A fool can call himself a Christian or a "deconstructionist" or any other disingenuous and asinine label they think will hoodwink an equally undiscerning fool.TexasScientist said:One "Christian's" heretic is another "Christian's" sage. It depends on what you believe about Christianity. I don't recall, in any version of Christianity, that it is Christlike to call someone names or otherwise insult them. Seems to me it call's into question such self professed adherent's authenticity.Ursus Americanus said:You're defaming Christ and being called out as a heretic, if that's a personal affront to you then don't be a heretic.BaylorJacket said:Ursus Americanus said:Weak deflection from a weak mind.BaylorJacket said:By your logic you have an apostate as your profile picture lol. Dave Aranda is an active reader of Richard Rohr, who teaches the Cosmic/Universal Christ theory - something that is about as progressive Christianity as you can get before hitting agnosticism.Ursus Americanus said:Jacket, my cliche bore of a heretic, you're not fooling anyone.BaylorJacket said:Ursus Americanus, my favorite brother in Christ, that is too kind of you to say. You have brought an incredibly insightful perspective to this conversation - thank you.Ursus Americanus said:Now now, don't let facts get in the way of his whimsical apostasy journey that he decided he needs an audience for.JXL said:BaylorJacket said:Aliceinbubbleland said:
I probably shouldn't comment here but I'll try and tone it down. I was born before WWII, by months. We attended a Baptist or a Deciples of Christ church depending which town we lived in.
I sang Jesus Loves Me because my momma told me so. At Baylor I joined 7th and James but never really attended during my freshman year and hardly thereafter. At the time of my marriage I joined the Episcopal Church because my wife's family had generations in that Church.
Our children were cradle Episcopals. They attended Episcopal Schools. I cannot ever recall any conversations about religion other that at Christmas and Easter from childhood through today. None of our children nor the grandkids attend services.
I had a near fatal illness decades ago and I prayed every day. It gave me comfort. But in the end I find discussions like the ones above where "if you don't believe like I do..." leave me cold. If everyone could just practice the basic principle of all religions it would help the world. I'm a big believer in rules.
Never ever accepted Virgin Birth, nor parting of Red Sea, Johna and the Whale was to scare kids.
Most on here porbably think I'm headed straight for their version of hell. I'm happy thinking I was born here in the USA by evolution. A great topic for another day.
Thank you for your post! Seems like you have a very interesting path to get where you are haha.
I actually have been researching the topic of Jesus qualities in historical gods, and I agree with you: the virgin birth was taken from other stories/cultures:
HORUS
An Egyptian-Sudanese God, born 25th December, by a Virgin around 3,000 YEARS before Jesus.
BUDDHA
A Nepal God, born 25th December, by a Virgin around 563 YEARS before Jesus.
KRISHNA
An Indian God, born 25th December, by a Virgin around 900 YEARS before Jesus.
ZARATHUSTRA
An Iranian God, born 25th December, by a Virgin around 1,000 YEARS before Jesus.
HERCULES
A Greek God, born 25th December, by a Virgin around 800 YEARS before Jesus.
MITHRA
A Persian God, born 25th December, by a Virgin- 600 YEARS before Jesus.
DIONYSUS
A Greek God, born 25th December, by a Virgin around 500 YEARS before Jesus.
THAMMUZ
A Babylonian God, born 25th December, by a Virgin around 400 YEARS before Jesus.
HERMES
A Greek God, born 25th December, by a Virgin around 200 YEARS before Jesus.
ADONIS
A Phoenician God, born 25th December, by a Virgin around 200 YEARS before Jesus.
This list is completely wrong. None of the deities listed were traditionally born on December 25, and I don't know of any who were said to have been born of virgins.
A few examples of the blatant errors in the list: Buddha waa not considered a "god," was born into a wealthy family but no tradition ever says he was born of a virgin, and his birthday is celebrated in April or May (depending on the country).
Krishna was born to Devaki and her husband, Vasudeva, of the Yadava clan in Mathura, but no tradition says Devaki was a virgin. His birthday is celebrated in August.
Zarathustra also is not a god but the founder of Zoroastrianism, which worships Ahura Mazda, the Lord of Wisdom. No tradition places his birthdate as December 25 or says he was born of a virgin - in fact, he had two older brothers.
And what is an apostate without their false equivalency and straw man claims?
The apostate playbook is a predictable yawn, the attempt to rebrand it as deconstruction isn't anymore inspiring than the more honest approach.
Side note, Richard Rohr's Universal Christ is a great read.
Rooting for Aranda as a football coach has nothing to do with his reading list.
And yes, Richard Rohr is a pantheist heretic that denies the divinity of Christ or the existence of sin, little surprise you find him compelling.
He's along with Rachel Hollis and Jen Hatmaker are the chief purveyors of the Enneagram fad that dupes people looking for a mystic excuse to take a goofy personality test and pretend it means something.
Resulting to personal attacks on my mind? You radiate the love of Christ lol (plus dissing my intelligence is also a knock on Baylor… we need to find some common ground and keep that green & gold untarnished)
You sound like an intelligent and well spoken guy who is confident in your religious beliefs. I genuinely mean it when I say that's awesome.
Everything alleged about your cliche apostasy has been demonstrated by you in spades.
Apostates are such self important bores.
I'll root for Baylor sports with you but I won't pretend you're a compelling theologian with edifying perspectives on Christendom.
I'm not interested in your non Christian interpretation of what is "Christ like" given you don't even know who He is.