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July 20th, 2013
10:00 PM ET
Reza Aslan: Why I write about JesusOpinion by Reza Aslan, special to CNN (CNN) - When I was 15 years old, I found Jesus. I spent the summer of my sophomore year at an evangelical youth camp in Northern California, a place of timbered fields and boundless blue skies, where, given enough time and stillness and soft-spoken encouragement, one could not help but hear the voice of God. Amid the man-made lakes and majestic pines my friends and I sang songs, played games and swapped secrets, rollicking in our freedom from the pressures of home and school. In the evenings, we gathered in a fire-lit assembly hall at the center of the camp. It was there that I heard a remarkable story that would change my life forever.
Through his words and miraculous deeds, he challenged the Jews who thought they were the chosen of God, and in return he was nailed to a cross. Though Jesus could have saved himself from that gruesome death, he freely chose to die. Indeed, his death was the point of it all, for his sacrifice freed us all from the burden of our sins. But the story did not end there, because three days later, he rose again, exalted and divine, so that now, all who believe in him and accept him into their hearts will also never die, but have eternal life. For a kid raised in a motley family of lukewarm Muslims and exuberant atheists, this was truly the greatest story ever told. Never before had I felt so intimately the pull of God. In Iran, the place of my birth, I was Muslim in much the way I was Persian. My religion and my ethnicity were mutual and linked. Like most people born into a religious tradition, my faith was as familiar to me as my skin, and just as disregardable. After the Iranian revolution forced my family to flee our home, religion in general, and Islam in particular, became taboo in our household. Islam was shorthand for everything we had lost to the mullahs who now ruled Iran. My mother still prayed when no one was looking, and you could still find a stray Quran or two hidden in a closet or a drawer somewhere. But, for the most part, our lives were scrubbed of all trace of God. That was just fine with me. After all, in the America of the 1980s, being Muslim was like being from Mars. My faith was a bruise, the most obvious symbol of my otherness; it needed to be concealed. Jesus, on the other hand, was America. He was the central figure in America’s national drama. Accepting him into my heart was as close as I could get to feeling truly American. I do not mean to say that mine was a conversion of convenience. On the contrary, I burned with absolute devotion to my newfound faith. I was presented with a Jesus who was less “Lord and Savior” than he was a best friend, someone with whom I could have a deep and personal relationship. As a teenager trying to make sense of an indeterminate world I had only just become aware of, this was an invitation I could not refuse. The moment I returned home from camp, I began eagerly to share the good news of Jesus Christ with my friends and family, my neighbors and classmates, with people I’d just met and with strangers on the street: those who heard it gladly, and those who threw it back in my face. Yet something unexpected happened in my quest to save the souls of the world. The more I probed the Bible to arm myself against the doubts of unbelievers, the more distance I discovered between the Jesus of the Gospels and the Jesus of history – between Jesus the Christ and Jesus of Nazareth. In college, where I began my formal study of the history of religions, that initial discomfort soon ballooned into full-blown doubts. The bedrock of evangelical Christianity, at least as it was taught to me, is the unconditional belief that every word of the Bible is God-breathed and true, literal and inerrant. The sudden realization that this belief is patently and irrefutably false, that the Bible is replete with the most blatant and obvious errors and contradictions — just as one would expect from a document written by hundreds of different hands across thousands of years — left me confused and spiritually unmoored. And so, like many people in my situation, I angrily discarded my faith as if it were a costly forgery I had been duped into buying. I began to rethink the faith and culture of my forefathers, finding in them a deeper, more intimate familiarity than I ever had as a child, the kind that comes from reconnecting with an old friend after many years apart. Meanwhile, I continued my academic work in religious studies, delving back into the Bible not as an unquestioning believer but as an inquisitive scholar. No longer chained to the assumption that the stories I read were literally true, I became aware of a more meaningful truth in the text. Ironically, the more I learned about the life of the historical Jesus, the turbulent world in which he lived, and the brutality of the Roman occupation that he defied, the more I was drawn to him. The Jewish peasant and revolutionary who challenged the rule of the most powerful empire the world had ever known became so much more real to me than the detached, unearthly being I had been introduced to in church. Today, I can confidently say that two decades of rigorous academic research into the origins of Christianity has made me a more genuinely committed disciple of Jesus of Nazareth than I ever was of Jesus Christ. I have modeled my life not after the celestial spirit whom many Christians believe sacrificed himself for our sins, but rather after the illiterate, marginal Jew who gave his life fighting an unwinnable battle against the religious and political powers of his day on behalf of the poor and the dispossessed – those his society deemed unworthy of saving. I wrote my newest book, "Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth" in order to spread the good news of the Jesus of history with the same fervor that I once applied to spreading the story of the Christ. Because I am convinced that one can be a devoted follower of Jesus without being a Christian, just as I know that one can be a Christian without being a follower of Jesus. Reza Aslan is a bestselling author and a scholar of religion. This article was adapted from his newest book, "Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth." The views expressed in this column are Aslan's alone. |
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The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.  |
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How profoundly Aslan misunderstands the tenets of Christianity. Sad.
Well, I am certain he would appreciate a primer on it, if you choose to help him out......
