and thus the reason why every man on this forum should take a very serious inquiry into the claims of Christ. (notice I did not say the claims of Christianity)Originally Posted by Maniacc
Because if the body of Christ was not produced and there were witnesses to his death, and then witness to him living (physically) AFTER his death, then even what you have written is not necessarily true. History shows that a man walked this Earth, died, and did not stay dead.
You see for me, I have no fear of death. Nor do I place the value of my life on physical things. My view on death is that it must come, but it is not the end. It makes perfect sense for a believer in Christ to cope with death by believing that they will live, because Christ said that they would live, as he said the he would live, and there is very strong evidence to suggest that death was not his end. If this is even remotely possible, then everyone on this planet should take careful consideration of the evidence with an open heart.
This is the moment that defines Christ as not just another prophet, but the true Messiah, who conquered death, (the greatest enemy to mankind).
Put yourself in the shoes of the people who witnessed this (BTW...some scholars believe there were some 500 ish witnesses to a resurrected Christ) But even now 2000 years later. Name one other person who has ever been speculated to have done this...I think anyone who does not investigates this with sincerity does their own intellect a disservice.
You act as if our worldly possessions have influenced this thought, but look at human history...we have no record of a single society who widely thought that death was the end. But just so you know we have records of countless societies who have had nothing, and still lived with an understanding that death is not the end. This idea is not thought up, its ingrained in our humanity.
I actually think the denial is on the part of those who look at all the evidence and have to force themselves to think its all mumbo jumbo. I mean you really have to deny your own consciousness to believe that you are just physical meat and bones and nothing more. IF that is the case what compels you to "just be good and live a good life" Why? If your are not a morally grounded being then why not just do what you want? People do really well financially by lying and cheating and stealing. Why does that not work well for you. If you are just flesh and bones, another animal...why not go out and chase tail instead of getting married....why not eliminate all the competition, why worry about your comfort, why go to college, why vote, why visit the religion threads on this forum. None of these things make sense to me in a world where we just 'are'.
I believe that some people on here are having these discussions in an attempt to justify their life apart from their spirituality because they are the ones trying to feel better about themselves. Make yourself feel better by finding an illiterate religion freak and telling them like it is...but ask yourself why thats important to you? If you just are, why is it important to you to try to get in these types of conversations. There is something more to every single one of us because somehow we are all in the same boat. And for those of you who fit this description you can't make me feel any worse than I do when I think about my wrongdoing leading to the sacrifice of a man who had no fault. That makes me hurt, because I cannot stop doing wrong and every time there is a painful reminder of why I am a believer in Christ. You can't make believers feel worse than that.
sorry for the length
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