Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
The brain will return to the ground with the rest of the body. I understand what you mean that the brain does house the thinking process for the body, but the soul is without material - as is one's spirit.
Matthew 10:28a - Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul;
The brain will return to the ground with the rest of the body. I understand what you mean that the brain does house the thinking process for the body, but the soul is without material - as is one's spirit.
Matthew 10:28a - Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul;
The Bible says a lot of silly things, that being one of them, imo! There is no evidence that once a person dies they do anything but cease to be completely.
The Bible says a lot of silly things, that being one of them, imo! There is no evidence that once a person dies they do anything but cease to be completely.
I don't agree - but I understand why you believe that.
I don't agree - but I understand why you believe that.
Everyone is of course entitled to their own opinions. I hope mine is right, the idea of any afterlife is not something I would have any interest in, especially the fundie Christian idea of heaven, which would certainly be my idea of hell!
God not only speaks with in me but provides affirmation by other means as well ,prepared ahead of me and for my attention, in publications or other people sharing ,that know nothing of the issues in my own life .
Did you ever see the movie "Bruce almighty" Near the beginning he is wanting God to answer him, and God does, using signs of all sorts, but Bruce is ignoring all of them, till he finally crashes into a poll.
The prophets of old had to learn to listen and receive instruction from what ever means God chooses for them.
Balham the prophet was failing in his relationship to turn to God and listen ,and riding his donkey in a very narrow place ,God put an angel in the way the donkey could see but Balham could not, and he started beating the donkey and got thrown off, and God used the donkey to speak to him and reprimand him .
God has spoken to me through men that are not godly at all ,affirming something important I needed to know ,but these people have no what they said to me, or that I was listening .
You like to call this coincidence , and for the unbeliever that's all they have to work with , but as a child of God, He affirms His word/instruction in may ways to those listening /choose to listen.
What is the most omnipresent element we have on this planet? oxygen .
Some places it is denser some thinner but it is virtually every where, and you cannot live with out it.
God is Spirit , and unlike any thing else created God is every where at once only with out measure .
He is aware of you, and all your secrets, and lies, and aware of the good you do as well, but rebellion you believe insulates you from debt.
But it does not.
Jesus came and displayed a manifestation of God, man could receive, and the provision to restore the relationship in those that actually and earnestly and humbly wanted fellowship with God .
Jesus demonstrated obedience to the Father in all His ways, and going to the cross was the supreme demonstration of obedience and love for the Father.
Remember that this was a demonstration of God ,Jesus the physical representation for man to see.
(In Jesus was the fullness of the Godhead bodily)
Jesus provided the Holy Spirit ,the Spirit that filled Him, in this link with the Father .
Jesus said if I do not go, the Holy Spirit cannot come. Jesus (God's physical display to man had to be out of the scene, and the Holy Spirit which was in Him, was free to abide with and teach all those that believe .
And this He does today in those that have repented of their self govern and desperately requested God's govern.
And this I do every day, because I know His guidance and trust Him, and know His govern is far and away better then mine or any one else's .
Believers cooperate with God, we do not manipulate Him.
There are times God puts names on my heart I do not know ,and I look to God for how to pray for them and what other need I have business with if any .
I go where God inspires me to go, and do to the best of my instruction that needs done .
I do this because I love God , and He knows who needs His intervention.
All who know God's instruction obey Him like this.
But to do that on my own, with out His instruction, though it might be noble, may actually do more harm then good.
Many men do noble things, but not being instructed of God to do them, is self govern, not God's govern =rebellion.
Many Christians are not taught to seek after knowing God's voice in them, and their teachers are insisting they be their link to knowing God's will via their interpretation of scriptures even claiming to be taught of the Spirit of God to do so .
Jesus did not teach this .
It is God's intention to be our teacher.
Jeramiah 31;31,32,32,34, John 6; all 1John 2;20-
If it occurred, the Resurrection of Jesus would be a unique event in human history and would be expected to be widely reported. Was it?
Jesus, an intinert preacher who developed a large following was executed by the Romans for the crime of insurrection against Rome. This happened ca. 30-33 A.D.
According to the story Jesus died as a sacrifice to God to atone for men's sins but was raised from the dead on the third day by God.
