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WHO WAS THE SNAKE IN THE GARDEN AND WAS THE SERPENT AN ACTUAL SNAKE OR AN UPRIGHT CREATURE??

Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

Genesis 3:14

So the LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, “Cursed are you above all the livestock and all the wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers;

he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”

1. Arguments for a snake:

A. The word serpent is almost used every time when describing a snake and its characteristics (adder, cobra, slithering, coiling)

Job 26:13

By his breath the skies became fair; his hand pierced the gliding serpent.

Psalm 91:13

You will tread upon the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

Psalm 140:3

They make their tongues as sharp as a serpent’s; the poison of vipers is on their lips. Selah

Isaiah 14:29

Do not rejoice, all you Philistines, that the rod that struck you is broken; from the root of that snake will spring up a viper, its fruit will be a darting, venomous serpent.

Isaiah 27:1

[ Deliverance of Israel ] In that day, the LORD will punish with his sword, his fierce, great and powerful sword, Leviathan the gliding serpent, Leviathan the coiling serpent; he will slay the monster of the sea.

Jeremiah 46:22

Egypt will hiss like a fleeing serpent as the enemy advances in force; they will come against her with axes, like men who cut down trees.

2. Arguments that it was an upright creature

A. will crawl on its belly implying that it was upright before the curse

B. Will eat dusts all its days. Snakes today do not eat dust

C. The serpent could be used interchangeably for the word dragon and sea monster (Isaiah 27:1)

D. Is intelligent, cunning, could talk unlike any other snake

If God was speaking metaphorically that “crawling on its belly and eating dust” meant being disgustingly low on Earth, then how is a snake today suffering the consequence? Snakes are not looked down upon more than any other creature like a scorpion, crocodile, and spider. Also, to this day, is there enmity between snakes and humans as being archenemies? Not at all. Do snakes have seeds? No they don’t. So if seeds are metaphorical then so should the rest of the verse.

NOW HERE IS SOME MORE REVEALING CLUES ABOUT THIS SERPANT

Isaiah 65:25

The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, but dust will be the serpent’s food. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain,” says the LORD.

Now according to Isaiah’s new Heaven and Earth yet to come, serpents will then eat dust (as opposed to not eating dust at all) But is there a contradiction since God cursed the serpent to eat dust, remember? How does this all make sense? Let’s find out more.

Ezekiel 28:11-19 “`You were the model of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. [13] You were in Eden, the garden of God;

In reference to The King of Tyre, how could this King be in the Garden of Eden when no other human were there but Adam and Eve and humans were banished from it? That’s only possible if this King was in another form such as a serpent. We know that angels could disguise themselves as men so good that we wouldn’t even realize it with our own senses.

Hebrews 13:2 Stop neglecting to show hospitality to strangers, for by showing hospitality some have had angels as their guests without being aware of it.

Matthew 28:3. “I looked up and there before me was a man dressed in linen, with a belt of the finest gold around his waist. His body was like Chrysolite, his face like lightening, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and his voice like the sound of multitude”

Genesis 19:1 speaks of angels that visited Lot and were thought to be men among the city’s people.

If that is possible, then why couldn’t angels and demons take form of animals?

Revelation 12:9-10 The great dragon was hurled down — that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray.

This is indicating that this ancient serpent was in fact the Devil/Satan who was cunning, the same person as King Tyre!

Numbers 22:28 Then the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?” 29 And Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you have abused me. I wish there were a sword in my hand, for now I would kill you!” 30 So the donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey on which you have ridden, ever since I became yours, to this day? Was I ever disposed to do this to you?” And he said, “No.”

2 Peter 2:16 a donkey was once made to speak and reason with a man (Balaam): 6But he was rebuked for his wrongdoing by a donkey—a beast without speech—who spoke with a man’s voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.

We know that animals could talk and reason when they have a spiritual influence. Satan can definitely have influence over us.

Matthew 8:3:

The demons begged Jesus, “If you drive us out, send us into the herd of pigs.”

He said to them, “Go!” So they came out and went into the pigs, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and died in the water.

Based on this, we know that demons could enter animals as well as possibly take form of them. If demons could enter humans and used them as a vehicle for speech, behavior, and reasoning, then it may be possible demons to control animals to function the same way. This concludes that Satan was using that serpent as an instrument for his own agenda. We know that the serpent was in fact a snake. Either Satan took form as a snake or entered a snake. When God cursed the snake, he was actually cursing Satan and metaphorically speaking about Satan’s lowliness.

