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  About this blog
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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This article stated the pope has a wealth of knowledge from the scriptures, and evidently since the scriptures continue to sperm thousands of denominational differing interpretations and countless theologians writing more and more books to better explain these scriptures, well, I say the god who inspired such a confusing book must have been on drugs. In other words, I think a perfect God would have inspired a book clearly written so all people, at least with an average intelligence, could understand it without all "experts" doing it for them.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_F9nIps46w
,.
Maybe you have a younger sibling who is more creative that you can ask for advice....
So what if the pope has never married, he has a wealth of knowledge about what the scriptures say about love, marriage and family. The Bible from the very first page to the last, talks about “love”. In fact, the topic of love, marriage and family has been best analyzed and discussed in-depth in the Bible.
The pope in his priestly duties for decades, has probably counselled many couples and knows the problems of the heart and is more qualified to advice when it comes to matters relating to love, marriage and family. Above and beyond the counselling experience, he has the Bible to draw wisdom from when it comes to dealing with matters of the heart.
if he knew anything about the bible he would know valentines day is a pagan holiday and would have nothing to do with it
The Bible has much to say about what makes a healthy marriage.
Deuteuronomy 22 reminds women of the importance of marrying their rap/ist.
Numbers 31 delivers the often repeated but more often forgotten right of soldiers to claim the women of conquered cities as spoils of war.
But it also speaks of the responsibilities of marriage. After all, when Onan shirked his responsibility and failed to impregnate his widowed sister in law, God struck him dead.
But perhaps the best hope that lay in following marriage as accepted and sanctioned by God lay in the home lives of God's chosen prophets and kings. Abraham, Solomon, Gideon, Jacob and David are fine exmaples of finding a balance between one's responsibilities to their spouse while still finding time to spend with your concubines.
To be more specific, the very first marriage was instituted by God, in the garden of Eden. The topic of love, marriage and family is given great importance and discussed in the Bible in great depth and leads to a deeper understanding because the very first love that was shown to man was the love from God, from that love flows all other love, including love for a husband/wife and children. There are tons of passages in the scriptures that talk about this —
Genesis 1:27-28
Genesis 2:21-25
Malachi 2:14,15
1 Corinthians 7:2
Hebrews 13:4
Genesis 29:22
Genesis 24:67
1 Samuel 25:40-42
Ruth 4:13
Esther 2:16-18
John 2:1,2
Isaiah 54:5
Ephesians 5:23,24,32
Revelation 19:7-9
Revelation 21:9-14
“God created marriage. No government subcommittee envisioned it. No social organization developed it. Marriage was conceived and born in the mind of God.”
- Max Lucado
So yes, from the first book to the last book in the Bible, the subject of love, marriage & family is adequately covered and serves as a best source of knowledge for someone like the pope to draw wisdom from.
How ridiculous all of this is!! Idolatry like atheism and evolutionism is Total stupidity.
How ridiculous all of this is!! Salero21 and creationism is Total stupidity.
Obviously WordPress does not prevents moniker stealing, but that's one more piece of Evidence of the Total stupidity of atheism. And of the perverted character of atheists who are pathologically dishonest and compulsive liars.
Or it could be one from the drunkard church in the drunkard nation or as they call it in the fatherland the church of the drunkards in the nation of the drunkards. Worst yet, one of the snake handlers! 😀 😀 😉 Either way they're just about the same the only difference is a .01 percentile, because the church of the drunkards or the drunkard church is 999.99% stupidity. However atheism is Total stupidity.
Mmm. The trolling is very weak with this one.
The testimony of scrutinized eyewitnesses is a valid determiner of truth. Although there will always be people who do not accept eye witness testimony – this does not invalidate the truth.
John 3:11 – Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know and testify of what we have seen, and you do not accept our testimony.
2 Peter 1:16-18 – For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty. (Matthew 17:1-5, Mark 9:2-7, Luke 9:28-35) For when He received honor and glory from God the Father, such an utterance as this was made to Him by the Majestic Glory, “This is My beloved Son with whom I am well-pleased”— and we ourselves heard this utterance made from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain.
Aside from the false ramblings from those such as the "Jesus Seminar" who, because of their personal bias would undo that which has for millennia been well understood through the science of textual criticism to be the most accurate of any ancient manuscript, we have no reason to doubt the testimonies of men who, for the most part were torturously martyred for the faith that they proclaimed.
The reason that we do not doubt them is because their testimonies were scrupulously tested and examined by their contemporaries, and had they been proven false, would surely have been deemed madmen and simply dismissed with so many other heretics abounding in their day. It was rather for jealousy that Christ was put to death, shortly followed by those who were His closest friends – their sentences of death, docu.mented by the historian Fox, were for the same reason...
