Few questions by a confused person

[sbbqb7n16]

1. An Atheist mentioned to me that the Romans were very good at keeping records, yet they have no records of Jesus Christ. Why not?

Do a simple google search for "extra biblical evidence of Jesus." Here's one site I found rather quickly:

Non-biblical accounts of New Testament events and/or people | Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry

The evidence is out there, but atheists aren't really motivated to go look for it.

2. A lot of people say the bible contradicts itself. What are these so called contradictions and is there any explanation for them?

Most of these "contradictions" are about highly irrelevant things. Example, an atheist will say that one gospel says there were 2 angels at Jesus' tomb on Easter, another only mentions 1 angel, and another doesn't mention angels at all. Then they use that as evidence that the entire Bible is wrong.

Really? Who cares about the exact number of angels at the tomb? The most important thing wasn't the angels that were there, but the body of Jesus Christ that wasn't there. And every gospel gets that piece right.

There aren't contradictions about the important things of Scripture: God loves you, God is merciful, God is just, He has a plan for your salvation, salvation is found in Jesus Christ alone, we are to love and forgive one another, etc. -- You will never find these things legitimately contradicted in different parts of Scripture.

Most of the other "contradictions" can be dealt with rather easily because the person with the argument takes a verse out of context and ignores surrounding verses. That is where 90% of the "contradictions" come from. (I made up that 90% number on the spot I have no proof of it, but it's probably close)

3. 40 different men wrote the bible from different backgrounds. I asked Atheists how the was possible for them to write the same message. They said a. The bible contradicts itself anyway b. it could've been passed on by word of mouth c. an Atheist said to me "You're assuming it was 40 different people. There's nothing to show that it wasn't just some bored scribe.."

There's also "nothing" to prove that I didn't create 40 different accounts on CF and am replying to you in all these posts. Have you met all of us? Then you don't know we're not just one person with multiple screen names.

Isn't that pretty ridiculous? I mean we all have different styles, use different words/language, have different signatures. The same things happen in the Bible. Simple literary analysis will show that there were multiple authors.

And of course by "nothing," I'm assuming this atheist friend of yours neglected to mention that the books of the Bible weren't written at the same time, and several books were written in completely different languages. Some books even reference other books, because those books had already been out for a long time, and the original authors were known to be dead.

So how did that happen if it was all one person?

could they be right?

No.

4. When people have Near Death Experiences (die on the operating table for a couple of minutes) and nothing happens to them (i.e. it's just "blank" and they don't remember anything happening) this worries me. Are there any explanations for this?

What you call "Near death experiences" are not guaranteed to happen if you get near death. The absence of one doesn't necessarily mean that they don't happen - just that some particular people did not experience one in that moment.

 

[oi_antz]

Thanks guys and God Bless. Please anyone who is reading this pray for me so I can be a good Christian and not have all these horrible thoughts!

Your own prayers are the strongest, but you have mine too

For bad thoughts it is important to know that your mind is a spiritual battleground where the spirits of evil want you to live in turmoil of confusion - they are succeeding at present because you need to exercise repentance.

Have you ever seen cartoons where there is an angel and a devil in your mind? This happens to all new Christians until they have developed a strong relationship with Christ and The Father. I tend to think the evil spirits are allowed to whisper in your ear so you become stronger in your faith by overcoming them.

Remember that your point of difference now you are Christian is that you have handed your life to Jesus and He holds the keys to your spirituality so no evil is ever sent your way if it is not meant for you to experience.

You'll need to work on your perception of Jesus and The Father's voice in your mind, by acknowledging the source of your confusing thoughts as being evil and telling the spirits to depart in Jesus' name. There is no other name which has supreme authority over evil spirits.

You can develop your sense of hearing God by reading the Word and exercising your discernment. Whenever you read the Word there is a battle for your mind and it is binary by nature - good and evil. Make sure you pray to Jesus to guide you as you read. We have free will to make our own decisions and because of this the evil spirits desperately want God's people to believe them so they can reek havok in the world by distributing confusion and division. You have a duty to God to purify your mind and become Holy to the point that no evil thoughts will ever enter it (I have personally found that doubt is persistent, but it is instantly recognised and I just ask God to tell me why I have doubt - that is growth).

