I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me.
John 15:15 (NLT)
Okay Jesus. So at first glance, this sounds kind of cool. You were telling your disciples that they got a status upgrade - promoted from your slaves, to your friends! Now I’m sure that being your slave was pretty cool and all, but seriously, who wouldn’t want to be in the Friend Zone with Jesus? Instead of slaving away to fulfill your whims and orders, they could hang out and be buddies instead. And, you're telling them the top-secret communications which you receive from your Sky Daddy!
Unfortunately, you kind of killed the moment, by saying this, just before you made the big announcement:
You are my friends if you do what I command.
John 15:14 (NLT)
At TAM I met a guy who runs an online store that uses some really cool sayings on merchandise. You can see a three of them below. I have the last one on a shirt and wear it quite a bit. I know they are a bit expensive but I think they are worth it. Check this site out for yourself. Which sayings do you like the best?
My years in a variety of fundamentalist Christian churches taught me something: despite all claims to the contrary, these Christians do not really believe that their faith would survive if you took it off of life support.
Believers claim to have the spirit of the all-powerful creator of the universe indwelling and empowering them as “new creations in Christ.” Purportedly, the Bible is the living, powerful word of God – “sharper than any two-edged sword.” The believer’s faith is said to be a shield, able to “quench all the fiery darts of the enemy.” And yet…
I'd rather be a "sinner" intelligent and free than a pampered moron held in a small garden called Eden!
LINK. Ed is the co-author (with Robert Price) and publisher of the book "Evolving out of Eden: Christian Responses to Evolution," which I recommend very highly.
If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell. Matthew 5:29-30 ESV
Really Jesus, you managed to pack so much silliness in these few sentences that it’s hard to know where to start! In fact, it goes well beyond silliness – perhaps ridiculously irresponsible would be a better description. Surely if you were God – all-knowing and wise – it might have occurred to you that encouraging people to pluck out their eyes and cut off their hands (even if you intended it metaphorically) might not be the best idea? Didn’t you realize that mentally unstable people might act on your words? Not very prudent of you to put those ideas so carelessly out there, now was it?
Don't they know they're being dishonest? ;-) I've added them to
my amazon wish list if anyone is interested in buying one for me. I'm particularly interested in the first one, "In Defense of the Bible," since it just came out. They are now willing to entertain the question of Adam's existence, and with it, they'll have to revisit the issue of inerrancy. Baby Steps. Baby Steps. Come a little closer children.
In this hilarious video Bill Maher tells us why atheism is not a religion.
I have noted many times in posts here at DC that the Jewish God (Yahweh) was a simple local West Semitic deity textually employed after 250 BCE to give a historical foundation for the descendants of the poor Canaanites from the hill country near Ugarit later known as Jews.
Here is a nice summary of the problem of divine hiddenness (also called the
argument from nonbelief) from Youtuber
TheoreticalBS.
You may also be interested in this article from John Schellenberg, the man who pioneered the argument:
What Divine Hiddenness Reveals, or How Weak Theistic Evidence is Strong Atheistic Proof
An atheist arguing with a Christian apologist is like driving down a highway with him (or her) in your car. As you drive along, he continually and randomly points to land, cars, buildings and even planes in the sky stating: “My family owns that . . . and we own this . . . and we own that . . .I KNOW we do without a doubt along with much more!” However, common sense tells the atheist that these claims aren't logical, in fact, they’re impossible and the atheist tells this to the Christian.
That's exactly where I want to be given today's free promotion. ;-)
The first puzzle he presents about omniscience purportedly shows that the divine attribute of omniscience is incoherent. The second puzzle about omnibenevolence and omnipotence shows that these two divine attributes are logically incompatible. The third puzzle about perfect rationality and omnipotence shows that these two divine attributes are logically incompatible. See what you think:
You can reach this huge audience with your product or service for just $75 a month here at DC. See the advertisement at the right for Reasonist Products? That's all they're paying. The ad doesn't have to be atheist oriented. It could be for an insurance agency, a financial agency, or an artist who wants to promote her work. Christian ads will cost more than that but I'll entertain them, I'm not scared. Contact me at johnwloftus@comcast.net. Serious inquiries only.
Recap: In
Part 1, our hero has met a hot lady whom he wants to marry. He loses a riddle bet due some trickery by the aforementioned lady friend, and is forced to kill thirty guys so he can steal their clothes to pay the bet. He’s bummed, so he bunks out at his mom and dad’s, and while he’s gone, his disloyal fiancé marries the best man from the canceled wedding. Time for some good, old-fashioned revenge!
Exhibit 5:
Samson said, “This time I cannot be blamed for everything I am going to do to you Philistines.” Then he went out and caught 300 foxes. He tied their tails together in pairs, and he fastened a torch to each pair of tails. Then he lit the torches and let the foxes run through the grain fields of the Philistines. He burned all their grain to the ground, including the sheaves and the uncut grain. He also destroyed their vineyards and olive groves.
Judges 15:3-5 (NLT)
Arson and animal cruelty. That’s two out of three of the psychopath indicators. Definitely not PETA-approved,and we have the deliberate destruction of private property.
Physicist Sean Carroll lays some of the problems with the popular "fine tuning" arguments for a god.
You can check out Carroll's post-debate reflections on his blog here:
http://www.preposterousuniverse.com/blog/2014/02/24/post-debate-reflections/
He is one of the few people I think bested William Lane Craig in a debate, which can be viewed 
McDowell will probably never mention Dustin unless asked. So ask him. See what he says. Frank brought together two former proteges of the two most famous evangelical Christian apologists. I liked it.
and David Eller's book, 
Upvotes would be appreciated.
Theologians cannot get it straight because the NT contains conflicting messages from a supposed divine mind, even though he should've known (or guessed) that 8 million Christians would slaughter each other in the wars following the Protestant Reformation over issues like this one. These issues were a matter of life and death to them. Be on the "wrong" side and you would be bludgeoned to death, along with your entire family. After four more centuries theologians still cannot get it straight. The only plus is that they're not killing each other over it. I'm here to remind them that they did. So Christian, sit in your comfy chair on your beachfront house porch and read it knowing these facts. Then decide which view best represents yours, or a combination of them, with the understanding that your life could be in danger from other Christians (heretics) if you got it wrong. Think also about the wisdom of that deity you worship.
let's now discuss what you're reading. What d'ya think?
