(March 8, 2014 at 2:42 pm)Deidre32 Wrote:(March 8, 2014 at 1:12 pm)discipulus Wrote: You do not have to constrain yourself if you do not want to.
If God raised Jesus from the dead on the Sunday morning following His crucifixion then Christianity is true i.e. God has come among men in the person of His Son Jesus.
Christianity stands or falls on this historical fact, not whether every word in the English translations of the Bible are "perfect" representatives of their Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek counterparts.
One does not have to believe in the inerrancy of scripture to be a Christian. I do not know where you got that from.
Christianity is based on historical events and facts. It seems to me that since you claim to have been raised around all of this then you would know this.
If that were in fact true, that Christianty was based on actual historical facts and not hearsay and religious mythology, I'd still be a Christian.
On another note, when/if you ever set up a debate thread, and we do end up officially debating...I will use the Bible, to appease you, to show YOU how it contradicts the religion of Christianity. If you look back in the NT, Jesus was rather explicit that he didn't want to be equated to 'God,' nor did he appreciate religion, as a set of rituals and hoopla. He embraced his Jewish roots, and followed the Jewish customs of the time, but if you ask me, he was a Socialist (in the true sense of the word not what it's morphed into, today) and he was against organized religion. So, for the sake of 'using' the Bible as a resource, I will, to show you how I think the 'early church fathers' in their attempt to add to the Jesus story more than needed to be done (the story as we know it, not as it might have been), spawned a religion, against Jesus' very own directive.
Something about me: I didn't depart from Christianity (and not pursue any other religions) solely based on the fact that it's not based on facts, but I left it because the very story of Jesus, should he have actually lived, is not the true story. If Jesus truly existed, I don't believe that he wanted a religion built around him. He speaks out against ''religion'' in a variety of ways, throughout the NT.
That is mainly why I left Christianity, because I think that the early church fathers lied about who Jesus was, and that is why I started examining other parts of the Bible, such as Genesis, etc. I thought to myself, hmmm, if they lied about the NT, then what else might be a lie? Turns out, the whole fucking story is a lie. From start to finish.
My disinterest to ever puruse any other religion ever again, is due to the fact that Christianity being the lie that it is, is not unlike other religions, that are mere man made 'inventions' to control the masses. The Abrahamic faiths in particular, but every culture has a dominant 'religion' or set of beliefs at its core. Religion becomes a way of life and a mindset, even part of the government in some countries. All of them, are built on man's interpretation of what he cannot explain on his own, yet. Why are we not comfortable with simply saying 'I don't know,' when confronted with the 'mysteries' of life. 'God did it,' seems like the 'go to' phrase, for many people who wish to explain life in a nice, neat way. It's ok to say...'I don't know.'
I left Christianity mainly because I believe it was constructed in order to control and deceive people. The Bible isn't an innocent book of folklore, designed to provide a moral code 'to the world.' It is a book of deception. And I intend to prove it, plainly, when we debate. If a god exists, you will not find him/it in the Bible ''story.'' And, this is how I came to be Agnostic.
And for the record, I like many ''ex'' Christians, didn't leave behind my faith, easily, or take leaving it, lightly. But, the evidence against the credibility and even morality of Christianity, was too staggering for me to ignore. I was heartbroken, to be honest, to know that I 'celebrated' a set of lies for so long. That needs to be said because I believe that Atheists/Agnostics are thought of as being smug and quick to look at religion as ''irrational.'' It wasn't a quick thing for me, but rather a slow awakening to truth, and realizing that I needed to follow real truth, and not the truth that I was indoctrinated to believe, since I was a child.
It makes me sad knowing what I know now. Sometimes, ignorance is better. :/
It happened the same way with me, so I hear you.
