Their gullibility knows no bounds provided the anti-religious propaganda they are hearing is what they are hearing is what they want to hear. You know the sort of thing - "the gospels were written hundreds of years after Jesus". Even a passing knowledge of the relevant scholarship would reveal that, and many other oft repeated assertions, to be untrue.
2007-11-01 20:50:20 · 33 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Alison G:
Take Matthew as an example. In 110AD Ignatius, who was then Bishop of Antioch, is to be found quoting Matthew's Gospel. Therefore, by then it was certainly in existence. Since time must be allowed for it to become sufficiently widely circulated, and achieve some degree of authority, for Ignatius to be quoting from it, it can't really have been written later than the mid nineties AD. On the other hand, there are passages in Matthew's Gospel which suggest that it may have been written asfter the Christians were expelled from the synagofues in 85AD. Therefore it must have been written sometime during the last fifteen years of the first century. Further, Matthew draws heavily upon Mark, so Mark must have been written before Matthew. There are good reasons for dating Mark to 60-65AD. You won't find any of that on atheist web site of course.
2007-11-01 23:52:47 · update #1
Jingizu:
"Anti-religious propaganda? When did this happen?"
I take it the name Richard Dawkins isn't unknown to you? I have just finished reading a book (by somebody who is both a theologian and molecular biologist) which tears his latest offering apart. Dawkins likes to lift what he considers juicy tit bits from atheist web sites, and like most propagandists he doesn't bother to check his sources.
2007-11-02 00:09:29 · update #2
Dreamstuff Entity:
I am well familiar with Paul Tobin; I have crossed swords with him before. He is a former fundamentalist Christian. Now that he has discovered that fundamentalism is untenable he expects all other Christians to be equally shocked at his discovery. I am sorry, but I'm not; it's just a pity he has had to fly from one extreme to the other.
2007-11-02 00:20:49 · update #3
Dreamstuff:
A quote from one of your web sites:
"Tellingly, the handful of late 1st century / early 2nd century writers (Paul, Clement, Barnabas, Papias) did not quote Jesus at all."
That's interesting, because Papias certainly knew of Mark's Gospel (he reports the tradition that it was composed from the memoirs of Peter), so he was presumably knew of a "humanoid" Jesus. Another atheist "fact" I suppose? Strange how their "facts" never seem to correlate with other known facts of history, isn't it?
2007-11-02 01:30:17 · update #4
evil_wee:
No, I don't believe everything I read, that's why I check the sources atheists don't check for themselves before posting on a site such as this one.
2007-11-02 05:41:03 · update #5
Anyone else spot the blatant irony here?
2007-11-01 20:53:28 · answer #1 · answered by Purgatory 3 · 18⤊ 1⤋
Huh? That's rich coming from you. You who believe everything from an old book. Anti-religious propaganda? When did this happen?
If you don't want to believe in the truth of historical accounts from the church itself, ie. that for instance the gospels WERE written hundreds of years after Jesus, then there is no hope for you. Atheists are especially renowned for NOT believing everything we hear and see...
Jeez, you are so on the wrong track here!
2007-11-01 21:28:39 · answer #2 · answered by Jingizu 6 · 4⤊ 0⤋
I am not gullible, i have read the bible or at least some it, but realised along with most of the people on YA that it's a book and that's all, most of it can be disproved and has been and as someone said people once believed the earth was flat, now we know different and the bible is no different. Cobbled together stories, it's just a way of manipulating people, to get them to obey, well i am not a sheep and do not follow the flock and believe that religion is the true evil on this earth, killed more people in the name of and those that follow it are fools.
2007-11-01 21:06:03 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 6⤊ 1⤋
No-one claims the gospels were written "hundreds of years" after Jesus. However, it's undeniable that they were written about 50 years after Jesus.
It's interesting that you yourself don't seem to have read them. None of the gospel authors claim to be eye-witnesses of the events they describe. And the stories differ significantly between books. For example, the much-loved Nativity story only occurs in Luke - the other authors don't even mention it, in fact Matthew seems to actively contradict it.
2007-11-01 22:44:15 · answer #4 · answered by Daniel R 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
One could ask the same question about christians. You know the sort of thing talking snakes in the garden of eden, raising the dead, virgin birth etc etc. Even a passing knowledge of the relevant scholarship and science would reveal that these and many other oft repeated assertions, to be untrue.
2007-11-01 21:22:44 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 6⤊ 0⤋
I've yet to meet an open minded "Christian" who can discuss the rights and wrongs of their belief. They are totally closed mentally. Think of the masses of community workers who help their fellow neighbours. Most do so without religion. Try asking a door-step religeous missionary why they are not helping people rather than annoying people at their doors. They can't answer that other than saying they are helping people to find god. So you question is, as an earlier writer said, very ironic.
2007-11-01 23:50:49 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
I'm an aetheist that works on facts !
do you know anyone that has ACTUALLY seen god ?
I dont !
Hubble hasnt spotted god :)
Religion was a good idea to start with to unite the few people on the planet but as science gets deeper "proving" the big bang theory religion is falling by the wayside.
Religion has also caused more wars than it has stopped.
what happened to "thou shalt not kill" ?
Moses wrote the 10 commandments apparently
then drowned the Egyptian Army behind him
so in essence you cant kill but you can drown the opposition
all the hypocrisy in the bible makes me an Aetheist.
2007-11-01 21:03:26 · answer #7 · answered by DevilsSpawn 2 · 8⤊ 0⤋
Surely if we believed everything we were told, we also would have been brainwashed by religion and this debate would not be happening because you would have no need to be such an ignorant little christian.
Pot.....kettle, you believe in something that dosnt exist and a fairytale to apparantly back it up!
2007-11-02 02:25:40 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Atheists are not sheep - unlike Christians they do not have a flock mentality. Atheists rarely believe what they are told - being seekers and thinkers they find their own truth. You have adopted an air of authority but are clearlu talking out of the back of your head. By the way, your use of the word scholarship is incorrect.
2007-11-01 20:57:07 · answer #9 · answered by LillyB 7 · 8⤊ 0⤋
Hang on do you mean atheists or theists - are you saying the assertion that it was written 100s of years after the events is untrue?
2007-11-01 21:15:45 · answer #10 · answered by Grinning Football plinny younger 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
You're right, we Atheists will swallow any old rubbish. How dumb are we not to believe in god, jesus and the power of prayer, and to not question the existence of an omnipotent spirit that loves us and yet treats us like toys?
2007-11-01 23:59:09 · answer #11 · answered by daveygod21 5 · 3⤊ 0⤋