Remember to consider the good and evil messages you get and exercise your strength by choosing the message which comes from God and not His enemy. If you have difficulty with discernment, be sure not to choose to believe a message until you have discussed it with a fellow Christian who can help put it in perspective.

Remember that repentance gives life to holiness, so in terms of repentance of thought, make sure you don't believe a message that makes you feel God is not on your side. Also be aware that atheists are not impervious to evil spirits just because they choose to be ignorant of them, so you will begin to see that you have faith that they don't, make sure you believe God and not them because they really don't know what they are talking about

 

[heymikey80]

These are interesting questions! I remember running across some of 'em when I was in the same mode -- checking out the foundations.

1. An Atheist mentioned to me that the Romans were very good at keeping records, yet they have no records of Jesus Christ. Why not?

He's cutting quite a fine line. There are a dozen references to the tiny, tiny sect of Christianity in the First Century -- some of which actually mention a "Christus" or a "Chrestus", depending on the source.

There are about a dozen non-Christian glances at Christianity from the First Century: three in history books. Y'hafta remember, though, they're tiny references. Christianity wasn't very large for at least a couple of centuries.

Tertullian (200 AD) actually appeals to Roman records of the hours-long darkness during Jesus' crucifixion, as well as the crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth Himself.

Still, the Roman records were there. Some are in dispute, whether they've been embellished by a later copyist. Others are indeed lost. Romans were great for records. But Rome has been sacked dozens of times, and a whole lot of records kept there were lost.

2. A lot of people say the bible contradicts itself. What are these so called contradictions and is there any explanation for them?

There are literary paradoxes, and then there are some differences in numbering, some things which seem really strange, or which seem to be translation oddities.

I'm sure there're also things I can't explain, too. I didn't say I was uncontradictory. I'm human.

3. 40 different men wrote the bible from different backgrounds. I asked Atheists how the was possible for them to write the same message. They said a. The bible contradicts itself anyway b. it could've been passed on by word of mouth c. an Atheist said to me "You're assuming it was 40 different people. There's nothing to show that it wasn't just some bored scribe.."

could they be right?

No, not really. On the other hand, b.'s probably the most plausible. In fact it's likely, when it comes to three of the Gospels. Also the Jewish history books (chronicles and Samuel/Kings) are known to be cross-written and cross-referenced, and even cross-referenced with a third lost source.

I doubt that detracts from their veracity.

For many others, analysis of the lexicons of people writing Scripture shows different people wrote many of the books.

A bored scribe?

The internal consistency of the use of words would be much greater if it were written by one person. I'd cite a couple of "modern prophecy" books at this point, but I've no reason to malign these texts. In any event, the word selection says that either this author developed and changed his vocabulary dramatically over the course of many, many years during the writing -- or there were multiple writers.

Don't take this immensely far, either. For instance, Peter's two letters are written by different people. Revelation and the Pastoral epistles are also significantly different as well, leading some scholars to say they're written under assumed names. Generally though, the differences can be accounted for. In some cases people in the apostle's teaching circle, writing under the apostle's direction, have written the letters (1 Peter I believe cites someone else as actually writing down the letter.) The apostle then signs his name. You can see that effect at the end of Galatians, too, where Paul takes the pen from his scribe to write something himself: "See the large letters I'm writing with my own hand."

The second possibility is that the writer is separated from his other writings by significant amounts of time, or significant differences in subject matter. In both cases lexical analysts have discovered, an author may change his vocabulary dramatically.

None of this indicates a bored scribe.

4. When people have Near Death Experiences (die on the operating table for a couple of minutes) and nothing happens to them (i.e. it's just "blank" and they don't remember anything happening) this worries me. Are there any explanations for this?

Well, I don't see why it'd be demanded that everyone who draws near death have near-death memories. We don't even expect that from non-near-death experiences. When people don't remember their dreams, does that worry you that they never enter REM sleep and are dying? Or say when I was getting my wisdom teeth pulled, I have no memory of it.

