The secret Christians aren’t sharing with you

[Politesse]

Now I'm past Jesus and on to Aristotle.

The "Wise Old Mentor" of Hellenism's holy family.

 

[Jarhyn]

Now I'm past Jesus and on to Aristotle.

The "Wise Old Mentor" of Hellenism's holy family.

I guess? I mean, I take massive umbridge at his failure in making the whole "necessary" truths language when all truth is contextual to the axioms and systems where it actually holds.

People have been talking about "eternal" this and "timeless" that, when a more general view of time indicates that this language is destructively nonsensical, and I just made a post about this error.

As a result, for all Aristotle himself said some neat stuff for what may have been the first time a scribe could record it... Sometimes I also wish I could kick him in the teeth.

 

[ideologyhunter]

The secrets many Christians aren't sharing with you:
>they're not sure they believe that any of the basic faith statements of Christianity are true
>they're not sure Jesus is alive and hearing their prayers
>there's probably a god but they don't try to talk to him, because they don't hear back in a tangible way
>they're done with the fairy tale parts of the faith, the ridiculous stuff about the Garden of Eden and the flood and Jonah's fish vacation; they don't want to be dragged into discussing them, and they aren't willing to declare a belief in them
>they don't read the Bible because it's (to them) boring AF. (Here's where atheists could show them the weird gory stuff to read.)

 

[Swammerdami]

When I saw the thread title, I immediately thought of the Big Secret that Jews and Christians alike have kept hidden:

God went missing -- completely disappeared -- sometime in the 7th century BC. Jesus was eventually invented as a stand-in, a place-holder for the alleged Deity who had absconded about 700 years earlier.

The Bible itself makes this very clear. Here are some excerpts from the King James Version:

[EXODUS:25:10-22] And they shall make an ark of shittim wood: ... And thou shalt make a mercy seat of pure gold: ... And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat. And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end: even of the mercy seat shall ye make the cherubims on the two ends thereof. And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be. And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee. And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.

This is pretty clear. "Graven images" will have no utility, because the Very God himself will reside "between the cherubims" atop the Ark which Moses did make.

[NUMBERS:7:89] And when Moses was gone into the tabernacle of the congregation to speak with him, then he heard the voice of one speaking unto him from off the mercy seat that was upon the ark of testimony, from between the two cherubims: and he spake unto him.
[NUMBERS:8:1] And the Lord spake unto Moses, ...

PSALMS:80:1] Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a flock; thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth.

Examples abound that God has taken up residence between the cherubims. High Priests and selected Kings may converse with him there.

[ISAIAH:37:14-16] ... and Hezekiah went up unto the house of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord. And Hezekiah prayed unto the Lord, saying, "O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, that dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth: thou hast made heaven and earth."

King Hezekiah -- famous for the construction of Hezekiah's Wall -- conversed with God. It's too bad God's comments to the King are unrecorded, as they may be the final words ever spoken by The Ancient One.

Hezekiah's son was a heretic, worshiping foreign gods to indulge the lascivious whims of his concubines. When Josiah eventually set about refurbishing the Temple, neither God, nor His Cherubims, nor the Ark of His Testimony were anywhere to be found.

[2 CHRONICLES:35:3] And [King Josiah, gt-grandson of Hezekiah] said unto the Levites that taught all Israel, which were holy unto the Lord, Put the holy ark in the house which Solomon the son of David king of Israel did build; it shall not be a burden upon your shoulders:

The account of Josiah's refurbishment goes into excruciating detail. If the Levites had been able to locate God, it would have been cause for great celebration. Instead, there is zero mention of how the Levites responded to Josiah's command. The Ark and its cherubims are never mentioned again in the Bible (except for a few cryptic references to the fact that they've disappeared).

[2 KINGS:23:2] ... the king [Josiah] went up into the house of the Lord, ... And the king stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the Lord,...

Josiah enters the Lord's House (the "Holy of Holies") but instead of directing his attention between the cherubims -- which no longer exist -- he can do no more than "stand by a pillar."

One can hardly blame the Jews and Christians from suppressing this dreadful news. It would be like Homer completing his trilogy with The Deaths of Zeus and Poseidon.

It seems fitting that even we atheists should join the Christians in mourning the passing of this famous God. Can we hope that he is still alive, but is taking a long vacation? Perhaps in some South Pacific Island? Or in a far-away Andromedan fleshpot?