A fresh interpretation of a stone tablet dated to the decades before Jesus's birth could undermine some fundamentals of the Christian faith, experts claim.
The tablet, which is similar in style to the Dead Sea Scrolls, is said to predict that a messiah would rise from the dead within three days.
The partially-deciphered Ancient Hebrew text had seemed to contain a vision of the apocalypse as told by the Angel Gabriel.
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God is just a human emotion, locked inside the psyche of a human being because of the Human condition and perpetuated by those that are illusional and those that seek control of others.
I think if God really wrote the bible, it would be much more than it is, and could change at the will of god. Not at the will of ManKind.
I have heard nothing about re-writing the bible over this. And to rise after death is a very old and often used story since the beginning of time. Also, since they really didnt know what Dead was back then, people could have been in a comma or something for a while, and rewake, and its called waking from the dead. Just like Immaculate Conception was often used in the old days when they really didnt know who the father was, or when someone became pregnant outside of marriage and the family did not want to be shamed by this. They claimed it was a holy spirit who impregnated the woman to cover up what really happened. These are well known facts , not fictions.
And Mankind wrote the bible, why cant Mankind change the bible. They have changed the bible so many times over the past 2000+ years, it would not really matter. Its the creation of mankind.
Army assigns body guard to atheist soldier.
Seems the True Believers are so afraid of this atheist, they threatened his life. Guess they're afraid Jebus won't protect them if anyone in their company has doubts.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/07/08/atheist.soldier/index.html?eref=rss_topstories
awesome article - thanks much!
~~~
"In March, Hall filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Defense and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, among others. In the suit, Hall claims his rights to religious freedom under the First Amendment were violated and suggests that the United States military has become a Christian organization.
"I think it's utterly and totally wrong. Unconstitutional," Hall said.
Hall said there is a pattern of discrimination against non-Christians in the military.
Hall isn't seeking compensation in his lawsuit -- just the guarantee of religious freedom in the military. Eventually, Hall was sent home early from Iraq and later returned to Fort Riley in Junction City, Kansas, to complete his tour of duty."
~~~
spread the word to solders in iraq- renounce your faith and get sent back home!
Nonbelievers are on the dark side and allied with the forces of decline.
Religion and Politics - I love HuffPo
Hi, My name's Steven and I'm a Heeven... and an addict, a HuffPo addict.
Really, HS?
I'm starting to lose interest - the Living section has turned into a clearinghouse for New Age mumbo-jumbo, and the rest seems pretty blah.
I dunno ... I guess I'll keep checking in from time to time. Gotta keep the True Believers on their toes.
Einstein said it most succinctly" Religion is Childish" it's wishful thinking born or ignorance. It's also very egotistical.
This non-story is a testament to the success of christianity's mission to obliterate other cultures. Anyone who knows anything about history outside of christian dogma knows the story of savior/resurrection was around long before the bible. I always get a laugh when Easter comes around that people don't get that the word has nothing to do with the Bible, it is an appropriation of pagan mythology. Christianity tirelessly worked to destroy the record of the philosophers of Ancient Greece, and was successful at destroying all but a few verses of the poetry of Sappho, all we know now is she was regarded as one of the greatest artists of her time. The great cathedrals of Europe were built on the destroyed sites of pagan worship, christian missionaries to this day invade other countries to impose their beliefs on other cultures, which is responsible for much of the mistrust and hatred of the US .
Yes, Jesus had some wonderful ideas, but when you choose to believe in those, and reject all the crazy old testament hoo ha in leviticus, you are in fact making a LOGICAL choice, you don't need religion to know that fairness, equality and love will make the world a better place. If you wonder why atheists have a "chip on their shoulder" maybe it's because they are sickened by the violence, hypocritical evil and intolerance of people who use religion to rationalize their actions, then there's Jerry Falwell, Creflo Dollar, need I go on?
I'm Christian and do believe in a God almighty. However, I have come to agree with most of what you say. Christianity have destroyed some cultures of the world with their methods of evangelism which I am not proud of. They also make America look bad and intolerant to other cultures.
