What do you believe and why do you believe it?

[FollowHisSteps]

I understand what you are saying, but what's wrong with people creating their own life purpose? As long as they are not causing harm, what's the problem? Why can't people take responsibility for their actions and pride in their accomplishments? The problem with religion is that believers appear to sacrifice the only life they KNOW they are going to get and give it up to an idea, which may not be correct.

People have a life purpose, they are living it. Unfortunately many are finding in later life they are a wreck.
And this is their free choice.

Jesus came to offer an alternative life, a full life with real experience, depth, and answers.
If you are happy with this life, with its glory and adulation, then you will meet the creator on this basis.
Sadly most will behind the mask admit it does not add up to what they wanted and they failed to be
the people they wanted to be.

Our lives have value through the people we interact with. Once you see this, you begin to understand
what creation is and where God lives.

It strikes me you are still focused on the world and its dazzeling lights.
The prodigal son went down this road, until he found out how fake it all was.
God bless you

 

[Spectrox]

you're welcome

i really do think you will like it. it is not a 'dumbed-down' sort of 'Christian-book-store' look into these things, and it's not an easy book to read, would give most people on this site a big headache, but i get the impression that it's the sort of meaty, rational, scientific-based argumentation you are looking for.


please excuse my directness and harshness in other posts -- it's because i respect you that i will say very hard things to you, not because i'm trying to berate you or talk down to you. i'm speaking about ideas and philosophies, not about you, as a person.

I accept your apology in the spirit it is given. I wish you happiness, whatever your worldview.

 

[Spectrox]

I do not need, and cannot, explain God to someone who is not only Spiritually dead, but doesn't even believe He exists!

What is the point of discussing your wrong understanding of God....... UNLESS you KNOW He exists!? Which of course you do. You think your morality is somehow superior to the Being that created all things, INCLUDING you.

The problem isn't that you don't believe God exists, the problem is you hate Him, and Jesus tells us by extension us as well.

Why would you care how an "imaginary" God conducts Himself? How could there be genocides, like a Flood that destroyed all life, from a Being that doesn't exist?

You continue to be here. It may be by Divine appointment. So I will continue to deliver THE Gospel in the hope that God will quicken you to believe it:


THE Gospel unto Salvation:
God wrapped Himself in human flesh in the form of His Son, Jesus the Messiah. Conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of a virgin. He suffered, was crucified, and died to pay OUR sin debt. He was raised to life from the grave to prove He had defeated death. If you confess Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that His Father resurrected Him to Life on the 3rd day, you WILL be saved. You will be filled, and sealed with the Holy Spirit, who will empower ALL to turn from their sins. The sin of adultery, lying, stealing, homosexuality, gossip, slander, drunkenness, covetousness, etc... And most importantly the sin of DEAD works, or a moral life in an attempt to EARN Salvation. He will also equip you to love like He did and do good works for HIS Glory.

I don’t want proof of God, I just require a little bit of demonstration. Let me explain what a good demonstration looks like for something that cannot be seen:

Let us say I am colour blind and you see with normal colour vision. I can only see in various shades of grey. I say to you “Demonstrate to me that this thing called colour exists”.

You have 3 identical cups except that one is blue, one is red and the other is green. They all look the same shade of grey to me. You upturn them onto a table and place a dime under the red cup, where it must stay for the duration of the test, although the cups can be moved around the table and mixed up. You leave the room and I muddle up the cups, but the dime is still under the red cup but possibly in a different position. I call you back in and you select the red cup and, lo and behold, the dime is still under it.

You do this 100 times and you get it right one hundred times – a score of 100%. When I do the test, I get it right about 33% of the time. This is a clear statistical difference and it’s repeatable. This is a good demonstration for something that someone can see but I can’t. Can you carry out any test like that to demonstrate that your particular God exists?

 

[posthuman]

Which gets both of us precisely nowhere. You've come up with a good argument for agnosticism.

You should hold your own judgment to the same standard you judge others by.

I didn't make an argument; I asked a question.
you implied that since mans understanding is imperfect, he is not qualified to judge perfection. How then do you, a likewise unqualified man, think to judge?

Have you ever heard of Bayseian statistics?

 

[Spectrox]

I understand. And you are right people are the problem. You see us as people we all fall short of Gods standard, or what He refers to as righteousness. Gods righteousness is the morality we all want and expect from others, but if we are not living according to Gods Word we get the world we are all living in today.

