Abusive Theology 101

[Locke]

Locke, I have to admit that I am a super sceptic and that emails/pm's between us would probably just be a waste of time.

I would be as surprised if you manage to convince me that God exists, it is the christian god and that he is not an evil bastard as I would be if someone convinced me that father christmas is real and he is the one who brought me presents.

Now, if I am wrong (in either one of these two) I do think that it is VERY important for me to find out. So I am open despite being VERY sceptical.

What about a very friendly debate (in the debate area or elsewhere where the people who are allowed to post are limited) on these forums, where we are not trying to prove each other wrong. I just list my objections and you tell me why you think I'm wrong.

That way I won't feel as if I'm wasting your time as you might convince someone else with your arguments. You will also have a slight advantage due to the fact that I haven't read the scriptures in years.

(I do think it is of value to have more than my/your opinion, but I also agree that if there are too many people key issues might get lost)

Edit: sorry, I would have pm'ed this but couldn't figure out how to do it on the stupid phone.

“If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple... In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples." - Luke 14:26, 33

"Jesus said to them, 'Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.'" - John 6:53

With such statements as these it's surprising so many people profess Christianity - perhaps they don't really know what it means to be Christian... But my point is that Jesus never tried to convince anyone to follow Him; He simply offered, and moved on, so I appreciate your consideration of both your own interest, and my time.

Also, don't feel rushed to reply. I fully understand wanting to thoroughly scrutinize before answering. I'll do my best to give error-free information, and to fix it when it's given. I've already learned a lot from being on these forums and I don't think this debate will be an exception.