Satan’s deceit for man most likely happened after he was casted out to Earth from God’s heavenly domain because of his Pride. Jesus states that he saw Satan fall from Heaven like a flash of lightning (Luke 10:18) so he probably ended up on Earth. Spiritual things such as Demons/angels materialize when entering Earth’s dimension. So Satan transformed as a snake or entered a snake in revenge to God for the purpose of trying to ruin His plans for humanity by deceiving us into sin. Satan’s seeds, the people that become part of Satan’s family through evil, will be against God’s seeds, believers in Christ so we must prepare by putting on the armor of Christ!

Ephesians 6:10-17

¹⁰Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.  ¹¹Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. ¹²For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.¹³Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. ¹⁴Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; ¹⁵And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; ¹⁶Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.  ¹⁷And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone…” (Mk 10.17-18)

This has probably been the pinnacle for most Muslims that believe that Jesus’ quote insinuates his humanity and that he is not God. But let’s discover what the Scriptures say to guide us to the Truth.

Romans 3:10

“As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:”

Romans 3:23

“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”

Psalm 14:3

“There is none that doeth good, no, not one.”

James 2:10

For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.

1 John 3:4

Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.

Psalm 58:3-4

Even from birth the wicked go astray; from the womb they are wayward and speak lies.

1 John 1:8

If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.

Now the Bible makes it crystal clear that we are all sinners from birth and it is impossible not to sin. Even breaking one single laws makes us a sinner. Once a sinner you are always a sinner.

A person that is considered truly “good” mean that they have never sinned. But let us examine what the Scriptures say about the Nature of Jesus

1 John 3:5

But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin.

John 8:46

Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? -Jesus

Luke 23:47

The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, “Surely this was a righteous man.”

Matthew 27:4

“I have sinned,” he said, “for I have betrayed innocent blood.”

“What is that to us?” they replied. “That’s your responsibility.”

1 Peter 2:22

“He committed no sin,

and no deceit was found in his mouth.”

Luke 23:39-42

39One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us!”40But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? 41We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” 42Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.

Luke 23:39-42

John 18:38

“What is truth?” Pilate asked. With this he went out again to the Jews and said, “I find no basis for a charge against him.

Isaiah 53:9

9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked,

and with the rich in his death,

though he had done no violence,

nor was any deceit in his mouth.

2 Corinthians 5:21

God made him who had no sin to be sin[a] for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Mark 7:21-23

21For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. 23All these evils come from inside and make a man ‘unclean.’ “

Heb. 1:8

8But about the Son he says,

“Your throne, O God, will last forever and ever,

and righteousness will be the scepter of your kingdom.

Based on Jesus’ testimony about himself, Pontus Pilate, the centurion, Isaiah, we know that Jesus was without sin, righteous, and was innocent from accused charges!

So If GOD IS ONLY GOOD, AND JESUS WAS GOOD, THEN JESUS WAS GOD

Is reincarnation Biblical?

What exactly does the Bible say about reincarnation? Reincarnation by definition is “physical rebirth after death”

Some may say that the Bible may offer some verses indicating that reincarnation is scriptural by is there actual proof supporting that. Some suggest that John the Baptist is Elijah reincarnated with the following versus

Remarkable as it sounds we cannot build a doctrine upon one single verse so lets further investigate what the Bible actually says.

Yes, he was Elijah (Matthew 11:13-14) – “For all the prophets and the Law prophesied until John. ¹⁴“And if you care to accept it, he himself is Elijah, who was to come.”

No, he was not Elijah (John 1:19-21) – “And this is the witness of John, when the Jews sent to him priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” ²⁰And he confessed, and did not deny, and he confessed, “I am not the Christ.” ²¹And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” And he *said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.”

New Testament.
Matt 3: 4
And the same John (the Baptist) had his raiment of camel’s hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey.

The Old Testament description of Elijah was:
2 Kings 1:8
And they answered him, He (Elijah) was an hairy man, and girt with a girdle of leather about his loins. And he said, It is Elijah the Tishbite.

1. PEOPLE WERE AWARE OF THE CONCEPT OF REINCARNATION:

Rabbi, who sinned, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? (John 9:2).It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be made manifest in him (John 9:3).