Jesus Christ is the answer to our problems. He changes our minds. He gives us a new heart and a new Spirit. That leads us to understanding and teaches us how to live. It causes conviction in our Spirit if we do wrong, so there is a level of restraint on the believer to do good. It is the guage to our conscience between right and wrong.

Not all Christians are born again. Some are still on the journey to becoming born again. Meaning they have not yet recieved the Holy Spirit or maybe they have not yet encountered God. So not all Christians are on the same Spiritual maturity level. Doctrines can also hinder growth or cause division amongst us.

It is when we encounter God that our lives change. (JIMBONE shared an excellent testimony of his encounter) these encounters as you yourself encountered are supernatural and cannot be explained by human intellect. It is foolishness to the "wise".

It is these experiences that devolpe a relationship with God and a knowing that He is real. That is the essence of faith, because we cannot see God but we know that He is real!

All encounters with God produce great faith, Moses encounter with the burning bush, Pauls encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus, Peters encounter with Jesus walking on the water, etc etc.. These encounters with God when all logic tells us this is impossible, only grows our understanding to accept 1) There is a God 2) He is interacting with me via His Word, situations, miracles, blessings, answered prayers, dreams etc. 3) Our Spirit is filled with love, peace, joy, satisfaction that has never been there before or has never compared to this experience 4) The bible is real. And it is the Living Word that produces rivers of living water for my soul and for those around me if I share what God has done for me.

Jesus is who He says He is. The Bible can only be read with the Holy Spirit to feed the born again believer. For the unbeliever it is a book of condemnation and wrath, and so the atheist will deny such wrath applies to him and any notion that there is even a God becomes an enemy to his existance. So to deny and rebel is the only option for the person against God. The Bible is his condemnation.

We are told to watch who we become friends with, do not be friends with the world, do not be of the same yoke with unbelievers. We are to preach to the world and win souls for God. It seems the worlds view has won you over.

But you are here and you are open. I hope we can continue this exchange.

A Theology site sounds like the worst place ever! If we think ourselves intellectual and wise we will be humbled. God calls for us to be as children. Humble, caring, and compassionate. Teaching with love and not with big words or sounding prideful. Im sure it is a mess on that site.

So when you look in the mirror now.. what do you see? Are you happy? Or do u have an emptiness and longing for someone to love you the way you deserve to be loved? Appreciated as you deserve to be appreciated valued and acknowledged? Do you see the gifts God placed in you since before your birth? Can you see you are more than just another human? You are most precious to God. He left the 99 in search for the 1. Because you matter to Him. He gave His son to die for your sins so that you wouldnt have to suffer any longer... you just have to turn to Him with a pure heart.

What do you see?

Thanks for this TLC. Does that stand for Tender Loving Care? When I look in the mirror, I am not filled with self-loathing any more. I have started to love myself and there are people (and a dog) in my life who love me! I feel a lot better and do not feel the emptiness I once struggled with. Obviously life throws up its challenges but I get through them and manage to lift myself out of any small potholes I may have stepped into. Take care.

 

[Spectrox]

You should hold your own judgment to the same standard you judge others by.

I didn't make an argument; I asked a question.
you implied that since mans understanding is imperfect, he is not qualified to judge perfection. How then do you, a likewise unqualified man, think to judge?

Have you ever heard of Bayseian statistics?

If humans are not qualified to judge perfection then they cannot make any decisions about that. That applies to both of us as we are both human. There is no further point of dialogue.

If humans are able to judge what is perfect or put together a reasonable argument based on logic and evidence, then the discussion can continue.

Yes, I've heard of Bayesian analysis. The resulting probability depends on your prior inputs. There is a peer-reviewed book by Dr Richard Carrier which compares the historicity of Jesus to other famous names from history. He puts the best chance of Jesus as being a real historical figure at 33% and the worst case scenario, it's close to zero. But I have no professional expertise in this form of statistical analysis and find it heavy-going.

 

[Spectrox]

Hahaha... Not only that, He is sadistic. He has even prophesied His failure to save as many people as He can: Matt. 7:13 "Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:"

I understand where you are coming from. If you are looking for scientific proof God exists, you are spitting into the wind. He will not let you find such proof. Why? Because He requires faith: Hebrews 11:6 "But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him."

What if I told you God is not trying to save most people at this time. Well, He isn't. He placed man on the earth right where He also cast Satan and his cohorts. You see Satan and his demons decided what was right or wrong for themselves. Why was evil wrong just because God said so? He tripped up man to make that same mistake.