Hello All,
I am just chiming in. After reading some of your comments, I'll tell you, I am Iranian,was a Muslim, convertted 4 years ago. THe journey I have taken into the Bible and Christianity has been nothing short of beautiful, breathtaking, incredible, fantastic, rocking my world. I have dreams, visions, enjoying the ride. I have found this faith to be the best thing that has ever happened to me. I am floating with God's love and wouldn't trade it for anything else. For those of you who are arguing, I feel sorry for you. You don't know what you are missing. Read the Bible 2,3 times a day like I do and forget about everything that is annoying you in life. We are all only here a short time. God is Love, just love one another, that's all he wants all of us to do. PEACE:))
why do you feel you need to be saved?
He doesn't know why, he is just a brainless drone who has been told he needs to be saved, why or from what he has NO IDEA.
Are you going to respond, or are you here to preach and run?
there is a website that exposes Islam
answering – islam dot org
google it. you will know the truth.
Sorry Reza Aslan, but I am afraid your presentation of Jesus is a rather tired, old misinterpretation. If Jesus were simply a political reformer and advocate for the poor, he would be no different that thousands of such advocates who came before and after him. The only thing that sets Jesus apart is his divinity.
claims of divinity are awfully easy to make
there is a website that exposes Islam
answering – islam
google it. you will know the truth.
TRUTH, did you say TRUTH? I have no time for Islam BUT for a Christian who claims to know the TRUTH, you live in a delusional world my friend.
NO ONE if they are really HONEST can say that the bible speaks the TRUTH.
The bible simply relates folk lore and fairy tales, only the weak minded and gullible think it tells the TRUTH.
STOP PRAYING AND START THINKING.
Here is THE TRUTH.
http://www.holy-19-harvest.com
UNIVERSAL MAGNIFICENT MIRACLES
satan has a funny way of saying things
it is odd that you find it odd.
it is a tenet of your demonic churches
greco-roman? lol
he moved life into her.
she gave birth to the
LORD OF LORDS AND KING OF KINGS
his son, the savior of the world
who was with god and was god
always
he gave his life, willingly.
he laid down his life for you
and everyone
he sacrificed everything
in obedience to abba, his daddy
even as his mom writhed in agony
for the sins of sam stone
If you want Sam that bad, why don't you ask for his email instead of beating around the bush like this? You're too obsessed with him.
Says you, do you believe that the world id flat? there is actually MORE evidence of that than for your LORD OF LORDS GARBAGE.
Read Richard Dawkins "The delusion of God" that book really is TRUE.
STOP PRAYING AND START THINKING
Unlike what Reza says, the Bible is totally accurate. Much of what is in the Bible will not make sense until a person accepts Jesus into their life. then the Bible literally becomes alive as we study. Jay Seegert's website 'cecwisc.com' has a great tv interview that talks about creation and evolution, and how amazing DNA is. The more science studies this area of DNA, we discover more and more. DNA truly is mind boggling. The Bible is the same way. Plus it may be helpful to remember the Bible is really 66 books written over 1500 years by over 40 authors. If Reza is convinced the Bible is filled with errors, I would guess he would welcome the opportunity to debate individuals such as John McCarthur, Eric Barger, Francis Chan or Jon Piper.
Karen, totally agree with your comments. Bless you. Keith, I too am a blood bought child of Christ. Jesus shed his blood to pay the penalty for my sins, a penalty I should have paid but didn't have to. His shed blood is payment for my sins, thus the term 'blood bought.' Jesus loves you Keith. He died for you and wants you to seek Him. If you want to prove Christianity is all bunk, the key step is to prove that Jesus was not resurrected. Because if He was not raised from the dead after 3 days, then you can throw all of Christianity out the window. I was a non-believer and in my search, found Lee Strobel's 'Case For Christ' was really helpful as it provided very clear evidence that it is true.
Re the Mormon book, i encourage anyone interested in this to check out the website http://www.towertotruth.net. No faith should be unwilling or unable to ask tough questions. If you are a Mormon, i encourage you to look at these questions on this website and seek the answers. If yoru faith truly is true, the answers will be readily forthcoming from your leaders. But if they are not forthcoming .....
Blessings all Don
The Bible was written by many authors, who did not share the same views on God, in the Hebrew bible (Old Testament) or on Jesus. The historical accuracy of the Pentateuch is basically non-existent. Not that you cannot find spiritual and non-spiritual truths in it, but to say is is totally accurate is nonsense.
You are 100% correct.
Your conceit and disrespect is mind boggling, I have already said that receiving a blessing from your vile god I regard as a curse of the worst kind and yet you act as a smug pompous gullible individual who just ignores my wishes.
As for the ludicrous statement "the Bible is totally accurate. Much of what is in the Bible will not make sense until a person accepts Jesus into their life". This is the equivalent of saying "much of what was done by the Nazis in WW II does not make sense until you accept Adolf Hitler into your life". The bible is so full of lies and mis information I wouldn't trust it to tell me the time of day.
If you are so brainless as to NOT seeing how insane your statement is then there is NO HOPE for you.
You thoroughly deserved the delusional world that you and your god live in
Please just leave those of us who are sane alone, we want NOTHING to do with people like you who are mentally challenged.
I have asked some very serious questions over and over and I never receive ANY ANSWERS. All I get are these slurs and insults YOU NEVER ANSWER MY QUESTIONS BECAUSE YOU HAVE NO ANSWERS.