Now the word of the Lord came to me saying, “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you; and before you were born I consecrated you, and I appointed you a prophet to the nations” (Jeremiah 1:45).

They thought John the Baptist or Jesus was Elijah

Matthew 16:13-15

13(A)Now when Jesus came into the district of (B) Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, “Who do people say that (C) the Son of Man is?”

14And they said, “Some say (D) John the Baptist; and others, (E) Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.”

15He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”

Mark 6:15; Luke 9:19, Matthew 16:14; Mark 8:28;

2. PEOPLE WERE EXPECTING ELIJAH TO COME BACK THROUGH PROPHECY

Malachi 4:5-6 5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: 6And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.

Note (1) People didn’t know how Elijah would appear; as the literal physical sense OR reincarnated because they wouldn’t have asked Jesus or John if they were Elijah since they already recognized what Elijah physically looked like especially during the transfiguration.

3. Jesus says that He has already come and the disciples understood that he was referring to John the Baptist.

10And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come? 11And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things. 12But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them. 13Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist.

Matt 11:13-15 “For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John. And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come. He who has ears, let him hear.”

4. John was prophesied to come and declared it. Isa.40:3-4 as “The voice crying out in the wilderness: prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.”

5. John denies he is Elisha, the Messiah, a prophet, and states that he is the one that Isaiah prophesied about to make way for the Lord. He is also other forerunner un named in Mal.3:1

19And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou? 20And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ. 21And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No. 22Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself?23He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias.24And they which were sent were of the Pharisees.25And they asked him, and said unto him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet?

HOW TO SOLVE THIS PROBLEM

Luke 1:17

17″It is he who will (A) go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, (C)TO TURN THE HEARTS OF THE FATHERS BACK TO THE CHILDREN, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, so as to (D) make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” (a reference of Malicah concerning John the Baptist )

Now “in spirit and power” could be very misleading and some take it as a reference to reincarnation. But that is not the case.

2 Kings 2:15

Now when the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho opposite him saw him, they said, “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.” And they came to meet him and bowed themselves to the ground before him.

Elisha was not literally Elijah but has his powers and spirit just as John the Baptist did.

A reader has also made this interesting observation, concerning these verses:

Hosea 3:5 Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD and his goodness in the latter days.

Ezekiel 34:23-24 And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd. And I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David a prince among them; I the LORD have spoken it.

In these passages the Messianic king is called “David” — and this is the same sense in which John is properly called “Elijah” by Malachi 4.

Hosea 3:5 and Ezekiel 34:23-24, the Messianic king is called “David.” But this does not mean that Christ is a reincarnation of David, or that David was prophesied to return to earth to reign

In other words John the Baptist was Elijah, not THE PHYSICAL ELIJAH that everyone was expecting so they denied him just like they denied Jesus as the Messiah.

As far as reincarnation some can agree that reincarnation was nothing new in the Old testament but that doesn’t mean that its necessarily true.

There is even a bigger problem with this view. For reincarnation to be held true in this case, one must die, before being reincarnated. However according to the Bible, Elijah never experience a physical death.

II Kings 2:11

As they were going along and talking, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire which separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind to heaven.

Indeed, just as people are destined to die once and after that to be judged, Hebrews 9:27

Let’s say for the sake of the argument that Elijah did in fact die and reincarnated to John the Baptist.

How could Elijah revert back into himself during the transfiguration shortly after John the Baptist was beheaded? That makes the reincarnation concept even more confusing than ever. Elijah came as John and transformed back to himself right after? Also, how could Elijah appear as a full grown man shortly after John’s death?

So what does the Bible say where we go when die? According to the Bible there are only two place where we go

2 Corinthians 5:8 According to Paul we would return home to God

And I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it…. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened….and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds….And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:11-15)

Jesus told the criminal on the cross, “Today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43), not “You will have another chance to live a life on this earth.” Matthew 25:46 specifically tells us that believers go on to eternal life while unbelievers go onto eternal punishment

For believers, after death is to be “away from the body and at home with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:6-8; Philippians 1:23). For unbelievers, after death means everlasting punishment in Hell (Luke 16:22-23).

In conclusion and based on the Scriptures, we understand that John the Baptist is not the reincarnation of Elijah the Prophet but his forerunner.

Here is some information that I found which may add some insights about what the Bible truly says about Astrology.

