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Lets presume for a minute that Jesus existed. Where is the evidence that he truly is good? How do we know that he is who he says he is?
Personally, I believe that Jesus was either a myth, a fraud, or he was the devil. But I find that, overall, there is no obvious connection between him and the God of the Jews. So, here is my exploration of that third option - that Jesus was not holy, but was instead the devil.
The one common tie between Judaism and Christianity: the belief in a blood sacrifice appeasing a god. Jews sacrificed animals, Jesus sacrificed himself. Yet blood sacrifice seems more like devil or pagan worship than anything the god of the Jews and christians would take part in - and yet their entire religion is based on it. The fact that this tradition originated directly from pagan religions is often overlooked.
Jesus talks to god
according to him
but walks with the devil for days. And for the son of god or the devil to appose temptation, it is no great feat for either. If Jesus were god, it would be impossible for him to be tempted by the devil, and such a test of temptation would be extremely unnecessary - so why even have Jesus go through this? However, if Jesus were the devil, showing that he was very against the devil would help support his identity as the son of god.
Even his own disciples, his own hometown, and many others who are around him have trouble believing that he is god or his son. Would the true god not be more convincing? In the old testament, god would announce himself, and there was never any doubt of his identity. Any acts against him were conscious acts against god, not acts based on questions of his identity.
If Jesus had made it undoubtedly clear that he was god, or even the son of god, then the Romans would never consider killing him, out of fear. So essentially, devil or not, Jesus' humbleness is what leads to his death at the hands of the Romans, a trick that the god of the old testament would never do. In fact, the old testament god often made a point of showing his power and dominance over non-Jews. If, before christianity, a Jew were asked how their god would act if ever sentenced to death, the likely answer would be that god would smite them. So, why the change of heart? Why would an omnipresent god have such a vast change in personality and in ways of reacting?
How is it explained that the bossy, self-satisfying, testy god of the Jews has become the loving, humble god of the christians? This is not omnipresence, it is falseness.
Why would Saul be blinded when god speaks to him? In the Old Testament, god had no problem walking up to people and talking to them face-to-face. Yet Saul is blind, and knows that he is talking to god based on the speaker's word alone. No one around him saw what he saw, unlike god who in the Old Testament often came down and spoke to many at once
because, well, why not?
Jesus tells the Jews that they should leave their old ways, and that their traditions are unnecessary. Yet god himself had taught them to do these things, and to always do them for eternity. How did the word of a man become greater than the word of god?
The devil is neither living nor dead
he is above that. So, to "die and be reincarnated" would simply be a trick for him, not an actual act of reincarnation.
It is convoluted to believe that God created a human version of himself to also be the son of himself in order to sacrifice himself to himself to appease a law that he created himself
. How unecessary is that? Yet it is far more easy to believe that the devil acted as a human (to which humans relate) and simultaneously as god (who humans fear and respect), in order to manipulate the masses through lies.
And, it is already known that the devil does not make himself known; he is, throughout the history of the bible, far more subtle about his identity than god. And Jesus too is subtle regarding his identity
in fact, he never in the entire new testament claims to be god or his offspring
instead, he only says what he means to say, and does acts that are more kind and loving than any that the old testament god EVER did, and simply lets the people come to their own conclusions.
Much of the doings of christians coincide more with works that oppose god, than ones that support him. Christians are more likely to kill, divorce, beat their wives, and molest their children than atheists. (look it up.)
Jesus chooses two types of men to be his disciples; men who, according to the Jewish (but not Christian) way would be considered unholy, sinful men. (It is only Jesus himself who states that these acts are not against god
but god himself never says this in the entire history of the old testament. Why would an omnipresent god change his mind? The answer is, he wouldn't.) The second kind of men he chooses are men of faith - who through show he convinces that he is God. ( Who better to convince the Jews that their religion is false and that they must follow another, than their religious leaders themselves?)
mag·ic [maj-ik] :
"the art of producing a desired effect or result through the use of incantation or various other techniques that presumably assure human control of supernatural agencies or the forces of nature. "
Salvation is based on magic instead of physical actions and piousness - saying a few simple words will determine where you spend eternity. A simple, self-satisfying lie from the devil, a complex contradiction from god.
Doesn't the devil commonly act as one doing good and leading us in the right direction, while instead leading us to sin? Does Jesus not lead Jews away from their religion and instead tell them that they are free to sin?
Why would he create a world for us to tend to, then tell us that nothing we do matters and that essentially we can be lazy and still have salvation? Who do you think would be more pleased to watch the world crumble as lazy christians ask for salvation and then sit on their asses - god or the devil?
Isn't the devil's greatest trick to act as if he doesn't exist, and more directly, to act as one who cares about and loves us? So, stepping away from christianity, ask yourself
if the devil were to try to trick all of humanity, how would he do it, if not in the way of christianity?
What Jesus asks of you:
1. Belief that your own religion and/or traditions are false
2. Belief that a blood sacrifice of a half-deity will save your soul
3. Belief that magic words are all that are needed to save you
4. Belief that there is nothing you can do, good or bad, to appease god.. i.e. you can sin without any repercussions - an extremely far cry from the Jewish religion that supposedly shares the same god
5. Belief that God (in Jesus' terms) is loving and caring towards all. There is no evidence in the old testament that god is or ever has been especially loving and caring. This is simply a comforting idea created by christianity - an idea that is also extremely inviting.
6. Belief in a trinity, within a monotheistic religion
7. Belief that the voice in your head is god
when in the old testament, the voice in your head meant you were crazy, and god walking up to you and saying "hi, I'm god," was god.
8. Belief that asking for things, instead of acting, is what will create change and produce good. (Even in Jesus' lifetime, acting, and not asking from afar, was the way to go. Jesus never stopped and said, wait, a voice is calling me from afar
no, he would be walking and a physical human being would run up to him and physically ask him to help in one way or another.)
Main difference between Judaism and Christianity:
1. Nothing you do, once the magic words are spoken, can send you to hell. It is a promise that you will go to heaven - a promise which the old testament god never, ever made, and could never be seen making.
2. Jews had to work for their salvation, through sacrifice and good deeds and piousness. Christians are told that, although there are many things that they should do, there is nothing at all that they have to do. Why would god suddenly ask less of us? Why would he create a world for us to tend to, then tell us that nothing we do matters and that essentially we can be lazy and still have salvation? Did he change his mind about what he wanted from us, once again undermining his omnipresence?
Now, the final question. What proof do we have that Jesus is god or his son? Where is that evidence, other than his word, or the fact that Jesus preformed good deeds - something which the devil is not only capable of, but is actually likely to do as a means to convince people. Let me know when you've figured it out.
Posted 3 years ago #