I have just watched a program on TV about the murder of 3 innocent women. The police found the murder weapon by noticing some rust stain around the area were the gun was discarded. Several people stated this "god was watching over us because we would never have found the gun without those telltale rust marks" Please explain to me how god could have guided the detectives to the murder weapon but god was UNABLE to save the lives of the 3 women? One of the women was carrying a baby that survived.
PLEASE EXPLAIN THIS TO ME.
Keith – Just one question: Have you read the Bible? The whole book or just a glance than judge that worthless and false? I didn't read the whole book but I did read Gen, Paul, James, Peter, and John. Also I read Revelation as well. I am not a big fan of reading anything so long or reading the whole book. However I don't want to find any kind of debate on how can I prove you the right and wrong about the Bible but yes its been carried through for two thousand years. But I would love to debate with you over several sign that I seen in reality and in my dream. They are hard for me to express exactly what I saw and I can't find anything of this world to match those sign I seen. If I were you, I would put my faith into a test by praying everyday by coming up with your own words or from the Bible that can help you from there. Say anything and try to steer away from any distraction to focus on any sign that could be around you or in your dream. I can't tell you how long its take to get those sign from HIM but I can only say is be patience.
vman: i have asked this questions of many christians, but have not gotten a cogent response......how can free will and an omnicient god co-exist?
Good one, the religious libraries of the world are full of books that try to get out of that one do you notice that instead of answers all you get are excuses.
Here is my simple reply, you do have free will BUT if you don't obey this lunatic god then you don't make it through the pearly gates. So in effect you DO NOT HAVE FREE WILL.
Free will by definition means that YOU and YOU alone decide what you will do. If you obey the rule of god then you are NOT exercising FREE WILL.
It's just a conundrum with no right answer and no way to win but the sheep just don't get it.
@Sam: Your question is hard to answer but all I can say is faith. I do know somewhere in the Bible (I am sorry that I should be providing verse to follow my understanding) that we been given free will to do what we want on planet. As long as you do the good things toward other and yourself or follow 10 simple rule that God gave to mankind or follow his son of God, Jesus, that is all in the Bible. I would say the Bible has all the wisdom, instruction, and more. I don't know if I answered your question correctly but this is what I can think of.
Sorry but reading the bible is easier than trying to understand your ramblings. So you experience THINGS in dreams but you don't know what they are because you don't know the words.
You need help BADLY.
Yes i have read some of the bible but the mis-information and contradictions just beggar the imagination. There are so many ludicrous claims that I just tune out, NONE of it makes much sense. You are required to believe in VIRGIN BIRTH, yes sure, the truth is that Mary was knocked up by some one other than Joe so she made up the fairy tale about VIRGIN BIRTH and Joe was such a moron he believed it.
It come down to this, the message from the bible NEVER works out in reality. A FATHER is supposed to LOVE and PROTECT his children NOT CONSTANTLY TEST THEM. Why is your god so paranoid about TESTING his children? I for one am SICK of the tests lets see some LOVE AND HELP. Enough of all the praise your god is addicted to praise lets see some CONCRETE HELP, like a cure for all childhood diseases.
Let me know when god tells us how to cure CHILDHOOD DISEASES, until then just keep your fantasies and delusions to yourself.
@ Sam the answer is that an all knowing God knows what choices we will make based on His knowledge of us as His children. Just because He knows what I will do, doesn't mean that I am compelled to do it. Same application to a child. I know that if my young son has a jar of candy within reach that he will take some. He isn't compelled to do it, but I know him well enough to know what choice he makes.
@ Keith – As sons and daughters of God, we were sent here so that we could learn to be like God, our Father. If He held our hand the whole way, we wouldn't learn much. Back to the example of my young son...if I do everything for him, how will he learn to do anything on his own, be self reliant? If I control everything so he has no problems and is always happy (as if it were possible), how would he learn to deal with problems, difficulties and tragedy on his own?
You are such a simple minded shallow nerd. Firstly I am NOT THE CHILD OF YOUR VILE GOD.
Now let me put this to you, the example of the child and the cookie jar is just laughable AND YOU KNOW IT.
Children get up to all kinds of HARMLESS mischief, but consider this. If your 5 year old child was walking toward a busy highway with traffic travelling at high speed. Now would you use the same guide lines as for the cookie jar example in other words NOT INTERFERE so that your child will get hit by a speeding car and therefore LEARN NOT TO WALK OUT OUT IN HEAVY TRAFFIC.
Let me tell you what I would do, I would take NO CHANCES that the 5 year old would KNOW WHAT TO DO, I would run to his side and remove him from harm. Apparently your VILE GOD does not believe in such actions he would just lets his CHILDREN walk into the traffic and get slaughtered as happens EVERY SINGLE DAY.
I keep asking this question and NEVER GET AN ANSWER, here goes. When some catastrophe occurs and some people die while others do not, why do the fortunate ones often praise god for saving them but fail to ask why god DID NOT SAVE THOSE WHO DIED.
Give a serious answer not some bible quotation garbage. If you have NO rationale answer then please spare me and just SHUT UP.
The example of the child and the jar was to illustrate how God can be all knowing and we can have our free agency at the same time. It isn’t laughable, but to the contrary, and explains it perfectly if you just think about it. Just because I used this example, doesn’t mean that everything God does to interact with mankind is the same as how a parent interacts with a child. God is all knowing and we parents basically do the best we can with the comparatively little knowledge we have and can acquire about parenting. Therefore, you have mis-applied this father/child example in concluding that God would let all of His children unwittingly walk into any dangerous situation without any intervention.