It's not a big deal that they don't retain information in near-death experiences. In fact to me it's more surprising that some do have experiences they remember.

As you can tell I'm very much a beginner so please go easy on me. I very much want Christ in my life and I'm sure these questions can be resolved. thank you!

no problem. Keep in mind that there are a lot of resources available for many of these situations. Christianity has also been around for a couple thousand years. And she also keeps records. There are lots of people writing from within Christianity.

It doesn't mean you won't have struggles. It does mean some people will have struggles somewhat like yours. You could learn a lot from them.

Now, guaranteed, these guys are not inerrant! They're normal guys like you & me. But when you get a chance to sit down and place 'em in their time, you can get great insights into what's happening in their minds to tackle these issues. It may be better to work with Josh MacDowell's "Evidence", first. If you're unfamiliar with history or Greek philosophy, Clement of Alexandria would be a baffling read! It's a little far removed.

But even I understood what Justin Martyr was saying in his "First Apology" and his "Dialog with Trypho". I'm sure you can too. Again, he's not for complete purity in his understanding, nor even accuracy of his answers. But he will give you a great idea of how other Christians tackle the problems. Maybe they'll help focus your own struggles, as to how important they are and such.

The overwhelming point of course is this: that about 2000 years ago a Guy claimed to be God's King of the World was crucified, dead and buried -- and in a few days, He had got up out of the grave.

 

[Peripatetic]

I take a stab at some quick answers:

1. There is little debate in academic circles about the existence of Jesus due to many existing historical manuscripts and primary sources. Many people contend that there is more historical evidence for Jesus than Plato, Socrates, or Shakespeare for example...

2. The fact that the Bible is not 100% straightforward and easy to follow is part of what gives it credibility. If it were "faked", it would be easy to line up all the facts. The Bible is a very complex work, and numerous passages have different interpretations. There have also been some translation errors over the years. I believe that all of this was part of the plan. If these things (the existence of God, Jesus' divinity, and the inerrant nature of the Bible) were provable, everyone would believe and there would be no need for faith.

3. In my opinion, there isn't any reason to debate this point either way. If the Bible is divinely inspired, the number of authors is irrelevant. If you don't believe that it was divinely inspired, the number of authors isn't going to change your mind.

4. But "near death" isn't death. No matter how you look at it, these memories (or lack thereof) come from the brain, which is part of a not-yet-dead body. Scripture says that "eye has not seen" what God has prepared for us, so I don't put a lot of stock in NDEs anyway.

 

[insurchoftruth]

