Essay Continued from Part 1...
Christian:
As a matter of fact, the four gospels, written by four separate
witnesses, all agree in the testimony as given by I John 1:1-3.
Commentary:
This claim reveals an inconsistency combined with wishful
thinking.
There is no sound evidence that the Gospel authors were witnesses
to Jesus.
The unknown author of the Gospel of Mark makes no such claim.
The unknown author of the Gospel of Matthew makes no such claim.
The author of Luke indicates he was not an eyewitness to Jesus(Luke
1:1-4).
The author of the Gospel of John indicates that his gospel is the
result of information passed on to him by an unidentified
person(John 21:20-24).
Trying to use 1 John 1:1-3 to claim that all the gospel
authors were witnesses to Jesus is dishonest and is contradicted
in two cases(John and Luke).
The verses state:
1 John 1:1-3
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we
have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands
have handled, of the Word of life;
(For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear
witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the
Father, and was manifested unto us;)
That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye
also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is
with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.
If the author of 1 John 1:1-3 is the same author who wrote
the Gospel of John, then 1 John 1:1-3 contradicts John
21:20-24, which declares that an unidentified apostle wrote
down the things recorded in the Gospel of John.
The author of the Gospel of John is simply passing along
information recorded by an unidentified apostle of Jesus.
John 21:20-24
Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom
Jesus loved following; which also leaned on his breast
at supper, and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee?
Peter seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man
do?
Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what
is that to thee? follow thou me.
Then went this saying abroad among the brethren, that that
disciple should not die: yet Jesus said not unto him, He shall
not die; but, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that
to thee?
This is the disciple which testifieth of these things,
and wrote these things: and we know that his testimony
is true.
The author of the Gospel of John, by their own admission, was
not the disciple who recorded and witnessed the information
presented in the Gospel of John.
In contrast, the unidentified author of 1 John 1:1-3
claims to have "seen" things from the beginning.
The author of the Gospel of John admits that his gospel is the
witness and testimony of an unidentified apostle and not
his own witness.
There is no way to know who wrote 1 John 1:1-3 or who the "we"
refers to.
If it's the same person or persons who wrote the Gospel of John,
then they have contradicted themselves.
There is also no sound evidence the Gospels were written by only
four people. More could easily have been involved. There is no
way to know because the authors are unknown.
Further compounding the problem is that the Gospels do not all
agree on everything.
Key elements are in complete conflict.
The genealogy of Jesus in Matt 1 contradicts the genealogy
of Jesus given in Luke 3.
Matthew also contradicts Luke by claiming the resurrected Jesus
first appeared to his apostles as group on a mountain in Galilee(Matt
28:10,16-17).
Luke states Jesus first appeared to them as a group in Jerusalem(Luke
24:33-36).
Christian:
Furthermore, would all of those men have given their lives and
died for an unprovable lie?
Human nature says, "What's in it for me?"
The new kind of self sacrificial love revealed in the Good News
is what can I do for the sake of others?
Commentary:
There is no Biblical support that any one of the unknown Gospel
authors was killed for believing in Jesus.
According to the Bible, the New Testament characters who were
recorded as dying for their cause were John the Baptist, James,
and Stephen. None of these is identified as being a New Testament
writer.
Since this Christian doesn't know who really wrote the Gospel of
Matthew or Mark, they have no idea who they really were or how
they died.
This Christian simply assumes things and spins their
rationalization around assertions.
Also, contrary to what this Christian claims, the apostles did
indeed ask "What's in it for me?".
This fluffy assertion of "a new kind of self sacrificial
love" is candy like hype on the part of this Christian.
It was St. Peter the Apostle, the future Rock of the Church
itself, who wanted to know what he would get for all his
trouble of following Jesus.
Matthew 19:27-29
Then answered Peter and said unto him, Behold, we have forsaken
all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore?
And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which
have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall
sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon
twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters,
or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my
name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold,
and shall inherit everlasting life.
Jesus promised big rewards for the obedience of the
Apostles and for all those who follow him.
All the chatter about "a new kind of self sacrificing
love" is empty, pious, rhetoric.
Christianity is a reward system for proper behavior. Perform a
proper action of belief and eternal life will be yours.