In a tragedy, why do some die and others do not? No one can answer that but God Himself. This does not disprove His existence. It does prove that we do not fully comprehend all that He does. Knowing that answer is not a requirement to believing. I know of situations where people were able to comprehend some of the reasons a loved one maybe had to die at a certain time and others didn’t. They were able to see some of the good things that came of it despite the many bad things. God will loving help people understand these things if they open themselves up to consider the good that may come out of it.
"ust because He knows what I will do, doesn't mean that I am compelled to do it."
It does if he is omniscient.
Try this example on for size. Lets say that you apparently have a choice of A or B. God KNOWS you will choose B. God cannot be wrong. What are the chances you will choose A and prove god wrong? Zero.
"Same application to a child. I know that if my young son has a jar of candy within reach that he will take some. He isn't compelled to do it, but I know him well enough to know what choice he makes."
I believe you are confusing knowledge with belief. God is (supposedly) omniscient and unable to be wrong. Do you claim omniscience? Are you able to be wrong?
Personal experience in no way validates the existence of a god. You have no way to prove your experiences to others other than to assert you've had them.
Keith seems to be angry...very angry. I have a feeling that this hostility towards Christianity comes from somewhere we don't know about.
To answer your question about the child in the street. A couple of things. You are looking at this through earthly eyes. In your view, death is the finality, end of everything and is exceptionally tragic. In God's eyes, death isn't any more problematic than a kid eating candy when he's not supposed to. Why should it be? An immortal, omniscient, omnipotent being is not concerned with death. Secondly, let's look at the child. Assuming this child is a very small child, before the age of accountability, then they are instantly whisked away to Heaven to be in eternal paradise. Doesn't sound like such a bad thing, does it?
Further, and no offense, it is a bit of an enti.tlement atti.tude to think that because God loves us, He saves us from all heartache and consequences. That's simply not the case, anymoreso than a good parent saves a child from all heartache and consequences. We are not enti.tled to anything. We are blessed with the things we have.
@Sam – A&B example, I agree with your example. Still, He is not forcing you to choose A or B. He’s basically just observing you and knows what you’ll do. You can’t prove him wrong. Now with the Jar of Candy, of course my son can prove me wrong (and I’m glad he does prove me wrong from time to time btw ) because I am not all knowing. You’re stretching my example beyond my point. The example just illustrates that God knows what choices we will make simply because he knows us so well, but that knowledge does not force us to do what he knows we'll do. Thanks for the civil reply.
"Still, He is not forcing you to choose A or B."
He certainly is, by his omniscience.
No Sam. You have to think about that more. It's true. Just because He knows something will happen doesn't mean the person's freedom to choose is taken away. The freedom is given, He just knows how we'll use it.
No, JudgeWell, you think about it some more. If there is only one answer (i.e. the way god KNOWS it will go), then there only one choice
look at it this way, judgewell......i used to have the last game of the 1984 world series on tape.....no matter how many times i watched it, the padres never won.
if god knows something will go one way, there is no other way it can go, right?
Keith that wasfunny, God can do whatever he likes he is most able to do so. he saves whomever and whenever. so if he wanted to save the three women he could have, but theit time was up....and yeah... the bible is FULL of lies
so, don, you have to believe in order to believe?
Not only that stupidity and gullibility helps as well.
what made you believe you were sinful, don?
did the book do that, too?
how is allowing someone else to take the punishment you (feel you) deserve a moral thing to do?
Reza Aslan is a Muslim. For the last 10 years muslims have been claiming the Christian God and Islam God are the same. But they have a problem. Christians have Jesus and Muslims have Mohamed.
Jesus showed the world the path of peace.
Mohamed showed the path of violence. Mohamed said – Convert them all or kill. BUT – Mohamed said this thing only about that one particular incident. Now these Islamic fundamentalists dont want to stop there. They want to conquer the world. So they use Mohamed's words , take it our of context and convince the poor illetrate muslims and the dememted ones, that their god wants this to happen – Convert the world or kill them all.
But coming back to topic, unless they take out Jesus and the New testament, they cant prove the God is the same. So they try to discredit Jesus.
Reza Aslan is a cunning man – using his credibility as a "Scholar" he is pretending to be just writing about what he studied – when in fact he is just another muslim fundamentalist who is out to take Jesus from Christianity.
The bible is not totally accurate. The creation myths are proven to be incorrect. There is no evidence of the Noah story. Other stories, such as Lot's wife, Jonah, etc. defy belief.
Although I agree wholeheartedly I don't believe in Satan either. However he sounds like a much cooler guy, you know the type you would want to have a beer with. JC on the other hand sounds like a boring feeble WUSS.
Omit the word totally and you're good.
"Much of what is in the Bible will not make sense until a person accepts Jesus into their life. "
Accepting anything on faith essentially flips a switch that turns off one's ability to control confirmation bias. Feels good, though...kinda like heroin.
Exactly, someone else put it very well "you have to believe to believe".
