The Reasons why "Just Following Jesus" Doesn't work

[Chad32]

We account for knowledge by seeing how the world works, doing tests, and making note of consistency. It's a process, and going back and revising when we get new information keeps things as accurate as possible. This is how we find out how planets actually form, what really causes illness, and such. The universe is full of stuff, and this stuff interacts with other stuff in a way that we can gain knowledge about how the stuff within the universe works. The more we know about this stuff, the fewer things we attribute to gods. For instance, we know lightning doesn't come down because there's a guy on a cloud hurling bolts at the ground. We also know that the reason a church might get struck by lightning is less because of heresy, and more because it was probably built on a hill with a tall steeple at the top.

Yes, I can. You're just ignoring our ability to gather consistent data over time with which to base our views. Since they're not absolute, you want to throw them out the window as useless, and consult a book with outdated views like slavery, discrimination, thought crime, and such. Yet you're accusing me of being dishonest because I believe even a flawed system has value. The more we work at it, the less flawed it becomes.

I suppose since you believe your god defines good and evil, you can safely say he doesn't have evil in him. Which isn't saying much, really. If I was all powerful I could say I'm perfectly good too, while killing and torturing anyone who disagrees.

I don't really see any sacrificing going on. Jesus came back, and either sits at god's right hand or is god himself. What has god lost in the long term? I've heard he carries the burden of sin, so does that mean he has PTSD? That's not exactly clear. I don't think he understands us at all, since he calls us fundamentally evil. I may have said this before, but he can't even get his followers to agree on what his message is, and if its just the christians who are going to heaven it's only a minority of the population that he's able to save. That shows a severe lack of understanding. He sets a bar for us that is impossibly high, and can't get the majority of the population to even believe in him. he can't even keep the people who want to worship him from killing each other over how to interpret the bible. That is a failure on his part if his goal is to gain as many followers as possible.

He's waiting for me to come to him, and I'm waiting for him to come to me. Except that I can live my life just fine without him, so if he wants to be worshiped he needs to show himself to me. He seems to want me, but I could take him or leave him. I cannot ask someone for forgiveness, or dedicate my life to him, if I haven't met him.