Furthermore, dying for a cause doesn't make the cause valid or
truthful. Japanese suicide pilots in WWII flew their planes into
ships because they knew that their God and beliefs were not lies
but the absolute truth.
Muslims die for their cause because they think it's the absolute
truth.
Thinking something is true doesn't make it true.
Christian:
But God is Spirit and Spirit cannot be put in a test tube. That's
why he came in the person of Jesus Christ, so that men could have
something to examine as evidence of the existence of God apart
from his creation.
Commentary:
This directly contradicts God's word in the Old Testament. God is
not a man or the Son of man(Num 23:19).
As the Bible declares, God(Yahweh) is the only savior(Isa
43:11), God will not give his glory to another(Isa 42:8),
there are no others(Isa 44:6,8 Isa 45:5), including a
character called Jesus.
Christian:
How much evidence do you want?
Commentary:
When Christians start obeying God's law as he commanded in his
word, I'll take them more seriously.
Until then, they are just preaching according to their own
theological preferences.
This Christian hasn't even come close to establishing that their
version of God exists or created the universe.
Furthermore, they assume that what they worship is a genuine "God",
who could just as easily be a local cosmic entity posing
as the creator of the universe.
Christian:
God has already manifested himself to humanity in many ways which
are adequately recorded in history apart from the Bible.
Commentary:
The word "adequately" is completely subjective.
The hurdle for deification and proof can always be set low enough
for any version of "God" to clear it.
There is precious little outside of the Bible that supports the
many claims of the New Testament about Jesus.
A character called Jesus may have existed who was a cult leader
and that's the extent of the issue.
That doesn't prove anything about the existence of God.
The fact that the promises of Jesus, as recorded in the New
Testament, have failed doesn't lend credibility to any of
the New Testament assertions being valid as the word of God.
And, as noted earlier, the theology of Christians contradicts
Yahweh the God of the Old Testament.
Christian:
Different people believe different things which may be
contradictory, therefore validity cannot be established on the
basis of belief alone.
The validity of any given belief must therefore be determined on
the basis of the foundation upon which it rests. The question
then becomes who's revelation has the best documentational
support establishing its validity.
Commentary:
Since validity and foundation are important, Christians would do
well to recognize that the Paulian foundation of Christianity
contradicts God's word in the Old Testament.
Christians can continue to worship a false prophet called Jesus,
or they can ditch the teachings of the vision seeing Paul and
repent and turn back to Yahweh the original God of the Bible, or
they can look elsewhere for theological ideas to comfort them.
Christian:
In Christianity our belief is connected to the revelation of God
through Jesus Christ and his attending irrefutably verifiable
miracles, documented by eyewitnesses for the sake of posterity,
as the credentials giving validity to his testimony concerning
the existence of God, and God's will for mankind.
Commentary:
The irrefutably failed promises of Jesus, as recorded by
the unidentified authors of the Gospels, who in two cases were
clearly not eyewitnesses to Jesus, are no credentials for
anything of substance.
It's the stuff of unsupported theological agendas, evolved over
time by writers who had agendas which cannot in any way be proven
to be from "God".
Nor can the men who selected these writings and classified them
as divine be proven to have been inspired by anything other than
their own preferences and personal agendas.
God's so-called will for mankind is really the will of men
seeking influence and control over other men.
Christian:
That is why he(God) appeared in human form in the person of Jesus
Christ, so that we could examine and comprehend him.
Commentary:
Which contradicts the Old Testament(Num 23:19).
Jesus wasn't even close to being a valid "Christ"
or "Messiah".
Jesus had neither the genealogy to be a valid king Messiah nor
did he fulfill the basic requirements of what a king Messiah was
to accomplish.
There is nothing in the Old Testament which declares that
a king Messiah would come once, be killed, rise from the dead in
three days, and require a second coming thousands of years later
to accomplish what he was supposed to do the first time around.
Christian:
Apart from legislation influenced by the principles of God, we
would have anarchy - each man doing that which is right in his
own eyes - because the natural tendencies of man are toward
rebellion, and what keeps him in line are the attendant
enforceable penalties.
Commentary:
Christians, through the teachings of Paul, have already tossed
out the perfect and eternal Law of God they give so much lip
service to.
Christians routinely ignore the Sabbath, ignore the
food laws, and ignore any other law they deem too
inconvenient to follow.
Christians are the very rebels they complain about so much.