If Jesus was seen by many, one might reasonably expect very many reports as one witness told other witnesses and nonwitnesses. These would be similar to what happened regarding the Elvis "sighting" following his death. But we have nothing.
Moreover, we have no record of this happening until Paul in about 57-58 A.D. wrote his 2 Corinthians 15. This would ahve been about 25 year after the event, and Paul's account waswritten for residents of Corinth which was 817 miles from Jerusalem where the event was supposed to have happened. Paul himself does not claim to have been a witness.
Paul's brief account does not say anything about an empty tomb, Jesus appearing first to women, or anything about a subsequent Ascension. All these components of the story were added later starting with Mark in 70 A.D.
Would you believe a report written about an amazing and unique event in the history of mankind written by someone who was a not a witness 25 years after it was supposed to have occurred to readers 817 miles away and which left out essential details as a reliable historical source?
This again? I already went over this on your other thread - Is the New Testament historically accurate? starting with post #42 in which I replied to Bluecheese who never did reply back.
The fact that not only did Jesus exist and was crucified, and that His tomb was found empty is well recognized by most scholars, even non-Christian scholars who study the subject. The fact that the disciples of Jesus believed that they saw the risen Christ is also recognized. The question then is why was the tomb found empty and why did they believe they saw the risen Jesus?
As I pointed out in that thread, according to Blomberg,
Today comparatively few scholars opt for the alternatives to belief in the resurrection that have been most commonly offered down through the ages, and that still surface more often in popular literature. These include the swoon theory, according to which Jesus did not quite die on the cross, but revived in the tomb, managed to escape, and appeared to his disciples before expiring shortly thereafter; the original counterclaim of the Jewish authorities that Jesus' disciples stole the body (Matt. 28:13); the notion that Jesus' followers went to the wrong tomb and thus found it empty; and the idea that all the witnesses of the resurrection experienced some kind of mass hallucination. Such 'explanations' require more faith for one to believe in them than does the supernatural explanation that Jesus did in fact rise bodily from the grave.
Instead, the most common approach today to the Gospel accounts of Christ's resurrection is to treat them as at least partially legendary.
[The Historical Reliability of the Gospels, Craig L. Blomberg, pp. 136-37]
Blomberg then goes into the three main reasons why the resurrection accounts are treated as legendary. These being.
1.) The accounts resemble the myths of dying and rising gods.
2.) Those who hold to Markan priority (Mark being the earliest Gospel account) note that Mark has the shortest account of the resurrection upon which the other Gospels build.
2.) The idea that Gospels contradict each other too often to be believable.
However, each of these reasons have been addressed and answered by defenders of the historicity of the resurrection.
And as I pointed out in that thread, scholars recognize that what Paul states in 1 Corinthians 15:3-5, actually 3-7 is a pre-Pauline tradition which goes back to the beginning of the church. In other words what Paul stated in 1 Corinthians 15:3-7 was being stated long before Paul stated it in his letter.
Luke points out that in his time there were many accounts which had been compiled and handed down by those who were eyewitnesses and servants of the Lord. And Luke thought it fitting for him to write out an account as well (Luke 1:1-3). The Gospel was circulated orally at the beginning during the time in which eyewitnesses, including the apostles were present to verify the accuracy of what was being transmitted orally before it was written down.
So yes, the resurrection of Jesus was widely reported which is why the early church grew in the first 30 years of the church from Jerusalem to Rome and other places.
I am not going to enter into a debate on this thread. I did that on the other thread and might as well have talked to a wall. This post is the extent of my participation here. I stand on what I stated above. Following are lectures given by Gary Habermas, N.T. Wright, William Lane Craig, and Mike Lacona on the historical evidence for the resurrection of Jesus. Each of these men are trained scholars. Each person reading this post will have to decide for himself whether to read my posts on the other thread starting with post #42, and whether or not to listen to the lectures below. It's your choice. Are you going to listen to someone like the author of this thread, or are you going to listen to what trained scholars have to say about the evidence for the resurrection? There are also available on YouTube debates in which Habermas, Craig, and Lacona have participated with those who don't believe that Jesus was resurrected.
Last edited by Michael Way; 11-03-2015 at 10:02 AM..
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
