Christians - who convinced you of the truth of god/jesus?

[Learner]

This may be quite surprising to many. The bible rebukes magic and magicians, sorcerers and conjurors..

I don't think that will be even slightly surprising to anybody here; I would expect this audience to all be fully aware of that.

Unfortunately, that expectation hasn't been the case, evidently by the posts like the one I was previously responding to.

Of course, Jesus and the prophets and saints get a free pass, and their miracles are declared as different for no good reason.

A free pass indeed. because magic is the counterfeit to doing miracles. Simply put...

...magic can't create life...nor re-animate the dead that physically consists of inanimate common materials.

The Free Pass then by concept is attributed to the Real McCoy - an extremely advanced scientific mind to bind organic matter through chemistry and the ultra know-how of physics capacity to power-charge matter into life. Hence magic is the counterfeit pretending to have the heavenly touch or real power.

"Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live" is the biblical DMCA - the objection is not to the act, but to the actor's being unauthorised.

Human sacrifices was common during the time that particular line, highlighted in bold, came about as written in Exodus. Magic was performed through human blood!! Babies sacrificed would be instrumental too - the conjurors used blood to invoke their gods / demons etc. and etc.

The bible God says No.

Turning water into wine is unabashedly a conjouring trick.

See the above.

God is the ultimate scientist. Magic is the counterfeit.

The claim is not "magic isn't real", but rather "only our magic is allowed". But the fact is, magic isn't real, and neither The authorised nor the unauthorised claims of its existence are true.

You know the score....see the above.

 

[ideologyhunter]

Transubstantiation believers (over 65% of the Christian world) teach that the communion host and wine (or juice) become literal flesh and blood. Since I'm vegetarian, that's a step too far, magic or no magic. I wouldn't even trust the potlucks, if there are faith-filled cannibals in da house.

 

[robnisch]

Magical thinking - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

There seems to be some confusion here.
I was not talking about prestidigitation.

 

[Learner]

Transubstantiation believers (over 65% of the Christian world) teach that the communion host and wine (or juice) become literal flesh and blood. Since I'm vegetarian, that's a step too far, magic or no magic. I wouldn't even trust the potlucks, if there are faith-filled cannibals in da house.

Symbolically (which it is) - it ain't cannibalism if it's an unblemished lamb.

(Replying In an "ask a silly question get a silly answer" way)

 

[Politesse]

The bible God says No.

The "Bible God" said not to sacrifice children for other deities. Children of his enemies, he ordered murdered summarily. And you had better hope that is still so, or the blood of those slain by the wars your nation now wages against other religions will drag you down into the earth, and below the earth. As it is written.

 

[robnisch]

A long time ago in a land far away a bunch of Wise Guys were sitting around, and one said I am hungry what have got to eat.
Another Wise Guy says We got nothing to eat here.
A third Wise Guy says I got an idea; Tell the people the Gods like the smell of burning flesh.
Fourth Wise Guy says Lamb, I like Lamb.
Tell the people The Gods will be really happy with some tasty meat.

My BBQ theory of religion.

 

[southernhybrid]

Here's another contraction in the Bible. I was taught that it was belief that would get me into heaven and spare me eternal torment, but the Bible isn't so clear on that, is it?

6. Faith saves (or do works save?)​

Protestant Christianity often emphasizes that faith alone (sola fide) justifies God’s forgiveness. Many verses support this.

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast (Ephesians 2:8–9).

We maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law(Romans 3:28).

That seems clear enough until we find the opposite claim elsewhere in the Bible. The clearest example to me is the Parable of the Sheep and Goats in Matthew 25, but there’s more.

Will [God] not repay everyone according to what they have done? (Proverbs 24:12)

What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? (James 2:14).

For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done (Matthew 16:27).

The dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works (Revelation 20:12).

For something so important as getting into heaven and avoiding hell, the New Testament is surprisingly unclear.

Addendum: Or maybe it’s repentance that saves . . . or maybe baptism?​

What if it’s repentance?

Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord (Acts 3:19).

Repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem (Luke 24:47).

Or baptism? It was so essential a ritual that Jesus did it.

Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38).

We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life (Romans 6:4).

This is from the link in my former post that I doubt Learner read. So, Christians can't even agree on how to get into heaven.

All of them believe it's through Christ, with or without works.

Having said that...I think we can differentiate between them, down to context -
there are works to do good, without the thought of seeking reward ..i.e. by the intention of the heart. The highest of these that Jesus said for example: is when one sacrifices his or her life for the sake of saving another, without giving a second thought.


And there are the 'works' to "doing good" with the intention at heart to be rewarded or admired , be it though beneficial to the recipient of the "good works". Like the verse about doing good works and boasting a out it.

Hope that helps.

I was told all my little Catholic friends were headed to hell because they didn't have the right version of Christianity. Damn! How do you think that shit makes a kid feel?

I never had that. Who was it that told you that your Catholic friends would go to hell? Was it someone at the local church?.

It was the fucking, evil evangelical preacher in the church I was forced to attend throughout my childhood. It's a common belief among evangelicals, that only people who believe like they do will enter heaven.