Christian:
Scripture says, for example, that the things of God are
foolishness to those who are perishing.
These things are foolishness to you, therefore it is truth.
Commentary:
God spoke about foolish Christians in the following:
Isa 24:5
The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they
have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance,
broken the everlasting covenant.
God's Law is foolishness to Christians because they would rather
have easy candy coated salvation through faith in a pagan based
human sacrifice than do the hard work of obeying God's Law.
Christians are pious porcupines, sporting quills of
superficial righteousness which mock the very Bible God they
claim to worship.
Christian:
The Apostle Paul hated Christians and Christianity, even killed
and jailed many, yet he saw the error of his ways and was
converted.
Commentary:
The error was when Paul decided to contradict God, and by
preaching his apostasy to others, he compounded his error in the
eyes of God.
Those who try to lead others astray from God's Law are wicked(Psa
50:16-17).
Even Jesus said that those who teach others that the Law is not
important were not doing right in God's eyes.
Matt 5:19
Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least
commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the
least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do
and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of
heaven.
Christians can prove they really believe in God and love Jesus by
doing what he says instead of ignoring it.
Christian:
That tells me that there is hope for you too. As long as you are
still breathing, you haven't blown it yet, and you are doing
better than you deserve.
My faith is not "blind attachment to unsubstantiated claims
that conflict with the observance of reality," but is based
upon research and credible evidences.
Commentary:
A believer of any religion can make a claim like this.
The "research" and "credible
evidences" this Christian talks about don't mean a thing
to anyone other than himself or another person who is also
entranced with the cult of Jesus.
Christians can start demonstrating the evidence of their God by
obeying God's Law and doing the miracles which Jesus promised
they would do.
Until then, there is no reason to play in the ill-conceived
theological sandbox of this believer.
Christian:
The evidences are the creation, and those things which are
reported by the eyewitnesses of God's various manifestations at
various times and places, and that have been faithfully recorded
for the sake of posterity.
Commentary:
The creation doesn't prove the Christian version of God is real.
And we are once again back to the thread bare claim of
eyewitnesses who faithfully recorded events for the sake of
posterity. Yada yada yada.
Funny how the main writer of the New Testament called Paul,
wasn't an eyewitness to anything, Jesus ever did.
Funny how these unidentified eyewitnesses couldn't manage to
agree on key details of the events concerning the life and death
of Jesus.
Funny how they rip Old Testament verses out of context to support
their story and agenda.
Funny how possibly the biggest event in world history(Matt
27:50-53) isn't even mentioned by Paul or any other New
Testament writer, or any writer outside of the Bible.
It is only mentioned by an unknown author of a Gospel attributed
to a character called "Matthew".
These are the concrete "proofs" that Christians
advertise as accurately recorded, factual events.
Christian:
Without law there is anarchy, and in our laws, based on Christian
principles, freedom and liberty are provided for those who align
themselves under its authority.
Commentary:
Christian principles advocate ignoring the Law of God.
It went out of style when Paul replaced them with faith in
a human sacrifice.
Paul sought freedom from the Law, not obedience to
it, and did away with it using his pen.
Welcome to the theology of St. Paul.
Gal 3:25
But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a
schoolmaster(God's law).
Gal 5:18
But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the
law.
Christians don't come under God's authority as represented by his
Law.
Christians deem themselves exempt from the Law because they
follow the teachings of Paul, and not God.
Christian:
The Ten Commandments are not to restrict our liberty, but to
ensure it.
They have our highest good in esteem. They keep us from hurting
ourselves and others; for all infractions and ineptitude have
penalties which are built in, and any violation of the laws and
principles which the Creator has built into the system will
result in suffering - if not our own - then that of others
affected by what we do when our appetites are unrestrained.
God deals in absolutes.
Relativism has no room in the economy of God. Right is right -
even if nobody is doing it; and wrong is wrong - even if
everybody is doing it. That is absolutism.
Commentary:
This is typical nonsense, outright lying, and double talk from a
Christian.
The Ten Commandments are part of the very laws which Paul
declared were canceled by Jesus and which Paul claims
believers are no longer subject to.
Since Christians claim they are under "grace"
and not under the outdated Law of God anymore, God's Law is not
absolute at all but is relative to the time a person lives
in and is thus temporary.
