Atheists more Intelligent

Michael_Panetta said:
Life has as much purpose and meaning as we give it, even if it's ultimately purposeless and meaningless.
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Awesome. Thank you for actually writing down that you think we're all ambulatory meat computers responding to biochemical programming and of no more value than the sum of our chemical components. It's this philosophy that allowed Totalitarian Socialists like Mao and Stalin to commit mass murder in the millions. Why not? The lives of others are "ultimately purposeless and meaningless" and easily replaced by the survivors fucking, which they do without prodding. Just throw them some food and take any kids they have for special indoctrination. Easy peasy.s
 
Michael_Panetta said:
I didn't dodge anything.

I don't have any religious faith. I don't believe in any gods or fairies or demons.

And what do you mean by "outside" the universe? Or "before" the universe? There is no "outside" or "before" the universe. The universe is all there is.
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Disagreed. We were discussing whether or not Jesus actually existed and you chose to ride off into the weeds about miracles and the existence of God.

Good for you. It's not required.

Although Space-Time began with the Big Bang, what came "before"? What was the impetus for the Big Bang? When there was evidence of an Oscillating Universe, that question answered itself but now that it's known the Universe is not only expanding, but accelerating in the expansion, the evidence points to a one-shot universe. There isn't enough mass in the Universe to cause it to collapse in on itself. Our Universe is most probably end in the "Big Chill"; entropy death...which leads us back to the big "why?" question and from whence the Universe came.

FWIW, I use "God" as a placeholder term. An almighty force greater than the Universe itself. Such a power is about as comprehensible by humans as the Solar System by an amoeba. Such a power can be partially understood much like the story of the Blind Men and the Elephant, but never fully by anyone. Anyone who says they do is either lying or deluding themselves. You, sir, by affirming non-existence, are likewise deluding yourself since it's impossible for you to know or prove.
Michael_Panetta said:
Lol. Most of the NT is about a guy who never even existed.
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Wolverine said:
I am forgiven and you are the one casting aspersions at me! I have faith!
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Dude, obviously you don't understand what being a Christian means. It's more than just being dunked in a bathtub.

You claim you have faith but you never show it. Anyone can quote scripture, even non-believers or believers of other religions.
 
Dutch Uncle said:
It was a lot more than a single bored obscure peasant. Additionally, you should know as well as I do that the vast majority of peasants were illiterate. The reason Gutenberg's machine was so important was because it helped spread the number of books which allowed a greater literacy rate.
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Right, I should have written -- stories about an obscure peasant to make it clearer.

Obviously, in the decades immediately subsequent to his execution, the few dozen peasants from Galilee who knew Jesus were telling his story, and that story began to circulate in Judea and Anatolia before educated Greek speakers wrote them down in the Gospels and Pauline epistles
 
Cypress said:
Right, I should have written -- stories about an obscure peasant to make it clearer.

Obviously, in the decades immediately subsequent to his execution, the few dozen peasants from Galilee who knew Jesus were telling his story, and that story began to circulate in Judea and Anatolia before educated Greek speakers wrote them down in the Gospels and Pauline epistles
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Thanks. Now the hard question; Why would anyone right about an obscure carpenter? Or an ex-Nepalese Prince who became an acetic?

Again, I think the ripple theory is important: if we see ripples, it means something hit the water. We may not understand what it was, but we know something happened. We certainly should not assume nothing happened, that the ripples just appeared randomly on their own or were fabricated by the water itself for no reason at all.
 
Dutch Uncle said:
Thanks. Now the hard question; Why would anyone right about an obscure carpenter? Or an ex-Nepalese Prince who became an acetic?

Again, I think the ripple theory is important: if we see ripples, it means something hit the water. We may not understand what it was, but we know something happened. We certainly should not assume nothing happened, that the ripples just appeared randomly on their own or were fabricated by the water itself for no reason at all.
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Not to mention the Trojan War was once thought to be legendary until archeological evidence demonstrated that Homer was actually writing about a quasi-historical event, even if embellished by Greek mythology.

The weight of evidence points to the existence of a historical Jesus. Virtually all reputable scholars of antiquity agree on that.

I do not know why that makes some posters angry.

No one is suggesting anyone be forced to accept he was divine, and no one has a gun to their head compelling them to accept embellishments or allegories in the New Testament
 
Dutch Uncle said:
Dude, obviously you don't understand what being a Christian means. It's more than just being dunked in a bathtub.

You claim you have faith but you never show it. Anyone can quote scripture, even non-believers or believers of other religions.
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Yeah, yeah, I am done with you bashing my faith. I am not perfect, no Christian is. I came here to discuss politics, and immediately upon finding out I was a conservative I was bashed relentlessly, so now it is my venting area and comic relief thanks to you! You, to me, are like one of those ankle biting dogs!
 
Dutch Uncle said:
Thanks. Now the hard question; Why would anyone right about an obscure carpenter? Or an ex-Nepalese Prince who became an acetic?

Again, I think the ripple theory is important: if we see ripples, it means something hit the water. We may not understand what it was, but we know something happened. We certainly should not assume nothing happened, that the ripples just appeared randomly on their own or were fabricated by the water itself for no reason at all.
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I don't know why they would (right:laugh:) write about an obscure carpenter perhaps because of the miracles he performed or perhaps because he rose from the dead!
 
Cypress said:
Not to mention the Trojan War was once thought to be legendary until archeological evidence demonstrated that Homer was actually writing about a quasi-historical event, even if embellished by Greek mythology.

The weight of evidence points to the existence of a historical Jesus. Virtually all reputable scholars of antiquity agree on that.

I do not know why that makes some posters angry.

No one is suggesting anyone be forced to accept he was divine, and no one has a gun to their head compelling them to accept embellishments or allegories in the New Testament
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People do not believe, because they understand it would mean changing how they live, and would have to quit being selfish, nasty, and liar,s murderers, cheats! They have become their own Gods!
 
Cypress said:
Already answered about Philo. Trolling now?

The vast majority of scholars of antiquity maintain that the weight of historical evidence is that a Jewish peasant named Jesus was executed by Pontius Pilate, , that his followers circulated oral traditions about him in Judea, and that within 20 to 40 years of his death multiple highly educated and literate Greek speaking authors wrote down these oral traditions about Jesus.

That is a lot of effort to go to for a peasant from backwater rural Galilee.

If you genuinely want to learn about the historical Jesus most large universities have classes about it from reputable scholars of antiquity.
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No you didn't. Philo never mentions Jesus, who allegedly drew crowds of thousands for three years and became such a pest that the highest government took care of him. Nor did Philo mention Matthew's zombie invasion of the city for three days straight. Lol. Get real.
 
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