tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21219785.post3040837242406089473..comments2024-03-25T17:35:02.238-04:00Comments on Debunking Christianity: Another Person Walks Away From Christianity!Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger66125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21219785.post-41280528662655977862009-03-06T00:28:00.000-05:002009-03-06T00:28:00.000-05:00To Eddie Owens -Glad to see people giving you supp...To Eddie Owens -<BR/><BR/>Glad to see people giving you support. You hang in there with your new life in the reason-based community.John Evohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10868904051881865159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21219785.post-27549637733374776672008-03-09T22:15:00.000-04:002008-03-09T22:15:00.000-04:00Congratulations man,It is a releive to walk away f...Congratulations man,<BR/>It is a releive to walk away from religion. it is wast of time really. anybody with a grain of intellegence would see that. <BR/> Homerhomerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08542909661530773476noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21219785.post-65512173258728099872008-03-03T16:58:00.000-05:002008-03-03T16:58:00.000-05:00Ed, you spit in everyones face, so I have no words...Ed, you spit in everyones face, so I have no words of comfort for you. You are going to go to hell unless you repent.<BR/><BR/>You made it clear you thought they were fools, and they felt hurt.<BR/><BR/>What did you expect?<BR/><BR/>You are an insensitive hypocrite.<BR/><BR/>Nothing worse than a traitor.Emanuel Goldsteinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02653303041185240250noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21219785.post-29948175161439691762008-03-02T17:43:00.000-05:002008-03-02T17:43:00.000-05:00There is a support forum for people who have left ...There is a support forum for people who have left the COC. Come visit us at http://www.setbb.com/exchurchofchris/index.php?mforum=exchurchofchris<BR/><BR/>You will find very similar stories, get great advice, and make lots of new friends.Jackihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01225336358683770005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21219785.post-81685859239957408992008-03-01T22:34:00.000-05:002008-03-01T22:34:00.000-05:00"The question is, what side of the answer do you w..."The question is, what side of the answer do you want to be on?<BR/><BR/>End of Existence or Eternal Life in Paradise?"<BR/><BR/>According to both Catholic and Protestant theology, all souls have eternal life: Some suffer forever (Lake of Fire) while others (saved) walk on streets of gold in a New Jerusalem (kind of defeats the divine demand to “Love not the world, neither the thing that are in the world. For if any man love the world, the love of the father is not in him.” 1 John 2:15).<BR/><BR/>Christian theology (post New Testament) claims heretics will suffer forever with atheist. The question of just who is a heretic is highly subjective as to which sect is doing the labeling. Thus, according to the late Bob Jones, Jr. (Chancellor of Bob Jones University), “Bill Graham has more damage to Christianity than any man who has ever lived.” The last time Rev. Graham held a crusade in Greenville, S.C., the school made it official that any student who attended any of the evangelical services would be expelled.<BR/><BR/>I had a fellow Christian co-worker (Ken) who was a fundamental Baptist tell me that when another liberal Christian co-worker died, he would “Bust Hell wide open!” I asked him that if that would indeed be the case, then all lost souls would escape. He gapped his stomach and ran out the door. Latter someone told me Ken had ulcer. <BR/><BR/>In hind sight, Christianity fights itself as much as it fights the devil.Harry H. McCallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08974655354593831851noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21219785.post-48623299847747314322008-03-01T21:27:00.000-05:002008-03-01T21:27:00.000-05:00"The question is, what side of the answer do you w..."The question is, what side of the answer do you want to be on?<BR/><BR/>End of Existence or Eternal Life in Paradise?<BR/><BR/>Seems to me the later is the more desirable option...."<BR/><BR/>What a ridiculous premise! That by deciding, and believing in one, that makes it so! I can choose to believe in ol' Santa himself and ask him for a shiny new Jeep Wrangler hardtop with 4 doors and big tires and the biggest engine, and I can BELIEVE really hard with my eyes closed and my hands folded real tight . . . . and nothing will happen. The holiday based on myth will come and go and . . .