Acts – 5:38, 39

1. Through the centuries, there have been always true believers in the whole world who have kept and preserved the Gospel in its originality, because they feared God, and because they appreciated very much the Gospel. When a person finds something precious he tries to keep it because it is precious to him."
2. The commandments - ‘do not still, do not kill, do not lie, and, other commandments of God, are written (coded) on the heart (consciousness) of every human being, even those living in the jungle, who have never seen civilization or the Bible. Moral laws can be created and come from a moral Being - God. Man did not create the ten commandments, because, if he did, he could change them as it suits him and, would not feel guilty for doing sin! The moral laws are independent from men.
3. The creation of man, the earth and the universe, display the wisdom, love, goodness, order, purpose, design, and the beauty of God, which he has placed in them!
The Bible is like a manual with instructions from God for us, to know where we came from, what to do on earth, and where we will go, in the future. It is like a person having a car, and manual with instructions. To have a car is not enough in order to know, how to drive or repair and maintain it. You can try and drive or repair your car without a manual, and may be succeed to some degree. But the manual gives you all the detailed instructions for everything you need to know about driving or repairing your car. It is similar with God, his creation and the Bible. We can know God and some of his attributes by just observing the creation, and the thing that he made. But the Bible gives us much more information about God, more than the creation gives us.
4. The miracles from God like speaking in tongues, healing and others, are another prove and confirmation from God, for the existence of God and that the Bible is true - (Hebrews 2:3,4, Acts 2:22, 14:3, 16:26-30, Mark 16:17, 20, John 2:11,23, 3:2, 4:48, 6:2, 10:25, 38, 11:45, 14:11, 20:30,31, Luke 10:13)! Some of the miracles, in the Old Testament, and which Jesus did, in the New Testament, were not to help or heal people, but only to show and prove, that God is real, and that His Word is real, and also, to show His glory, like the miracle of Jesus walking on the water, for example.
5. The Bible is a historical book, describing historical people and places, and proves itself, to be true!
6. There are many Christian (Church history) and secular, non Christian materials and books, written in the life time of Jesus and the Apostles, which speak about Jesus and the Apostles and the first Christians during the 1, 2, 3 and later centuries. Some of them are written by Roman historians, who saw Jesus or the Apostles, and wrote about them, even though, they themselves, were not Christians. For example the book - „Quo Vadis Domine.“ Also, the archives of the Roman emperors in the time of Jesus, describe the person of Jesus Christ.
7. The prophecies about Jesus and Israel in the O. Testament, and other prophecies in the Bible are fulfilled! In 1948 Israel was miraculously formed as a nation again! - Deuteronomy 28:64, Ezekiel 36:24, Isaiah 7:14, 9:6-7, 53:4-
8. There are much more documents (manuscripts) about the New Testament in the world, than they are for any other ancient literature! - Josh McDowell
9. The calendar, is another proof about the historical person of Jesus, because it starts, from the birth of Jesus.
10 . The conversion (born again experience) of even the toughest criminals, is the greatest miracle itself ( Nicky Cruz). Also, the immediate deliverance from God, of people who use drugs and are drug addicts, is another miracle.
11 . There is not a proof yet, that the Bible is not true. There have been many people through the history, which have tried to prove that the Bible is not true, but they could not, and some of them even have become Christians, while investigating the Bible.
12 . Archeology, also proves the accounts in the Bible.
13 . There are many famous scientists, and philosophers, that believe in God!
14 . The existence of the Jewish nation and its history, is a proof of the Bible.
15 . The Apostles according to history, were killed, because of their believe, that Jesus is God, and he rose from the dead. No body will die for a lie.
16 . Only twelve ordinary men, turned the whole Roman empire and the world upside down, and changed it, by the Gospel.
17 . The presence (the anointing) of God, and his power and love, is not just knowledge in the head, but it can be experienced and felt very realistically -(John 7:38, 39, Romans 8:16).
18. The Bible is made of many books which have been written in 1600 years period! It is written from about 50 authors, which were living on different continents and in different countries, and spoke different languages, and had different professions. But the whole Bible has one common point, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ.
19. God cares for his Word, and has made sure, that trough all the centuries, his Word will be preserved and kept in its originality!
20. All living beings – plants, animals and humans, have something which is common to them all, like a blood system, respiratory system, nerve system, digestive system, which shows, that they came from the same source – God.
21. The fact that people from different races, can marry and have children, proves that people from all different races, came from the same source, or the same parents, Adam and Eve, otherwise, if they did not, they would not be able, to produce children.
22. Years ago, people did not believe that the earth was round, but that does not mean, that the earth is not round. Therefore, if some people, do not believe in God, or his miracles, it does not mean, that he does not exist or that there are no miracles. Today, there are many people who do not believe in speaking in tongues, or healing from God, even among Christians, but there are about 600 000 people globally, who speak in tongues, and there are thousands of people who are healed from God.
23. You can experience love, but you can not explain it. It is similar with God. You can get an experience from him, but you can not explain it. There are many things in this life, which can be experienced, but can not be explained. It does not mean, that they are not real.
24. When Jesus said that he is the Life (the life of God), he was really mad, or he really was, who he claimed to be, and there is no other option.

25. We can not see wind, but we can see its results, effects, and we can experience it. It is similar with God.

 

[Josephine_msjesus]

Hello everyone, I'm a 19 year old female and very new to the Christian faith. I am visiting an evangelical church for the first time next Sunday.

I'm desperately searching for answers and I so badly want to believe in Christ. But my sinful mind has questions which is holding me back that I hope to be resolved here. I've been reading alot of things by Atheists lately and they almost convince me. I'm very frightened of Death and a deep dread follows me around wherever I go. Hence why I'm here.