So then, God allowed evil to come into His universe and to run its course. Then He took the form of a man and showed us how to live sinlessly. Satan had obviously said it could not be done. Jesus proved him wrong and shut his accusations down, thus defeating evil. God is in the process of purging His universe of evil.

Most people are not called in this life, most will have there chance in the Great White Throne Judgment (a period of time) after the millennial reign. So God is not losing the war for souls as most claim. He also will not torture anyone forever. Romans 6:23 tells us the wages of sin is death. Death is just death, you cease to be. Satan, his demons, all evil people, even death and the grave itself will be completely destroyed at the end (see Rev. 20:10-15). View attachment 202321

I don’t require proof of God, I just require a little bit of demonstration. Let me explain what a good demonstration looks like for something that cannot be seen:

Let us say I am colour blind and you see with normal colour vision. I can only see in various shades of grey. I say to you “Demonstrate to me that this thing called colour exists”.

You have 3 identical cups except that one is blue, one is red and the other is green. They all look the same shade of grey to me. You upturn them onto a table and place a dime under the red cup, where it must stay for the duration of the test, although the cups can be moved around the table and mixed up. You leave the room and I muddle up the cups, but the dime is still under the red cup but possibly in a different position. I call you back in and you select the red cup and, lo and behold, the dime is still under it.

You do this 100 times and you get it right one hundred times – a score of 100%. When I do the test, I get it right about 33% of the time. This is a clear statistical difference and it’s repeatable. This is a good demonstration for something that someone can see but I can’t. Can you carry out any test like that to demonstrate that your particular God exists?

 

[TLC209]

Thanks for this TLC. Does that stand for Tender Loving Care? When I look in the mirror, I am not filled with self-loathing any more. I have started to love myself and there are people (and a dog) in my life who love me! I feel a lot better and do not feel the emptiness I once struggled with. Obviously life throws up its challenges but I get through them and manage to lift myself out of any small potholes I may have stepped into. Take care.

TLC stands for Teacher Leader Counselor. Gifts that God has given me.

Im glad you feel better about yourself. But there is still more, you have only scratched the surface.

Do you have Joy?

Dont give up on finding your answer. God is the best Father. He loves His children. He cares for us. He demonstrated this with the life and death of Jesus.

You should read more in the new testament and less in the old testament. That slavery stuff, and the reference to Exodus 21 is a formal set of rules for the people to have structure. It outlines how slaves were able to be freed after a period of 6 years. Be married to the master or sons and be freed if they were not given certain expectations. And there were other clauses to go along with that.

It looks more like a binding commitment to work than something barbaric. I think it is the world "slave" that has a sting to it. And that is because of the worlds ugliness to what we are taught about slavery.

So how do you know that what God is teaching is the definition that you think of a slave looks like. These slaves in Exodus had rights, and were able to be free. The slaves you think of didnt.

We dont live in that era of slavery, the society has evolved in terms of slavery. So that is not a good basis to judge God. You dont understand who God is yet.

God is love. Without God you do not have love. Your k9 friend is an animal and innocent. Without sin. So he is able to show you a love that is genuine that God created. But people have a tainted love if they do not have a connection with God. If we do not love God how can we love others? And if we do not love others how can we love God.

1 John 4:20 If any one says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.

God is love. How can anyone say they love Christ, claim to be followers of Christ, and not walk in love? All of the new testament revolves around love, forgiveness, and mercy. So you dont need to worry about genocide and slavery. If you would walk towards Christ and hope that others do the same, the world would be a better place.

God offers peace and rest. Whats holding you back?

 

[Deade]

I don’t require proof of God, I just require a little bit of demonstration. Let me explain what a good demonstration looks like for something that cannot be seen:

Let us say I am colour blind and you see with normal colour vision. I can only see in various shades of grey. I say to you “Demonstrate to me that this thing called colour exists”.

You have 3 identical cups except that one is blue, one is red and the other is green. They all look the same shade of grey to me. You upturn them onto a table and place a dime under the red cup, where it must stay for the duration of the test, although the cups can be moved around the table and mixed up. You leave the room and I muddle up the cups, but the dime is still under the red cup but possibly in a different position. I call you back in and you select the red cup and, lo and behold, the dime is still under it.

You do this 100 times and you get it right one hundred times – a score of 100%. When I do the test, I get it right about 33% of the time. This is a clear statistical difference and it’s repeatable. This is a good demonstration for something that someone can see but I can’t. Can you carry out any test like that to demonstrate that your particular God exists?

