HitchWithMe Posted April 10, 2014 Posted April 10, 2014 So a friend of my father teachers philosophy at a local college. We have met a couple times and talk for literally hours at a time. He refers to himself as "in transition" and this last time said that all he can affirm about his faith is that: 1) he believers in god - thought god might be too narrow a term for him and 2) he believes in the person of Jesus. I really enjoy time with this guy and to his credit he helps the atheist community in his college organize because he loves conversations about faith AND doubt. He's given me an assignment: you have to describe the "essence" of Jesus in 6 words or less. He tried to switch it to "the mission" of Jesus but I turned that down that twist as it was clearly loaded with pre-suppositions. Any ideas about how to go about this?
Roz Posted April 10, 2014 Posted April 10, 2014 "Deliberate asshole who mind-fucked billions" But if I weren't restricted to 6 words: If jesus did indeed live on earth AND was really god, then "I and my father are one" damns worse than Hitler in my book. He was, at the very least, present when the commands to commit crimes against humanity were outlined and carried out. At worst -if you really take his words literally- he was the one who gave the orders. If jesus did live on earth BUT was not god, then he was an asshole who tried to manipulate other people into believing something fake. Unlike the science guys of the ancient world, when jesus came across a problem he pulled something out of his backside as opposed to working on the problem with proper testing. If jesus were a figment of imagination (there's no better figure than a made up martyr for your cause!) then the people who invented him were assholes who tried to manipulate others. 2
Super Moderator buffettphan Posted April 10, 2014 Super Moderator Posted April 10, 2014 "Just another ancient Mesopotamian god-legend."
amateur Posted April 10, 2014 Posted April 10, 2014 "Documents edited to exaggerate claims, miracles." 1
mwc Posted April 10, 2014 Posted April 10, 2014 Myth. Or, if that's too few, Myth. Myth. Myth. Myth. Myth. Myth. mwc
Guest afireinside Posted April 10, 2014 Posted April 10, 2014 Or insert Joseph Smith, Charles Manson, David Copperfield, Chris Angel, Pol Pot, Tom Cruise et al
Bhim Posted April 10, 2014 Posted April 10, 2014 Heh, thats an easy one. Jesus died to eternally condemn you. 3
Blood Posted April 10, 2014 Posted April 10, 2014 He's given me an assignment: you have to describe the "essence" of Jesus in 6 words or less. An insane fantasy invented by celibate monks in order to gain power over others and teach them to hate and fear everybody except celibate monks. Sorry, that was more than six words. 1
srd44 Posted April 11, 2014 Posted April 11, 2014 He's given me an assignment: you have to describe the "essence" of Jesus in 6 words or less. Blood, flesh, bones, sinews, bile, neurons Truth is we know very little, to nothing, about Jesus. And on another note, judging from these posts, it sadens me to see that atheists are just as ignorant and biased, following what they've been told of believe, on this topic as theists are.
MerryG Posted April 11, 2014 Posted April 11, 2014 He's given me an assignment: you have to describe the "essence" of Jesus in 6 words or less. Blood, flesh, bones, sinews, bile, neurons Truth is we know very little, to nothing, about Jesus. And on another note, judging from these posts, it sadens me to see that atheists are just as ignorant and biased, following what they've been told of believe, on this topic as theists are. How do you figure? How do you figure Jesus was blood, flesh, etc.? I mean, he may have been, but outside of the bible there's not even a shred of evidence that he existed at all, even as an ordinary man. How do you figure the other part of your statement: "... atheists are just as ignorant and biased, following what they've been told of believe, on this topic as theists are"? Which comments lead you to that conclusion?
mymistake Posted April 11, 2014 Posted April 11, 2014 He's given me an assignment: you have to describe the "essence" of Jesus in 6 words or less. Blood, flesh, bones, sinews, bile, neurons Truth is we know very little, to nothing, about Jesus. And on another note, judging from these posts, it sadens me to see that atheists are just as ignorant and biased, following what they've been told of believe, on this topic as theists are. Who was the historical Zeus? Where was he born and when?
