Will Jesus return on a white horse?

[KichigaiNeko]

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It is written: "When Jesus returns, many of the unbelievers (YOU) will die of fright!"

So think scary ride!

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He will come riding on a white horse leading the Christians in a war -- killing, and mutilating the non-believers!

So what else is new?? Islamic jihad progress @ 11:00

[Jackie]

He will come riding on a white horse leading the Christians in a war -- killing, and mutilating the non-believers!

So what else is new?? Islamic jihad progress @ 11:00

We'll be right back after this message from the Cosmic WWE.

(Obnoxious loud TV announcer voice)SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY, From the Superstitious Arena, it is the Death cage match between Jesus and the non believers. ( Video of :Jesus talks into WWE mike fake reff(God/Jesus) is holding)

"I WARNED YOU. I DIED FOR YOU AND THIS IS HOW YOU REPAY ME" (Takes chair and slams it over the head of a non believer. A Muslim tries to rush him and he bounces off the ropes and does a close line to the Muslim's neck. Jew in audience eats popcorn almost having the Muslim land in his lap. Spilling their popcorn)

SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY, ALSO ON PAY PER VIEW!

(Returns to news report)

(Blond crew hair cut perfect quaff fake laugh suit anchor)High, I'm Saul Damascus, on a lighter note in entertainment, Honey Boo Boo continues to rot the brains of reality TV fans, just where former mass murders who were "saved" want you.

Also in entertainment news God has sent out a press release that he is going to lightening bolt the hosts of "Myth Busters" (Voice over tape) "Those assholes are pissing me off making people think and value science".

(Back to anchor) "We'll be right back after this message from Tampex"

(Tampex spot, womans voice) "Men, do you enjoy listing to commercials about menstrual blood while you have a mouth full of food when watching the big game? Yea, we know, but we don't give a fuck, we need them".

(Back to Anchor)

"That does it for the HD666 Cable News, please stay tuned as Jay Leno Interviews God about his pranks with Job, that God, such a kidder".

[RichardP]

[Undeceived]

[RichardP]

When people would ask him what they should do to receive eternal life he would tell them that they should obey the Ten Commandments.

Below are instances where Jesus preaches salvation by belief. How do you reconcile them with your claim that Jesus taught salvation by obeying commandments?
Luke 5:20 "When Jesus saw their faith, he said, 'Friend, your sins are forgiven.'"
Luke 7:50: "Your faith has saved you."
John 3:16: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."
John 11:25: "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies."
John 14:6: "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
I asked for you to give me more examples where Jesus told people to obey the law to receive life. You reposted your one example. What do you think of my explanation of Matthew 19:16-26?

I don't reconcile them. I don't believe that Jesus could magically "forgive" anybody of their sins. I find the whole idea of forgiveness by in imaginary friend absurd.

You know if I do something bad to a friend -- and then later apologize -- my friend can forgive me. They can let it go and rationalize away why I did something bad to them. "He was taking out his frustrations from a bad day at work." etc..

But let's say that instead I prayed to my imaginary friend to forgive me for what I had done to my friend. And I argued that my imaginary friend always forgives. SO I GOT FORGIVEN!!!!! Except my friend is still angry at me...... And I am not going to say that I'm sorry to that jerk! I can at least have a clear conscience because my imaginary friend forgive my "sin" so that I can go on to an imaginary life after death.

I suppose that you could argue that the "sins" that Jesus had forgiven were "spiritual sins" (Not going to church on Sunday, using "God" as a cuss word, etc.).

I've even had a "Christian" friend tell me "I can feel in my heart that Jesus has forgiven me for what I did -- why can't you forgive me too?" Her imaginary friend forgave her... I didn't know whether to be annoyed or to feel sorry for her.

I see a real inconsistency between what Jesus preached and the supernatural miracles attributed to him. It is like a plot hole in a movie, or a story that you have written.

In Matthew 19:17 Jesus replies, "Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only One who is good." He is questioning why the man is asking about being good by the law when there is "only One" who can be--God. He then tests the man's faith. Instead of telling him to refrain from doing evil (which is what the Ten Commandments calls for) he asks the man to selflessly sell everything and trust in God to provide. The man's true heart shows through as he leaves without doing what his Lord asked. Jesus sums up the narrative in verse 26 saying, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."

On the surface it can appear as if Jesus is telling the man to obtain salvation by works. But in the second half Jesus contradicts himself. He says that it is impossible for man to obtain salvation on his own. Jesus used what we call a teaching strategy. He told the man to keep the commandments, knowing full well the answer would be "I have kept them." Then he watched the man walk away, having obeyed the commandments, yet fallen short of eternal life. The man "lacked one thing" even though he kept the law.