I once cringed in anger at Pat Robertson who went on a tour throughout India in the name of God. But instead, all he did was rile up the entire nation by calling them pagans and stated that they will all go to hell. He even conjured up the balls to say that depressed state of their nation was because they didn't believe in the Christian God.
I'm ashamed of such deeds by some of these so called Christian leaders. They also taint the teachings of Jesus who preached tolerance and to help those that are in need.
I'm sure there are good Christians out there and not all subscribe to the religious right bu!!cr@p. Its not just wrong but unchristian.
Exactly! it is amazing anyone with a brain believes the Bible. It is a rip-off of stories/myths that had been around for thousands of years.
those rip off stories and myths about Jesus is false by the way. They are easily proven wrong.
The atheist crowd may not believe in Jesus ever existed. But that movie circulating around the web is nothing more than a big, fat lie that really doesn't prove the Jesus myth story.
For instance:
Jesus never was born in Dec. 25th and that he was never visited by 3 Kings.
Horus was not of a Virgin birth, never had 12 disciples, never had an eastern star during birth, never performed miracles, never had a crucifixion.
There is nothing similar between Jesus and Horus.
I don't have anything against people who are atheist. But to disprove the existence of God I think your better off arguing on other matters besides a movie thats proven to be a quack.
I wonder if scholars actually do believe the Bible or if they just remain silent because of the repercussions if they speak out.
I used to wonder why some priests/bishops/etc. and nuns, who committed absolutely evil acts, were not afraid of what was going to happen to them when they died. Did they really believe saying they were sorry after living a life of debauchery and/or cruelty that all would be forgiven? Then I came to believe that they knew something I didn't know - The Bible is made up of stories transcribed by men in ancient times and is used to gain subservience/ obedience. There is no God, no judgment day, no nothing - so they live as they please, unfortunately for the rest of us.
Maybe there's a reason the stories have been aroound so long... like they came from the same source? Every culture has them. Is it so hard to believe there's a common root?
In no way does this dilute the true power of Christianity. All this Born Again stuff may or may not be true. But the true power of Christianity was the radical concept that we are all equal in the eyes of the Lord. The Book of Common Prayer says, "Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and all thy soul and all thy mind....and thy neighbor as thyself. On these two comandments hang all the law and the prophet." No other religion, past or present, has such a simple and radical concept at its core. Christ was the first philosopher to grant equality to ALL people, lepers, criminals who repent, women and other assorted losers. THAT'S the true power and no new knowledge can take that away.
Wrong, Christianity embraced the concept of royalty.. kings, queens and emperors who ruled because they were not common, blood lines linked to a God, just like what we called Greek and roman religion/mythology..It did not embrace democracy and even embraced slavery.
Even the concept of the son of God is disputed and muddled.. Is Jesus the son of god, or God's form on earth... If God has a son, then just like Zeus and his children, Christianity is not even a monotheism, but another Pagan religion. The solution to that problem which confronted Emperor Constatine was stolen/borrowed from in around 400 AD from the 3 faces of the Hindu Goddess and reached by a committee,
Regards
That is the old testament where stories abound about the kings and queens, etc.
Jesus message was radical because it rejected all those teachings. People in power used people's ignorance as a tool to say that Christianity was what they said it was which was very different than the message attributed to Jesus.
Much like most "Christians" today who are pro-death penalty, anti-communism, anti-socialism and very much pro-war. Just the opposite of what is said in the new testament.
Regards
Blasphemy!! Everybody knows the Bible is the one and only truth, and that was written in English so that Americans would know that McJeezis died on the cross to help high school football teams win games, and rap artists win Grammy awards. Duh.
It's pointless but I'll say it- I'd like to meet an atheist on this site anyway, that doesn't come across as someone with a chip on their shoulder....someone who genuinely had studied theology and philosphy and had concluded that the belief in the Mystery of a Divine Universe was just not worth their time....then that would be really cool.
Instead we get the same rants and "fairytale" comments-just basic opinions without study or knowledge of theology and thoughful analyses...its the same complaint liberals lob at republicans or conservatives by accusing them of drinking koolaid and not undersanding the political issues becaseu they haven't taken the time to research them.