** note** An element of Astrology uses the positions of the stars to predict the future which falls under the category of “fortune telling”

Stars created are for “signs”

“And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:”
- Genesis 1:14

Stars were NOT created for “signs” and the use is condemned!!

Deuteronomy 18:10-12
10There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch. 11Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer.  12For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee.

Don’t sacrifice your children in the fires on your alters> and don’t let your people practice divination or look for omens or use spells or charms. and don’t let them consult the spirits of the dead. The Lord your God hates people who these disgusting things. Be completely faithful to the Lord (18.10-13)

He practiced divination and magic and consulted fortune-tellers and mediums. He sinned greatly against the Lord and stirred up his anger. 2 Kings 21.6 and 2 Chronicles 33.6.

Disaster will come upon you, and none of your magician stop it… Keep all your magic spells. and charms you have used them since you were-young……. You are powerless in spite of the advice you get. Let your astrologers come forward and save you those people who study the stars, who man out the zones of the heavens and tell you month to month what is going to happen to you….. They will not even be able to save themselves… those astrologers, you consulted all your life.(47.10-15)

Jeremiah
Do not listen to your prophets or anyone who claims he can predict the future, either by dreams or by calling up the spirits of the dead or by magic (27.9)
I the Lord, the God of Israel, warn you not to let yourselves he deceived by the prophets who live among you or by any others who claim they can predict the future (29.8).

Leviticus 19:26 “Ye shall not eat anything with the blood: neither shall ye use enchantment, nor observe times.

IS THERE A CONTRADICTION? THE ANSWER IS SIMPLE, THE WORD “SIGNS” DID NOT SIGNIFY OR ENCOURAGE ASTROLOGY BUT ACTUALLY REFERRED TO SEASONAL CHANGES OR NAVIGATIONAL PURPOSE SINCE GOD IS THE AUTHOR OF CREATION. ITS SOMETIMES USED TO REPRESENT A COVENANT AS IN THE FOLLOWING BUT NEVER FOR PREDICTING THE FUTURE:

Genesis 9:12-13, God put a special sign in the sky.

And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.

ASTROLOGY MAY BE EVIDENT IN THE BIBLE BUT THE USE OF IT IS CONDEMNED. SO WHAT WAS THE PURPOSE OF STARS THEN? HERE IS THE ANSWER

Purpose of stars

Psalm 19: 1-4 The heavens declare the glory of God; The skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; Night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, Their words to the ends of the world.

And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth.” (Gen 1:14-15).

Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing. (Isaiah 40:26).

Who is this that appears like the dawn, fair as the moon, bright as the sun, majestic as the stars in procession? (Song of Solomon 6:10).

The purpose of the stars are to signify Gods magnificence in creation and to provide light, so what about the following?

Luke 21:25-27 25″There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. 27At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

This verse is not encouraging the use of astrology but alluding to the actual conditions and physical “signs” in the rapture/tribulation/Jesus second coming in the future and the evidence for this is in the following:

Revelation
6:12  And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; 13  And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.

(There is even no point of using astrology for this because even Jesus says that only the Father knows the time and day and that he will come like “a thief in the night”)

SO WHAT ELSE DOES THE BIBLE SAY? IT SAYS THAT MAN IS CONTROLLED BY GOD NOT THINGS SUCH AS STARS AND THAT WE SHOULD ONLY TRUST IN GOD!!

Lord I know that no one is the master of his own destiny; no person has control over his own life. Jeremiah 10.23.

“God sends both happiness and trouble; you never know what is going to happen next ” Ecc 7.14.

I’m not saying that astrology can’t predict the future because it is based on the trends from the emotional affects of planetary and star alignment. I’m just saying that using them to predict the future is forbidden because when someone relies on stars, God becomes obsolete from the picture. We now become dependent on stars instead of seeking God first. Some may justify that since God created them, it should be OK to interpret them. But remember, God also created spiritual beings that became demons but its not OK to contact or channel them. Just because they exists does not give us the privileged to make use of it especially when the Bible instructs us otherwise. Furthermore psychics were also present such as in ACTS 16: 16-19 when Paul removed the “divine spirit” from the slave girl. Just because the ability and accessibility to use these tools are there does not give us the right to use them, according to the Bible.

Even though the Bible may contain verses regarding stars, their movements,  constellations, or acknowledge that astrologers were present, NOT once does it say that its OK to go beyond that as to interpret them as an instrument and predict the future such as Astrology.