1. An Atheist mentioned to me that the Romans were very good at keeping records, yet they have no records of Jesus Christ. Why not?

2. A lot of people say the bible contradicts itself. What are these so called contradictions and is there any explanation for them?

3. 40 different men wrote the bible from different backgrounds. I asked Atheists how the was possible for them to write the same message. They said a. The bible contradicts itself anyway b. it could've been passed on by word of mouth c. an Atheist said to me "You're assuming it was 40 different people. There's nothing to show that it wasn't just some bored scribe.."

could they be right?

4. When people have Near Death Experiences (die on the operating table for a couple of minutes) and nothing happens to them (i.e. it's just "blank" and they don't remember anything happening) this worries me. Are there any explanations for this?


As you can tell I'm very much a beginner so please go easy on me. I very much want Christ in my life and I'm sure these questions can be resolved. thank you!

Dont look to the bible for your morals but rather the ten commandments.

The ten commandments dont contradict each other and they also dont propogate hate and evil. Some parts of the bible tell you to kill people for their sins, this is because it was writen by kings and authority figures claiming to know the will of god. I dont trust people in power who claim to be a conduit for the will of god and they are able to abuse their power and enforce evil upon you.

True divine messages are given to us by the lowlyest of people. Jesus was born into poverty but he was the son of god and brought us his fathers divine message.

And you must think "why would god create the bible if he gave us the ten commandments". Its said that the ten commandments were made by God himself, but we know the bible is a compilation of books writen by men, how do we know if they are ALL divinely inspired?

Follow God and goodness, not things that could have been corrupted by kings and false prophets. know in your heart what is right as God will make sure you do the right thing as long as you want to do the right thing and let him know that.

 

[Peripatetic]

Dont look to the bible for your morals
...
Some parts of the bible tell you to kill people for their sins, this is because it was writen by kings and authority figures claiming to know the will of god.
...
And you must think "why would god create the bible if he gave us the ten commandments".
...
know in your heart what is right

You are certainly entitled to your religious views, and to share them on CF. Just know that taking a position that the Bible is not the word of God, and to look inward (to your heart) for what is right would be considered by most to be non-Christian. I'm sure you don't mean it that way, but the Bible is the part of the foundation of the Christian faith. To think otherwise is to follow a different religion.

 

[New_Found_Faith]

1. An Atheist mentioned to me that the Romans were very good at keeping records, yet they have no records of Jesus Christ. Why not?

Meirou, the US Gov't also keeps very good records. In this age of technology, our records are even better and the paper trail should be easier to follow than in ancient times. Yet, I doubt that anyone will be able to locate my birth certificate 2,000 years after my death.

The fact is that it is not reasonable to expect these records to have survived for 2,000 years, especially when the record-keeping body (the Roman gov't) has been defunct for around 1,600 of those years. Also, the Romans executed hundreds of people every day and I am sure that we don't have records for the majority of those people either.

2. A lot of people say the bible contradicts itself. What are these so called contradictions and is there any explanation for them?

Without going through them, it's important to acknowlege that the Bible was written by fallible men. We believe that its words were inspired by God, but not dictated by God and therefore contradictions/mistakes are possible. The existence of these mistakes does not invalidate the Christian faith.

3. 40 different men wrote the bible from different backgrounds. I asked Atheists how the was possible for them to write the same message. They said a. The bible contradicts itself anyway b. it could've been passed on by word of mouth c. an Atheist said to me "You're assuming it was 40 different people. There's nothing to show that it wasn't just some bored scribe.."

I don't understand what you're saying here, sorry.

4. When people have Near Death Experiences (die on the operating table for a couple of minutes) and nothing happens to them (i.e. it's just "blank" and they don't remember anything happening) this worries me. Are there any explanations for this?

Why should this worry you? 1. Obviously it wasn't their time to die. 2. Other people who have had NDE's report a number of contradictory things. 3. There are explanations- They have to use their brain to "remember" their experiences. If their experiences were spiritual and not physical (ie occured without the body), why would the brain record their experiences?

