Christians and sin......

[cincydawg]

"Jesus without Paul of Tarsus", might be worth a read.

This book is about Jesus, God become man, and about Paul of Tarsus, commonly known as the Apostle Saint Paul. I always thought that to be a faithful disciple of Jesus I had to believe in the words that Jesus spoke and taught to the twelve apostles, that he personally chose, prepared and credited publicly, without adding to them the words of any other man; but I never applied this belief to the words of Paul of Tarsus. Despite my Catholic Education, several times, readings of passages of the Epistles of Paul had left me with serious doubts about them, for instance those that discriminate against women, teach that all authorities have been instituted by God, and command Christians to submit to ecclesiastic leaders. However, the sound trust that I have been taught to have in the Bible, and that I still maintain, allowed me to live with those doubts until I studied the epistles. When I did it, the love for the truth and the faithfulness to Jesus Christ, that I also have been taught to have, left me with no other option but to admit, that the Epistles of Paul contain many errors, vices and even teachings opposed to Christâ€s teachings; and led me to realize that Paul was a false prophet responsible for the worst errors and vices that the Catholic Church, and the Christian Church in general, have committed and fallen into. The Inquisition is a good example. Moreover, I realized that the defeat of the worst errors and vices that threaten our present and our future depends on our faithfulness to Jesus, and to the words of Jesus, which we find in the Gospels, and on the recognition of Paul of Tarsus as a false prophet and false apostle. If you want to better understand our past, our present and our future, you should read this book. If you are a Christian who is in love with the Gospels, who loves Christ and wants to be faithful to him and to love him even more, this book is for you.

[P1tchblack]

I think it is pretty obvious than an omnipotent entity would easily impress us mere mortals with any number of acts in public.  And yes perhaps some would view it as a sleight of hand trick, but I'm pretty sure God could do stuff that no magician could copy.

Bingo

[Brutus Buckeye]

Anyone ever delivery into the Gnostic scriptures?

[Alabuckeye]

I think it is pretty obvious than an omnipotent entity would easily impress us mere mortals with any number of acts in public.  And yes perhaps some would view it as a sleight of hand trick, but I'm pretty sure God could do stuff that no magician could copy.

Bingo

Cool.  The two atheists agree.  They would both be converted IF ONLY God would deign Himself to 'perform' for them.

[cincydawg]

So, who decided that Paul's Letters should be included in the Canon? Were they right? Inherently right, divinely inspired, or did they have human motivations for this choice?

There was an evolution over time as some books were included and later discarded, and vice versa.

Should we accept their decisions on Faith? Or is it acceptable to question them? Obviously my view is that the Letters of Paul significantly altered "Christianity" as can be seen from the Gospels and first part of The Acts and James.

[cincydawg]

The point here is that God COULD display Himself with such evident obviousness as to convert anyone. That doesn't mean the "two atheists here" require that to be converted, nor is it accurate to claim that I am an atheist.

A person can believe in a Creator and not accept mainstream Christian beliefs. A Muslim is not an atheist.

The ancient people believed in gods because they could not explain things that happen in Nature, like lightning.

[cincydawg]

Since we are just throwing crap against the wall, this site provides proof from famous Christian 'experts' Ghandi, Carl Jung, Thomas Jefferson, Robert Frost, George Bernard Shaw and others that Paul bastardized Christianity.

https://exodus2thekingdom.wordpress.com/...e-prophet/

The site does not attempt to provide proof, nor is anyone claiming those are famous Christian experts.  

Let's just make straw men up and throw against the wall?

[P1tchblack]

I think it is pretty obvious than an omnipotent entity would easily impress us mere mortals with any number of acts in public.  And yes perhaps some would view it as a sleight of hand trick, but I'm pretty sure God could do stuff that no magician could copy.

Bingo

Cool.  The two atheists agree.  They would both be converted IF ONLY God would deign Himself to 'perform' for them.

God was willing to perform in the past to convince people of his existence.  Why wouldn't he now?

[Alabuckeye]

I think it is pretty obvious than an omnipotent entity would easily impress us mere mortals with any number of acts in public.  And yes perhaps some would view it as a sleight of hand trick, but I'm pretty sure God could do stuff that no magician could copy.

Bingo

Cool.  The two atheists agree.  They would both be converted IF ONLY God would deign Himself to 'perform' for them.

God was willing to perform in the past to convince people of his existence.  Why wouldn't he now?

Boy Genius explained that pages ago.  Feel free to go back and read his comment.

[Alabuckeye]

Since we are just throwing crap against the wall, this site provides proof from famous Christian 'experts' Ghandi, Carl Jung, Thomas Jefferson, Robert Frost, George Bernard Shaw and others that Paul bastardized Christianity.

https://exodus2thekingdom.wordpress.com/...e-prophet/

The site does not attempt to provide proof, nor is anyone claiming those are famous Christian experts.  

Let's just make straw men up and throw against the wall?

Exactly.  And one of the things it used was the stuff you've been providing.

It's all burfle.  I was just adding to the burfle.

[Hightop77]

The point here is that God COULD display Himself with such evident obviousness as to convert anyone. .

He actually can't. Being in God's full presence is not possible for humanity.

[cincydawg]

God can do miracles without being present.

[Hightop77]

God could prove his existence any time he wants to. 

What proof would you accept?

I have two possible responses to that question:

1. Seeing a biblical-times type of miracle would be a good start.  Angels coming down from heaven, people walking on water, people coming back from the dead, and old man partnig a sea with a stick, etc .....

2. God should know what needs to happen in order for me to believe.

Many saw Jesus perform miracles and they still didn't believe him.  You wouldn't either.

Now you're just making s*** up.

No I'm not.

[Brutus Buckeye]

I think it is pretty obvious than an omnipotent entity would easily impress us mere mortals with any number of acts in public.  And yes perhaps some would view it as a sleight of hand trick, but I'm pretty sure God could do stuff that no magician could copy.

Bingo

Cool.  The two atheists agree.  They would both be converted IF ONLY God would deign Himself to 'perform' for them.

God was willing to perform in the past to convince people of his existence.  Why wouldn't he now?

Boy Genius explained that pages ago.  Feel free to go back and read his comment.

Dude can't even remember his own comments after two posts, and you expect him to remember another person's post from many pages ago? 

I once spent three pages trying to explain the fact that different denominations exist, and that was well over his head. I am sure that you will find that your efforts to dissect doctrine with him will be futile.

[P1tchblack]

I think it is pretty obvious than an omnipotent entity would easily impress us mere mortals with any number of acts in public.  And yes perhaps some would view it as a sleight of hand trick, but I'm pretty sure God could do stuff that no magician could copy.

Bingo

Cool.  The two atheists agree.  They would both be converted IF ONLY God would deign Himself to 'perform' for them.

God was willing to perform in the past to convince people of his existence.  Why wouldn't he now?

Boy Genius explained that pages ago.  Feel free to go back and read his comment.

Boy Genius is not able to speak for God.