Faith is a belief so strong in something unseen, that it moves the possessor to some action. You and everyone else in this world acts in faith all the time. For example, if I drive to work one day, do I know for a 100% fact that I will not die in a car accident on my way? No, and I would not drive to work if I knew that would happen. However, since I "believe" that I can get to work safely as I have done based on my "knoweldge" that I have driven to work a thousand times in a row without a problem, I believe enough in my safety that I'm moved to drive to work. Once I drive to work, my believe becomes faith. So doing something with faith is very common and brings great "knowledge" when applied correctly. Having faith in something that others do not is the challenge.
do you equate a reasonable expectation based on experience with faith?
Exactly.
there is a website that exposes Islam
answering – islam dot org
google it. you will know the truth.
After more than 30 years of atheism, Anne Rice decided to research the historicity of Jesus for herself. This is what she found:
“What gradually came clear to me was that many of the skeptical arguments—arguments that insisted most of the Gospels were suspect, for instance, or written too late to be eyewitness accounts—lacked coherence. They were not elegant. Arguments about Jesus himself were full of conjecture. Some books were no more than assumptions piled on assumptions…. Conclusions were reached on the basis of little or no data at all…. The whole case for the nondivine Jesus who stumbled into Jerusalem and somehow got crucified…that whole picture which had floated around the liberal circles I frequented as an atheist for thirty years—that case was not made. Not only was it not made, I discovered in this field some of the worst and most biased scholarship I’d ever read.”
Why is Jesus so controversial? He is the most ridiculed (and despised) person in history. Yet he is also the most humble (and adored). Why is that?
http://goo.gl/U8SK0
COMPLAINT TO THE CHILDREN OF OBAMA, NICOLAS MATURE, CRISTINA KIRCHNER, AND KINGS EUROPEANS RUSEF DILMA INCLUDING THE PRINCE OF SPAIN.
CLAIM OF DOLLARS EACH 1,000,000 TELOMER DAMAGED.
BILL BUSH, CLINTON AND OBAMA CNN EDIENDO JOURNALISTS.
PSYCHIATRIC METHODOLOGIES.
OTHER TEXTS THAT WE ARE NOT ALLOWING POST.
WE DO FOR THESE TEXTS ATRA-IEZAN PROGRAMMING LINES.
http://www.pgiorg.weebly.com
http://www.pgiorg.weebly.com
http://www.pgiorg.weebly.com
http://www.pgiorg.weebly.com
http://www.pgiorg.weebly.com
ERTWERThttp://www.pgiorg.blog.comrtertwert
September 3, 2013 at 11:52 am | Reply
Yes I am sure there are many biased, unfounded and badly researched article from the atheist community on the subject of JC and his existence or not and on his divinity or not.
BUT this does not compare to the vast libraries of pure HOKUM that has been written in support of the existence and divinity of JC. I use the term HOKUM advisedly because stronger terms tend to be attacked by the sheep/faith community.
There are millions upon millions of works filling the religious libraries of the world and every single one of them is base on a totally discredited work of fiction called the bible.
As I keep saying there is NO OTHER SOURCE OF INFORMATION ABOUT JC IN EXISTENCE, unless that is Piers Morgan has had an in-depth interview with JC or his dad or the ghost and he is keeping very quiet about it.
How is it possible to do RESEARCH on a subject for which there is NO CREDIBLE SOURCE OF INFORMATION period.
So no matter how flawed the works of the atheist community they are total amateurs compared to the faith community.
The works that purport to support the claims of the faithful whether written by St. Thomas Aquinas or Pat Robertson are based on nothing more than PERSONAL OPINIONS OR PREJUDICES OR INSANE RAVINGS NOT REAL RESEARCH OR EVIDENCE and so they are WORTHLESS.
Source #2 = The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ
Did you say your name was FudgeWell? Seriously?
NO NO you have it wrong what he is saying is that the book of Fudgewell was written by Mr Fudgewell himself.
Now do you get it?
The pope has never read the book of Fudgewell so how can it be more than a joke.
Read the book.
Read Richard Dawkins "The delusion of God" that book really is TRUE.
STOP PRAYING AND START THINKING
I will read it. Will you read the Book of Mormon?
Let me know when you have finished it, I have a whole list of summer reading to finish yet. I have read some of your book but it was about as exciting as watching paint dry, in fact the drying paint was better. From what I did gather it is the same old flim flam as the bible, it is just re-packaged, there is NOTHING NEW. You are required to suspend all your native intelligence and simply ACCEPT what is written. That I cannot do NO ONE SHOULD EVER DO THAT, what I read has to pass the test of common sense which it fails miserably.
There has to be much more than "just believe me and have faith", there is nothing there which says to me "this is true" NOTHING WHATSOEVER. So the problem is HOW DOES ANYONE TELL IF THE BOOK OF M IS CRAP OR REAL. So far I see no reason to believe it is anything other than CRAP.
Read Dawkins, his book is VERY DIFFERENT, he appeals to your intelligence NOT YOUR LACK OF IT. He asks real questions and does not DEMAND your blind obedience.
@Keith – I will read this book it. Not sure how I’ll let you know though unless this blog post is still up when I finish. Will you read through my little explanation about the Book of Mormon and the Bible? Basically, I agree that the Bible has some inconsistencies and inaccuracies. I attribute this to centuries of translations from Hebrew to Greek to whatever to English by priests, some well-intentioned, others not so well-intentioned. There are plain and precious truths that were in the Bible that have been lost. I also agree that many Christian churches are missing a lot of some critical doctrines and I agree that many people who profess to be Christian are far from it.
