Of course. He went extinct for our sins, and always makes sure to ask us what we're doing on Sunday instead of going to mormon church. Or did you mean a different Jesus who is a god?
themaster Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Do you believe there really is a Jesus who is a god?
"Believe" ? -- such a loaded word. But what does it mean? I "believe" that I will see the sun rise in the east tomorrow -- but I do not KNOW that it will.
I know that I am one day older as today ends. I don't have to BELIEVE that fact. It simply is.
Was there a rather insightful Palestinian who lived about 2000 years ago, -- a few of whose words got preserved and honored over the ages? -- Perhaps.
Can I believe (or know) that premise, based upon the available evidence? -- No.
I cannot KNOW it to be true -- and my only reasonable basis for BELIEVING it to be true is scant literary and physical evidence that remains inconclusive.
But you asked if I believe that particular Palestinian (assuming he did once exist) is, or was, a god.
Short answer -- no more, nor less, God than all the rest of us sentient beings.
Not for a second. There may have been a famous preacher in the middle east around 2000 years ago named Jesus, sure. That's plausible. But do I believe that he was/is a god, demigod or any other sort of supernatural entity? Nope.
Yes. Just like I believe in the book of MORmON. The New Testament was the scriptural scam perpetrated by the Roman Empire as it had its second coming by turning to mono theism and turned into the Roman Catholic church. The Book of MORmON was Joseph Smith Americanized forged scripture follow up on the Roman NT scam. I believe in both of these books as the epic shams that they really are.
With a bit of research we find that there have been many mythical saviour man-gods at different times and in different cultures. The new testament is largely based on astrology. Twelve signs of the zodiac, twelve apostles - coincidence?
There are well supported theories that Jesus is the personified sun god -- things just don't add up to support the story of Messiah.
That's not to say that personal spiritual beliefs are necessarily wrong or bad, but it's important to recognize fiction when we see it, and treat it as such.
hurting Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Yes, I do. With all my heart.
Interesting, since hearts aren't capable of belief. They're pumps, not brains.
No, I don't believe in "Jesus." As "god," son of "god," or even actual human being. It's plausible there was an actual human being behind the stories, but I can't determine there WAS such a person from the evidence on offer, so I don't "believe."
I believe the man MAY have existed, but I don't believe in him as a deity. If he had appeared at the BEGINNING of mankind and then STAYED, providing clear, audible instructions to all, complete with explanations as to the nature of the universe and why different things are important, it might have made more sense.
No, at least not as son of God. A person like the biblical Jesus may have existed, we are unlikely to ever know for sure. I like a lot of what he taught but certainly not everything.
I believe a baby was born in Palestine over 2000 years ago and was named Jesus. He taught good things but so has many others like Buddha. Was/is he a christ? I don't believe so.
No. I do not believe in Jesus, one of the Christian gods, or according to the belief of other Christians, one aspect of a triune god.
I have never seen anything supernatural and so I do not believe in gods and magic.
The Problem of Evil demolishes the idea of there being an all-powerful, all-knowing, all-good god such as the Christian god.
The Argument from Inconsistent Revelation demolishes the idea of there being one true religion on earth and also of the Christian religion being the only true religion. (If the Christian God wanted the whole world to be Christian, He would have done enough miracles and sent enough prophets to make it so. But in many countries, there is almost no Christian presence and many people have never even met a Christian. So God really stinks at his job, is weak and has little power, is evil, or more likely, just does not exist.)
Observing patterns of religious leaders I believe Jesus pursued power, money, sex individually or in some combination. I figure he was not much different from other religious leaders throughout the ages.
It's been over two thousand years since the supposed Jesus supposedly graced us with his supposed divinity.
Six thousand years. This is His planet. His fold as a shepherd. He stops by once, visits a minute portion of the population of his planet, ignores every other civilization and disappears never to return.
Jesus clearly does not believe in us.
Of course I don't believe in Jesus. What would be the point?
I believe in coffee and coffee believes in me. Shows up every morning on the dot and points me toward salvation if only for the next 24 hours.
I think there was a rabbi named Jesus who lived at the designated place and in the designated time, who taught some stuff that made some people uncomfortable and resonated with some. He was killed by the former and got to be a folk hero with the latter. The game of telephone ensued. Decades later, the first gospel was written by someone who had no first hand knowledge of the rabbi, complete with magic. It served as the basis of later derivative gospels.
It would be a lot like me writing the gospel of Eleanor Roosevelt, replete with lots of quotations, without any access to source material.