<BR/><BR/>What a silly waste of time and energy and thought . . .goprairiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00532311590000341237noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21219785.post-58454411788734680142008-03-01T19:05:00.000-05:002008-03-01T19:05:00.000-05:00A quick review of the most basic Christian tenants...<I>A quick review of the most basic Christian tenants doesn't reveal much for anyone to get upset about:</I><BR/><BR/><I>1. God created the earth and man</I><BR/><BR/>This defines an immaterial, undetectable, purposely confusing and heart harding being as the supreme authority on man. If we can't even be sure that God exists, then how can be be sure what we attribute to God's will or plan is correct? You've opened a huge opportunity for man to hijack God for his own purpose. <BR/><BR/><I>2. Man chose not to follow their creators guidelines</I><BR/><BR/>Please see above. And if God created everything from nothing then where did sin come from? <BR/><BR/><I>3. God Himself made a way to bridge the divide.</I><BR/><BR/>God sacrificed himself to appease his own damnation. To do this he switched from animal sacrifice to human sacrifice. <BR/><BR/><I>4. Man can choose to accept or reject that provided way.</I><BR/><BR/>But before he can choose, man must decide if there really is a divide that needs to be bridged. <BR/><BR/><I> 5. For those that believe, God asks (2) primary things:<BR/>a) Love God with all your heart and soul.</I><BR/><BR/>I can't love something that does not appear to exist. Nor does this sound like the kind of thing a perfect being would want or request.<BR/><BR/><I>b) Love your neighbor as yourself.</I><BR/><BR/>I'd rephrase this as "act as if you love your neighbor as yourself." <BR/><BR/>Because, as human beings, we won't always love our neighbor and shouldn't beat ourselves up when we don't. But our actions should appear as if we do.Scotthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11193595678064010528noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21219785.post-5586909856667690372008-03-01T13:21:00.000-05:002008-03-01T13:21:00.000-05:00End of Existence or Eternal Life in Paradise?Seems...<I>End of Existence or Eternal Life in Paradise?<BR/><BR/>Seems to me the later is the more desirable option....</I><BR/><BR/>Just because something is more desirable doesn't mean it's the most plausible or correct answer.<BR/><BR/>And if we simply cease to exist, then we won't have anything to worry about because, well, we won't exist. <BR/><BR/>While I think our fear of death is natural, I also think it's part of our survival instinct. But when this fear can no longer help us avoid death, it's a needless liability that causes unnecessary suffering. This is similar to how amputees experience phantom limb syndrome. Their body continues to experience pain which serves no purpose. <BR/><BR/>If evolution is 'blind', these are the sorts of behavior we'd expect from evolved life forms.Scotthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11193595678064010528noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21219785.post-58469318234828670192008-03-01T12:39:00.000-05:002008-03-01T12:39:00.000-05:00A quick review of the most basic Christian tenants...<I>A quick review of the most basic Christian tenants doesn't reveal much for anyone to get upset about:</I><BR/><BR/>First, it's TENETS. Tenants live in an apartment. Tenets are the strongly held beliefs of members of a given group.<BR/><BR/><I>1. God created the earth and man</I><BR/><BR/>Important if true. Not a shred of evidence for this. Misleading in the extreme if false and causes people to overestimate the durability of our species and underestimate their own fallibility.<BR/><BR/><I>2. Man chose not to follow their creators guidelines</I><BR/><BR/>False and tars people who have done nothing wrong with the broad brush of Augustinian personal guilt over being in a gang as a child.<BR/><BR/><I>3. God Himself made a way to bridge the divide.</I><BR/><BR/>By letting himself die for less then 48 hours? No evidence at all for this, again leads people to overestimate the durability of our species (God thinks we're that cool).<BR/><BR/><I>4. Man can choose to accept or reject that provided way.