Religious folks: Ever wonder why you tend to be less intelligent and less educated?

And just for fun

http://www.maaf.info/expaif.html

 

You got to remember in the old testament there were really no law and the people were without rules, the 10 comandments and levitical law more or less kept people in from violating each other, there property, and there wives, it set restrictions on close relatives like having sex, father and child, son with one of his fathers wives. People were basically barbaric but the Jews had a set of rules of mutual respect, while the Pagans did not respect any of those laws. There were food restrictions, Pork(mainly because it had to be cooked better than they could in those days)...the Old testament mentions emanuelle = Jesus =(GOD SAVES) and Christ= (Messiah) and his coming but they expected him to come with strength and an army as a powerfull leader for the Jews but Jesus had a humble and forgiving strength, he told of the prodigal son and forgivness, he was the new covenent. In the Old testement there was a blood sacrifice with a lamb, Jesus became the perpetual sacrifice and the OLD covenent was NO longer needed. The reversal was as Eve brought sin to the world eating from the apple and bringing Adam along, Mary the mother of Jesus excepted Gods will and Said "Be it done to me according to thy will "Thus Mary concieved a Child ( the redemer)(the Christ) the whole bible was written by Jews, the old and the new Testaments and it was not untill Peter prayed over a Roman Soldier Corneilias and he was filed with the Holy Spirit that Gentiles were prayed over. Saul was a Jew who killed Christians and it was not until, he heard the Voice of Jesus "Saul why do you persecute me" and he was blinded and told to go to a house in Demascus where he was prayed over, recieved the Holy spirit, regained his sight and became Paul, one of the most ardent advocates of Christ. Paul wrote many of the books of the New testament and was the man behind the Quote that Evander Holyfield had on his trunks when he fought Tyson "PHIL 4:13 " I can do all things through Christ who stregthens me" Anyway I know I said I would not reply again but I could not resist.......To Believe or Not to Believe...... that is the question

 

Christ may have been a euphemism for steroids :yep

 

Easy crippet,your creating a lot of needle.........Holy cow!!!
As a side salad,has anybody read holyfields new biography 'becoming holyfield'?
He comes across as quite intelligent until he talks about religion,drugs and his love life...Then he becomes like a teenage gopher on heat,with a smargasbord of convenient religious justifications for decidedly 'unchristian' behaviour...
Religion can be all things to all people,ergo,whatever you want it to be to suit your desires.. .

 

Good post. :good

I agree that the New Testament God/Jesus seems to have a totally different presence to the God of the Old Testament.

I actually think Islam is a more consistent continuation of the Old Testament. Allah is Yahweh. He demands worship and obedience and will do has he pleases.

The Christian idea that the same God that was so jealous, vengeful and harsh to the Israelites - the Perfect Being, the One and Only Creator - would sacrifice his own "son", himself in human form, for OUR SINS is quite preposterous. It's totally inconsistent. It's a complete turnaround, putting sinful man in a position where this God would sacrifice the perfect man for him.

Christianity has a especially perverted tinge to it with this account, in my opinion. God on the cross suffering "for the sinners", mocked by petty mortals. It's sick, it's masochism, it's a complete betrayal of the values of the Old Testament. To put man in the position where God burdens all the punishment for man's inadequacies. No thanks, if ever get religion I hope it's not Christianity.

Also, is Jesus is saying dont punish sinners ?

 

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Stonehands, shame on you!:nono Of all the outstanding posters I look up to on ESB Classic:hail, you, with your particular nom de guerre, should know better than to pose such a rhetorical question about El Cholo, one that he answered decades ago. Tsk, tsk!:-gsg:beat. (Yeah, yeah, I realize you specified Denmark, but let's not split continents over the true spirit of your suggested question.:bart)

 

Hahaha! Although he wouldn't have been been Duran had he been born in Beverly Hills. He'd at least have to have been born in the Bronx!

 

Part II.

... the ancient Israelites had their rescuers, but God also sent a series of prophets (most of whom were reluctant -"huh?! ME?!?") to warn them of the consequences before they strayed from the flock. Of course, no one likes to be told what to do and people claiming to have "come from God" are not tolerated either. The prophets were stoned, banished, left in wells, etc. Interestingly enough, there are records in the Bible of the orthodox being stoned -prophets, martyrs, etc. but none of homosexuals.

The picture presented in the Old Testament is one of a demanding God threatening all kinds of wrath and blood-letting as a consequence for straying, but also of God pursuing his people endlessly like a scorned lover. Read Hosea 11. Even after they are disciplined (enslavement in Babylon, Egypt, etc...) he sends liberators. And they inevitably end up committing idolatry against him again. He sends prophets to warn them (their message in sum: "don't make Me have to whoop you again"). The prophets are treated miserably.

...so what happens? His children keep ignorning him and killing the messengers, so he comes down himself. Jesus, Christians believe, is the "Son of God", "God made flesh". For the sake of the argument, take this for granted. God comes down, as was foretold, but it was not as anyone expected. No conqueror, no vanquisher of the Romans, no king... God comes in the form of a child born indigent in the modern equivalent of a barn. He grows up to become a common carpenter who, at the relatively ripe age of 30, leaves his wood and begins to preach like no one had ever in the history of the world. He performs hundreds of miracles -dozens of which are (blandly, not dramatically) recorded. He heals men born blind from birth. The deaf hear, the lame get up and dance, at least 3 people who had died are raised in front of witnesses.