Well God has come though for me and brought me down a road where I know He exists. If He is not calling you, Satan won't let you believe. My job is just to witness the risen Christ, not to convince anyone to serve Him. If He isn't ready to call you, go your way and don't fret over it. One day you will bow and acknowledge it, like everyone else.

Isaiah 45:23 "I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear."

Romans 14:11 "For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God."

 

[Magenta]

... I used to believe that I had a personal relationship with God via The Bible. ...

A personal relationship with God is to be through the Living Word of God (Jesus Christ). The written Word of God augments that

 

[kaylagrl]

Are you seriously satisfied with that answer?
Exodus 21 states:

20 “When a man strikes his slave, male or female, with a rod and the slave dies under his hand, he shall be punished. 21 But if the slave survives a day or two, he is not to be punished; for the slave is his money.

Notice how badly you can beat a slave. If the slave dies after 3 days due to the beating, the perpetrator is off the hook! This is a morally bankrupt position. To the question "Is it ever ok to own another human being as property?" the only correct morally justifiable answer is "No. Never."


I was referring to the various God-supported genocides in the OT. Given your answer above, I think I know the kind of tap dance you'll perform around the issue.

Are you seriously satisfied with that answer?
Exodus 21 states:

20 “When a man strikes his slave, male or female, with a rod and the slave dies under his hand, he shall be punished. 21 But if the slave survives a day or two, he is not to be punished; for the slave is his money.

Notice how badly you can beat a slave. If the slave dies after 3 days due to the beating, the perpetrator is off the hook! This is a morally bankrupt position. To the question "Is it ever ok to own another human being as property?" the only correct morally justifiable answer is "No. Never."


I was referring to the various God-supported genocides in the OT. Given your answer above, I think I know the kind of tap dance you'll perform around the issue.

Ahh!! So I get it, you're not here to discuss, you're here to argue. So your title should have been "What Do You Believe and I'll Tell You Why You are Wrong and an Awful Person and Slap You In the Mouth". My responses have been kind to you and you mock me, twist my words and then answer the question in your own words. So over these trolls. Come on mods, time to for some house cleaning. This person is insincere. smh

 

[Spectrox]

Ahh!! So I get it, you're not here to discuss, you're here to argue. So your title should have been "What Do You Believe and I'll Tell You Why You are Wrong and an Awful Person and Slap You In the Mouth". My responses have been kind to you and you mock me, twist my words and then answer the question in your own words. So over these trolls. Come on mods, time to for some house cleaning. This person is insincere. smh

How have I twisted your words? All I did was call you out for supporting appalling treatment of other human beings. You are trying to defend the indefensible and don't like it when I challenge you. A troll is someone who tries to wind people up on the internet without having a personal interest in the issues at stake. I have an interest in the issues at stake. You felt bad about my challenge and that's quite revealing to me. Deep down I think you realise slavery is wrong. But something is holding you back. I think that's interesting and we might be able to learn something valuable from it.

 

[reneweddaybyday]

So in Matthew, Judas hanged himself (no mention of falling headlong or bowels spilling open) and the Priests bought the Field with the money.

In Acts, Judas buys the Field, and he falls headlong and his bowels spilled out (no mention of hanging himself).

Now it could be argued that it’s not a contradiction (mutually exclusive information) but it’s hugely inconsistent and would be thrown out of a Court of Law as being inadmissable as evidence.

There is no discrepancy between the records. Two fields were purchased. One field was purchased by the priests and another field was purchased by Judas.

In Matthew, Judas returned the 30 pieces of silver to the priests and the priests (who had no problem crucifying the Lord Jesus Christ) had a problem with placing the money into the treasury because it was the price of blood. So they purchased a potter's field in which to bury strangers (Matt 27:7).

In Acts1:18, you presume the words "reward of iniquity" refer to the 30 pieces of silver Judas received for betraying the Lord Jesus Christ. You correctly surmise that Judas could not have purchased the field with the same money he returned to the priests.

Judas was a thief and he held the bag (John 12:6). The "reward of iniquity" in Acts 1:18 refers to the money stolen by Judas and used by Judas to buy land.

 

[kaylagrl]

How have I twisted your words? All I did was call you out for supporting appalling treatment of other human beings. You are trying to defend the indefensible and don't like it when I challenge you. A troll is someone who tries to wind people up on the internet without having a personal interest in the issues at stake. I have an interest in the issues at stake. You felt bad about my challenge and that's quite revealing to me. Deep down I think you realise slavery is wrong. But something is holding you back. I think that's interesting and we might be able to learn something valuable from it.

