Skreeper: It's hard for people to let go of wishful thinking & fantasies if they bring them comfort. Life is cruel & hard. I can understand why people prefer to believe in some deity that loves them unconditionally &that they will see their loved ones in the afterlife.
Since you are so concerned about me, I would reverse what you say--is simply wishful thinking & fantasies--& let go of yours that God is not real but does exist & desires a right relationship with you. You sure seem to have missed a lot in my opinion.
One of the foremost scholars on the Bible & Christianity is Bart Erhman. Although he now claims to be agnostic, he states the Bible is one of the most attested ancient documents in history & has no problem believing in the evidence that Jesus existed & that He rose from the dead.
I would suggest you explore developing a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. Just as someone has offered free courses in biology, so Bibles can be obtained free as well as Bible courses. I have given away many Bibles to those who want one.
Life for me isn't cruel & hard. I am sorry you personally feel that way about life on this planet. My life is a wonderful adventure with some challenges here & there to overcome & a journey full of the joy & the life of Jesus Christ, just as He promised to give to those who repent & believe the gospel.
I have received malignment & ridicule for being a simple disciple & follower of the Savior of the world. But I rejoice in that because it comes with the territory of being a follower of the Lord. Billions around the world have found this to be their life & experience.
Our English word for martyr comes from the Greek word for 'preach' the gospel. From the days of Jesus Christ on this earth & since , to preach the gospel meant you preached it at the risk of martyrdom. The first three centuries of Christianity were paved with the blood of martyrs. So many became Christian that in the 4th century the Roman government made it the state religion under Constantine & it brought relative peace to the empire. This Christian bloodshed today is no different.
FrumiousBanders: Creationists are a relatively small proportion of believers in Britain, so even a 30% increase is unlikely to be significant in the overall picture
Dr Hawkins thought so. Apparently you don't.
Bunglebear: "China is now the largest nation of Christians not the USA." Hint: "China on course to become world's most Christian nation within 15 years" indicates that your claim is incorrect. And that was your own "supporting" evidence.
"The most highly educated population of Hong Kong is made up of many Christians believing in a Creator God who made the heavens & the earth, as the recent demonstrations have shown." Hint: Hong Kong is about 12% Christian. Roughly 24% of recent university entrants are Christian.
Seriously, if you're going to complain about others making questionable claims about numbers you should be careful about your own claims. It makes you look hypocritical.
Your false accusation that I am complaining is way off base. I never stated others were making questionable claims. You did. You obviously aren't reading ALL of my posts. I haven't denied most of what Pitabread is saying or saying what he is reporting is 'questionable.' YOU said that, I didn't. So if you are going to make accusations I am a hypocrite better not look in the mirror.
When I stated that China is now the largest Christian nation, I did that, because most of the reports I listed were quoting government statistics, not counting the large network of underground churches. I should have said it is fast becoming the largest Christian nation, if not already. I wrote that early in the morning. It apparently upset you so I apologize if it did.
And out of the 11 I posted you chose only one you decided to USE (most kept mentioning BY 2030 not by 2035) and make a condescending 'emoticon' to ADD. There is no opportunity for dialogue with you. I can dialogue with Pitabread. So have a great awesome day.
Much of the Christian population in China is actually underground, unreported, because of persecution & signing up for the government churches means constant surveillance & glorifying the patriotic state (so named the government 'Three Patriotic movement.'
So the stats shown are not representative of the actual number. Just last year they dynamited an unregistered house church with 50,000 members & a Catholic unregistered one without warning. This year one of China’s best-known underground churches, 'Latter Rain' in SW China was raided & closed. Pastor Wang & his wife, Jiang Rong, remain in detention, charged for 'inciting subversion', with a penalty up to 15 years in prison.
Early Rain is the latest victim of what Chinese Christians & rights activists say is the worst crackdown on religion since the country’s Cultural Revolution, when Mao Zedong’s communist, atheistic government vowed to eradicate religion. The USSR tried to do the same. Christians have a LONG history of overcoming persecution & martyrdom. We are still here, billions strong. And we will win in the end.
China has the largest number of cameras of any country & developing a 'gait' technology to identify people as well, as well as drone technology.
They are now developing a 'social credit system' that punishes bad Communist behavior & rewards good atheistic state party lines. The nightmare of George Orwell's book is a reality. It is not a good place to be identified as a Christian there or a minority group or someone opposing the atheistic party government, even on legal grounds.
China introduces surveillance system that recognises you just by the way you walk
In Xi we trust - Is China cracking down on Christianity? | DW | 19.01.2018
Pitabread: I'm talking about long-term trends. Cherry picking two data points to claim a trend is a poor reading of statistical data. If you examine the long term trend (e.g. over the last few of decades), it's clearly going down. If I want, I can calculate a moving average based on the Gallup polls and show just that (I've done this before).
I recognize you are talking about long-term trends, which for the most part I agree. However, I am not merely 'cherry picking' two data points. I already addressed the decrease of 7% in my past post over the almost 4 decades of polling data.
My point was to show that over those almost 4 decades, a 2% increase IS significant, not just cherry picking. You are correct in the 'details' of the trend generally declining.
However, I mentioned the second point to show that the increase in Britain was alarming enough to Dr. Hawkins, enough to mention a need for 'conversion.' That was all I was trying to show.
I mentioned the third point of 73% vs 22% to demonstrate also the latest stats on people believing God is involved in the universe we now live in.
I wasn't a Christian when I was 'indoctrinated' in high school evolutionary theory. I wasn't a Christian when I entered college.
Most colleges require a basic curriculum education for those wanting a degree & at least 2 credits in a natural science. Most I have observed over time choose biology. My intro class had between 300-400 in it.
I still remember the professor (class was in the school stage auditorium) starting the class, swinging on one of the ropes across the stage, yelling like Tarzan. Then he came to the mic & said, 'Good morning!' He definitely woke all of us up for that morning class!
I took another class in microbiology for my certification in another state to teach. It was also an enjoyable one as the professor told us that he was going to give us a history lesson on how microbiology changed the world while teaching the classs. Fascinating! We also made sauerkraut in lab as one project & he brought the sausages!
One person who had influence in my life concerning Christianity while I was attending college was the curator of the Science Museum on campus. He was a brilliant man, who got 2 degrees in the time it takes most to get one & then went on to more advanced degrees. He made science exciting. He was also a Christian who was a creationist & challenged much of my 'indoctrinated' evolutionary thinking. It changed the course of my life because I seriously began to investigate the claims of Jesus Christ. But enough of me.
People down through history have sought to eradicate Jews & Christians. As I said before we are billions strong & still here. And we will win in the end. And with that, thanks for the good discussion, Pitabread. Keep up the good work!