pratt Posted April 11, 2014 Posted April 11, 2014 biblical.... impossible historical.. maybe followers...fucked-up
par4dcourse Posted April 11, 2014 Posted April 11, 2014 Capricorn Hippie Excitable Magician Soothsayer Fantasy 1
srd44 Posted April 11, 2014 Posted April 11, 2014 He's given me an assignment: you have to describe the "essence" of Jesus in 6 words or less. Blood, flesh, bones, sinews, bile, neurons Truth is we know very little, to nothing, about Jesus. And on another note, judging from these posts, it sadens me to see that atheists are just as ignorant and biased, following what they've been told of believe, on this topic as theists are. Who was the historical Zeus? Where was he born and when? So you're own "understanding" of the issue is already redefined and categoriezed by the terms of theists? You've exemplified my point
srd44 Posted April 11, 2014 Posted April 11, 2014 He's given me an assignment: you have to describe the "essence" of Jesus in 6 words or less. Blood, flesh, bones, sinews, bile, neurons Truth is we know very little, to nothing, about Jesus. And on another note, judging from these posts, it sadens me to see that atheists are just as ignorant and biased, following what they've been told of believe, on this topic as theists are. Socrates is How do you figure? How do you figure Jesus was blood, flesh, etc.? I mean, he may have been, but outside of the bible there's not even a shred of evidence that he existed at all, even as an ordinary man. How do you figure the other part of your statement: "... atheists are just as ignorant and biased, following what they've been told of believe, on this topic as theists are"? Which comments lead you to that conclusion? Good question. Likewise, how do we provide evidence for the millions of Jews, people that history or historians haven't recorded? How do we verify that Socrates is as Plat paints him, or Aristophanes? The other part of my question is verified by the "belief" claims, subjective claims or otherwise claims outside of and lacking knowledge of the field of study about Jesus and/or biblical literature. Sad that we live in a culture where everyother discipline of field of inquiry is presided over, so to say, by exprets, except the Bible. Here, the mass herd-public is just let to believe or not to believe anthing. This is the result of no other thing than the lack of biblical education, and converserly that those spouting things about the Bible or making silly movies are prepetuating this ignorance in the name of knowledge. Damn, I should move over to the Rant section and just let it all spill out.
Brother Jeff Posted April 11, 2014 Posted April 11, 2014 Jesus is a MYTH. He never lived, never died, and never rose again...
mymistake Posted April 11, 2014 Posted April 11, 2014 He's given me an assignment: you have to describe the "essence" of Jesus in 6 words or less. Blood, flesh, bones, sinews, bile, neurons Truth is we know very little, to nothing, about Jesus. And on another note, judging from these posts, it sadens me to see that atheists are just as ignorant and biased, following what they've been told of believe, on this topic as theists are. Who was the historical Zeus? Where was he born and when? So you're own "understanding" of the issue is already redefined and categoriezed by the terms of theists? You've exemplified my point Nope. My understanding is defined by the evidence.
mymistake Posted April 11, 2014 Posted April 11, 2014 He's given me an assignment: you have to describe the "essence" of Jesus in 6 words or less. Blood, flesh, bones, sinews, bile, neurons Truth is we know very little, to nothing, about Jesus. And on another note, judging from these posts, it sadens me to see that atheists are just as ignorant and biased, following what they've been told of believe, on this topic as theists are. Socrates is How do you figure? How do you figure Jesus was blood, flesh, etc.? I mean, he may have been, but outside of the bible there's not even a shred of evidence that he existed at all, even as an ordinary man. How do you figure the other part of your statement: "... atheists are just as ignorant and biased, following what they've been told of believe, on this topic as theists are"? Which comments lead you to that conclusion? Good question. Likewise, how do we provide evidence for the millions of Jews, people that history or historians haven't recorded? Anthropology and archeology. How do we verify that Socrates is as Plat paints him, or Aristophanes? Were these characterized as being immortal, conversing with angels, working magic and so on? The other part of my question is verified by the "belief" claims, subjective claims or otherwise claims outside of and lacking knowledge of the field of study about Jesus and/or biblical literature. Sad that we live in a culture where everyother discipline of field of inquiry is presided over, so to say, by exprets, except the Bible. Here, the mass herd-public is just let to believe or not to believe anthing. This is the result of no other thing than the lack of biblical education, and converserly that those spouting things about the Bible or making silly movies are prepetuating this ignorance in the name of knowledge. Damn, I should move over to the Rant section and just let it all spill out. So you have millions of people all figured out. That is handy.