</I><BR/><BR/>Can I ask you to choose to believe in leprechauns or unicorns? Can you, if you want, believe that the moon is made of green cheese? Is your volitional control over your beliefs that total?<BR/><BR/><I>5. For those that believe, God asks (2) primary things:<BR/>a) Love God with all your heart and soul.</I><BR/><BR/>Absolutely impossible and silly request. Are you really supposed to be thinking of God all the time with all your soul? Even when you're driving? Even when you're asleep? Ridiculous and again fails to put the emphasis where it belongs, our species lives on small blue dot in the universe and we can die.<BR/><BR/><I>b) Love your neighbor as yourself.</I><BR/><BR/>Not a bad ideal. Only slightly less realistic than a) above.<BR/><BR/><I>What gets atheists worked up about the Christian faith?<BR/><BR/>1. Gods words and requests of man<BR/><BR/>or<BR/><BR/>2. Man's interpretation of that word and therefore man's actions who claim to be Christian. </I><BR/><BR/>What gets Christians worked up about the Muslim faith?<BR/><BR/>1. Allah's words and requests of man<BR/><BR/>or<BR/><BR/>2. Christians lack of understanding of the Holy Koran and therefore lack of knowledge of what it means to truly be Muslim?Evanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14299188458940897810noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21219785.post-39232135638039118042008-03-01T09:49:00.000-05:002008-03-01T09:49:00.000-05:00Alexis,I see that in your answer you lead one to b...Alexis,<BR/><BR/>I see that in your answer you lead one to believe that Christians do not make the world a better place. You don't seem to leave room for your "formula for life" to be applied to the life of a Christian as well. "Live life, try to make the world better, die into the hands of a benevolent God"<BR/><BR/>Sadly I fear that the Christian faith is tainted beyond repair by so many publicly corrupt and false Christians.<BR/><BR/>A quick review of the most basic Christian tenants doesn't reveal much for anyone to get upset about:<BR/><BR/>1. God created the earth and man<BR/>2. Man chose not to follow their creators guidelines<BR/>3. God Himself made a way to bridge the divide.<BR/>4. Man can choose to accept or reject that provided way.<BR/>5. For those that believe, God asks (2) primary things:<BR/> a) Love God with all your heart and soul.<BR/> b) Love your neighbor as yourself.<BR/><BR/>Would you agree with me on the following question?<BR/><BR/>What gets atheists worked up about the Christian faith?<BR/><BR/>1. Gods words and requests of man<BR/><BR/>or<BR/><BR/>2. Man's interpretation of that word and therefore man's actions who claim to be Christian. <BR/> <BR/>It appears to me the later. ie George Bush, Pat Buchanan, Right Wing politicians, etc.Joehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13505549379222790407noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21219785.post-44137954406450923902008-02-29T23:18:00.000-05:002008-02-29T23:18:00.000-05:00Joe:Typical Pascal's wager. Boring.What if Islam i...Joe:<BR/><BR/>Typical Pascal's wager. Boring.<BR/><BR/>What if Islam is right? Then there would end of existence for the atheist and the christian.<BR/><BR/>Your false dichotomy makes no sense at all.<BR/><BR/>That is why i like the atheist wager better:<BR/><BR/>You should live your life and try to make the world a better place for your being in it, whether or not you believe in God. If there is no God, you have lost nothing and will be remembered fondly by those you left behind. If there is a benevolent God, he may judge you on your merits coupled with your commitments, and not just on whether or not you believed in him.Brigshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15413144884615614085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21219785.post-8747487040121030032008-02-29T22:46:00.000-05:002008-02-29T22:46:00.000-05:00My favorite part of the Christian vs Atheism Debat...My favorite part of the Christian vs Atheism Debate is that one day we will all know the 100% truth. <BR/><BR/>The question is, what side of the answer do you want to be on?<BR/><BR/>End of Existence or Eternal Life in Paradise?<BR/><BR/>Seems to me the later is the more desirable option....<BR/><BR/>Hmmmm..... food for thought.Joehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13505549379222790407noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21219785.post-8051424321865882372008-02-29T19:39:00.000-05:002008-02-29T19:39:00.000-05:00In a previous era Ed and the rest of us would be s...In a previous era Ed and the rest of us would be subjected to the advice of Aquinas, who was used to justify the Inquisition later on:<BR/><BR/><B>Whether heretics ought to be tolerated?