That which is declared canceled and not binding is no longer
absolute.
God's Law is not really absolute according to Christianity, as
established by Paul.
Christians ignore one of the Ten Commandments, the law of
the Sabbath(which is Saturday). They ignore this law all
the time and think nothing of it.
Exo 20:10
But the seventh day is the sabbath of the
LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work,
thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy
maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy
gates:
God took this commandment seriously and meant it for all
future generations of believers to obey.
Exo 31:15-16
Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the
sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD: whosoever doeth any work in
the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death.
Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to
observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual
covenant.
Outside of the Christian Seventh Day adventist sect, Christianity
simply thumbs it's nose at this Commandment and Law of
God.
Christians observe a superficial, mock Sabbath on Sunday(the
first day), pretending to the world that they obey God and value
his word as holy.
By performing a mock worship service on Sunday, or SUN-day,
Christians are demonstrating their contempt for God.
They have adopted a pagan day of celebration dedicated to various
SUN Gods and want God to look the other way at this abomination.
Once again, Christians do as they please, and do exactly
what God told them not to do. God clearly told his
followers not to adopt heathen customs(including
Christmas) into their lives(Lev 20:23,26 and Jer 10:2-5).
So much for the moral absolutes of God as practiced by
Christians.
Christian:
By his Spirit he has the power to do so, while allowing for the
exercise of our free will, and by his omniscience he knows who
and who will not comply, and elects accordingly on that basis.
Commentary:
The parade of false Christian claims continues.
The Bible exposes this common Christian claim as a lie.
The term "free" will as used by Christians is
false advertising about God.
God will punish an incorrect choice which renders the word "free"
meaningless.
Free means without charge. God offers an ultimatum in regards to
salvation, and not a free choice.
This Christian also contradicts the New Testament by claiming God
elects according to the choice of the individual.
This lie is commonly employed by dishonest Christians
God elects according to HIS will, and not by the
will of the individual.
Eph 1:4-5
According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of
the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in
love:
Having predestinated us unto the adoption of
children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good
pleasure of his will,
Eph 1:11
In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated
according to the purpose of him who worketh all things
after the counsel of his own will:
As the scripture so clearly states:
God works all things after the "counsel of HIS own
will".
God predestines people according to HIS pleasure,
and HIS will.
This particular Christian lie concerning how God elects people,
which this believer attempts to foist on the skeptical forum, is
part of the great whitewash process used to portray their God in
a favorable, "fair" light.
Christian:
God is a God of fairness and his election is not by an arbitrary
whim of sovereignty, but according to his foreknowledge of our
choices.
Commentary:
This is yet another assertion told by the Christian which the
Bible exposes as an outright lie.
God most certainly does choose by HIS whim and not based
on a "foreknowledge of our choices" as this
dishonest preacher claims.
Eph 1:4-5,11 proves this Christian claim about God to be a
bold faced lie.
But there is more:
The twins Jacob and Esau were placed in their life roles according
to God's whim and not by any action of their own.
Before they had done right or wrong, still in the womb,
God determined what roles they would play in life and how God
would feel about them.
Rom 9:11-13, 16
(For the children being not yet born, neither having done any
good or evil, that the purpose of God
according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that
calleth;)
It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger.
As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.
So then it is not of him that willeth(the individual),
nor of him that runneth, but of God that
sheweth mercy.
The fate and Jacob and Esau was not based on the foreknowledge of
what the children would do and choose but was solely based
on the whim of God.
God chose to love Jacob and hate Esau before they had been born.
The will and actions of Jacob and Esau had nothing to do with the
issue. God predestined them just as he predestines people
according to Eph 1:4-5,11.
It's little wonder Christians will ignore verses like these. They
don't make God look very good and Christians will do anything to
keep their God looking neat, tidy, and morally unblemished.
Ironically, the very verses(Rom 9, Eph 1) which this
Christian contradicts were supposed to have been written by Paul.
This is the very same Paul who declared that Christians don't
have to follow God's Law.
Once again, a Christian proves that they will use only the
verses they like the sound of as material to spin their
theological cocoon.
Then they have the arrogance to claim that they believe the word
of God and that they represent the one true "God's
word" to the world.
This particular pious circus act is a sideshow built on
theological expediency and superficial worship of a deity which
is based on selected verses from the Bible which appeal to the
Christian mind.