Here's a sad example. I was visiting my mom in NJ a few days after a close Catholic friend died. My mom's asshole evangelical friend was visiting too and she said to my mom, "Marie, did you talk to her about the Lord?" I wanted to slap her, ( metaphorically speaking ) but I controlled myself because I knew my mom would be upset if I confronted her jerk of a friend. My mom told my husband that despite my being an atheist, she no longer believed that people like me were going to hell. My sister didn't believe it when I told her that. My sister was very damaged from our childhood religion but despite that, she is still some variety of Christian. We don't discuss religion because I don't want to upset her. She suffers from anxiety and sometimes depression. My father was very cruel to her etc. So, apparently you have never met the type of Christians who think they are the only ones who are right or "saved" as they call it.

 

[bilby]

A free pass indeed. because magic is the counterfeit to doing miracles. Simply put...

...magic can't create life...nor re-animate the dead that physically consists of inanimate common materials.

Nor can miracles. Both are counterfeit; The sole difference is that you have been gulled by one and not the other, and the prohibitions against magic exist to protect that gullibility.

And you are here demonstrating that this propaganda sleight of hand is highly effective.

 

[bilby]

Human sacrifices was common during the time that particular line, highlighted in bold, came about as written in Exodus. Magic was performed through human blood!! Babies sacrificed would be instrumental too - the conjurors used blood to invoke their gods / demons etc. and etc.

The bible God says No.

The bible God does NOT say 'no'. He says 'only me'.

That's a very different thing.

The whole essence of Christianity is a blood sacrifice. Just one you don't recognise as barbaric, because you are immersed in the cult.

 

[ideologyhunter]

The power of Christ compels you!

 

[bilby]

God is the ultimate scientist.

Really? Where's the repeatability? Where's the peer review? Gods are the antithesis of scientific. Monotheistic Gods even more so.

 

[GenesisNemesis]

This may be quite surprising to many. The bible rebukes magic and magicians, sorcerers and conjurors..

I don't think that will be even slightly surprising to anybody here; I would expect this audience to all be fully aware of that.

Of course, Jesus and the prophets and saints get a free pass, and their miracles are declared as different for no good reason.

"Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live" is the biblical DMCA - the objection is not to the act, but to the actor's being unauthorised.

Turning water into wine is unabashedly a conjouring trick.

The claim is not "magic isn't real", but rather "only our magic is allowed". But the fact is, magic isn't real, and neither The authorised nor the unauthorised claims of its existence are true.

The thing that always gets me is the feeding of the multitude story, where Jesus supposedly fed 5,000 people with 5 loaves of bread and two fish. It's physically and logically impossible. Somehow people still believe it though.

 

[Elixir]

A free pass indeed. because magic is the counterfeit to doing miracles. Simply put...

...magic can't create life...nor re-animate the dead that physically consists of inanimate common materials.

Nor can miracles. Both are counterfeit; The sole difference is that you have been gulled by one and not the other, and the prohibitions against magic exist to protect that gullibility.

And you are here demonstrating that this propaganda sleight of hand is highly effective.

Walls of words are effective too. Nobody wants to Wade through all the meaningless liturgical bullshit they spew, only to have the halfwitted faithful declare that you were unable to refute magical assertions X,Y and Z and therefore goddadababble is troo.

 

[Elixir]

I was not talking about prestidigitation.

Ok then, how else do you get snapper from sourdough?

 

[robnisch]

I was not talking about prestidigitation.

Ok then, how else do you get snapper from sourdough?

Snapper and sourdough loafs?
Or lox and bagels?

 

[steve_bank]

All of the Christian rhetoric boils down to

'I don't carer what you say, I love Jesus and I know Jesus loves me'.

Like a puppy hanging onto a sock with its teeth as if its life depends on it.

 

[pood]

I live, roughly, on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, though the real-estate ghouls have renamed it NOLITA (North of Little Italy) in an attempt to gentrify it and drive out more low-income residents and artists. They have brilliantly succeeded.

For the same reason they also changed the name of Hell’s Kitchen to Clinton. Cool.

When I get up in the morning there are generally two homeless people sleeping right outside our door, one with a wheelchair and both with their stuff scattered all over the place.

There are homeless people everywhere, because a couple of blocks away is the Bowery Mission, with free meals and shelter. It has been around since 1879.

What kind of sadistic god would set stuff up like this?

Under a naturalistic reading of reality, none of this is particularly surprising. Some people lose the genetic lottery. Others have shitty upbringings. Or both.

What’s Goddy’s excuse?

I agree with the writer Henry Miller, who said that if God exists and he met him, he would spit in God’s face.

 

[pood]

I should add to the above, “bad luck,” or oppression, or war, or many other things besides that quash peoples’ hopes and dreams.

Does Goddy give a fuck?

Zero fucks given.

 

[Elixir]

Does Goddy give a fuck?

Zero fucks given.

Actually, we are mercifully not subjected to the Great Grief that afflicts Him due to wars and pedos and shit. Usually 'most everyone dies when He's this upset, so give thanks!

 

[ideologyhunter]

Remember, it's not a sin, crime, or atrocity if The Creator does it. Thus sayeth St. Cuckoo of the Tribunal of the Holy Veil, and thus sayeth all church fathers through the ages.