Quote:
Originally Posted by 2percent
Biblical Prophecy: Daniel 9:25
A most compelling Biblical Prophecy is found in Daniel, chapter 9, verse 25. Written 500 years before the birth of Jesus Christ (the oldest preserved copy dating 200 years before the birth of Christ), it foretells the very day Christ would enter Jerusalem. The prophecy states: 69 weeks of years (69 x 7 = 483 years) would pass from the decree to rebuild Jerusalem, until the coming of the Messiah. This is according to the Babylonian 360-day calendar, since Daniel was written in Babylon during the Jewish captivity after the fall of Jerusalem. Thus, 483 years x 360 days = 173,880 days. According to records found by Sir Henry Creswicke Rawlinson in the Shushan (Susa) Palace, and confirmed in Nehemiah 2:1, this decree was made on March 14th, 445 BC, by Artaxerxes Longimanus. Exactly 173,880 days later, on April 6th, 32 AD, Jesus Christ rode into Jerusalem upon a colt (fulfilling the prophecy in Zechariah 9:9). The world celebrates this day as Palm Sunday. Four days later, Christ was murdered upon the cross. Actually, the form of His execution and even His last words were foretold in Psalm 22. Three days later, Jesus rose from the dead on Easter Sunday, fulfilling numerous other prophecies of our Messiah
That is a start.. from just one week in the Bible
i believe through faith God, Jesus. Holy Spirt..ect..so through faith i believe all the bible says and prophecy helps to solidify my faith....i think that answers your question..
|
the old testament if full of messiah prophecies. the new testament full of their fullfilment... problem is the new testament was written a couple hundred years a.d., and contains conflicting details which tell me the writers did not have actual knowledge of these details, or they wouldn't conflict. my conclusion is that the writers of the gospels actively made the jesus story FIT the prophecies. for example, the old testament says that the messiah, son of david, will rule the world and free israel from foreign powers. clearly this did not happen literally, but the gospels suggest that joesph was of david's line (without providing any additional proof, nor is there any third party proof, and david lived 1000 years before joseph, not to mention that supposedly joseph had no part in jesus' conception...
jesus did not free the jews from foreign powers, nor did he rule the world. so if you concentrate on the partial list of prophecies that the gospels claim to fulfill, you'll believe jesus is the messiah. if you read the gospels that weren't included in the bible (like thomas) you'll find conflicting details. if you look at ALL the prophecies, you'll see that the gospels are not objective and much less convincing.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 2percent
not to mention Israel became a nation in 1948...
|
Israel became a nation because jews, persecuted by jesus's christians, created it without god's help. I say without god's help because the overwhelming majority of jews who participated in the creation of modern israel (late 1800's to 1948 ) were secular. look at photos from the period and you won't see any yamacas. I know this because this includes my family. and if you've actually been to modern israel you'll see that it is not at all a modern version of biblical israel, nor do 99% of the people there hold any significance to jesus.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 2percent
ask some questions hopefully i can get some of them.
|
if you read thru the previous 20 pages or so you'll see lots of unanswered questions, some of them from me.
if you believe god always existed, isn't it equally possible that the universe also always existed? without god?
why doesn't the bible ever mention anything that happened outside the narrow area of the middle east? such as events in china and south america that were going on at the same time as biblical events. how did those people become what they are today?
why do we have an appendix? a tailbone? why do babies in the womb have fur and gills for about a week and then it disappears?
if heaven awaits, and all that's required for entry is recognition of jesus on your deathbed, than why do we pray for people to get better when they're sick? wouldn't a cancer patient prefer heaven today over months of pain and suffering? shouldn't we pray for their quick death and entry into heaven? in the funeral we pray that they are in heaven... why wait?
Quote:
Originally Posted by 2percent
so my question to you.... is this what you believe??? just buy reading your post you seem very smart....if this is what you believe explain them...
|
I believe that we have a very narrow view of the universe. our understanding of what we are is based on what we see, therefore it will always be very limited. we will never know everything. However, this does not allow us to CREATE explanations based on things we can't see. (the word 'see' here means sense, calculate, and prove without doubt.)
I also believe that everything out there can be explained and understood, given enough facts. nature works according to a set of rules. we are just starting to understand those rules - einstein, newton and gallileo got us away from the old greek physics, and now quantum mechanics is improving on newton and einstein. with each new discovery my view is confirmed - it all fits together. nothing contradicts. (even einstein and quantum will fit toghether as soon as we refine our quantum theories) there is nothing outside of nature. there is no after life. there is no soul, no spirit, no magic, no alchemy, no ghosts, no santa claus, no psychics, and no miracles.
I also believe that you should doubt everything. doubt increases accuracy. while you should trust people (based on your judgement) you should never take anything anyone says as a "truth". there is no truth, only opinions. there is no reality, only perceptions. you should not take what I'm saying and believe it, you should hear it, consider it, and make up your own mind. if you like, accept it, but keep seeking more details to try and contradict it. we learn by seeking to show current knowledge to be incorrect or incomplete.
I also believe religion is a good thing. it does a lot of good, it causes people who otherwise may not be able to come up with their own purpose to have one. it causes people who may have an equal chance of becoming good or bad to become good. (good is a subjective term, by the way). however, today we no longer need religion to do all this. we've outgrown it, and it stands in the way of progress. it slows things down instead of helping. it causes conflict instead of removing it. the amount of evil done in the name of god exceeds the amount of good. the reason religion is still here is because of exactly when Len described - tradition. extreme peer pressure by family and community who are slower in taking their heads out of the sand. this is what I believe.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 2percent
why do you call it bury me head in the sand just because i have faith...
|
because you are giving up one of the basic human priviliges: curiosity. you're answering all your questions with a quick-and-easy (and in my opinion false) answer because you prefer the satisfaction of an answer to the discomfort of trying to find one yourself. you give man-made meaning to things that don't have any meaning, so that you don't have to face the problems and pain in this world. when you take anesthetics, you can't feel pain, but you also can't feel true pleasure. you're told that the joy you feel is as good as it gets, but I believe it's only a numb sensation compared to the pleasure possible by facing the world without this anesthetic.
of course I may be completely wrong about all of this. this is the difference between us - I know I may be wrong so I keep looking for proof. which is why I'm on this board. why are you?
Quote:
Originally Posted by 2percent
you also said make my own purpose... i don't have to, mine was made for me... and is explained in the Bible...
|
that was my whole point.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 2percent
again i am not here to make anyone mad... the Bible says "without love i have nothing"... just defending my beliefs just as your trying to do...
|
neither am I. I'm not trying to convert you, I'm trying to let you convert me. this will either work (not so far) or it will make my opinions stronger. in the process I may also sow the seeds of doubt in your mind (or maybe I'll make your opinions stronger). if I do, I'm bring the world one step closer to being rational, in my view. if you convince me, you're bringing the world one step closer to the second coming of jesus. so we're not so different after all.