</B><BR/><BR/>Objection 1: It seems that heretics ought to be tolerated. For the Apostle says (2 Tim. 2:24,25): "The servant of the Lord must not wrangle . . . with modesty admonishing them that resist the truth, if peradventure God may give them repentance to know the truth, and they may recover themselves from the snares of the devil." Now if heretics are not tolerated but put to death, they lose the opportunity of repentance. Therefore it seems contrary to the Apostle's command.<BR/><BR/>Objection 2: Further, whatever is necessary in the Church should be tolerated. Now heresies are necessary in the Church, since the Apostle says (1 Cor. 11:19): "There must be . . . heresies, that they . . . who are reproved, may be manifest among you." Therefore it seems that heretics should be tolerated.<BR/><BR/>Objection 3: Further, the Master commanded his servants (Mat. 13:30) to suffer the cockle "to grow until the harvest," i.e. the end of the world, as a gloss explains it. Now holy men explain that the cockle denotes heretics. Therefore heretics should be tolerated.<BR/><BR/><B>On the contrary,</B> The Apostle says (Titus 3:10,11): "A man that is a heretic, after the first and second admonition, avoid: knowing that he, that is such an one, is subverted."<BR/>I answer that, With regard to heretics two points must be observed: one, on their own side; the other, on the side of the Church. On their own side there is the sin, whereby they deserve not only to be separated from the Church by excommunication, but also to be severed from the world by death. For it is a much graver matter to corrupt the faith which quickens the soul, than to forge money, which supports temporal life. Wherefore if forgers of money and other evil-doers are forthwith condemned to death by the secular authority, much more reason is there for heretics, as soon as they are convicted of heresy, to be not only excommunicated but even put to death.<BR/><BR/>On the part of the Church, however, there is mercy which looks to the conversion of the wanderer, wherefore she condemns not at once, but "after the first and second admonition," as the Apostle directs: after that, if he is yet stubborn, the Church no longer hoping for his conversion, looks to the salvation of others, by excommunicating him and separating him from the Church, and furthermore delivers him to the secular tribunal to be exterminated thereby from the world by death. For Jerome commenting on Gal. 5:9, "A little leaven," says: "Cut off the decayed flesh, expel the mangy sheep from the fold, lest the whole house, the whole paste, the whole body, the whole flock, burn, perish, rot, die. Arius was but one spark in Alexandria, but as that spark was not at once put out, the whole earth was laid waste by its flame."<BR/><BR/>Reply to Objection 1: This very modesty demands that the heretic should be admonished a first and second time: and if he be unwilling to retract, he must be reckoned as already "subverted," as we may gather from the words of the Apostle quoted above.<BR/><BR/>Reply to Objection 2: The profit that ensues from heresy is beside the intention of heretics, for it consists in the constancy of the faithful being put to the test, and "makes us shake off our sluggishness, and search the Scriptures more carefully," as Augustine states (De Gen. cont. Manich. i, 1). What they really intend is the corruption of the faith, which is to inflict very great harm indeed. Consequently we should consider what they directly intend, and expel them, rather than what is beside their intention, and so, tolerate them.<BR/><BR/>Reply to Objection 3: According to Decret. (xxiv, qu. iii, can. Notandum), "to be excommunicated is not to be uprooted." A man is excommunicated, as the Apostle says (1 Cor. 5:5) that his "spirit may be saved in the day of Our Lord." Yet if heretics be altogether uprooted by death, this is not contrary to Our Lord's command, which is to be understood as referring to the case when the cockle cannot be plucked up without plucking up the wheat, as we explained above (Q[10], A[8], ad 1), when treating of unbelievers in general.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21219785.post-81427566640015616662008-02-29T19:15:00.000-05:002008-02-29T19:15:00.000-05:00I hope for all the best to you Mr. Owens but I kno...I hope for all the best to you Mr. Owens but I know that it won't be easy for you. Rejecting the dominant ethos is an insult to those who still base their lives upon it.