I gave you an explanation as to slavery in that part of the world at that time and culture. Apparently you didn't even have the courteously to read it. Give it a once over and perhaps you'll understand what was being said.

 

[Spectrox]

There is no discrepancy between the records. Two fields were purchased. One field was purchased by the priests and another field was purchased by Judas.

In Matthew, Judas returned the 30 pieces of silver to the priests and the priests (who had no problem crucifying the Lord Jesus Christ) had a problem with placing the money into the treasury because it was the price of blood. So they purchased a potter's field in which to bury strangers (Matt 27:7).

In Acts1:18, you presume the words "reward of iniquity" refer to the 30 pieces of silver Judas received for betraying the Lord Jesus Christ. You correctly surmise that Judas could not have purchased the field with the same money he returned to the priests.

Judas was a thief and he held the bag (John 12:6). The "reward of iniquity" in Acts 1:18 refers to the money stolen by Judas and used by Judas to buy land.

Maybe you are right? That's the best explanation I've heard about that one. Thank you for that. You see everyone - that's what it takes to erode my doubts about Biblical problems. A clear argument laid out with supporting evidence not pre-emptive strikes about "Epistemic warrant" or that "Modern slavery was bad but slavery in the Bible was OK."

My only critique of your explanation is that the Bible could be a lot clearer about details - I find it a muddle but it's supposed to come from various sources and you did what was asked so I can't ask any more. I just wish God had script-edited his book properly.

 

[Spectrox]

I gave you an explanation as to slavery in that part of the world at that time and culture. Apparently you didn't even have the courteously to read it. Give it a once over and perhaps you'll understand what was being said.

I did read it and have heard apologetics like this ad nauseum. My intention is not to wind you up or make personal attacks because I don't know you. If I met you in real life i would probably like you. But here, on this site, it is a different arena. I try to attack ideas and assumptions. I apologise if I came across as unnecessary it's just I get frustrated when others can't or won't see the point I'm trying to make. Did you read the bit from Exodus 21? Can you not see my point?

 

[Spectrox]

TLC stands for Teacher Leader Counselor. Gifts that God has given me.

Im glad you feel better about yourself. But there is still more, you have only scratched the surface.

Do you have Joy?

Dont give up on finding your answer. God is the best Father. He loves His children. He cares for us. He demonstrated this with the life and death of Jesus.

You should read more in the new testament and less in the old testament. That slavery stuff, and the reference to Exodus 21 is a formal set of rules for the people to have structure. It outlines how slaves were able to be freed after a period of 6 years. Be married to the master or sons and be freed if they were not given certain expectations. And there were other clauses to go along with that.

It looks more like a binding commitment to work than something barbaric. I think it is the world "slave" that has a sting to it. And that is because of the worlds ugliness to what we are taught about slavery.

So how do you know that what God is teaching is the definition that you think of a slave looks like. These slaves in Exodus had rights, and were able to be free. The slaves you think of didnt.

We dont live in that era of slavery, the society has evolved in terms of slavery. So that is not a good basis to judge God. You dont understand who God is yet.

God is love. Without God you do not have love. Your k9 friend is an animal and innocent. Without sin. So he is able to show you a love that is genuine that God created. But people have a tainted love if they do not have a connection with God. If we do not love God how can we love others? And if we do not love others how can we love God.

1 John 4:20 If any one says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.

God is love. How can anyone say they love Christ, claim to be followers of Christ, and not walk in love? All of the new testament revolves around love, forgiveness, and mercy. So you dont need to worry about genocide and slavery. If you would walk towards Christ and hope that others do the same, the world would be a better place.

God offers peace and rest. Whats holding you back?

Do I have Joy? Yes I do. Although not all the time to be honest. But when I do, it is genuine and authentic. When I self-identified as a Christian I also had joy. But it was the joy of a drunken man. I've sobered up a bit since then.

The God-condoned slavery in the Bible is a big problem. Did you not read what it said in Exodus 21? I can't support that. Ever. So there is plenty of stuff holding me back. A long list. Though it looks like one has been eroded - an inconsistency about Judas' death.

Another thing occurred to me this morning. Why should I believe in a God who can't even get basic Astrophysics correct? Genesis says that plants were made on Day 3 and the Sun on Day 4, which is the wrong order. If a Biblical Day is not 24 hours and corresponds to a vast era of time, how were the plants photosynthesising?