"Light has come into the world, but men hated the light for their deeds were evil..."
Just because people claim witnesses, does not validate any truth. They could be lting, they could not exist, and only were created by the writers.
Everyone at Hogwarts saw Harry Potter play quidiche...many witnesses.
I saw Phil Coulson die...and then was brought back to life after a week...this was witnessed by MILLIONS.
You do not have valid eyewitness testimony. No one can verify they existed, nor can they be questioned or iindependantly verified.
So you didn't read the whole post then. OK...
I read your post. You don't have witnesses. You have characters in a book. There is no way to verify or confirm there so-called witness reports, so you are merely taking it on faith that they are valid. That's the whole thing about religion. It must e taken on faith because there is no real evidence.
Tallulah,
So, you've read from all of the early church fathers then? Especially those whome were students of the apostles, such as Polycarp and Ignatius? (and many others) These men were able to scrutinize the apostles. Have you read their accounts?
Hearsay is not evidence.
yes I did.
First, there is no science of textual criticism...that is a technique, not a science.
"we have no reason to doubt the testimonies of men who, for the most part were torturously martyred for the faith that they proclaimed."
You may not have reason to doubt it, but wheter or not you can confirm the texts are original or not, has no bearing on the validity of said texts.
Claims of supernatural events still have no evidence.
"Claims of supernatural events still have no evidence."
-----
Except of course the eye witness accounts from men who have been deemed honest and reliable by their peers. Men who were willing to die as martyrs for their accounts. Even the students of the Apostle John were willing to die martyrs deaths because they knew what they were saying was true.
Just as valid as the eyewitnesses to Harry Potter flying on a broom.
You claim they were verified...I see no such verification that can be verified by any independant source. The "witnesses" could just have been made up.
Interesting tidbit of evidence...
John 11 contains the well known story of the death and resurrection of Lazarus. After four days in the tomb, Lazarus is brought back to life by a simple command from Jesus in front of many eyewitnesses. This historical episode is verified for us today by the Church of Lazarus on Larnaca, where Lazarus eventually ended up after being raised by Jesus. When archaeologists uncovered his sarcophagus on Larnaca over which the church now stands, they found an inscription which is roughly translated “Lazarus, Bishop of Larnaca. Four days dead. Friend of Jesus”.
Alexander the Great laid a wreath on the grave of Achilles, who was the son of a goddess. The Greek pantheon is real!
Actually, Alexander the Great was God's instrument to fulfill prophecies about the city of Tyre...
read Ezekiel 26-28 and parallel that with the story of how Alexander the Great built a causeway to the island city of Tyre out of the rubble from the mainland...
gosh...someone believed the story and put a marker confirming the story....why didn't you say so...that clearly means the story MUST be true ( sarcasm)
So your god chose a man who believed he was the son of Zeus to do his dirty work? Wasn't there a nice jewish boy available to do the job?
Alexander's successes were his own. He didn't need your god. He had his own.
"So your god chose a man who believed he was the son of Zeus to do his dirty work? Wasn't there a nice jewish boy available to do the job?
Alexander's successes were his own. He didn't need your god. He had his own."
------–
So you don't know the Bible then? The Bible is full of stories of how God will use even unrighteous men to accomplish his purposes.
I don't need to know the bible to recognize someone who is desperately trying to fit the square peg of history into the round hole of prophesy. Alexander was a genius of conquest. Tyre was just another bump in the road.
theo,
There were several million people in and out of Jerusalem in those days. The vast majority of them, right there on the spot, did not believe those stories. Not many could write, but who knows how many did write contesting the stories? Guess who was in charge of preserving ancient historical doc.uments for centuries? Even so, they barely have scraps of their own originals.
"The testimony of scrutinized eyewitnesses is a valid determiner of truth."
It can help support evidence. Now who is an eyewitness and how were they scrutinized? If you're not even sure who the authors of a particular set of stories are, then looking for clues amongst the characters of the story is a pretty silly method for validating the stories themselves. Even looking outside of the stories, don't you think in this case knowing names or other writings by claimed witnesses would lend a hand in validation? But we don't see anything substantial in that do we?
"that which has for millennia been well understood through the science of textual criticism to be the most accurate of any ancient manuscript"
lol – accurate? folks, just watch a few Bart Erhman youtubes. You will soon realize how silly that statement is.
"we have no reason to doubt the testimonies of men who, for the most part were torturously martyred for the faith that they proclaimed."
How many men are we talking about here? Outside of Paul, who made quite a business for himself out of these stories and Peter, for which there is very little known and much alleged, who are you talking about who is not just a character in the stories being told?