The Truth about His Crucifixion and Death

Many are familiar with the movie Da Vince Code, which is a movie based on the concepts of the “swoon theory”. According to that theory, it basically claims that Jesus escaped death by using a substance that had him knocked out unconciously which made him appear to be dead, healed by the ointments in the tomb, and escaped with Mary Magdeline eastward to later have kids and die a natural death. Some say that he died as the mysterious Yuz Asaf in Kashmir. But either way, I believe that theory fails with major flaws under logic and medical tests!Let’s include some statements from unbelievers such as Richard Walters that state that it was highly improbable that Jesus died on the cross under 12 hours (approx. 3 hours) since the process took longer than that. The evidence they have to support this idea was Pontious Pilate’s amazement at Jesus’ sudden death, the blood that was drawn after his piercing, and the shroud of Tourin. Also, it was recorded by the Jewish historian Josepheus that some including his own friend had survived the crucifixion indicating that it was possible.Now lets use logic, history and science to indicate otherwise:1. You must take an account of these biblical and historical facts in order that precede Jesus early death on the cross and NOT just isolate the crucifixion itself which is included in the following:a. Jesus was under extreme stress! According to Luke 22:44, Jesus began to sweat blood. This is medical condition “hematohidrosis.” Around the sweat glands, there are multiple blood vessels in a net-like form.” Under the pressure of great stress the vessels constrict. Then as the anxiety passes “the blood vessels dilate to the point of rupture. The blood goes into the sweat glands.As the sweat glands are producing a lot of sweat, it pushes the blood to the surface – coming out as droplets of blood mixed with sweat. b. Jesus gets beaten by members of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish High Council. c. Jesus gets flogged (“scourged”) with a Roman flagrum, similar to a “cat-o-nine nails”. It had three “tails”, each with a little metal dumbbell-shaped attachment that digs into the flesh. It was considered so cruel that it was illegal to flog a Roman citizen. d. Jesus is beaten with wooden reeds (like “caning”). e. Jesus gets slapped and punched by a group of Roman soldiers. f. Jesus has a cap or thorns pressed onto His head. Middle Eastern crowns of the period were not little circles like a British or French crown. The were like the mitre worn by Roman Catholic bishops. g. Jesus is tied to the crossbeam that will be attached to the vertical post. Crossbeams typically weighed about 40 pounds (20 kg). h. Jesus has to walk up a hill to the crucifixion site. He falls several times and the soldiers have to force a bypasser, Simon of Cyrene, to carry the beam. i. At the hilltop Jesus is untied. He is then nailed to the Cross. The nails are put through His wrists not His palms, as commonly depicted by artists. One foot is put on top of the other and a nail is driven through both of them. j. Jesus is left on the Cross.k. The body of Jesus is stabbed in the side with a Roman lancia. 2. Here are problems associated with Jesus “just passing out from exhaustion” or even “being drugged” from a Forensic stand point:a. Once Jesus passed out, He would have hung in a “Y” position, with knees bent. Experiments with volunteers have proved that in that position lung muscles become paralyzed from strain in just a few minutes. Within 6-12 minutes a person stops breathing and will die of asphyxiation if the strain is not removed. This isn’t speculation, it’s scientific fact established by direct observation. b. With the blood loss from the flogging and the further loss from the stab wound, Jesus would have gone into hypovolemic shock (shock from extremely low blood pressure caused by bleeding). Without a transfusion and with nothing to stop the internal hemorrhaging He would have died, probably within hours.c. With the internal bleeding and build-up of fluids Jesus would have died from congestive heart failure. Pathologists generally agree that this was a contributing cause of Jesus’ death. d. The Gospel of John says that when Jesus was stabbed blood and water came out of His side. A number of forensic pathologists have examined the descriptions (and, in some cases, information on the Shroud of Turin). They all agree that there is no way water could have come out. But, they agree that the heart is surrounded by the pericardium, which contains a watery fluid and a lance thrust would have extracted this fluid, which would look like water. The thrust would also have pierced the heart, drawing accumulated blood. e. Even if Jesus didn’t die of asphyxiation and even if He didn’t die of congestive heart failure and even if He didn’t die of hypovolemic shock and even if He didn’t die from the internal hemorrhaging itself, He had a large, deep, open chest wound through at least one lung and probably the heart, with internal bleeding. This would have caused internal infection and in a few days He would have died of sepsis, i.e., infection. The Bible says Jesus appeared to hundreds over a period of forty days after the Crucifixion. 3. Some such as the Muslims may argue that Jesus was actually hung on a tree according to 1Peter2, Acts 5, 10, and 13 as opposed to being crucified on a cross according to Matt 13, Mark 15, and Luke 23. Well this is up for debate and interpretation. The cross is made of wood and when you are crucified, you are technically hung. The point is that Jesus was crucified and died!! Even after his death, Jesus showed his disciples his piercings on his hands to show that he was crucified. Also, Jesus died a Roman crucifixion, in which they used 7-inch iron nails driven to the wrists. This could be confirmed by an archaeological find in Jerusalem in 1968 when bodies of crucified victims having 7-inch nails driven through their feet with small pieces of olive wood still attached. When you read the new testament scriptures such as Luke, it clearly states that Jesus carried his cross and was crucified by it. In fact he even needed assistance because he was so badly beaten, he couldn’t have carried it all the way. Now I could hardly imagine Jesus carrying a tree on his shoulder.They also make claim that