Sunday Bible Study; John 12:24 (KJV, Red Letter Edition)

BLASPHEMY | I awoke particularly early this morning, around 3:00 a.m. In spite of not having gone to sleep until around midnight, I was wide awake and not going back to sleep. Since I was visiting a friend who had a small collection of books, it seemed the perfect companion with my coffee would be some good reading.

Over to the bookshelf I went, I wanted to find something more than the collection of religion-themed books. But, for some reason, I was drawn to a generic marketing book titled “The Seed Principle.” There was no author listed and it seemed to be another mass-produced book distributed to keep crutch-goers paying their “tithes” obediently.

(You know, the old “send me money and Gawd's gonna bless you” tactic used by prosperity-pimps like Joel Osteen and Creflo Dollar – not exactly the kind of works I normally read and still, I was compelled.)

Not understanding why I was even considering reading this woo-woo, I asked my Guides and Guardians why I was spending as much as one irreplaceable second of my life reading this, trusting them anyway, knowing they've never failed me before and something good was coming.

That's when it happened. Picture a block of text on the page standing out clearer and more vivid than the rest of the page. In typical fashion of not understanding the gist of the texts they pretended to work with, the pretenders who put together this particular book made the error of using a quote from the bible, seemingly, just because it contained the word “seed” and in spite of having nothing to do with money or prosperity in general. The quote was from The twelfth chapter of John, verse twenty-four.

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.” Here's the verse itself.

What a wonderful gift, this little line of text. It reveals much. I think, if professional preachers and apologists can use the bible to justify the scam of Christianity, it can also be used to dismantle Christianity, thereby helping at least one more fellow slave escape, hopefully.

Within the referenced verse, we have the words of Jesus himself making a statement which not only seems to be a non-sequitur to the rest of John chapter 12 but also, completely inaccurate.

When a seed is planted, the seed itself does not die. Were a seed to die, there would be no germination. No germination – no plant.

It seems to me, were this Jesus character to be anything more than just another man with anything more than the common knowledge of the era, he would have known this. Personally, with the way this particular chapter flows – as just one example – the whole story strikes me as a reverse-engineered fiction in the first place and Jesus nothing more than a convenient marketing device.

I find it particularly strange how the bible itself lacks any knowledge not available to any human who paid close attention to life. No “god” needed. This one, individual point is enough to demonstrate the bible is not, in fact, “divinely inspired” in any way. Others may try explaining it as "human error" or something "planted by Satan" to distract the faithful. But, before you do, would such an explanation not further demonstrate the bible to be as fallible as fallible can be? "Verily, verily I tell YOU," if we cannot rely upon the words of Jesus himself to be truthful, then WHY continue referring to this book as "infallible? Why?

It is time we humans finally find the courage to stand up in the face of tyrants-in-the-name-of-god once and for all, challenging its so-called infallibility. It is anything but.

And now, I must wonder if those apologists and crusaders will try again to demonstrate the mental acrobatics necessary to explain away this point and continue in their suspension of disbelief - or will I more likely see myself ignored by the devotedly self-deceptive masses, yet again? Bring me your best. I want to understand and invite you to try. If your god is a god and he made the human mind, then surely he would understand why I need evidence and would make it available to people like me.

This post was originally shared on Bubblews.



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Atheism: Hell is No Longer a Threat

Throughout the history of mankind, we have always wanted to understand the mysteries around us of this beautiful world. Before the rise of science, the human mind defaulted to crediting everything to one sort of god or another. This reliance on some mysterious, supernatural entity was the norm for countless centuries of human history.

As of late though, more and more people are no longer accepting this as an answer. We are turning to various forms of science to understand our world. In the process of learning, we've found evidence of processes far more intriguing than anything religion could explain. (If someone needs support of the rise in the numbers of non-believers, visit this page from NPR, or this NBC affiliate. Here's one more.)

Where we once believed our planet to be the center of the universe, astronomy shows us we're really less than a speck of space dust, compared to the entire cosmos. Where we once held onto the belief that goodness only flows from some spiritual deity, biology now shows the human organism has an innate goodness - and that it is essential to the survival of our species.

Where once, any particular religious leader was the highest authority in any given region of the world, archeology proves mankind has had many competing gods. Even today, among any particular religion's followers, there is division. Christianity is credited with 34,000 denominations throughout history. Islam has 72 sects. Religion has - if nothing else - brought about more division than any other factor in history.

Religion held its power over the individual human mind by the power of fear, more than any other factor. In spite of attempted arguments to the contrary, love existed among all belief systems, so nobody's god can lay claim to it exclusively. No, it was a fear of eternal torment in hell which was used to gain followers. Too often, those who refused still were tortured and/or slaughtered as "heretics" or "infidels" - depending on which religion's terminology a person used.

But the various religious leaders are losing their power to kill non-believers, and they are powerless to stop the trend. Daily, more people around the world are coming to realize slaughtering their own is wrong.