"The reason that we do not doubt them is because their testimonies were scrupulously tested and examined by their contemporaries"
Oh really?? When? Where? How? and by Whom? By some hearsay "historian" such as Josephus??
Start with
Clement of Rome
Polycarp of Smyrna
Ignatius of Antioch
Both Polycarp and Ignatius were disciples of the Apostle John. If there was anything erroneous in his accounting, these men would be the first to cry foul.
Then begin reading from their students such as Irenaeus of Lyons... And then go through the writings of all of the church father.
Once you have conducted your own thorough search, and stopped taking the word of atheists websites, then tell me of the veracity of the stories of the eye witnesses.
Hearsay is not evidence. There is not a single account of Christ written within his lifetime. Everything was written decades after his alleged life. At that time few people lived past the age of 50.
If I were you, I would leave Clement out of it. What did he add for us about Peter that wasn't already alleged?
How do we know that Polycarp was a disciple of a character in the story? How is it not just hearsay?
How about Ignatius? It's alleged that he lived at the right time. Give us some good evidence that he was a disciple of one of the characters in the story if you can.
You know I could give you evidence... It's sitting right in front of me, but I am persuaded that you would not believe even if a man were to come back from the dead.
"You know I could give you evidence... It's sitting right in front of me, but . . ."
Yeah – I didn't think so....
Then I will ask you, and you answer me... What evidence would it take for you to believe that there is a God?
Were your god truly omnipotent, it would be nothing at all for him to simply make his presence known to every person on earth. Instead, he chose to "reveal" himself to a single middle eastern tribe. He chose to borrow stories from older cultures. He chose to appear after many other gods, like the hindu pantheon, had already appeared. Perhaps your god would be more compelling if he were the first or even original, but since he's not it will take very obvious, irrefutable and public proof to convince me
Tallulah,
You mean like coming to earth as a man, presenting Himself as God, performing signs and miracles, and finally raising Himself from the dead?
"You mean like coming to earth as a man, presenting Himself as God, performing signs and miracles, and finally raising Himself from the dead?"
You mean like when Krypton blew up and Superman was sent here, and because of the yellow sun had superpowers he saved all of humanity with?...same thing
There is nothing at all that confirms this happened.
Why not just take 5 seconds out of his day and address the entirety of humanity right now?
To do it at a time, when the only record is written, and the only ones who could read were mainly religious and ruling class ( who were always tied together), the info in your bible is suspect to say the very least.
You could take the any religions story, and defend it in exactly the same way...it's true...it's all true,...see right here it says it's true, and it must be right because it's true.
igaftr,
Prove to me that a consciousness exists... Prove to me that love exists...
Now, you can't do that with objective means, because, although certain chemicals are involved in the process, if you were to put those chemicals into a bowl, you cannot then say that the bowl is aware of, and loves you. No, you prove that those things are real by the affects that they produce.
Why are you asking someone to prove if love exists? Please explain how this bears on any of the conversations above. And regarding how our brains function and consciousness, are you mention chemicals – aren't you leaving some things out?
correction: "you mention chemicals – aren't you leaving some things out?" (strike "are")
(and that was all in reply to theophileo)
Theo,
"Prove to me that a consciousness exists... Prove to me that love exists..."
It seems you are equating these to the God claim–that since these are difficult to demonstrate objectively, that if we accept the existence of these–why not God? Am I right?
Here's the problem. Consciousness and love are subjective. They are subjective experiences unique to each individual. Now it may be possible to demonstrate these objectively if you ask a neuroscientist–but keep in mind that these are human emotions. Do you want to equate God with a subjective human emotion? If so, I'm good with that. God is just a subjective human experience–equivalent to an emotional experience.
But this is NOT what Christians want us to believe. They typically want us to believe that God is objectively real, heaven and hell are real places, and so on. So it's an entirely different matter if you claim to love your wife, which is pertinent only to you and her, and then on the other hand, tell me God is real, he is watching you, and if you don't believe me, you're going to burn in hell for all eternity. Oh, and by the way, we need to outlaw abortion and stem cell research because they're against God's wishes. These claims are entirely different. One should carry a much higher burden of proof–don't you think?
Some advice/notes from an agnostic guy who enjoys intelligent se-x-
The reality of se-x, abortion, contraception and STD/HIV control: –
Note: Some words hyphenated to defeat an obvious word filter. ...