 

[Spectrox]

But everything you just used to measure here is a self centered, and an arbitrary personal perspective. In a world without God there is no reason to love, or decide what's good and evil, other than "I feel this way". If that's true of love it has to be just as true of hate, and anger, and jealousy, and honesty. These things are only relevant to you when we "feel it", but each one of us may "feel" something different. It's chaos when no one can define a standard to which all others must be grounded in. Now all of us live as if there is a standard, whether we believe in God or not, however those that deny Gods existence, or profess the ever prevalent and baseless, floating, evasive, mushy neutral stance "I haven't seen the evidence that convinces me, but I won't take any solid stance or lay a foundation to stand on, an "anything can happen so I can always have an out", position.

Again I have to point out that in and of the flesh you can not find God, you can not be born again. This is why Jesus is such a scandal, because He tells us He is "THE" way not "a" way. The things of the Spirit are foolishness to those who are perishing. The problems is way beyond a debate about "contradiction's" in the bible, or how old the earth is. I am NOT saying we abandon our brains and just blindly believe, but the truth is the spiritual truth can not be found by studying the creation, even though I'd say creation SCREAMS His name. Being "Born Again", is the point that Jesus sacrifice is applied to you, His righteousness is applied to you and your sins washed clean because He took the punishment, leaves a JUST God, full of mercy, by His grace because He loves you. BAM now your spirit is resurrected and is reconciled to the Fathers, recreating you as you were intended to be, making you all new, your eyes see things different, priorities completely rearranged. A whole new path in power, and it's the Spirit that testifies of the Truth, and I just so happen to know who that is.

The whole way you're thinking here is part of the trap, and man I can start going. Does this make sense to you up to this point. I just wanted to stop myself before I cover way more than can be answered in a sensible post.

Read again what I wrote, Jimbone. There is a standard which has been created. Not everyone will agree with it but there is still an objective truth about wellbeing that can be evaluated. Maximum wellbeing for yourself and others (emotional and physical) which by definition means minimum harm for yourself and others. I think it's far more moral than some things in the Bible that God appears to support. i don't see some of that as "love".

Your offer (or should I say God's offer) is appealing on the surface and has clearly convinced you but the truth is in the detail. And the detail does not convince me.

 

[Spectrox]

I have no problems with the accounts of the death and reasurection of Jesus..

And as for 3 of the 4 Gospels not reporting on the earthquake.. Why do you think we have 4 Gospels in the Bible??? Because none of the Gospels give a full account and so we needed 4 accounts to give a fuller picture of what happened.. This is not Ludicrous,, this is Logical..

Except the accounts are not contemporary eye witnesses. Of the Gospels, scholars put the order of writing as Mark, Matthew, Luke then John (written over several decades from around 70CE). Mark doesn't even contain a resurrection, it ends with just an empty tomb (a fact admitted to in the footnotes of most Bibles). Matthew seems to improve on Mark, writing for a Jewish audience. He plagiarises a huge proportion of Mark, almost word for word. Luke plagiarises both of them and adds other bits like the Nativity, writing for a mostly gentile audience. John is a bit different altogether. A very strong Jesus.
Mark's Jesus is more human than the others.
Matthew's Jesus is a spectacular Jesus with added special effects like an Earthquake and dead people resurrected and walking into Jerusalem.
Luke's Jesus is a sort of Zen-Buddhist Jesus.
And John's Jesus is a very powerful, no nonsense God-like Jesus. A Republican Jesus!

And strangely, before all of this (around 50CE?), Paul of Tarsus pens the very first Christian writings where he sees Jesus as a vision or ghost and not as a real historical-geographical figure.

 

[tanakh]

The Bible is not like any other book. Most other books can be understood only on an intellectual level and feed the soul our minds. The Bible has more than one level of understanding. Its words feed our spirits because the words are alive. This sounds crazy to the average person the unsaved but it is the truth. We are spiritual beings that's what is meant by being made in Gods image. Fact is that
the whole material universe is a shadow of reality. Reality is entirely spiritual. What is called the Kingdom of Heaven is that spiritual
realm of reality. Jesus said that the kingdom of Heaven is within you. He was referring to the spiritual part of man. The unsaved man
is born with a spirit. Its like a dormant seed and like a dormant seed it needs water and nourishment to grow and mature into a plant.
The Bible is the word of God. A person needs to feed on the word just as a seed needs water and soil to flourish.

The Bible doesn't provide Scientific proof for Gods existence. Its taken for granted that he exists. Paul points to nature as proof.
Its interesting that DNA was discovered and that every living thing contains a chemical code. Every code needs a Programmer
which puts the theory of Evolution in further doubt. Its a shame that it wasn't discovered in Darwin's day. But as the Bible says
for everything there is a season.