The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ is a compilation of records from ancient American prophets. They recorded their revelations on plates. Mormon was an ancient prophet and abridged these records to plates of gold and hid them up. Some of these prophets were eye witnesses of the resurrected Jesus Christ. In the early 1800s, Joseph Smith, a poorly educated farmer, was led to the plates by an angel of God, translated them to English by the inspiration of God, and had them printed in what is now the Book of Mormon. This was only one translation from the original and an inspired translation at that. The Bible is subject to so many interpretations which is part of why there are so many Christian churches today. Everyone has their own view. With a 2nd testament of Christ and His Gospel (the Book of Mormon) we can compare with the Bible and better understand it the way God intended.
I like trading stocks and thinking about risk vs reward. What is the risk in giving the Book of Mormon and Christ a chance at belief and find out it isn’t true? Basically wasted time, maybe some confusion, probably some better insights into Religion, maybe a few bucks if you bought a copy. What is the risk if it is all true and you did nothing about it? Much greater. Do not suspend your native intelligence nor just accept what is there. Read it and understand what other people see in it and then make a judgement.
Finally, how does anyone tell if the Book of Mormon is crap or real you ask? Read it with an open mind. Really ask yourself if these claims are true. If you do, you’ll know it for yourself like I do. I don’t blindly obey and don’t condone it whatsoever. You would be surprised how logical it all is when you give it a chance. It’s true Keith.
How many times do I have to go through this, no matter how many ancient prophets you have they all get their info. from the BIBLE. What these prophets write are just opinions, now as for the prophets "some of whom were eyewitnesses of the resurrected JC. WHO SAYS they were eyewitnesses, HOW DO YOU KNOW they were eyewitnesses. Lets just speculate, I am an ancient prophet ans I want my prophecies to be READ and BELIEVED so I simply claim that I was an eyewitness. Suddenly I am a rock star, WOW an eyewitness I MUST be important. You see ALL the so called evidence or stories or reports you talk about are about as reliable as the daily broadcasts of Rush Limbaugh. In 500 years time some historian might find the recordings of Rush and conclude that he was a great and important man and he should be accorded the status of a prophet. We ALL know that R Limbaugh is a lying sack of garbage.
So all these sources are worth less than worthless.
Now to the claim that your book is LOGICAL, well that is the most outrageous claim I have ever heard. I urge you to compare logic, science and mathematics with the statement "Joseph Smith, a poorly educated farmer, was led to the plates by an angel of God" I am sorry but I burst out laughing at that. How can anyone who claims to be intelligent and open minded fail to laugh at such a ludicrous claim.
ANGELS???? now do you realize why I wouldn't waste 10 minutes of my life reading such CRAP.
Sorry that is WHAT IT IS.
Finally here is what is at the root of my objections, why in the name of sanity would I want to know ANYTHING about JC, his dad or his holy ghost, whatever that is. These are just fairy tale characters designed to terrify and cow those of weak and gullible minds. religion is a means whereby evil, power mad men can achieve status and wealth and power over the masses of sheep.
I am NOT weak or gullible, I see absolutely NO VALUE to knowing more than I do now about your ridiculous gods. History is replete with thousands of gods, you need to choose another god because JC and his Dad are pathetic useless creatures.
By the way Joe smith undoubtedly had a severe mental condition that caused his hallucinations.
STOP PRAYING AND START THINKING
Keith, if you're going to be the authority about godlessness that you seem to profess to be, you're missing a huge corner of knowledge in the claims of the Book of Mormon and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. You seem to comment here regularly and appear to have a passion for deriding people's beliefs in God. You sound more concerend about the possibility that you're wrong than with helping people come to an understanding of what you think is true. I urge you: do not write this off as just another christian religion. You look for logic and this religion brings more logic to the belief in God, Christ, and His Gospel than any other. The claims about God are so intens that, if I were you, I would not leave any stone uncovered that could derail the kind of claims you make. Again, risk vs reward. It's a lot less risky and there is a lot more reward to give this all a real chance than to stick with your thoughtful, yet short-sighted judgement about God. To choose to disbelieve in God without searching out every possibility a high-risk/ low-reward decision.
Reza Aslan is a Muslim. For the last 10 years muslims have been claiming the Christian God and Islam God are the same. But they have a problem. Christians have Jesus and Muslims have Mohamed.
Jesus showed the world the path of peace.
Mohamed showed the path of violence. Mohamed said – Convert them all or kill. BUT – Mohamed said this thing only about that one particular incident. Now these Islamic fundamentalists dont want to stop there. They want to conquer the world. So they use Mohamed's words , take it our of context and convince the poor illetrate muslims and the dememted ones, that their god wants this to happen – Convert the world or kill them all.
But coming back to topic, unless they take out Jesus and the New testament, they cant prove the God is the same. So they try to discredit Jesus.
Reza Aslan is a cunning man – using his credibility as a "Scholar" he is pretending to be just writing about what he studied – when in fact he is just another muslim fundamentalist who is out to take Jesus from Christianity.
Jesus may not actually exist, but if He does, He should get off His Holy Duff and come back among us losers, fix all these ills and kick some plutocratic ass. Here's a song about that.
https://soundcloud.com/biff-thuringer/please-jesus
If you understand the problem and know what needs to be done, why do you need some mythological being that likely does not exist to kick your butt?