Again there is an inconsistency between the first part of what Jesus preached and the second part when he started talking about supernatural stuff. I can believe that somebody added the second part in later.

[Undeceived]

Below are instances where Jesus preaches salvation by belief. How do you reconcile them with your claim that Jesus taught salvation by obeying commandments?
Luke 5:20 "When Jesus saw their faith, he said, 'Friend, your sins are forgiven.'"
Luke 7:50: "Your faith has saved you."
John 3:16: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."
John 11:25: "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies."
John 14:6: "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
I asked for you to give me more examples where Jesus told people to obey the law to receive life. You reposted your one example. What do you think of my explanation of Matthew 19:16-26?

I don't reconcile them. I don't believe that Jesus could magically "forgive" anybody of their sins.

So you accept the part(s) where Jesus seems to teach the commandments and reject the countless more times where he teaches belief because they seem "absurd" to you? Your Jesus is a theoretical one. Mine is the biblical one. It's no wonder we don't see eye to eye. Tell me, what makes God's moral judgment absurd in your eyes? You confessed the virtues of not stealing, not committing adultery, honoring parents and so on. God decreed a law that anyone breaking a commandment (doing evil) would deserve death. If you were in a position where you deserved death, would you accept God's forgiveness?

[Jackie]

I don't reconcile them. I don't believe that Jesus could magically "forgive" anybody of their sins.

So you accept the part(s) where Jesus seems to teach the commandments and reject the countless more times where he teaches belief because they seem "absurd" to you? Your Jesus is a theoretical one. Mine is the biblical one. It's no wonder we don't see eye to eye. Tell me, what makes God's moral judgment absurd in your eyes? You confessed the virtues of not stealing, not committing adultery, honoring parents and so on. God decreed a law that anyone breaking a commandment (doing evil) would deserve death. If you were in a position where you deserved death, would you accept God's forgiveness?

As an asside, a little advice. If you want your discription under your avatar where it reads "religious views" to be accurate, it should read " Convinced of Christ through bad reasons".

[RichardP]

I don't reconcile them. I don't believe that Jesus could magically "forgive" anybody of their sins.

So you accept the part(s) where Jesus seems to teach the commandments and reject the countless more times where he teaches belief because they seem "absurd" to you? Your Jesus is a theoretical one. Mine is the biblical one. It's no wonder we don't see eye to eye. Tell me, what makes God's moral judgment absurd in your eyes? You confessed the virtues of not stealing, not committing adultery, honoring parents and so on. God decreed a law that anyone breaking a commandment (doing evil) would deserve death. If you were in a position where you deserved death, would you accept God's forgiveness?

Would I play make believe that an imaginary God was going to forgive me? I don't know. I am quite sure that it wouldn't make any difference. I don't think that God could judge me any more than Thor, or Zeus, or Joseph Smith. Now if you define God abstractly as goodness, happiness, joy, pleasure, love -- then I might have to agree that "God" exists.

Incidentally the Bible being the "Bible" there are a number of places in the Old Testament where they say there is no life after death. I am sure that you can counter that with others that argue that there is life after death however -- for what it is worth -- here they are:

(This is from a Jehovah's Witness pamphlet. Surprisingly they don't believe in life after death. But they do believe in resurrection of the elect..."

WHAT THE BIBLE TEACHES: At death, humans cease to exist. "The dead are conscious of nothing at all." states Ecclesiastes 9:5. "Since the dead cannot know, feel, or experience anything, they cannot harm -- or help -- the living.." -- Psalm 146: 3-4

See also Genesis 3:19 and Ecclesiastes 9:6-10

[RichardP]

[Undeceived]

Ever try asking the average Christian or Catholic what the Ten Commandments are? They don't even know all Ten Commandments.

You make a very general statement that is not altogether accurate or fair. In my experience, people know what's right and what's wrong. That is all the Ten Commandments are. They aren't some magical code that, if people follow them, they will be upright citizens. Jesus upheld the "spirit of the law," telling people to love God and love their neighbor. He hit the root of human behavior. If you don't love, you won't do good for long. Goodness has to come from the inside out. That's why "any average Christian" will be able to tell you about a NT verse on love--because love is more important than knowing rules. Rules are mere knowledge. Love is the driving force for good. And the ultimate model for love is Jesus' sacrifice--a righteous, perfect God dying for his destructive, disobedient creation.

It was not Jesus who taught that you did not have to try and keep the Ten Commandments. That was all Paul!

Neither said you did not have to try. Paul writes in Romans 3:28-31:
"For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law. Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too, since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith. Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law."
Romans 6:1-4:
"What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life."
Trying is a wonderful pursuit. That is why God makes us a "new creation" (2 Cor. 5:17) through his death, so we have the inner desire to do good deeds.