Just take the time to...its not about conversion, its about loosing your "fear of religion" because religion has been a major footprint since the inception of man,for better or worst, might as well understand it if you are not going to join it.
OK, bc, I'll ask the obvious : what level of obsequiousness will you accept from us atheists? How much of a milquetoast does an atheist have to be for you to think, "Gee, no chip on that shoulder"?
One point you might consider is this : In general, atheists love humanity. But we view belief in the supernatural as one of the greatest evils that confronts our species. Thus, we take strong positions against religion, god, the like, because we feel duty-bound to lift our fellow human beings out of the mud - to hopefully set them on the road to becoming fully sentient.
Honestly, are you offended by strong opinion? Or is your charge that we are spouting diatribes without considering the alternative? Speaking for myself, I was raised a good RC boy, have studied a variety of faiths, and have read extensively authors who discuss these topics. What more must I do? Can any atheist open their mouth without revealing a "chip on their shoulder"?
Let me say what you want to hear : I have studied theology and philosophy and I have concluded that belief in the Mystery of a Divine Universe is - not only not worth my time but - detrimental to my species.
bc, you're all wet.
The chip you perceive is in your mind only. Most of the atheists who post on Huffpo are well-read in theology, philosophy, history, etc. Just check out any of our profiles.
But you know that already, don't you? This "argument" is one of those empty charges that are ultimately impossible to refute, because no matter what we do or say, in your mind no atheist could ever know as much about god or religion as a True Believer. News flash for ya : most of us were raised in religious environments with just as much indoctrination as you received. Yet WE saw through the drivel and chose another way. Your knickers are just in a bunch because your jealous.
sigh...you should re-read your post....jealous? hardly...and the level of comments here are (yours included) support my point.
there is a middle ground....life in general is a middle ground I personally can't lay claim to being a True Believer and we have many religions and degrees of practice (orthodox non orhtodox) because life is full of greys.
However the pithy angry name-calling is ( ala Bill Maher and amanda on this post ) is a reflection of ignorance consequently fear. Whether you choose to see that or not.
Most nonbelievers don't have a problem with "spirituality" or meditation, or whatever altered state floats you boat; but talk of "God's plan" is where the dogma begins. There's no lack of that 'round here.
What is it that you do not understand about this statement?
"I do not believe in invisible guys in the sky."
I don't need to study theology or lose a fear of religion that I don't have.
You are the one who believes something preposterous, not me.
Most atheists and agnostics were raised in religious households and are not ignorant of theology and religion. Perhaps your problem with nonbelievers is that we have knowledge of religions and theological ideas but do not find them compelling, thoughtful, or even original.
I don't have a "problem" with atheists, most of my friends in fact are atheists, however I did say:
"I'd like to meet an atheist on this site anyway, that doesn't come across as someone with a chip on their shoulder"
I'm not interested in converting anyone here or in real life, and religion and spiritual paths are entirely personal....however my observation is this: that all humanitarians have been guided by faith, that things that are insurmountable (removing the brits from india, ending apartheid, civil rights in usa) have had leaders that were fueled by this faith and the mostly petty comments here reflect either an ignorance of this link between faith and works or a dismissal of it.
Lastly maybe you can share info about humanitarian atheists....
"Some Christians will find it shocking - a challenge to the uniqueness of their theology, while others will be comforted by the idea of it being a traditional part of Judaism,' he said."
What a stupid statement....of course Judaism is the foundation for Christianity; many of the prophets in the old testament foretold of Jesus' birth- they expected and sought a king to save them.Always strikes me as silly this disconnect some Christians have from the Jewish roots of Christianity..kind of like the fact that Jesus was a Jew is a bit of a secret/ or a surprise...it is after all called Judeo-Christian.
Ah, but many don't realize that there is likely a strong influence from the Zoroastrian religion on Judaism & Christianity:
http://www.pyracantha.com/zjc3.html
Hah! I actually think that statement is spot on precisely because of everything you point out. Yeah, there is a funny disconnect many Christians make from Judaism. Silly indeed.
And of course the Moslem thing that split off after a few hundred years of Christianity really threw the cat among the pigeons.
in Hollywood we call this a PREQUEL
Daily Mail | July 7, 2008 10:06 AM