Jesus saved me from my addiction when i was 17, Jesus gave me a change to impossible visa to come to usa , Jesus save me again from severe relapse addiction , Jesus save me from my big car accident. and one thing i really sad ... I should even knew that Jesus save me from my own sins already........Love you Jesus....forever.
Jesus did NONE of these things, you were saved from addiction by either your own strength or with the help of good people who took care of you.
If jesus could save YOU from a severe car accident then why doesn't jesus do the same for all the other thousands of good people who are involved in bead car accidents.
WHY did jesus save you but DID NOTHING for the others. Please answer these questions.
Easy- They didn't seek him. There you go Keith. 😀
Are you serious? are you saying that if someone is having a car crash and don't have time to call JC then he will just DO NOTHING. What a GREAT god you have. So young children who don't know that they should ask JC for help are just IGNORED.
Come on give me some answers.
wow...that's one sadistic pincushion you worship
Can you be a little more explicit, what does the pincushion have to do with anything? I don't WORSHIP anyone except my granddaughter and grandson. I love them and they love me.
Why do you avoid answering my question?
This always happens, I ask a reasonable and logical question and all I get in reply is abuse and sarcasm.
Do you have any answers? if so then let's hear them.
If you don't have any answers then just SHUT UP.
are you saying that if there is a God, then there should not be pain, suffering, diseases, death, accidents, wars?
Jesus may not actually exist, but if He does, He should get off His Holy Duff and come back among us losers, fix all these ills and kick some plutocratic butt. Here's a song about that.
https://soundcloud.com/biff-thuringer/please-jesus
How does Reza Aslan refer to Jesus in this article as an illiterate Jew? In the New Testament, Luke chapter 4 verse 16-19, Jesus reads aloud from the Old Testament book of Isaiah to a synagogue of Jews. I guess I have to read Reza's book to find out what he's thinking of. Maybe I'll just wait for the movie to come out.
Going for facts again. You are supposed to just praise him for being a bigoted yet educated writer.
How does anyone know WHAT JC read or where he read it from? there was NO ONE around who recorded what JC READ let alone WHERE IT CAME FROM. Similarly NO ONE ever witnessed ANY of his sayings or actions and recorded them firsthand. What is written in the gospels was written well after the events occurred from accounts gleaned from supposed witnesses. These witnesses were largely poor and ILLITERATE, they had no calendars or diaries so how could they possibly recall accurately what happened several years before on a particular day.
Who counted the 5,000 people who were fed by JC or the loaves or fishes for that matter, yet this story is recounted millions of times as if it is "gospel truth" which it is NOT.
So when the author claims that JC said this or that there is NO EVIDENCE whatsoever to support that claim, NO credible evidence that is.
Source #2 = The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ
Did you say your name was FudgeWell? Seriously?
Tell me was Joseph Smith there when JC was born? he isn't mentioned in the NT or anywhere else for that matter.
But then anything called the book of Fudgewell has to be a hoot.
Read the book.
Read Richard Dawkins "The delusion of God" that book really is TRUE.
STOP PRAYING AND START THINKING.
As a believer in Christ, I can still appreciate scholarly research. As to the differentiation bettween Believer and Follower, this is all to true. However, while many of us may not have a true understanding of the culture in which He lived, Jesus was not illiterate. In the Gospel of Luke, chapter 4, verses 16 through 21, revealing His purpose, it states: "So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up, and as His custom was, He went into the Synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. And He was handed the book(scroll) of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written: 'The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord'. Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down." His understanding of the Scriptures was unparalled, and He taught in the synagogues.
SAYS WHO? there are NO accounts of any of these events from credible, literate, first hand observers. Once again these writings come from accounts handed down by word of mouth from less than credible story tellers. If one of these observers swore that JC arrived on a magic carpet and pulled rabbits out of a hat you would probably believe it.
How is it possible for intelligent people to BELIEVE this crap that has virtually NO EVIDENCE whatsoever as to its authenticity. At least intelligent people should be prepared to defend their beliefs with something more than "well it's in the bible" or "well I believe anyway".
Source #2 = The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ
I think when we read the Bible, we are asked to believe and look for His grace. The moment we start questioning it all ONLY intellectually and historically, without understanding the word through the grace of His holy spirit, we're in troubled waters. And no, you cannot be a true follower of Christ without being a Christian. If you are a follower and believer in Christ, you are indeed Christian. AS for Christians who do not follow Christ, they aren't true blood-bought born again Christians...usually just nominal Christians who happened to be born into a Christian family. I became Christian, unlike the author, not because "Accepting him into my heart was as close as I could get to feeling truly American." but because,His spirit touched me. It was very personal and not political. I think readers should take another look at how the author "became Christian" in the first place. God bless 🙂
Karen your post is very disturbing phrases such as "AS for Christians who do not follow Christ, they aren’t true blood-bought born again Christians". Blood bought, what the hell does that mean, then there is "Accepting him into my heart was as close as I could get to feeling truly American".
YOU NEED HELP IMMEDIATELY. The stories in the bible are just that FAIRY TALES only the gullible and weak minded actually believe them. Belief and faith means that you will accept ANYTHING without any form of evidence whatsoever, this is VERY DANGEROUS because unscrupulous people will take advantage of you.
STOP PRAYING AND START THINKING.
