SO YOU WANT ME TO BECOME A CHRISTIAN?
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100. Why is 2 Kings 19 exactly identical to Isaiah 37?
They aren't exactly the same. Looking them up and comparing them on Microsoft Word (in the same version), I find that there are some small differences. Possibly, the reason is that they both describe the same event, and Isaiah was used as a source for this. -
101. Is Jesus's three days in Hell really an ultimate sacrifice, when more than half of humanity going to spend eternity there (see question #11)?
The Bible isnÂ’t entirely clear what exactly Christ did for the three days between His death and resurrection. It is recorded that he went to "Hades" but Hades is not hell. It is more like a temporary place where they await the resurrection. Hell is permanent and final place of judgement for the lost. It does seem, though, that He was preaching victory over the fallen angels and/or unbelievers.
What we can know for sure is that Jesus was not giving people a second chance for salvation. The Bible tells us that we face judgment after death (Hebrews 9:27), not a second chance. There isn't really any definitively clear answer for what Jesus was doing for the time between His death and resurrection. Perhaps this is one of the mysteries we will understand once we reach glory. -
102. If your sect considers the King James Bible to be the official and/or authoritative translation, justify this in light of the fact that when King James commissioned his translation to be poetic rather than accurate. How can you possibly use an inaccurate translation as your reference for what is/is not the word of your god? If your sect does not use the King James Bible, what translation do they use? Justify the use of that particular translation.
I use KJV. King James didn't commission biblical scholars to write poets. You will have to show us proof that he meant KJV version to be poetic. -
103. Assume that I do not believe that Jesus died for my sins, or that if he did, that necessarily means I will go to your heaven. Name one thing that Jesus ever did for me.
He did die for your sins, because of His unbounded love for you. That unmerited love, that amazing grace, for you, me, and all humanity is what He has done for you. At His arrest, trial, and crucifixion, He could have called twelve legions (twelve thousand) angels to stop the Jews and Romans, but He didn't. I read on a poster once that "It wasn't the nails that held Jesus to the cross; it was His love for you and me." -
104. Before Mary was knocked up by the Holy Spirit/Ghost, she was never asked for her consent. (She was warned; see Luke 1:31). Mary was also asleep when your god knocked her up; this strongly suggests that he didn't want her to protest. Does this mean that Mary was raped by your god? Do you think rape is wrong? Explain.
"Knocked up?!" As I said, I try not to be overly demeaning toward your beliefs, so please don't be to mine. God knew that she would accept, and remember how she told Gabriel that she chose to bear this Child? If that's not acceptance of it, I don't know what is. And when does it say in the Bible that she was asleep when my Lord and Savior was conceived? Regarding rape, of course I believe it's wrong, and almost any self-respecting person would say so. -
105. According to Luke, Mary knew that she was pregnant with the Messiah. Living in the times she lived in, she must have known the scripture; therefore, she must have known that he would have to suffer horribly during his life. Was it moral for Mary to carry her baby to term, or would it have been more humane for her to have an abortion? Explain.
Again, she accepted what would happen. It was a great honor (to put it mildly) for a Jewish woman to be pregnant with the Messiah. Plus, the Jews mis-interpreted the prophecies, and thought that the conquering of the nations would come at His first coming.
Your question reflects clearly the modernistic philosophy of "Pro-Choice/Pro-Life". As a christian, there is no such thing as Pro-Choice. When God gives you a baby, if you choose to abort it, you have commited murder. -
106. If it was foretold that Jesus was to be crucified, and if he knew this, and if he was the son of your god, why did he do everything he could to avoid being crucified? (See, for instance, Matthew 26:39).
How does this show that He avoided the crucifixion? It shows me that He didn't want to do it, but He realized that He had to, though His human nature didn't like it (crucifixion isn't fun). -
107. If the Holy Spirit/Ghost is the father of Jesus (Luke 1:35), then why is the central figure of your trinity called God the Father?
Read my answer of the Trinity. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are one. -
50 more questions to go. Fandango jia you.
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108. Mary and Jehovah were never joined in wedlock. Does it bother you that Jesus is technically a bastard?
Honestly, I never thought about it. I'm sure that somehow it doesn't work out that way, but that is weird. What's wrong with the term "bastard", it is a perfect english word. It only sounds bad because people percieved it to be a foul word.
Nobody in the early 1950s thought "gay" meant homosexual. "Gay" just mean "very happy" "joyious". -
109. The original Hebrew word for the Holy Ghost/Spirit includes the idea that the Holy Spirit/Ghost is female in gender. Isn't this rather silly when you consider the fact that the Holy Ghost/Spirit is actually the father of Jesus (Luke 1:35)?
By your own admission, the Holy Spirit is a gender-neutral noun, meaning it could be female or male. It would appear that this is an instance of it being male. -
110. Matthew 28:11-15 contains an account of a conspiracy between the Jews and the Roman soldiers to spread the story that the disciples stole the body of Christ. How could Matthew have known about this, since no Jews or Romans would have admitted to it? If it was such a transparent conspiracy that an outsider could have seen it, why didn't the other three gospels mention it? Why didn't the Roman soldiers get into trouble?
Paul was a Pharisee, a member of the Jewish ruling party. Certainly he would have known. Towards the end of Matthew, it says how the Sanhedrin (Jewish ruling council) took care of it for the soldiers, so they wouldn't get in trouble. What exactly they said, I don't know. And why Mark, Luke, and John didn't say anything, I don't know. Perhaps because the Bible is divinely inspired (II Timothy 3:16), God knew that repeating it was okay. Also, remember that one of the members of the Sanhedrin (Joseph of Arimathea, who also buried Jesus) followed him. It may not be much of a stretch to assume that Matthew found out about this while writing his gospel. -
111. Jews believe that people are basically good people and can work to overcome their sinful tendencies. Most Christian sects, following the teaching of Psalm 51:5, 1 Kings 8:46, Ezekiel 18:4, Isaiah 59:2, and Psalm 143:2, believe that people are completely debased and hopelessly lost in sin, and that only your god can lift us out of this state if he decides to bestow his gift of grace on us? Isn't this an incredibly negative view of people? Isn't Judaism a more mature faith just for this reason?