Christian:
You see, the difference between an atheist and an agnostic is
that the one is a fool, and the other is fast becoming one.
The one believes there is no God; the other doesn't think that
you can know that there is a God.
Now do you really consider it weakness to rely upon a power
greater than yourself?
Commentary:
The only true fool is anyone who swallows the lies and
theological speculations of a Christian like this.
Christians like this contradict the Bible, ignore God's word, and
in the end invent their own personal amended version of the
Bible, while all the time declaring they believe in the
actual entire Bible which is sold in bookstores, held up by
preachers, and which are placed in motel rooms.
Christian:
Adjust to the justice of God before the justice of God adjusts to
you; for at that time you will be grabbing for all the God you
can get!
Commentary:
The Christian now employs Godly threats to intimidate the
non-believers.
This pious zealot first needs to start obeying all of God's
perfect and eternal laws, then he can go about telling
others how they are not right in God's eyes.
This type of hypocritical preaching is quite common among
fundamentalist Christians.
Christian:
History is replete with the agonizing deathbed experiences of
avowed atheists who would not let go and let God.
Commentary:
History is also replete with Christians applying the agony which "converts"
people.
The Spanish Inquisition specialized in helping people "let
go and let God".
Most Christian points in the New World were made at the ends of
swords.
Christian:
Now, just because you don't believe something doesn't invalidate
its existence; and conversely, just because something is repeated
many times, doesn't necessarily make it true.
You may say, "There is no God." but that doesn't make
it true, or even make him go away.
Commentary:
When Christian rhetoric becomes too fractured and idiotic for
rational comment, preaching in reverse is called for.
Take heed:
A Christian may say Allah is not God but just because this
Christian denies that Allah is the one true God, doesn't make
Allah go away. Turn to Allah and be saved.
Christian:
Why do you insist on battling the Bible and Christianity?
Because you don't like us to call reality what you consider to be
mythology?
Commentary:
This Christian comes to a skeptical forum, dumps his sermon on
the group and then wants to know why people don't accept his
theological speculations as facts.
This Christian hasn't establish anything as reality. He just
assumes whatever he says about God is reality. His truth must be
the only truth.
Christian:
Because you don't like the creation of laws based on morality?
Commentary:
Those laws that this Christians chirps about aren't even followed
by Christians as God instructed his followers to do.
Nor has this Christian established that all of God's laws are
moral.
Apparently this Christian has no problem with making a woman
undergo a trial by ordeal if she is suspected of being
unfaithful to her husband(Num 5:11-31). This is one of the
absolute moral laws of God this Christian was trumpeting.
Once again, the talk coming from this Christian is mostly vapor.
All shine and little substance.
Christian:
Because you consider yourself to be a self appointed atheistic
patriot, bent on "saving" the world from the
"bane" of Christianity?
Commentary:
Christians deem themselves commissioned by God to make the
personal beliefs of other people their business and
consider it their duty to preach the gospel to anyone with a
pulse.
This Christian is a self appointed prophet and doesn't like
others with different views to compete with him.
Christian:
Life is too short to spend it fighting against God.
Many have engaged in the practice of warring against God and the
Bible for centuries, but to no avail.
Commentary:
Christians have killed and bickered with each other for
centuries. They can't seem decide who has the right version of
God on their side. This also exposes yet another failed promise
of Jesus.
Jesus prayed that believers would display complete unity(John
17:20-23).
That prayer has proved to be a failure. Christians haven't even
come close to displaying the complete unity that Jesus prayed
they would display to the world and they've had 2,000 years to
get it right.
Christian:
The ground is littered with the broken hammers that have been
raised against the anvil of the Bible; and yet, Christianity
marches on, growing and spreading, not only through
civilizations, but across generations.
Commentary:
Not much to add to this sermon, which has now turned into a
mindless, robotic, high school pep rally.
This Christian doesn't even believe in the whole Bible, but has
mentally concocted a revised version of it to suit their whims.
Christian:
There are more Christians now than there ever have been in
history, and the numbers are growing daily.
Commentary:
The wonderful, time tested advertising, which urges a person to "eat
dung- for a billion flies can't be wrong" once again
surfaces to convince skeptics that Christianity is true.
The sermon is over.
A religious elephant has labored and given birth to a mouse.
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