20 Questions Christians Can't Answer!

Originally posted by wildtimes
reply to post by Deetermined

 

Just so you know, scientists and egos have been heavily correlated too.

Wouldn't surprise me a bit! They have a certain confidence and curiosity that is unquenchable. "Inviincible!"

edit on 20-11-2012 by wildtimes because: (no reason given)

True. However, when a scientist expresses confidence they normally express it as one of the following:









...thus making their "confidence" a bit more mathematically justified.

Originally posted by AQuestion
reply to post by namine

 

You do not believe in the bible; therefore, what would be the point in explaining any of it? You state it as a fat the Chritstians cannot answer these questions, that is pretty bigoted and untrue. What is the point of your thread if not to claim that Christians are foolish and don't know the answers to these questions? The title of your thread says it all. You did not say, "Can any Christians explain these things" you just said that we could not.

Yes, I’m not convinced the bible is generally what it’s made out to be, but obviously a lot of people are, so there’s no harm in investigating why that is. The title of the thread is clearly influenced by the titles of the YouTube videos, but nowhere did I "state it as fact Christians cannot answer the questions". In fact, the first line in the OP is “Or can they?” If you want to look at the OP and interpret it as “Christians are foolish”, that’s on you.

Anyway, a number of people offered responses to some of the questions along the lines of “who cares” or “doesn’t matter” e.t.c. But it’s not a matter of personal relevance; or else we might as well not ask a lot of questions about life, like “what came first, chicken or the egg?” Who cares about any of the video questions and whether Christians can answer them? It’s a curiosity.

The fact is flawed testimony and inconsistencies tend to dampen the reliability of the information presented. If these people inspired by a perfect god can’t get the details of 100% factual accounts straight, it stands to reason there are questions to be asked of said accounts, and of said people, so I don’t understand why anybody would be upset about scrutinizing their claims. Knowing people would look to the bible for answers and credence, why didn’t God help them get it straight?

Some of the discrepancies can be rather telling too. For instance, the question about the stone on the tomb, each gospel offers a different account for the same event. Mark places 3 women at the scene, Luke places at least 5 women there, and John places only 1 woman there. There are also varying accounts on the witness identities and who and what the women/woman find when they/she gets there. Moreover, Matthew says 2 women went to the tomb, and to confuse matters even further, went on to add that an earthquake had occurred and an angel rolled back the stone. Earthquakes and angels don’t exactly happen every day, and not back then either, so why would the other authors not report this divine occurrence? Is it really logical to dismiss all these diverging specifics as unimportant? It seems like we are expected to trust what the authors want us to believe (Jesus’ resurrection) and ignore all the little details that are meant to support its historical certainty.

Moreover, according to Markan priority, which is accepted by the majority of NT scholars, Matthew borrowed a lot of content for his gospel from Mark, sometimes verbatim, and he went through the trouble of embellishing the details in order to make Jesus appear more divine.

Mark’s gospel suggests Jesus had to try twice and had to spit in a man’s eyes in order to heal him (Mark 8 :23-25), describes an incident where it took a day for Jesus’ curse to work on a fig tree (Mark 11:20), Jesus angry on certain occasions (e.g Mark 1:41), an incident where Jesus could not perform miracles in his hometown (Mark 6:5). Now compare that to Matthew’s copied and improved version of events in which he eliminated the spitting and added a second blind man (Matthew 9:28-29), the fig tree was cursed immediately instead of taking a day (Matthew 21:19), eliminated the corresponding part including Jesus’ anger (Matthew 8:3), and where Jesus could not perform miracles in his hometown, Jesus did not perform miracles in his hometown(Matthew 13:58).

It would appear Matthew exercised a fair bit of embellishing in order to make Jesus appear even more wondrous and infallible. And who’s to say the earthquake and angel at the tomb weren't added in by Matthew for the same reasons? How can we trust any testimony from Matthew with these ulterior motives in mind? Of course, you could say a lot of this is speculative, but it’s hardly different to how Christians draw up varying interpretations from the same material.

reply to post by MrCobb


No thanks. This thread is about the questions in the video, not your ego, or my beliefs. You are free to leave now, and take your bloodlust elsewhere.

reply to post by milominderbinder


LOL!
I know! Right? I can't make any sense of it; once I got to calculus my math fuse blew.

This week I've been puzzling over getting the Centigrade to Farenheit conversion figured out.....finally looked at a mathisfun site for a written explanation. No matter how hard I stared at the scale and could see that 50C is halfway between freezing and boiling, I just couldn't seem to put together a coherent formula....and that's just ALGEBRA! (Of course at one point I could do it fairly well, in school).