The man claims to be "one with the Father". This a great blasphemy to the religious Jews of first century Palestine -or to any Jew -or to any monotheist. Remember that the God of the Torah was aloof -he was only known to the common people through thunder and such. It was believed that anyone who saw God, would be struck dead on the spot, because we are all "unclean" at least relatively speaking. And here is this poor man -who the religious leaders see as nothing more than a dingy magician from Galilee no less(think of a working class factory town in England) claiming to be the "Creator of the Universe", "the Power", the "Alpha and the Omega". The machinery of justice begins and this man who claims to be God does nothing to stop it. He goes as willingly as a sheep to slaughter.

-and that is the crux that put him on the crux. How the carpenter was himself nailed to his wood, so to speak.

And here is the answer to your question about all of those rules that burdened the Israelites/Jews. God is perfect and demands perfection. God requires justice for your offenses. It was made clear that his people would never, ever be able to rise to the standard that they would have to in order to be saved. Man cannot save himself. He is a redundant sinner. The pope is a miserable sinner. We all are. We don't deserve to be in the presence of God. But like a scorned lover, God cannot let go. So he knocks on our door personally and what do you know -he looks like us.

And he brings the law to it's fulfillment and clarified everything.... he said: All of those hundreds of commandments come down to just two. TWO! "Love God with all of your heart and mind and soul. Love your neighbor as yourself." Do this and you follow the law in its entirety.

But debts have to be paid. So Jesus paid the debt of every past sin, every present sin, and every future sin committed by humanity in blood. God died at the climax of a love story that he had written to us. That crucifixion is also a cosmic event. That's why people call it the "greatest act of love".

Salvation was dumbed down for us because God did all the real work. Now, in order to commune with the perfect and necessary being, your Creator who is the source of all that is and all happiness, there is only one thing left to do: Accept this poor man, this executed criminal for what he claimed to be: your God and rescuer.

............................................

That is the best I can do summarize the Hebrew and the Christian scriptures. I don't expect to convert, only to clarify. "Jesus of Nazareth" did indeed live in first century Palestine. He had followers and was crucified. Many of those who knew him and followed him were executed. That is part of the historical record. The major players -the high priest, the Roman governor, etc. -their tombs have been found. All we know about the tomb of Jesus of Nazareth is what his followers claimed, "it was empty."

A postcript: at the moment that Jesus died on the cross, Mark (and I think Matthew) say that "the curtain in the sanctuary was torn in two". It's a throw away line, until you look more carefully. That curtain hung in the temple of God, the remains of which stand in Jerusalem. The curtain hung outside of the Holy of Holies, which was where the Jews believed that God's presence was. It was probably about 30 feet high and quite thick and it separated the "Holy of Holies" from sinful man. At the moment of the death of that particular victim, it was torn from "top to bottom"... God ended his separation from his children at that moment.

...
Whether you accept this or not is a personal choice, but it isn't something to hurl invectives at heap disdain upon.

 

The worst thing about religious arguments is, no one wins. No matter what is said or how much someones beliefs or thoughts are vilified, we will not know if they are right or wrong until we die.

I personally am not religious and do not believe in God, but religion/faith gives people hope, it encourages people to do the right thing. So in that regard I let it be and don't look down upon the faithful.

 

Of course Tommy's entourage was made up primarily of fearless priests. Neither Tommy or his ecclesiastical gang of buddies were afraid of guns, which guaranteed that Carnera had to earn his successful title defense against Loughran without underworld assistance.

While no boxing champion has ever been more closely associated with any religious entity, nor has any boxer ever been more disdainful of superstition and the notion of divinely endowed "luck" as a factor in his successes and failures. Regarding his craft, Tommy's credo seemed to be that, "God helps those who help themselves," and his performances in and of themselves could well have been considered as the finest honor he could offer his creator. Mere words of falsely pious gratitude pale in comparison to the effort and achievement of meritorious actions.

The promotional tag for Tunney/Loughran could easily have been, "Abandon all need and desire for hope and luck, they who enter this ring, for they make the most of those abilities endowed them by their nature." Perhaps those with the greatest faith have the least need to depend on it. Jesse Ventura stated in a widely circulated quote that religion was "a crutch for weak minded people." Ventura never met Loughran however, and I've never encountered any claim that Tommy was weak minded, or that his Catholicism was any kind of crutch, tired excuse, or rote explanation for his successes or failures.

One famous saying claims that the more people say they love you, the less they mean it. Maybe this is also true for outward declarations of faith. Might it be that the most genuine of believers keep it between themselves and their maker, rather than try imposing their values on others?

 

Sadly it also encourages people to do the wrong thing!

Take religion out of the equation then men will take responsibilty for their own actions rather than commit attrocities in the name of God!

 

Hitler was not a GODLY manand neither was Stalin or ADI AMIN and they did quite there share of attrocities...there have been many who have been brainwashed by there governments that there is no GOD and destroyed churches and there were many Governments who try and win over the religious for there own purposes. I dont know much about the muslim religion but in a lot of those places, reading material( like the bible) is destroyed and banished and the people are only fed there propaganda. Stalin,Hitler, and many others who killed Millions, certainly were not believers of Christ, who killed none

 

Yes it's all about controlling the masses, into committing attrocities, in that way Hitler, Stalin and the Christian church have a lot in common

 

Exactly! I read through Holyfield's new book, and while I admire his forthcoming and honest assertions, he always seems to be hard to figure out when it comes to his religion. It's as if his common sense and rationality go out the window when talking about anything having to do with his religion. When it comes to sex and his love life, Holyfield's Christian morals seem to be lacking. And, when he does make a mistake or a misstep, he's very good at twisting it so that it seems like a Christian-like endeavor!

 

I get a kick out of the the comedian George Carlin's numerous takes on religion! hehe