Who do YOU think He is?

[Rose2020]

A question for doubters and atheists. Many times there are comments that say the God of the Old Testament was harsh, wrathful and even cruel.

What about Jesus Christ? What do these people think of Him? Born humbly, he lived gently. He never hurt or killed anyone, as an adult he never had wealth or even a home.. In His ministry He healed multitudes, teaching everyone about love and forgiveness and the Kingdom of Heaven. Then He sacrificed Himself in the worst death possible, dying to pay for our sins. The reason being that He thinks we are worth it, each one of us.

[Miles]

A question for doubters and atheists. Many times there are comments that say the God of the Old Testament was harsh, wrathful and even cruel.

Which, according to the OT accounts, he certainly was.

What about Jesus Christ? What do these people think of Him? Born humbly, he lived gently. He never hurt or killed anyone, as an adult he never had wealth or even a home.. In His ministry He healed multitudes, teaching everyone about love and forgiveness and the Kingdom of Heaven.

So the stories go, but as has been pointed out many times, there is absolutely no contemporary confirmation they are true. Not a one. The Bible is the only "eyewitness" account. And, as we know, this is far from being a trustworthy book.

Then He sacrificed Himself in the worst death possible, dying to pay for our sins.

Ah, I recall reading of many deaths far worse than being crucified on a cross. Just consider some of the cruel, punishing deaths carried out during WW II, or those carried out in ancient times, such as

Rat Torture: Eaten Alive
The Rack: Stretching the Body
Keelhauling: Dragged Under a Moving Ship
The Wheel: A Severe Bashing
Impalement: Pierced Straight Through from Anus to Mouth
Scorched From the Inside: Molten Metal Poured Down the Throat:
Flaying: Skinned Alive
The Roman Candle: Bound in an Upright Position and Set Afire.
source

The reason being that He thinks we are worth it, each one of us.

No, according to the tale the reason being is that it was His destiny. His job as it were. The only reason Jesus was "sent down to earth." God, in his rather perverted frame of mind, thought that rather than just send people to heaven or hell as their beliefs and behavior warranted---being omniscient he knows full well who will eventually go to heaven and who will end up in his Hell---decided to first create a human persona to kill off so as to function as an ersatz broker of sorting. A game, as god no doubt saw it, to give humans the impression they had the means to decide for themselves where they would end up.


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[Rose2020]

The four gospels accounts are eye witnesses.
All Jesus apostles bar one died terribly due to their faith in Jesus.
I think being crucified is an appalling death. Jesus did die and rose again, millions of us base our lives and faith on this the greatest event in world history.

Anyway we certainly shall find out the truth one day. Every one of us.

[Miles]

The four gospels accounts are eye witnesses.

Only in the sense that the incidents were initially eye witnessed and subsequently passed down through oral tradition. None of the four were written by the men whose names they bear, and then only some years later.

As historians have it,

"[The New Testament Gospels] were written thirty-five to sixty-five years after Jesus’ death, … not by people who were eyewitnesses, but by people living later. … Where did these people get their information from? … After the days of Jesus, people started telling stories about him in order to convert others to the faith. … When … Christians recognized the need for apostolic authorities, they attributed these books to apostles (Matthew and John) and close companions of apostles (Mark, the secretary of Peter; and Luke the traveling companion of Paul). … Because our surviving Greek manuscripts provide such a wide variety of (different) titles for the Gospels, textual scholars have long realized that their familiar names (e.g., “The Gospel According to Matthew”) do not go back to a single “original” title, but were added later by scribes."
source

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[Tcg]

What about Jesus Christ?

The Jesus who reportedly said this?

Matthew 13:40 Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, 42 and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Not much different than the monster presented in the O.T. and we haven't even looked at Revelation. Of course, there is nothing to worry about. There is no reason to think any of this torture will actually happen.


Tcg

[Tcg]

Anyway we certainly shall find out the truth one day. Every one of us.

Not if these tales aren't true. If that more likely possibility is true, we won't know anything after we die. None of us.


Tcg

[Rose2020]

[Replying to Tcg in post #6]

Not a pleasant prospect if you have miscalculated! Eternity is a long time.

[Difflugia]

What about Jesus Christ? What do these people think of Him?

"Jesus" of Christianity is a collection of several similar, but not identical, fictional characters from the various New Testament stories. Most modern historians think that there was a real human being upon whom the characters are based. I personally doubt it, but the "Jesus of History" necessarily bears so little relation to the demigod/hypostasis/whatever of the New Testament that it hardly matters as more than an academic curiosity.

Not a pleasant prospect if you have miscalculated! Eternity is a long time.

Pascal's Wager as an argument for the truth of Christianity is desperately flawed. A site search will find many discussions on the topic.

[Miles]

[Replying to Tcg in post #6]

Not a pleasant prospect if you have miscalculated! Eternity is a long time.

Truthfully, I'd rather not be aware of anything at all than put up with an eternity in heaven.


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[Tcg]

[Replying to Tcg in post #6]

Not a pleasant prospect if you have miscalculated! Eternity is a long time.

Not to worry. I haven't!


Tcg