Anyway, yeah, my kid is a research scientist. I clearly remember when I was no longer able to "help" with homework. So far beyond me!!
I am much more of a "spatial" thinker. Science is just as "magical" to me as the thinking in "religion." I really don't know. I know I don't know, and that's about all I know.

reply to post by milominderbinder

True. However, when a scientist expresses confidence they normally express it as one of the following: ...thus making their "confidence" a bit more mathematically justified.

Because they all know that math is what's going to save the world from destruction!

Yeah, that makes sense.

Ohhhhh you got us didn't you! Shucks! I better jump on that Atheist band waggon pronto, and become a bitter, lifeless, callus, prideful, egotistical, hell bound soul, and then I can start spreading my religions faith of Atheism too!!! Ya I can try kill everyons hopes and dreams and make them a lifeless zombie just like me! I love it!!! ya that sounds great, where do I sign up! Cuz Atheists have the universe all figured out and I want to be just like them.... and Tom Cruise too!

reply to post by Deetermined

Because they all know that math is what's going to save the world from destruction!

Yeah, that makes sense.

Everything that has helped our race survive up to this point has, at one point or another, relied heavily on math. Math is, in truth, one of the few things we can rely on in this world. Its only weakness is the men using it.

If we didn't use math in this world, you wouldn't have a car, a computer, that coffee, you wouldn't have your house, you wouldn't have an education, you would have nothing. Literally, you would have grubby clothes on your back, a rough-hewn cottage propped in some meadow, and a handful of children who couldn't read worth a damn.

Have some respect for math. You owe your entire world to it. Heck, how many times have you been in the hospital and they used equipment designed by math, that used math, in order to properly diagnose and treat you?

And you don't respect math? Good grief!

reply to post by namine


I believe that your scripture is research is spot on (in the context of the verses and their meanings), however After reading the scriptures quoted condoning pedophilia and rape I cannot see where any of those scriptures are actually condoning these things.. Luke 17:7 states ""Suppose one of you had a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Would he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, 'Come along now and sit down to eat'?" (NIV Version) other versions i found on the online parallel bible say pretty much the same thing. Matthew 24:46 states "It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns" (NIV Version), and again says basically the same in other versions. Is there something i am missing with regards to the support of pedophilia and rape in these passages?

reply to post by r2d246

so I better jump on that Atheist band waggon pronto, and become a bitter, lifeless, caluse, moron,

Insulting people doesn't make you sound smarter, and it doesn't do much for your argument either. It just shows that part of your problem might be coming from thinking you're better than other people.

That's the impression it gives me, anyway.

and then I can start sprending my religions faith of Atheism too. ya that sounds great, where do I sign up! Cuz Atheists have the universe all figured out and I want to be just like them.... and Tom Cruise too!

Atheists aren't the ones taking all of their answers from a 2,000 year old book and confessing that they would still believe in a 6,000 year old Earth even if all the evidence stated otherwise (and it does).

They will admit they don't have all the answers. From what I've seen, it's the Christians who pretend to know everything and then use that pretentious mentality to judge everyone they meet.

Perhaps you should be a little less condescending. You're not in much of a position for it.

Originally posted by DondeEsta?
reply to post by namine

 

I would hate to defend these questions as well. So I won't. What I will tell you as there are a great many believers in the world, myself included, who view these as parables. To come at them from a literal perspective will indeed evoke a response from hardliners, but for no real benefit of the OP. What would be more fun, and in my opinion revealing, would be to think about the parables as if they were written by our creator. What would they be trying to tell us? To research it historically and understand where these stories originated- and why our ancestors wanted us to hear them. To research and understand how much of what we know as the Bible has been dramatically altered throughout the course of history by the Roman Catholic Church.

So there it is, I have answered none of the questions and all of them at the same time.

Most of Jesus' teachings were parables.
"I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter what has been hidden since the foundation of the world." (Matt. 13:35)

reply to post by AfterInfinity


I never said I didn't respect math, but what's going to help our world today is not math, it's understanding human behavior.

reply to post by Deetermined

Because they all know that math is what's going to save the world from destruction!

Yeah, that makes sense.

(EDIT: I see AfterInfinity and I were typing up the same response. What are the MATHEMATICAL CHANCES of that??!!! )

Math has made a HUGE difference in the world. It appears that you are dismissing it as frivolous.

"Yeah, that makes sense." ???????

Do you live in a house? Thank math.
Do you believe that bridges will hold up when you drive over them? Math again
Do you know why your computer works? Math.
You know why cathedrals are so elaborate and huge and last so long? MATH.