The Brutal Effects of Stupidity:
: The failures of the widely used birth "control" methods i.e. the Pill (8.7% actual failure rate) and male con-dom (17.4% actual failure rate) have led to the large rate of abortions and S-TDs in the USA. Men and women must either recognize their responsibilities by using the Pill or co-ndoms properly and/or use safer methods in order to reduce the epidemics of abortion and S-TDs.- Failure rate statistics provided by the Gut-tmacher Inst-itute. Unfortunately they do not give the statistics for doubling up i.e. using a combination of the Pill and a condom.
Added information before making your next move:
"Se-xually transmitted diseases (STDs) remain a major public health challenge in the United States. While substantial progress has been made in preventing, diagnosing, and treating certain S-TDs in recent years, CDC estimates that approximately 19 million new infections occur each year, almost half of them among young people ages 15 to 24.1 In addition to the physical and psy-ch-ological consequences of S-TDs, these diseases also exact a tremendous economic toll. Direct medical costs as-sociated with STDs in the United States are estimated at up to $14.7 billion annually in 2006 dollars."
See also: http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/26/opinion/bolan-se-xual-health/index.html?hpt=hp_t4
And from:
"Adolescents don’t think or-al se-x is something to worry about (even though is becoming a major cause of throat cancer)," said Bonnie Halpern-Felsher professor of pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco. "They view it as a way to have intimacy without having 's-ex.'" (Maybe it should be called the Bill Clinton Syndrome !!)
Obviously, political leaders in both parties, Planned Parenthood, parents, the "stupid part of the USA" and the educational system have failed miserably on many fronts.
The most effective forms of contraception, ranked by "Perfect use":
– (Abstinence, 0% failure rate)
– (Masturbation, mono or mutual, 0% failure rate)
Followed by:
One-month injectable and Implant (both at 0.05 percent)
Vasectomy and IUD (Mirena) (both at 0.1 percent)
The Pill, Three-month injectable, and the Patch (all at 0.3 percent)
Tubal sterilization (at 0.5 percent)
IUD (Copper-T) (0.6 percent)
Periodic abstinence (Post-ovulation) (1.0 percent)
Periodic abstinence (Symptothermal) and Male condom (both at 2.0 percent)
Periodic abstinence (Ovulation method) (3.0 percent)
Every other method ranks below these, including Withdrawal (4.0), Female condom (5.0), Diaphragm (6.0), Periodic abstinence (calendar) (9.0), the Sponge (9.0-20.0, depending on whether the woman using it has had a child in the past), Cervical cap (9.0-26.0, with the same caveat as the Sponge), and Spermicides (18.0).
the pope has never had a romantic/s.exual relationship with a woman, but he's giving advice? i usually don't go to people for advice about something when they've never had first-hand experience with it. it's like going to the guy at the local gas station for psychological advice. a virgin giving advice on how to have a good relationship? lol.
Anybody that believes Pope-A-Dope is a virgin would probably believe that a book of fiction known as The Bible (aka The Babble) is factually true.
talk about an illogical leap...
keep trying though and your darts might actually hit the dart board.
Ummm, you were not a/the target.
you don't know what the target looks like.
keep missing....
http://HearTheTruth.imgur.com
pretty sure the truth is you're trolling your website.
The truth is that you are trying to use this blog to advertise your product. Are you paying CNN for the service or are you stealing it?
http://www.Hear-The-Truth.com
Just another religious site that cannot tell the difference between belief and truth.
• There is a man who lives at the North Pole.
• He lives there with his wife and a bunch of elves.
• During the year, he and the elves build toys.
• Then, on Christmas Eve, he loads up a sack with all the toys.
• He puts the sack in his sleigh.
• He hitches up eight (or possibly nine) flying reindeer.
• He then flies from house to house, landing on the rooftops of each one.
• He gets out with his sack and climbs down the chimney.
• He leaves toys for the children of the household.
• He climbs back up the chimney, gets back in his sleigh, and flies to the next house.
• He does this all around the world in one night.
• Then he flies back to the North Pole to repeat the cycle next year.
I have faith that this is all quite true. It has been very well documented and millions of good boys and girls can’t be wrong.
Hey there, what a beautiful story, where can I go to worship such a jolly and loving god to perform such miracles?
The vestiges of pagan religion in Christian symbology are undeniable. Egyptian sun disks became the halos of Catholic saints. Pictograms of Isis nursing her miraculously conceived son Horus became the blueprint for our modern images of the Virgin Mary nursing Baby Jesus. And virtually all the elements of the Catholic ritual – the miter, the altar, the doxology, and communion, the act of "God-eating" – were taken directly from earlier pagan mystery religions.