 

[childofGod31]

1. An Atheist mentioned to me that the Romans were very good at keeping records, yet they have no records of Jesus Christ. Why not?

How do you know if this atheist is speaking the truth? How carefully did he personally research the records?

And anyway, I wonder if they have record of Jesus' mother Mary and His brothers? If not, why not? If yes, perhaps Jesus is mentioned there by a last name (other than "Christ", since "Christ" is a religious title)


2. A lot of people say the bible contradicts itself. What are these so called contradictions and is there any explanation for them?

I do believe that although God inspired some parts of the Bible (His words), other parts were written by historians and re-written and then re-translated many times. Mistakes are possible and were made. People ASSUME that God was set on keeping every word true. But they don't really know that it was His intention, they just assume that it was so. But I think the Bible proves that God's intention was NOT to keep every word true. (Since many different translations sometimes even present different ideas in the verses and people have been arguing back and forth trying to prove WHICH verses were translated properly. But the fact is: we don't really know for sure.) But we can rest assured: those who really seek God for God and are ready to give themselves over to Him, will be led by Him and He will reveal the truth to them.
Because many different Christians have many different ideas of what the truth really is, I can only conclude that it was NOT God's intention to make sure that everybody knew the pure truth. I believe that His intention is a little different from what we think.

For example, a contest was given and pieces of puzzle were given to people. And people of course assumed that they would be judged on how fast or how well they'll be able to put the puzzle together. (That IS what Christians assume). But the judges were actually judging people based on how they behaved towards each other WHILE putting the pieces together.) This is God's real intent, this is what He really judges us for. "Love the neighbor as yourself". (not based on how well you know your church's doctrine).

And we are failing the contest, considering that there is so much division and strife among the body of the church.

3. 40 different men wrote the bible from different backgrounds. I asked Atheists how the was possible for them to write the same message. They said a. The bible contradicts itself anyway b. it could've been passed on by word of mouth c. an Atheist said to me "You're assuming it was 40 different people. There's nothing to show that it wasn't just some bored scribe.."

could they be right?

The fact is that atheists don't know either. Playing guessing game "what if" game always leads to doubts. We know that there were more than 1 person because I believe they can judged by the style of writing....

4. When people have Near Death Experiences (die on the operating table for a couple of minutes) and nothing happens to them (i.e. it's just "blank" and they don't remember anything happening) this worries me. Are there any explanations for this?

"they don't remember" is the key here. How can they know of anything that happened to them if they don't remember? I believe that it's because they simply don't remember. Many many people have witnessed much of supernatural stuff (miracles and stuff) and this alone shows that there is something out there, something which we can't see and don't know about it. But it's there, to be discovered. And somebody (I call God) talks to me too (and to many other people as well)


Just keep in mind this one thing: there are many religions, churches and denominations. One could get lost while trying to find a way. Just go directly to God. God is a Spirit. He is everywhere. He is near you. He hears your thoughts and feels your feelings. He knows you inside out. He loves you more than anyone has loved you ever before. (He told me about His love personally.) And you can simply talk to Him and ask Him directly (bypassing the people for the most part) to show you the truth. It's dangerous to follow people, you never know which of them holds the truth. But it's a safe bet to go directly to God. Just think of Him, talk to Him in your thoughts. Make Him a priority, connect with Him in your thoughts. Focus your thoughts on Him. He will find a way to talk back to you if He knows that you are dead serious on finding Him. And when you do find Him, you will be blessed beyond measure.

.

 

[DoctorJosh]

Hello everyone, I'm a 19 year old female and very new to the Christian faith. I am visiting an evangelical church for the first time next Sunday.

I'm desperately searching for answers and I so badly want to believe in Christ. But my sinful mind has questions which is holding me back that I hope to be resolved here. I've been reading alot of things by Atheists lately and they almost convince me. I'm very frightened of Death and a deep dread follows me around wherever I go. Hence why I'm here.

1. An Atheist mentioned to me that the Romans were very good at keeping records, yet they have no records of Jesus Christ. Why not?