Yes, it is negative. But look at the world around us. Crimes, terrorism, murder, rape, child abuse, horrible things happen all the time. How could you not say that there is some sort of negative element about us? -
112. How do you, as an individual, feel about Psalm 51:5?
That it is the truth, that because of the Fall of man, from the moment I was born (conception) that I have the defect, physical and spiritual, of sin -
113. What does your sect teach about Psalm 51:5 (and 1 Kings 8:46, etc.), predestination, and similar matters?
The "sect" that i "follow" is silent on teaching predestination. My personal conviction is that yes, there is predestination. -
114. Don't you think that the idea that no matter what we do, we can never be good and righteous without help from your god (Isaiah 64:6) fosters an unnatural and unhealthy dependency on him?
How could a dependence on the One who gave you live and saves people from their sins not be healthy? -
115. Revelation 22:16 says that Jesus is the "offspring of David." Mary was not descended from David, but Joseph was. Doesn't this mean that Jesus wasn't the son of your god at all, but the (mortal and not divine) son of Joseph?
Because everyone thought that He was Joseph's son, so He would be the human heir to the throne. Also, He was born in Bethlehem, David's hometown. A third explanation is given when some say that Luke's genealogy represents Mary's birth line, while Matthew's genealogy is for Joseph's. Because Mary was Joseph's wife, it would have made some sense back then to put Joseph's name in Mary's place (today, we still say similar things. We address the wife of Mr John Adam as Mrs. John Adam). -
116. What would the correct thing to do be if your god gave you a command that was harmful and/or destructive to you? A common argument, which comes from Paul, states that because clay pots don't complain about what the potter does with them, people shouldn't complain about what their maker (supposedly, your god) does with them, but this completely ignores the vitally important argument that clay pots have no sense of self-awareness and cannot think or feel love, pain, anger, etc. If you want to make this argument, you have to deal with this difference.
God would not tell me to do something that is harmful and destructive. Because He is holy, He would not cause someone to sin. "For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed." (James 1:13-14) -
117. What (or who) does your sect believe the number 666 represents? Justify your answer.
I do not know specifically (by name) who this person represents. According to Revelation 13:16-18, a persona called "the beast out of the earth," or "the false prophet" in Rev. 19:20, forces all the people to take something called "the mark of the beast," something which includes the number 666. The beast this mark refers to is not that of the false prophet, but of the Antichrist, the "beast out of the sea" mentioned earlier in Rev. 13.
Verse 18 suggests that we will be able to calculate the Antichrist's name or favorite number (or both) into 666. In the Bible, the number six almost always deals with humankind. Some have suggested that these three numbers constitute all that is evil; given the worship of himself that Antichrist (as indwelt by Satan himself) desires, this is not too far of a stretch.
That aside, the Roman Catholics have a total different (and complex) way of interpreting 666 and even the whole book of Revelation. You may want to ask them about it. -
118. If your god is "just and merciful," why would he take Solomon's kingdom away from Solomon's son while not punishing Solomon, when it was Solomon himself who committed the sin of idolatry? What did Solomon's son do to deserve punishment? (See 1 Kings 11:12).
If you read further on, it is recorded that His sin eventually lead to the sin and idolatry of the entire kingdom. -
119. Why is Solomon commonly considered to be the paragon of wisdom by many Christians, when he constantly sinned against your god (1 Kings 11:4-10, etc.)? Personally, if I had a god talking to me, I'd do what he said.
He was given wisdom "greater than the wisdom of all the men of the East, and greater than all the wisdom of Egypt." (I Kings 4:30) However, because of his fall into idolatry, he eventually lost his wisdom, his kingdom, and everything that came with it. -
120. Don't you think that an anti-sex position (see question #22) is a rather silly position for your sect to take when the biblical book "Song of Solomon" is a piece of erotic poetry? (For instance, in Song of Solomon 8:2, the bridegroom proposes to "drink of spiced wine of the juice of the pomegranate." The pomegranate was a symbol of the female genitalia, and the "spiced wine" represented menstrual blood).
Actually, I don't take an anti-sex position. God designed it; if I did, I'd be going against God's plans! If He wanted, he could make holding hands necessary for reproduction, but He didn't! What I feel though, is that He designed sex as a holy union inside marriage between a man and a woman, not outside marriage, or between two of the same gender. -
121. Does it bother you that the cross, supposedly a Christian symbol, was actually stolen from the Egyptians? Why or why not? (The Egyptian cross, the ankh, was a male-female symbol similar in concept to the yin-yang. When the Christians stole the ankh from the Egyptians, they removed the female symbol, or yoni, leaving only the masculine symbol-- a subtle way of reinforcing the idea that women are lesser beings).
The cross is a symbol of the crucifixion. The Romans invented crucifixion. Thus, it would appear that the Romans invented the cross, not the Egyptians. -
122. How do you explain that Christians are twice as likely to have sadomasochistic tendencies as non-christians?
I did not know that. I can not explain it, except for maybe that they are "backslidden." Or maybe you can show me the statistics and the source. -
123. What is the incredibly important doctrinal difference that requires the fighting between Catholics and Protestants in Ireland?
It's not necessarily religious, but instead is rooted in politics. The Catholics came to represent the Irish, while the Protestants became identified with the British.