subject. ;)

Anyway, along the same line, Mark... How do you personally define the word "Christian"? What qualifies a person to be a Christian, in your opinion?
 

Buttercup

Veteran Member
Hi Mark1615,

i have a question for you! :) Why are there no recordings of the life of Christ before about 60 AD or so? He had been dead for almost 30 years before any writings turned up....Do you think there were writings before that?
 

Aqualung

Tasty
Do you think the Bible is the complete, unadultered word of god, and that everything we need to know is contained in it?
 

Buttercup

Veteran Member
b-soup....it's been awhile since I have brushed on the LDS beliefs....What are your church's views on Jesus Christ? Who was he to you?
 

Bishka

Veteran Member
Buttercup said:
b-soup....it's been awhile since I have brushed on the LDS beliefs....What are your church's views on Jesus Christ? Who was he to you?
My elder Brother, my Savior, my Redeemer, my King. He died for my sins so that I may return to my Heavenly Father. :)
 

Katzpur

Not your average Mormon
Buttercup said:
b-soup....it's been awhile since I have brushed on the LDS beliefs....What are your church's views on Jesus Christ? Who was he to you?
To the Latter-day Saints, Jesus Christ is:

1. The Only Begotten Son of God the Eternal Father.
2. The second person of the Godhead.
3. The Savior and Redeemer of mankind.
4. The Creator (under His Father's direction) of our Universe.
4. Our great Exemplar.
 
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