Guess how early hunters figured out how to shape bows and fit arrows to them, at what angle to aim them, and how tight to hold the string? MATH!

The pyramids? MATH.
Want to gain or lose weight? Look to MATH: calories put in versus calories put out.

Math is a PRACTICAL thing, a language that allows humanity to effect our surroundings and also EXPLAINS a lot in our surroundings. Could math save the world from destruction? It's certainly saved the world from living in caves foraging for food.

It has also developed the thing that can destroy the world. It's up to us -- HUMANITY -- to save the world as we know and depend on it, by not using math to destroy one another or the world itself.

reply to post by wildtimes

It has also developed the thing that can destroy the world. It's up to us -- HUMANITY -- to save the world as we know and depend on it, by not using math to destroy one another or the world itself.

Yes, the key is to place it in it's proper perspective.

Originally posted by WhoIsJohnGault
reply to post by namine

 

I believe that your scripture is research is spot on (in the context of the verses and their meanings), however After reading the scriptures quoted condoning pedophilia and rape I cannot see where any of those scriptures are actually condoning these things.. Luke 17:7 states ""Suppose one of you had a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Would he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, 'Come along now and sit down to eat'?" (NIV Version) other versions i found on the online parallel bible say pretty much the same thing. Matthew 24:46 states "It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns" (NIV Version), and again says basically the same in other versions. Is there something i am missing with regards to the support of pedophilia and rape in these passages?

Thanks, but I can't take credit for the scripture research or the questions. I only transcribed what was said and shown in the video. If I had to guess, I'd think he was referring to Matthew 5, in which Jesus said he hadn't come to abolish the law, but fulfill it?

reply to post by Deetermined

Yes, the key is to place it in it's proper perspective.

And that perspective is that MATH is the ONE universal language that is never mistranslated, or misrepresented. It is TRUE FOR EVERYONE, and EVERYONE BELIEVES IT.

That makes it a great deal more useful than ANY religion, or spoken language, or body language, or written language. All of those are subject to interpretation.

Originally posted by Deetermined

Originally posted by Philippines

Here is my question, which so far has no answer backed by scripture that I can find:

What happens to people who have died but NEVER heard the message of Christ?

For example, my wife's great grandfather is from a local indigenous tribe who was not exposed to Christianity until around 75 years ago. They NEVER heard of Christ until this century.

What happened to those who never heard of Christ? Do they go to heaven or hell? Please cite verses from the book of all answers - the bible - to backup whatever your answer is.

Romans 2:12-16

12 For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law;

13 For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.

14 For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves:

15 Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another.

16 In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.

edit on 20-11-2012 by Deetermined because: (no reason given)

Thank you for your response! Really =) I have been searching for some form of a plausible answer for many months. I have read this before as well...

But, why are you quoting the supposed writings of Paul? Wouldn't Jesus be the authoritative source for this kind of question? It could be similar to asking what happens to a Jew in their afterlife who has never heard of God?

reply to post by Philippines

Wouldn't Jesus be the authoritative source for this kind of question? It could be similar to asking what happens to a Jew in their afterlife who has never heard of God?

We don't have one SMIDGEN of writing by Jesus available to us. Perhaps somewhere, sometime, someone did (or does), but that's the problem with scripture. NONE OF IT was penned by Jesus.

reply to post by wildtimes

That makes it a great deal more useful than ANY religion...

Herein lies the problem.

reply to post by Deetermined

Herein lies the problem.

Would you care to elaborate on your view of "the problem"?

No religion is UNIVERSALLY believed and indisputable.

Math, universally, is BOTH true and indisputable. I don't see that as a problem; I see it as humanity maturing and utilizing common ground. Like the planet, gravity, day/night, tides, cycles of growth and demise.

No one argues that those aren't real; they are real for EVERYONE.

Religions? Not so much. And no "proof" can be offered up in religion. An algebraic equation is only an equation if it can be "proven". Faith is not "proof". Neither is the Bible.

reply to post by namine

I have an interesting story to tell or more like a list on coincidences. I was born in a country called El Salvador, which translates to the saviour. I was born in December, the day of my birth my great aunt dies a virgin, she was deaf and a devote catholic. I was born during the civil war of El Salvador. I'm Palestinian my family originates from Bethlehem my wife's name is Miriam which translates to marry. I'm only 23. And this I just pieces together. Don't look for facts in the bible because you won't find any, instead get what you can put of it and keep in mind that god is love.

reply to post by AfterInfinity


Well why is it "20 questions Christians can't answer?" Have you ever thought about why it's "Christians" always in the spotlight of atheists? And basically no other religion? Anyway that's all I'm gonna say. You figure the rest out for yourself.