<BR/><BR/>Jamie Steele said:<BR/><BR/>"We have had over 30 conversions at our church this year.<BR/><BR/>Just thought I would let you know.<BR/>30 more atheist, agnostics,unbelievers ...etc. convert to Christianity.<BR/><BR/>Many of these have had no prior church background, neither did their parents, just like me.<BR/><BR/>No one in my family went to church or ever talked about it.<BR/>I was converted at age 20. I walked away from atheism then and haven't looked back."<BR/><BR/>Jamie, did you do detailed surveys of these 30 converts previous beliefs? You say that they were all atheists/agnostics/unbelievers.<BR/><BR/>"Many of them had no prior church background" means little or nothing since this is a country that is overwhelmingly permiated with Christian influences. There are Christian church programs on secular television/radio every Sunday morning plus thousands of Christian radio stations and several wholly Christian television networks/channels. Our currency has a religious endorsement, children in schools are legislated to recite a pledge of allegiance that was legislatively edited to include the words "under God" (words which the original author did not want). It just doesn't equate that not going to church means that a person is an atheist.<BR/><BR/>Even your own personal experience seems suspect to me. The fact that no one in your family ever went to church or talked to you about religion could not qualify you as an atheist. If in fact you ever professed that you were an atheist, then it was undoubtedly the weakest kind. <BR/><BR/>As may have been said before, professions of former atheism among "born again Christians" is de rigueur, socially obligatory. After all, what better way to excuse all of one's formerly abyssmal behavior than to blame it on atheism...but alas, the abyssmal behavior continues inside the church...stealing church funds, pastor abuse of the congregation, adultery, lying etc.Kevin Colquitthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11893071063920642636noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21219785.post-14517998654788021162008-02-29T19:07:00.000-05:002008-02-29T19:07:00.000-05:00And Christians are making a Biblical point for wha...<I>And Christians are making a Biblical point for what they think is true. What's the difference?</I><BR/><BR/>I was going to use an analogy of yelling "FIRE!" in a crowded theater, but we have proof that fire exists and that have plenty of historical and scientific evidence that people are harmed when exposed to it. <BR/><BR/>Instead, Christians claim there is an immaterial threat to an immaterial part of our being. Neither of which can be confirmed or tested in any way because God won't allow it. However, they claim you can avoid this threat by doing a wide range of things that they all can't quite agree on and are often immaterial in nature. An example of this is being baptized. Some Christians think it's necessary to be saved, some do not. <BR/><BR/>Atheists are essentially saying this threat is a superstition, just like the thousands of other suppressions that people have believed for years. Many where taken as truth but have been falsified because they make claims that can be clearly falsified. <BR/><BR/>Example? During the time of a plague, Pope Gregory I the Great made a decree for people to say "God bless you" when somebody sneezed; this was said to prevent the spread of the disease. At least we had evidence that the disease existed.Scotthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11193595678064010528noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21219785.post-61166227827155618162008-02-29T16:54:00.000-05:002008-02-29T16:54:00.000-05:00Jason, The fact is, whether you are an atheist or ...Jason, <BR/><BR/>The fact is, whether you are an atheist or a Christian, if you call someone insane for what they believe (to the degree that you actually force them to go to a psychiatrist), then you are doing something far different from simply saying that you don't agree with what they believe. If atheists resort to this sort of ad hominem (and they commonly do) then it is with respect to their own foolishness that they do this. But if the religious do this, then it is only with respect to their own religious beliefs. After all, "only the fool says that there is no God." We've all heard that one.