2. A lot of people say the bible contradicts itself. What are these so called contradictions and is there any explanation for them?

3. 40 different men wrote the bible from different backgrounds. I asked Atheists how the was possible for them to write the same message. They said a. The bible contradicts itself anyway b. it could've been passed on by word of mouth c. an Atheist said to me "You're assuming it was 40 different people. There's nothing to show that it wasn't just some bored scribe.."

could they be right?

4. When people have Near Death Experiences (die on the operating table for a couple of minutes) and nothing happens to them (i.e. it's just "blank" and they don't remember anything happening) this worries me. Are there any explanations for this?


As you can tell I'm very much a beginner so please go easy on me. I very much want Christ in my life and I'm sure these questions can be resolved. thank you!

First, don't listen to Atheists. They have nothing to lose and nothing to gain. They have nothing to live for except money, women (men), lust or power. what Christians have is much more, a life ever lasting and God.

Second, there are in fact very accurate records of the events which took place. Pontius Pilate also made a direct record of events which took place. There were also letters sent to all the Emperors at the time throughout the many regions, even Asia talking about Jesus being Crucified. There is also the letter that the wife of Pontius Pilate wrote asking that Jesus be released. (Atheists and evolutionists who are scientists disregard this and try to discredit it.)

For some references:
Jewish writer Flavius Josephus wrote the Antiquities of the Jews and the Jewish War. This is just a narrative about the antiquitites that Flavius Josephus wrote.
The Execution of Jesus of Nazareth (Antiq 18.63-64) This passage, recorded only in the Antiquities, is generally referred to as the Testimonium Flavianum. It talks about the historical Pilate. He is shown working closely with the Jewish hierarchy to eliminate a common threat (Jesus). It may also be significant that he has only the messianic leader executed and not his followers, a fact which may show a dislike for excessive violence.

Philo of Alexandria also wrote about Jesus Execution.

Then there is also the Gospels. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John which also date back to the exact period (written by different authors which was defined as being the official authors who names are given credit for, Matthew, Make, Luke, and John.) As you will also find they were also hunted down later and some of them were executed, imprisoned till death and beaten repeatedly. However, Pontius Pilate became a Christian as it is documented and so did his wife after the execution.

As far as the Bible having many authors who were just bored, well that is far from the truth. The Bible has never been discredited by any scientific institution as having any wrong historical data. In fact, the Bible is a key source to finding over dozens of lost towns and cities throughout the Middle East and even finding tombs of lost kings and many other artifacts. It is the most accurate historical document to date. The books are like a bunch of diaries, they recorded the events which took place which affected their lives or others lives. They were not living in the stone ages. They had parchment to write on and they had ink. In fact, there is a lot of the technologies kept out of the school text books that they had been using even from the time of Enoch. You would be truly amazed. Look up the Baghdad Batteries once. The Pharaohs lighthouse and the library of Alexandria.

Anyway, there are over 100,000 pieces of evidence that proves the Bible to be accurate and true. The scientific community is not looking to prove God exists, they want to prove evolution exists and so it is one sided so there will be those who follow the atheists who are in the scientific community and those who search for the truth, which they find the Bible to be completely true. Nothing so far can discredit it, not even science.

For any books of the Bible that contradicts itself, it is because you have several who saw the same thing. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John witnessed what Jesus did and saw Jesus be Crucified. But so did many others who also wrote about it that were not included in the Bible. It just takes some research, but you can find there is proof in a lot of places. The Bible still holds to be absolutely true and accurate.

As for your personal battle within. Something to remember, we all have a soul and no rocks exploding in space can create a soul. People who die on tables and come back to life will not see Heaven, in fact, we have to wait to be Judged before even going to Heaven. That is still coming, that is called Judgment Day. Our Souls simply sleep till that Judgment day comes when we die. Those that are still walking around are restless souls.