FreeThinkerNZ Posted April 11, 2014 Posted April 11, 2014 He's given me an assignment: you have to describe the "essence" of Jesus in 6 words or less. Blood, flesh, bones, sinews, bile, neurons Truth is we know very little, to nothing, about Jesus. And on another note, judging from these posts, it sadens me to see that atheists are just as ignorant and biased, following what they've been told of believe, on this topic as theists are. Socrates is How do you figure? How do you figure Jesus was blood, flesh, etc.? I mean, he may have been, but outside of the bible there's not even a shred of evidence that he existed at all, even as an ordinary man. How do you figure the other part of your statement: "... atheists are just as ignorant and biased, following what they've been told of believe, on this topic as theists are"? Which comments lead you to that conclusion? Good question. Likewise, how do we provide evidence for the millions of Jews, people that history or historians haven't recorded? How do we verify that Socrates is as Plat paints him, or Aristophanes? The other part of my question is verified by the "belief" claims, subjective claims or otherwise claims outside of and lacking knowledge of the field of study about Jesus and/or biblical literature. Sad that we live in a culture where everyother discipline of field of inquiry is presided over, so to say, by exprets, except the Bible. Here, the mass herd-public is just let to believe or not to believe anthing. This is the result of no other thing than the lack of biblical education, and converserly that those spouting things about the Bible or making silly movies are prepetuating this ignorance in the name of knowledge. Damn, I should move over to the Rant section and just let it all spill out. It's true that my biblical education is lacking, and if mentioning things about the bible here at ex-c can be considered spouting, then I would be guilty of the same offence you're charging the posters in this thread with. But this is a forum for ex-xians to share ideas and support each other, often through a challenging time in our lives. If I haven't got a couple of PhDs in biblical scholarship, that's just too bad. I'm not about to devote years of study to a book of myths that xians believe is inspired by their imaginary friend. I'm trying to get away from xianity. As I do that I may spout things about the bible from time to time. Forgive me if they are not up to scholarly standards. 3
srd44 Posted April 11, 2014 Posted April 11, 2014 He's given me an assignment: you have to describe the "essence" of Jesus in 6 words or less. Blood, flesh, bones, sinews, bile, neurons Truth is we know very little, to nothing, about Jesus. And on another note, judging from these posts, it sadens me to see that atheists are just as ignorant and biased, following what they've been told of believe, on this topic as theists are. Who was the historical Zeus? Where was he born and when? So you're own "understanding" of the issue is already redefined and categoriezed by the terms of theists? You've exemplified my point Nope. My understanding is defined by the evidence. I'd beg to differ, based on the evidence---i.e., your responses, question, how the question was formulated. Your thinking is boxed within a box which, even more detrimental, you yourself did not construct. It was constructed by others.
xtify Posted April 11, 2014 Posted April 11, 2014 He's given me an assignment: you have to describe the "essence" of Jesus in 6 words or less. Blood, flesh, bones, sinews, bile, neurons Truth is we know very little, to nothing, about Jesus. And on another note, judging from these posts, it sadens me to see that atheists are just as ignorant and biased, following what they've been told of believe, on this topic as theists are. Who was the historical Zeus? Where was he born and when? So you're own "understanding" of the issue is already redefined and categoriezed by the terms of theists? You've exemplified my point Nope. My understanding is defined by the evidence. I'd beg to differ, based on the evidence---i.e., your responses, question, how the question was formulated. Your thinking is boxed within a box which, even more detrimental, you yourself did not construct. It was constructed by others. Srd44, IMO, you should stop digging. Mymistake's thinking isn't boxed... far from it! You can't prove that Jesus physically existed. If you could, you would be famous because it hasn't been done. There is yet to be evidence and it's been debated for centuries. I would let this one go.
Roz Posted April 11, 2014 Posted April 11, 2014 Truth is we know very little, to nothing, about Jesus. And on another note, judging from these posts, it sadens me to see that atheists are just as ignorant and biased, following what they've been told of believe, on this topic as theists are. It's true I'm a layman when it comes to ancient religious texts, but I know a condescending post when I see one. 3
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