<BR/><BR/>Yes, threatening hell isn't scary for atheists because, as you pointed out, we don't believe in hell. However, it is kind of ridiculous. Again, lets call a spade a spade. How can a good person believe in hell anyways? And why go around threatening hell to those who don't believe? <BR/><BR/>If you're right, why not calmly explain why you are rather than (I'm talking about Owen's situation here) evict the non-believer and spread rumors about him? No one seems to care so much about disagreements in physics.<BR/><BR/>You also have to understand that atheists have far more room to play the feelings card than Christians. There are simply WAY more Christians than atheists, and we in the U.S. look down on them. It is much easier to wimp out and go with the crown then go it your own.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21219785.post-33430579034137884162008-02-29T14:08:00.000-05:002008-02-29T14:08:00.000-05:00On what basis would you suggest that?Bart,Well I g...<I>On what basis would you suggest that?</I><BR/>Bart,<BR/><BR/>Well I guess because that is the scholarly consensus that up until the mid 300's Jews and Christians were all one. Jerome's antisemitism is seen as the watershed and a response to Christians worshiping in the synagogues.<BR/><BR/>I don't really think that this important to what we are talking about though. Mr Owens probably didn't read Charlotte Fonrobert's "Jewish Christians, Judaizers, and Christian Anti-Judaism' and think 'oh must be decovert'.Rather apparently some claims about Mithra contributed. <BR/><BR/>If you do want to ask some more about what I mean by Jewish/Christian being the same then feel free to contact me on the e-mail listed in my profile.Danhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08698506193984946980noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21219785.post-76971743203911820182008-02-29T14:01:00.000-05:002008-02-29T14:01:00.000-05:00It is hard to counter brainwashing. Young ones ar...It is hard to counter brainwashing. Young ones are infected every year by religion. It's very difficult to teach people who don't want to be taught because what they think they know the answer to all of life's mysteries. I was once a believer of a God, but I kept a open mind. <BR/><BR/>here is a tip:<BR/>Never assume you are right. Other people could be right. Give them a chance. Use logic. Detect and beware of fallacies in arguments. If argued correctly you will obtain better understanding and even some knowledge. But of course you will never know for sure.<BR/><BR/>I am open to arguments of God's behalf. I have yet to hear one that does not have some problems.<BR/><BR/>I am willing to accept that I could wrong, I am of course only human. Socrates once said that the key to knowledge is first understanding that you are a Hypocrite.<BR/><BR/>Open your mind.<BR/>Teach people how to think.<BR/>Always question.<BR/><BR/>Ed, you have tremendous courage it is hard for me to believe that a man that was full of faith like you could start thinking clearly. I bet you kept an open mind. that is key.Joshlnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05092863526241738706noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21219785.post-26805701882161427072008-02-29T13:45:00.000-05:002008-02-29T13:45:00.000-05:00Heya, just stumbled on this blog - what a powerful...Heya, just stumbled on this blog - what a powerful story. Thanks for sharing and best of luck to Ed and the others who have decided to look at things critically.<BR/><BR/>It's a rough road, I could only imagine, especially when your entire familial identity is tied up within a religion. I am amazed at his strength.Michael Zeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12765205039091242220noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21219785.post-48678458390788034342008-02-29T13:05:00.000-05:002008-02-29T13:05:00.000-05:00Don Cordiner says, "Christianity and Judaism would...Don Cordiner says, "Christianity and Judaism would be considered the same religion until about 300 CE."