according to the Qur’an that Jesus was not hung but someone else instead took his place. I’m sure that his own mother, Mary and his close friend, Mary Magdalene would’ve not easily mistaken their own Jesus’ identity. It’s also very difficult to believe that all the Romans, Jewish officials, and the massive crowd during and after the crucifixion, at the same time could all been fooled and mistaken his identity for someone else. Besides, who in the world would want to take Jesus’ agonizing place of extreme torture and punishment and for what reason? Peter himself, one of the closest to Jesus even denied Him out of fear!!! Furthermore, Jesus even predicted his own death and resurrection through the following: Matthew 16:21 – From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests, and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.Luke 18:31,32 – Jesus took the twelve aside and told them, ‘We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. He will be handed over to the Gentiles, they will mock him, insult him, spit on him, flog him, and kill him. On the third day he will rise again.’Now here is both reliable non-Biblical sources from Romans and Jews, who weren’t even Christians that wrote about His death:
a. Cornelius Tacitus in his Annals, xv. 44: Christus … was executed at the hands of the procurator Pontious Pilate.
b. Lucian of Samosata: (Christ was) the man who was crucified in Palestine
c. Talmud, b. Sanhedrin 43a: On the eve of the Passover Yeshu [Jesus] was hanged [or crucified]. … Since nothing was brought forward in his favor he was hanged on the eve of the Passover.
d. Amoa “Ulla” (Ulla was a disciple of Youchanan and lived in Palestine at the end of the third century) adds: “And do you suppose that for (Yeshu of Nazareth- Jesus) there was any right of appeal? He was a beguiler, and the Merciful One hath said: “Thou shalt not spare neither shalt thou conceal him.”It is otherwise with Yeshu, for He was near to the civil authority.There iss no evidence supporting the Qur’an and it was written 600 years after the lifetime of Jesus. It contradicts every historical document and questions the claims of eye witnesses in the Bible.
4. Here is the problems associated with Jesus being sedating with vinegar: THERE ARE NO EVIDENCE!! When you read the actual verses you notice that Jesus was offered the vinegar which doesn’t explicitly say that he drank it (Mark 15:35-37, Matt 27:47-50) or he strictly refused the drink (Mark 15:13) and finally sipped it with his lips but refused to drink the rest (Matt 27:24). Even if he was sedated, can one actually think that he would sleep and not endure the rest of the pain that came after such as the piercing through his heart by the lance??5. Also take an account that the Roman soliders were disciplined EXPERTS in killing and torchering their victims. There would of been no way every single Roman guard present, including Pontious Pilate, the centurion that pierced Him, or the crowd would’ve mistaken Jesus not dying. They did not bother to break Jesus’ legs like the thieves next to him because they realized he was already dead. Those guards, if accessory to a hoax or not completing the act, would of risk their jobs or lives for the sake of a conspiracy!! Even in ACTS 12, when the Angel let Peter escape, King Herod had all the guards on duty executed. Also in ACTS 16, the Roman solider took his own life after Paul escaped prison because he would rather die by his own sword then get executed by his own fellow Romans!!6. Now lets say that Jesus, under all the circumstances of logic and medical science noted above, still managed to survive against all odds. He then was placed in a cold, dark, isolated cave, guarded by the elite Roman guards and Jews. But yet, others say that His beaten, stabbed, hungry, crucified, corpse-like body, managed to get up after nails had been ran through his foot and had enough energy after 3 days without medical attention, to walk upright and push this huge stone slab at a decline sideways from the inside without any assistance and sneak pass the guards who took no notice to it the whole entire time!!! He then walked several miles, evading the entire Romans and Jews in a dangerous territory covering thousands of miles as a convict, in which everyone would’ve recognized Him by that point. He soon appeared to his scared and despaired disciples while He convinced and inspired them ( in the horrid state of condition he was in) that he was the way, truth and life to salvation. Now how does that make any sense??? Seriously???7. Finally, despite all the facts and circumstances I just mentioned, Jesus still managed to survive and flee to Kashmir or Palestine. He would’ve pulled the greatest Houdini escape act ever in the history of mankind. Another theory is that His own disciples stole the body. This is very unreasonable because it would make all the New testament writers liars and crazy by risking their own lives and embarking on a self-defeating conspiracy by getting beaten and torchered in the name of a lie! How would they even get passed the guards wihout being notcied. Some Jews offer their explanation that the Roman guards were asleep. (a) If the Roman guards were asleep, how did they know that it was the disciples that stole the body and (b) why would they admit to death from the capital crime that they were asleep on duty? So, would He ever be worthy of veneration, dignity, respect and honor after decieving humanity of His life, death, and resurrection?? What kind of man, prophet, or angel, would lead his own people to die for Him by claiming to be Christ and fake his entire ministry and death, thus condemning all nations??? What would be His motive to commit such an horrid lie? Well, the final verdict? Under the careful examination using logic, history, science and credibility of the Bible, eye witness testimonies, my conclusion is that Jesus was crucified and died on the cross. The “Swoon theory” clearly fails in every way possible. Terrible attempt for those that postulated that because its nothing more than a fantastic imagination that is hopelessly flawed! It’s very difficult for anyone to believe that he was physically alive and manged to escape after all that would be absurd. I would love to know how and why they would think its possible!! Please enlighten me.1. christiananswers.net