For the most part, Christianity lost its carte blanche pass centuries ago, although there still remain pockets of religious persecution by Christians. Islam is losing its power before our very eyes. Ridiculous "honor killings" are prosecuted as the crimes which they are. This is good.

While each of the world's religious leaders is busy decrying others for not being more like them, we atheists notice you all sound the same to us - divisive, superstitious and lacking a philosophical leg to stand on. The threats of hell from any of you sound like the threats of hell from all of you - and we accept none of it from any of you. We've all come to learn that for all of us to survive, only love will work. As was once so eloquently stated anonymously, "Seeing now that the Bible was so wrong about where we came from, how can we trust it to tell us where we're going?"

Some day, as our future generations look through our history, they'll see that humanity finally woke up to the beautiful reality surrounding us all. They'll see the myths of an afterlife were what kept primitive man back for as long as it did. They'll be able to pinpoint the time wherein we finally realized we're all just people - and tribalism, racism and religions were just myths. They'll see we finally realized we need each other and nobody was terrorized into obeying any superstition.

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Five reasons I believe Jesus never really existed

This topic is not written for the purpose of changing anyone's religious beliefs. If you disagree, and believe differently than the author, fine. But the points made here are based solely upon evidence as found in various biblical references, and other historical books.

The goal here is to help those who have finally come to realize that Christianity (religion in general, actually) is not likely true. If you feel differently, that is certainly your prerogative. Just don't expect me to repeat myself in a debate. I'm not interested in further discussion.

But if, by some strange chance, any reader does have solid evidence in argument to this topic, feel free to share it below. If there really is evidence (not emotions, squishy feelings, or mere "belief") then feel free to share. I, and many others, would be highly interested.

Do not copy this work. Link back to here, please. It's quicker, easier, and legal that way. Up to 1/3 rd of the piece is allowed for a preview in your link. Thanks.

1. Nobody agrees on when he was born.

If Jesus ever lived, he must have been born, by a miraculous fertilization, or not. Birth is a necessity. If he was born, there must be a specific time when he was born. Records not being what they were at the time, it might be understandable if the time were off by, say, as much as even a couple years. That would be reasonable, indeed.

Instead, we have Matthew saying Jesus was born when Herod was King of Judea. Luke states that Jesus was born when Cyrenius (Quirinius in Roman history) was Governor of Syria. Between the reign of Herod, and the reign of Cyrenius, we have the entire reign of Archelaus, son of Herod. This span covers a difference of ten years, alone.

But, let's say readers accept ten years difference in record keeping as acceptable. Fine. The Encyclopedia Brittanica states "Christians count one hundred and thirty-three contrary opinions of different authorities concerning the year the Messiah appeared on earth." Wow! And here ten years seemed contradictory! 133, separate, debatable years, each credited by someone, somewhere, as to when Jesus Christ Himself came into the world! Might you think such a dispute as to when he was born is perplexing?

2. Nobody agrees on where he was born, either.

Was Jesus of Nazareth, of Nazareth? Or, was he of Bethlehem? The bible tells of the parents of Jesus traveling to report for a census called for by Augustus Caesar (which is not verified in historical records itself, by the way) with his near-due wife, when the Roman custom for such a thing was that the head of the family alone reports, at his place of residence. The Book of Luke claims that Joseph left his home in Nazareth unnecessarily, and crossed two entire provinces to make it to Bethlehem unnecessarily, and took his pregnant wife on the verge of giving birth, again, unnecessarily.

In order to be considered a descendant of King David, Jesus would have needed to have been born in Bethlehem. The historian and biblical scholar Renan stated quite plainly that, the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem was constructed "in a roundabout way." In addition, many biblical scholars also believe that during the age within which Jesus would have lived, the City of Nazareth did not even exist! But, we can discuss that later.

3. The "Gospels" Were Not Written In His Language, Nor By Anyone Who Would Have Known Jesus.

Jesus the Christ is said to have been born a Jew, as were his followers. The region of the world where he is said to have lived, worked, and occupied, was primarily Nazareth. During the historical time frame when he was said to have lived, the languages spoken by the people in that region, and the culture within which he lived spoke mostly paleo-Hebrew, Aramaic, along with some Phonoecian, and Chaldean.

Yet, no part of the Gospels were written in any of those languages. They were written in Greek, approximately 150 years after he would have lived. Furthermore, there is no evidence any of the Gospels were ever translated into Greek, from any other language. Not only were the Gospels not written in the tongue one might expect from such a figure as Jesus the Christ, they were not written by any of the known apostles. In fact, noone knows exactly who it was that authored even one single line within the four Gospels. Now, some may say that Paul is known to have written his epistles. Remember, I said noone knows who wrote the four Gospels. But, since you bring up Paul...

4. Paul knew nothing of the miracles of Jesus, and never met him.

Some even doubt whether Paul ever even existed, himself. But for the sake of this topic, let's say he did. Paul would have lived during the time when Jesus would have lived. He likely walked the same streets which Jesus would have probably walked. He would have been a member of the very church Jesus is said to have decried for being "scribes, pharisees, and hypocrites." It's a safe bet that Paul would have heard much about a man rebelling against the church, and traveling about the country performing actual miracles, and being followed by "the multitudes."

