(August 16, 2021 at 3:01 am)Ahriman Wrote: Jesus stood for what He believed in.
Not really. Jesus was a hypocrite. Like In Matt. 5:44 Jesus told people to love their enemies and bless them that curse them; and yet he built a place to torture his own enemies forever.
Also, Jesus ignored his own advice by repeatedly denouncing his opposition and calling them names. In Matt. 23:17 he said, "Ye fools and blind." In Matt. 12:34 Jesus called people vipers and in Matt. 23:27 he referred to some people as hypocrites and whited sepulchres. In John 10:8 he went so far as to allege, "All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers."
Is that practicing brotherly love? Jesus most assuredly was not above calling others names and has no business denouncing those who do the same. Clearly, he preached one thing and practiced another.
(August 16, 2021 at 3:01 am)Ahriman Wrote: such as when He pardoned the harlot
Pardoning the harlot is actually one of the stories in the NT for which scholars are sure was added much later – had nothing to do with Jesus.
(August 16, 2021 at 3:01 am)Ahriman Wrote: Also, His parables stand the test of time.
Oh really? When was the last time some Christian plucked his eye because he looked at some other woman? When was the last time some Christian amputated his hand after masturbation? When was the last time some Christian sold everything he/she had and gave it to the poor? – Almost never. Christians behave like Jesus commands and parables are rambling of some lunatic – which they certainly are – and Christians have to admit it already.
(August 16, 2021 at 3:01 am)Ahriman Wrote: Jesus as more of a divine figure, as opposed to simply being an excellent man.
Have you noticed how all religious founders are considered to be the most excellent man that ever lived? Muhammad, L . Ron Hubbard, Buddha, Jesus, Joseph Smith…
teachings of the Bible are so muddled and self-contradictory that it was possible for Christians to happily burn heretics alive for five long centuries. It was even possible for the most venerated patriarchs of the Church, like St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, to conclude that heretics should be tortured (Augustine) or killed outright (Aquinas). Martin Luther and John Calvin advocated the wholesale murder of heretics, apostates, Jews, and witches. - Sam Harris, "Letter To A Christian Nation"