If you take the time to read what the writer has said, you will see that i was quoting from his article. As for my needing help immediately, well, lets just say, im not the one trolling around telling people they need help and telling their beliefs are fairytales. Anyway, thanks for the good laugh 🙂
Blood bought born again Christians are those who are saved vy the blood of Christ. My dear Keith, to argue about Christianity, you must know a little bit about it no? Couldnt resist. God bless. And may you get the help you so desperately think others need.
Firstly I am NOT your dear Keith.
Secondly I probably know as much about christianity as you, the difference is that I use COMMON SENSE you use BLIND FAITH.
To use a phrase like "blood bought" is provocative and SICK. Then to say that you "can only feel American by taking JC into your heart" is scary and disgusting.
Those most in need of counseling are frequently the last to recognize it, you really should talk to a professional health care provider.
Lastly please do not curse me, being blessed by your vile god is the worst kind of curse.
karen: why do you feel you need to be saved?
DEAR KEITH,
again, re read the article and understand in what context i used the phrase you keep quoting. Since you re so intellectual and intelligent, its incredible that you still dont understand that i was quoting the writer. Secondly, so much anger...tsk tsk tsk. Thirdly, stop trolling and Get help 🙂 Lol!
Another sad attempt to sell blatant propaganda to people who won't do their own research, discouraging them from even seeking Jesus Christ.
Are you delusional? WHAT RESEARCH? there is only one source of information about JC the new testament.There is NO OTHER SOURCE OF INFORMATION, every book written about JC is merely the personal opinion or personal delusion of the author. Research is impossible because of the lack of sources.
Read the new testament and that is IT no more research is possible.
You called the people who wrote their eye witnesses accounts "delusional?" Yeah, we're going to believe your unbiased assessment of the books you ridicule.
Not true. First, the New Testament is not one book. It's a collection of accounts by a dozen or so authors. In addition to the NT, we also have histories compiled by Roman Era historians Eusebius, Papias, Jerome, Athanasius, Sozomen, Theodoret, Arius, Polycarp, Origen, Pamphilus, and many others. Their accounts were assembled throughout the first 4 centuries from witnesses of varying authenticity in the same way that all historical accounts are preserved. Christ-related material outside the New Testament exists for those who, as Colli T pointed out, are willing to perform research. I see that you've been using the single source argument in a number of posts and I'm happy to have cleared this up for you. Have a great day!
Source #2 = The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ
As I just said the book of Fudgewell is about as reliable as Mad Magazine or Rush Limbaugh.
Mad magazine is MUCH funnier.
You've never read it. You can't speak to its credibility.
Read the book Keith.
You have to be joking, I actually have a LIFE why would I waste 10 seconds of it reading a piece of fictional trash like the book of Fudgewell.
You poor fool.
the truth is that moses pbuh and jesus pbuh are the prophets of god and mohammed pbuh is the last prophet of god.
The real truth is that you are a deluded fool.
II have just finished reading Mr. Aslan's book " Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth" I found it to be a most fascinating extremely well written, researched book.. I could hardly put it down until finished. I highly recommend "Zealot" and congratulate Mr. Aslan for writing such a wonderful book
What kind of fantasy world do you live? you say "a most fascinating extremely well written, researched book" I cannot comment on how well the book is written because I will never waste 10 seconds of my life reading it. But I take extreme exception to you saying "well researched".
How in the name of sanity can this be a well researched book when there is ONLY ONE SOURCE OF INFORMATION NAMELY THE NEW TESTAMENT.
There are NO OTHER SOURCES of information, every word in the millions of books written about JC that fill vast libraries are just the PERSONAL OPINIONS of the writers. Unless some author has had an in-depth interview with JC or his dad then every word written about JC and his dad is just the deluded fantasies of the authors.
So please explain how this is a WELL RESEARCHED BOOK, come on where did the author get his information? if it was from a book other than the bible then he is just repeating the personal delusions of deluded authors. No author has any idea what they are talking about from St. augustine or any other saint on down , AUGUSTINE HAD NO IDEA WHAT HE WAS TALKING ABOUT and neither does this guy.
Anybody who wastes 10 seconds of his life reading this book is a fool.
Source #2 = The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ
As I have said many times, what kind of delusional world do you live in, OH the answer is probably in the book of Fudgewell. Am I correct?
You really need to read the book Keith. It's true.
It's TRUE is it well that makes all the difference, read Richard Dawkins "The Delusion of God"" now that really is TRUE.
STOP PRAYING AND START THINKING.
This article just sounds like a Muslim practicing Taqiyya (deception).
Wow. It's funny how you misuse the word "taqiyya," and manage to do so in a "matter of fact" way. Taqiyya just means that when facing persecution, a person can lie about his/her faith to save his/her life. It is allowed only in the Shiite branch of Islam (which is a minority)
What the HELL are you talking about?
AlQaeda the happiest of all seeing as to how we play into their hands by getting 'lost' in those far off sand dunes.Two fold advantage to those who were a handful not far back and now expand.
1) Strengthening their 'cause' portraying the US as the sole enemy of their religion attacking and invading and occupying muslim countries. Thus helping them recruit more to their side.
2) Drawing us out and then being able to take a shot at us on their own territory. http://www.pgiorg.blog.com
Can anyone translate this diatribe? for instance what the hell does "Two fold advantage to those who were a handful not far back and now expand" mean?
What the HELL are you talking about?