Yet, look into your bible and see for yourself, if Paul claims to have ever met Jesus as anything other than a phantasm. Add to this the documented fact that Paul also does not speak of the virgin birth, any of the miracles of Jesus, nor even any details of his crucifixion. Everything Paul speaks about Jesus is in an after-the-fact manner, and resembles not one line, not one detail of any part of the four Gospels. Perhaps, just perhaps, it's possible the miracles of Christ were just not invented yet, when the epistles of Paul were written. It's not just Paul.

5. There is no evidence of Jesus, outside of the Bible.

For those not satisfied that the bible is full of contradictions, myths, improbabilities, and fiction, let us also look to history, or the lack thereof, about Jesus.

The age in which Jesus is said to have lived was one of scholars, thinkers, and men who wrote accounts of everyday, common folk. In "The Christ" written by John E Remsburg, there are no less than forty-two inquisitive, inquiring, intelligent writers who documented facts, figures, names, and activities of everyone from commoners to royalty. Some of the greatest writers in history came about during this time in history.

Many consider Philo the greatest Jewish writer in history. Not only was Philo prolific, and active, he was born before the beginning of the Christian era, and lived for many years after the supposed crucifixion of Jesus. As well, his home was in Jerusalem.

If Jesus ever existed at all, performed the miracles he is said to have performed, been followed and adored by thousands, and even challenged local authorities to such a point the Roman authorities were willing to circumvent legal customs and kill him as an innocent, surely, Philo would have recorded at least one fact of this man. Yet, there is nothing of Jesus, in anything Philo ever wrote. Not one thing.

Josephus was said to have written "The Antiquities of the Jews," wherein Josephus is recorded as saying "Now, there was about this time, Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man, for he was a doer of wonderful works; a teacher of such men as received the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews and many of the Gentiles. He was the Christ; and when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him; for he appeared to them alive again the third day, as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him; and the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at this day."

Oddly enough, this passage does not appear in any copy of "Antiquities of the Jews" for the first 200 years of the book's existence. None of the early Christian Fathers knew of the passage. Had this passage existed in the earliest versions of the book, Justin Martyr, Tertullian, Origen, or Clement of Alexandria would have referenced it once, in at least one of their many documented controversies against their Jewish opponents. None ever did.

This particular passage is not known of until Eusebius, the first historian of Christianity, early in the fourth century, is believed to have added them, and sloppily at that. In his "Evangelical Demonstration," are these words: "Certainly the attestations I have already produced concerning our Savior may be sufficient. However, it may not be amiss, if, over and above, we make use of Josephus the Jew for a further witness."

Josephus wrote highly detailed accounts of people of minor importance, yet he is strangely brief about the most amazing man who was ever supposed to have lived. In the Encyclopedia Brittanica, Dean Farrar "That Josephus wrote the whole passage as it now stands no sane critic can believe." Bishop Warburton denounced it as "a rank forgery and a very stupid one, too." Who do you believe about Jesus? Your local preacher, who stands to gain when you pay your tithes, or historical scholars, many times willing to die before betraying the truth of history?

Just because it's highly probable that Jesus never really existed, there is no need to abandon most of the principles advanced as his teachings. Just because Jesus will one day be understood to belong to the same category as all other mythical characters, there's still billions of good reasons, for us all to be good to one another, for goodness' sake.

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Image of Eva Longoria Miraculously Appears on my toast!

Notice, there is no boring look of imagined guilt on Eva Longoria's face. A toast miracle!

Most people are amazed when they imagine an image which, if you twist it just this way and that - and get it in just the right light – you might see a bit of extra toasted area of bread that might look like the edge of the side of someone's nose, and then say it's “Jesus,” or “Mary.” Well if people can get excited over those deals, I should flip over my piece of toast, which has a picture of Eva Longoria.

Not only can you see in the undeniable evidence above, the image is that of Eva Longoria, it is in full color. Apparently, before color, there was black and white. And before there was black and white, everything was in "toast." So, the only pictures we may have of Jesus or Mary come in either “toast and white,” or “paneling.”

Were our miracle an image of Charlie Chaplin, we'd have black and white. Fortunately, our miracle-on-bread is an appearance of a recent celebrity, and being Eva Longoria, we get a full-color miracle, with background. Next, we can only hope for Johnny Depp on a grilled cheese.

Notice also, our vision of the lovely Eva Longoria. Since she was born after the invention of “cool,” we enjoy her striking a rather lovely pose, and looking good. Since Jesus was born before “cool” was invented, all he really does in his toast and white pictures and post-cards is just stand there, looking at you, and tasting delicious. But an Eva Longoria miracle might be worth keeping.

There's no way Ebay is getting anything other than prints of my appearance-on-toast. If, for any reason, the photo isn't visible at the start of this post, see it here!