Posts Tagged ‘Jesus’

|

Zeus punishes Christian Church

Thursday, August 13th, 2009

Zeus stabbed a church with its own steeple!

Steeple snaps, jabs church as storms rage into Salina

BY STAN FINGER  — The Wichita Eagle

“…no one heard the steeple snap off and stab the roof like a spear shortly after 10:30 a.m., Train said. The tip of the steeple pierced the sanctuary, protruding perhaps 6 feet past the ceiling tiles.”

Zeus stabs local church

Now that I have over 40 stories in my Zeus vs. Jesus reference.

I — so far — have no places of worship that were created by an Act of God. I’m looking for submissions if anyone comes across any. This list is getting to be embarrassing for Christians.

Places of worship Created by An “Act of God” Places of worship Destroyed by An “Act of God”
  1. Child Shocked By Lightning Strike Lightning Strike Occurs At Fairview Church
  2. Church Fire Rekindles — 100-Year-Old Building Destroyed
  3. Lightning Strikes Church, Starts Fire
  4. High winds rip off church roof
  5. Lightning Strike Hits Pittsburgh-Area Catholic School
  6. Members Clean-Up After Fire Damages Local Church
  7. Lightning likely cause of church fire
  8. Lightning Blamed For Church Blaze
  9. Congregation of church hit by lightning holds services
  10. Niagara County hit hard by storm
  11. Falkville church fire caused by lightning
  12. Witnesses: Lightning Causes Church Fire
  13. Bolt from blue ‘moves’ churchgoers
  14. Lightning strikes Liberty Chapel Church in Mount Carmel
  15. Lightning strikes Salem church steeple
  16. 17 injured as severe storms, tornadoes batter Mississippi
  17. Two rescued when flooding creek washed away car
  18. Possible tornado destroys Catholic parish hall
  19. Fire destroys steeple of Mount Vernon church
  20. Lightning likely caused fire at Genesee Depot church Damage extensive to 100-year-old building; 1 minor injury
  21. Lightning strike causes damage to church
  22. Bogue Chitto Baptist Church leaders are assessing damage after lightning struck the church’s steeple during a Tuesday afternoon storm.
  23. Manasquan church steeple damaged by lightning
  24. Agents Find Cause Of Fire That Destroyed 116-Year-Old E. TX Church
  25. Lightning Causes Damage In Central Fla.
  26. Freeport Storm Damage
  27. Historic United Methodist church destroyed by fire
  28. Episcopal church organized in 1881
  29. Church hit by bolt from above
  30. St. George’s Church Damaged by Lightning Strike, Fire
  31. Lightning hits Gratis church
  32. Services Still On After Lightning Strikes Church
  33. Lightning destroys Florence church
  34. Tornadoes blamed for Illinois storm damage
  35. Southeast Texas church damaged for a third time in four years
  36. Lightning strikes Dewey church
  37. Fire Fells Historic North Fork Church
  38. Lightning bolt jolts old Lynn church, sparks steeple blaze
  39. Maspeth church destroyed in blaze
  40. Lightning strike won’t halt services at Mt. Washington church
  41. Firefighter Injured After Church Struck By Lightning
  42. Steeple snaps, jabs church as storms rage into Salina
  43. Altus church total loss after lightning strike
  44. Sedley church burns
  45. Article: Lightning bolt strikes mosque facing Church of the Holy Sepulcher
  46. Tuesday’s Storms Hit Hawkins Church

I have had interactions related to all of this with RD Rauser (a professor of historical theology) who claims that he had experiences that jive with Yahweh existing — like that time when he almost got into a bicycle accident, and only got slightly injured.

I grant him, perhaps his Yahweh exists. Perhaps Zeus exists.

Either way, it looks like Zeus is winning this battle.

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

Intellectual Honesty… honestly?

Monday, August 10th, 2009

I have been engaged in a number of emails with a reader named Marcia. My previous blog entry contained a part of my email response to her and she left the 5th note on that entry.

Her comment included the following: “It is interesting to me that you talk about intellectual honesty but failed to demonstrate this in your discussion of John MacArthur’s article…”

Really? I fail to demonstrate intellectual honesty?