To accept Jesus you simply believe. Trust Jesus as well. These make up Faith. Learn to Love Jesus. Once you accept and Trust Jesus, live your life for Jesus. Many will try and make you doubt your beliefs, but that is just part of the test. The strongest, the few, the brave, the ones who held out will be the ones who Jesus will welcome with open arms into Heaven. Jesus will ask on that final day, "What have you done for me?" We all should have an answer. We must live our lives for Jesus once we accept Him into our lives and accept Him as our Lord.

If it is lustful sins you are having, find someone to love and get married as fast as possible. This avoids the lustful sins. Jesus even talks about this.
Once married, you can make babies till you are tired and worn out.

 

[cherokeewind51]

Blessed are those who did not witness. The information you recieve from those in the world will mislead you in a spiral towards sin. I have walked your path many seasons ago and found misery because I listened to the unknowledgable words of the world putting sugar on the feel good viewpoints that were offered. When you sow a seed for God through Jesus you will find the truth of our purpose. I assume you have seen much deceit and deception in your life. Things seen or spoken frighten you because of your uncertainty in God. If you really want these things to melt away just ask God with all your heart and he will listen. Now to please God will take a full measure of faith upon his gift our Lord Jesus. Remember to give all your faith and belief in what you did not witness and you will see the truth with no more confussion. I know this seems cut and dry but the truth is simple for us in God's eye considering how he handle disobedience and sin a few thousand years ago.

 

[singpeace]

Why would you ask athiests about the Bible? That is like asking a farmer about brain surgery. He can come up with a lot of clever things to say if he wants to fool you into thinking he knows brain surgery... but it is a pack of lies just to impress you and to keep you from knowing Christ.

 

[insurchoftruth]

Throughout all the centuries, there have been always true believers, who kept the Word of God in its originality, because they appreciated it and also feared God.

God cares enough for his Word, to make sure that it is kept in its originality.

There are more manuscripts of the New Testament than there are for ANY other ancient literature.


Jeremiah 1:12, Isaiah 55:10, 11, Acts – 5:38, 39, 1 Corinthians 15:5, 6, 30, 31, Romans 1:19, 20, 2:14, 15, Luke 1:1-4, 2:1-3, Revelation 22:18, 19, Matthew 7:16-20, 12:33, 12:40-42, Luke 6:43, 44, Ezra 1:4, Hebrews 2:3,4, Acts 2:22, 14:3, 16:26-30, Mark 16:17, 20, John 2:11,23, 3:2, 4:48, 6:2, 10:25, 38, 11:45, 14:11, 20:30,31, Luke 10:13, Deuteronomy 28:64, Ezekiel 36:24, Isaiah 7:14, 9:6-7, 53:1-12, John 7:38, 39, Romans 8:16, John 3:5-8, Romans 5:5, 9:15,17,25,27, 1 John 2:27, 3:9, 24, 4:13

 

[SavedbyGod12]

Hello everyone, I'm a 19 year old female and very new to the Christian faith. I am visiting an evangelical church for the first time next Sunday.

I'm desperately searching for answers and I so badly want to believe in Christ. But my sinful mind has questions which is holding me back that I hope to be resolved here. I've been reading alot of things by Atheists lately and they almost convince me. I'm very frightened of Death and a deep dread follows me around wherever I go. Hence why I'm here.

1. An Atheist mentioned to me that the Romans were very good at keeping records, yet they have no records of Jesus Christ. Why not?

2. A lot of people say the bible contradicts itself. What are these so called contradictions and is there any explanation for them?

3. 40 different men wrote the bible from different backgrounds. I asked Atheists how the was possible for them to write the same message. They said a. The bible contradicts itself anyway b. it could've been passed on by word of mouth c. an Atheist said to me "You're assuming it was 40 different people. There's nothing to show that it wasn't just some bored scribe.."

could they be right?

4. When people have Near Death Experiences (die on the operating table for a couple of minutes) and nothing happens to them (i.e. it's just "blank" and they don't remember anything happening) this worries me. Are there any explanations for this?


As you can tell I'm very much a beginner so please go easy on me. I very much want Christ in my life and I'm sure these questions can be resolved. thank you!

I have read somewhere that they keep excellent records in heaven.
I am thinking I must be in that record Book.

"The Book of Life"