Nothing in Christianity is original. The pre-Christian God Mithras – called the Son of God and the Light of the World – was born on December 25, died, was buried in a rock tomb, and then resurrected in three days. (I am aware Christians don’t agree in the date Jesus was born or how and when to celebrate it.) By the way, December 25 is also the birthday of Osiris, Adonis, and Dionysus. The newborn Krishna was presented with gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Even Christianity's weekly holy day was stolen from the pagans.
bingo.
very little in christianity wasn't taken from previous 'pagan' beliefs/ritual/ceremony.
but you can tell this to christians all day long and most will deny it.
christians sure hate facts.
Christians, what if you are being lied to?
I don’t mean by me or any atheist on a blog….
I mean by your god.
Indeed, what do you have to compare the bible to and how do you know it is not leading you astray?
From my vantage point it is leading you horribly astray.
Atheists like me look on in disbelief; unable to understand why you are so blind.
It is a real head shaker.
HAHAHA 😀 😀 😀 One more piece of Evidence of the Total stupidity of atheism/evolutionism/idolatry. Can anyone still ask for more proof of such stupidity?
In order to respond to your well-crafted and enlightening post, I must ask what "evidence" you refer to.
There isn't any, nor will there every be any.
Your quote: "Atheists like me look on in disbelief; unable to understand why you are so blind. It is a real head shaker."
Another quote : "I talked to God and I am not scared to die now" – D., a cancer patient 1950-2013. RIP.
That should clear up the mystery, no?
Uh....no.
Really, you don't see how desperation and fear could lead someone to believe almost anything?
Psych 101 denial
http://psychology.about.com/od/theoriesofpersonality/ss/defensemech_3.htm
Certainly. Sorry, I misunderstood your post.
Sorry my post should have been more clear. I understand existential anxiety.
nail on the head derado8! You should be my therapist.
It's the human condition, man. It's everybody.
Bush, if to love one another is a lie, what is truth? I f to follow the ten commandments is a lie, what is truth? The ten commandments are based on Love for one another, is that a lie? Where is your lie?
1. I don’t know the truth.
2. Which Ten Commandments? What proof do you have? None.
3. I don’t have a lie. Your lie is the existence of god(s).
Bush, what is it to you if believing in God gives people comfort? What do you care if people want to live by a code of love . No you don't have truth, if you did you would know what love is .
What is love lngtrmthnkr?
Bush, love is when someone will give their life so someone else can live . Love is putting others ahead of yourself. Love is taking the time to listen to someone else who is reaching out for help or understanding. Love is not wanting others to suffer or feel pain, to try to cushion them from their grief or loss.
Now I know. Thanks.
My friends call me...Apple.
Apple, that's what I'll call you.
lngtrm
" love is when someone will give their life so someone else can live . Love is putting others ahead of yourself. Love is taking the time to listen to someone else who is reaching out for help or understanding. Love is not wanting others to suffer or feel pain, to try to cushion them from their grief or loss."
By your definition, you do not love Jesus.
You are willing to have him take your punishment, make him suffer for your deeds..
Just one of the MANY contradictions of your particular belief.
Ingtrmthnkr.. gods love in the bible is conditional..it is not universal. Christians who interpret the bible to suit their needs tell us that Gay folks are not loved and must change in order to get into heaven.. what ever that really is. Or when pushed they espouse that its the "life style" they hate not the person.. really a thinly veiled lie. Love has more to do with respect.. a quality missing from the bible.
Evolvedddna, Those were harsh times in tribal communities . As we see in many tribal countries ,what the youth do dishonors or honors the parents and the whole family. That type of thinking is not as prevalent in modern societies. But when you say Love is about respect for the individual, I agree. Each one of us has to come to a place of understanding and acceptance , being gay should not be a issue .
the bible and god is all about love? are you joking? your god has murdered children, according to your bible. he killed the first born sons of everyone in egypt. how can you worship a deity evil enough to murder children? what did the children do? he's punishing the pharoah by killing children? i can't think of a more disgusting god.
Yes, so true; and such a god would be very sadistic to have created people knowing beforehand what tragedies occur as a result, and such a sadistic belief system.
Look at this argument from the perspective of a pantheist. Instead of using "god" use the word "existence". It's like saying how dare "existence" force us to "exist". Existence "murders" everyone eventually. It's a matter of trying to determine if existence is cognizant and I don't think that task is possible.
Unconditional countdown; redemption
Lost encounter; revelation
Jerusalem heaven; escape
Blink eye; secret camp
Hellbound gods: hope of truth
Afterlife passion; children
Magic words; this is our time
Ingenious, a true story about the key of life;
Not zombie lovers in the country;
Dance and adore you r concussion;
There is a haunter in the hotel at night;
It kills suddenly.
Find the exit from doom; revelation.