Let’s recap with a direct quote of the verses that Marcia claimed, “Jeremiah 31:15 … prophesied … that Herod would kill the children in Bethlehem”

Jeremiah 31:15-17 (NSRV) “Thus says the Lord: A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more.
Thus says the Lord: Keep your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears; for there is a reward for your work, says the Lord: they shall come back from the land of the enemy; there is hope for your future, says the Lord: your children shall come back to their own country.”

Notice the complete lack of the words: Herod, Bethlehem, Messiah, Mary, Joseph, Jesus, prophesy.

If I were exactly as intellectually dishonest as Christians who make the claim that a verse without the word “Herod” in it prophesied that that “Herod would do something”, I would argue as follows:

Jeremiah 31:15-17 prophesies that Napoleon Bonaparte would invade Jerusalem. Since Napoleon did not invade Jerusalem, as prophesied in Jeremiah 31:15, Jesus could not have been the Messiah.

I’m sure that you think that that claim is ridiculous and non-compelling. So, show me how to argue with that statement, Marcia. I honestly would like to learn how to get such an idea across in a compelling way.

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

Tags: ,
Posted in Prophecy, debate | 1 Comment »

Possibly Acceptable Child Sacrifice

Monday, July 6th, 2009

I just published a new short article that asks, “If a person thinks that Jesus’ sacrifice is valid, why was it imperative for Jesus to survive Herod’s massacre of the innocents?”

The goal of the article is to generate new thinking on the point of Jesus’ alleged sacrifice — it’s a worthwhile endeavor for both Christian and non-Christian to try and fully understand what each believes about vicarious redemption.

Article: Jesus: Possibly Acceptable Child Sacrifice

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

Tags: , ,
Posted in Announcements, Religious Interaction | 1 Comment »

Sam Harris: “Christianity amounts to the following claims…”

Wednesday, June 24th, 2009

Sam Harris writes so damn well…

He just posted a debate between Himself and Philip Ball. Here’s an awesome short excerpt from it:

What should science do?  Sam Harris v. Philip Ball

Harris: In its most generic and well-subscribed form, Christianity amounts to the following claims: Jesus Christ, a carpenter by trade, was born of a virgin, ritually murdered as a scapegoat for the collective sins of his species, and then resurrected from death after an interval of three days. He promptly ascended, bodily, to “heaven”—where, for two millennia, he has eavesdropped upon (and, on occasion, even answered) the simultaneous prayers of billions of beleaguered human beings. Not content to maintain this numinous arrangement indefinitely, this invisible carpenter will one day return to earth to judge humanity for its sexual indiscretions and sceptical doubts, at which time he will grant immortality to anyone who has had the good fortune to be convinced, on Mother’s knee, that this baffling litany of miracles is the most important series of truth-claims ever revealed about the cosmos. Every other member of our species, past and present, from Cleopatra to Einstein, no matter what his or her terrestrial accomplishments, will (probably) be consigned to a fiery hell for all eternity.

Go, read the debate… it’s awesome. One last quote later in the page: “If the basic claims of religion are false, most people are living in a state of abject confusion, beset by absurd hopes and fears, and tending to waste their time and attention—often with tragic results.” – Sam Harris

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Atheist Authors | No Comments »

Jesus: Unacceptable Sacrifice

Sunday, April 5th, 2009

A 6th century mosaic of :en:Jesus at Church Sa...
Image via Wikipedia

Sorry kids. Turns out Jesus isn’t what was expected or wanted. I delve a bit deeper in to the Bible and theology than usual, and explore what the heck is going on with what Christians think Jesus accomplished when He got Himself killed.

The essay is here: Jesus: Unacceptable Sacrifice.

All comments and suggestions are welcome!

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

Tags: , ,
Posted in Theology | No Comments »

Jesus is Love…

Saturday, March 21st, 2009

Jesus is Love… God is Love… Love your enemies… it’s quoted all the time, I find that it’s rarely thought much about.

It is often quoted as some kind of amazing moral principle to “love your enemies”, but what does it mean?

I’m not sure, but if the character of the New Testament is supposed to believed, He deals with His enemies by torturing them forever in hellfire. If this is love, it’s a funny kind of love.

So, I’d argue that either

  1. Jesus does not practice what He preaches; or
  2. He is practicing what He preaches, but “loving your enemies” includes torturing your enemies for eternity.

I deal with this argument in my new post: Response to: Jesus is Love…

Let me hear your feedback!

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

Tags: ,
Posted in Religious Interaction | 2 Comments »

|