(June 30, 2014 at 10:18 am)Irrational Wrote: JWs believe Jesus is a god but not God himself. That's what JWs have told me that in person (cousins, actually).B-mine.
and thus they can't be atheists, and conversely there can be no jehovahs witness atheists either.
Quote:But you see, you are fine with calling Christian some groups seeing Christ as a god rather than GodBecause the christ bit always refers to divinity. They don;t all agree on the nature of that divinity (christology) - but they all agree that it is present.
Quote: but not other groups who see Christ as just a great man worthy of following.Because they do not see or ackowledge "christ". They see or acknowledge "jesus of nazereth - or jesus of page 44 in this book" - and self identify as believing such.
Quote:The problem with your challenge is it must assume the Bible is internally consistent and that the earliest Christians used to believe Jesus was God or even a god.No, it "musn't", lol. Whether or not the bible is internally consistent is another issue, and an issue they can hammer out themselves. It doesn't matter what "early christians" believed. All that matters what the christian in front of me - in this hypothetical - believes. I'm addressing that christians belief - not some other christians belief. I can pretend as if that other christian didn't even exist...if that would help me to give the claim the thought it deserves. -That's how you avoid straw manning someone.
Quote: And while many early Christians saw him as some god or angel (the Pauline Epistles, for example), others did not see him as such yet called him the Christ regardless (the Synoptic Gospels hint towards that).Care to elaborate on what they meant by "christ"?
I am the Infantry. I am my country’s strength in war, her deterrent in peace. I am the heart of the fight… wherever, whenever. I carry America’s faith and honor against her enemies. I am the Queen of Battle. I am what my country expects me to be, the best trained Soldier in the world. In the race for victory, I am swift, determined, and courageous, armed with a fierce will to win. Never will I fail my country’s trust. Always I fight on…through the foe, to the objective, to triumph overall. If necessary, I will fight to my death. By my steadfast courage, I have won more than 200 years of freedom. I yield not to weakness, to hunger, to cowardice, to fatigue, to superior odds, For I am mentally tough, physically strong, and morally straight. I forsake not, my country, my mission, my comrades, my sacred duty. I am relentless. I am always there, now and forever. I AM THE INFANTRY! FOLLOW ME!