<BR/><BR/>On what basis would you suggest that?bart willruthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15483899663294287019noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21219785.post-82225676671602943312008-02-29T13:01:00.000-05:002008-02-29T13:01:00.000-05:00Jesus reserved his harshest criticism for religiou...Jesus reserved his harshest criticism for religious people, this story illustrates why. Jesus never asked a man to belive in "the church of christ." He asked men to believe in Him. As long as men continue to put their faith in other men and manmade organizations instead of the Creator, stories like this will continue to fill up the pages of your blog..Brother Dhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04645401412444899487noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21219785.post-61587808193325752652008-02-29T12:42:00.000-05:002008-02-29T12:42:00.000-05:00Well Persian Mithraism, Evan is not a contentious ...Well Persian Mithraism, Evan is not a contentious issue. Nor is its seperation from Roman Mithraism.<BR/> The significance of this is to show appeals to Iranian/Persian Mithra texts centuries before Christianity no longer can be claimed to influence Christianity for their is no continuity into the 1st Century C.E. world.<BR/>I suggest, well, any scholarly book on either Persian or Roman Mithra studies. The 'First International Congress of Mithra Studies' in the 1970's I believe is online and is primarily devoted to the seperate of R. and P. Mithraism. Roger Beck has offered the most recent book: 'The Religion of Mithras Cult in the Roman Empire" Oxford University Press 2007. Who also labours this point.<BR/>I take it then that 'The God who Wasn't There' does make this mistake?<BR/><BR/>Yes Christianity and Judaism would be considered the same religion until around 300 C.E.Danhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08698506193984946980noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21219785.post-33535022242766601262008-02-29T12:31:00.000-05:002008-02-29T12:31:00.000-05:00Jason says: "Atheists enjoy mocking the Christian ...Jason says: "Atheists enjoy mocking the Christian God because of the reaction it brings."<BR/>I beg to differ. For some it is more of a self-depracating thing - we make fun of it as a way of dealing with the fact that we were once so silly as to beleive it. Among my friends, the only ones with whom I engage in this sort of thing is fellow atheists. Among Christian friends or friends with other religions, I would never mock their God. I am respectful of them and their God and their practices. You are wrong to be so certain of motives.goprairiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00532311590000341237noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21219785.post-39082230512874314052008-02-29T12:22:00.000-05:002008-02-29T12:22:00.000-05:00Ed responds:Hi everyone, this is Mr.Owens. I've re...Ed responds:<BR/><BR/>Hi everyone, this is Mr.Owens. I've read all the comments and opinions concerning my de-conversion so far.<BR/><BR/>I'd just like to say that each and every person who is truthful to their own conscience must admit when those you once dearly loved turn on you like a pack of wolves it can be a shock of unmeasurable proportion! My therapist has helped me to discover many issues that are unresolved in my life and I am forever grateful to her. One of those issues is acceptance. I think several have hit either on or around this point on a number of comments. I am not psychologically blind by any means. I realized the percentage of acceptance is low. I've been in sales. This does not, however, cause the salesman to cease trying on the basis of negative odds! <BR/><BR/>Trying to force people to accept things never has been my style. Anyone who will listen to what you have to say is a variable you must learn to control to your advantage and that is my constant goal. To help others see truth for truths sake. People, mankind, deserves to know fact from fiction. I'd also like to stress that all those who feel like infringing upon others rights will have to understand that IS a two way street. If you are unable to deal with it productively it is a very good idea to reevaluate motive and means. I do this every day!<BR/><BR/>Thanks, and good day to all.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21219785.post-81175229239738258962008-02-29T12:14:00.000-05:002008-02-29T12:14:00.000-05:00I'd hope he realizes that Persian Mithraism and Ro...<I>I'd hope he realizes that Persian Mithraism and Roman Mithraism are unrelated.</I><BR/><BR/>What evidence do you have for the existence of a "Persian" Mithraism. Roman Mithraism is the only religion I know of that there is archaeological evidence for.<BR/><BR/>Beyond that, are Christianity and Judaism related? If so, what differentiates this relationship from that of Mithraism and Zoroastrianism or its Manichean variant?Evanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14299188458940897810noreply@blogger.com