The Morality of Evolution VS the Evolution of Morality

According to Webster dictionary, “morals” is defined as: of, pertaining to, or concerned with the principles or rules of right conduct or the distinction between right and wrong. To simplify, Morals is what dictates “wrong” or “right”. We live by this permeable force found in individuals and society as a whole everyday and its undeniable but have you ever wondered where they came from and are they a universal absolute, meaning that it is an intrinsic fundamental truth in which we all abide by? Or are morals relative; dependent on time and culture? I would like to shed light on this topic through my discoveries to open new possibilities of thought. First and foremost, I would like to elaborate about what morals entails and I assume that everyone has some sort of understanding of it. We know morals exists because our reactions. We would never say “that’s not fair”, “that’s not right”, or “that’s not just”. Our reactions help us identify what justice is. We would never believe that the attacks on 9/11 were “wrong” and the holocaust was “evil”. “Good”, “bad”, “right”, wrong” and “fair” are descriptive words relating to morals. Without morals there would be no basis for human rights. Also without morals there would be no way to measure the difference.When we evaluate the the behavior of Hitler and Gandhi, we are using morals. Without it, statements like “racism is wrong”, “murder is evil”, “child abuse is bad”would have no objective meaning and it would be a matter of opinion like “chocolate taste better than vanilla”. A matter of fact, Thomas Jefferson, one of our founding fathers even thought that morals existed by stating in the US Declaration of Independence, “we hold these truths to be self evident”. If morals didn’t exists then we wouldn’t make excuses for violating it. So from these arguments, we can see that morals do in fact exists.

With that established, I would like to continue next by discussing the first topic on where morals derived from. Some evolutionists claim that that morals are a product due to evolution. To review, evolution is the process of change in the inherited traits of a population of organisms from one generation to the next through mutation, migration, or horizontal gene transfer. Morals, which determines what’s right or wrong, as I previously discussed, is needed in order to benefit the species. Without morals, the species wouldn’t survive because detrimental and destructive activities would put an end to it. In other words, as humans, we must develope morals to be good to one another for the mere reason of survival. This seems to be a rather legitimate stance to others right? I disagree somewhat so let’s take a look more into this. First of all, evolutionist are materialist meaning that everything consist of material such as atoms and molecules. If that is the case, then there should be a way to physically measure morals. How much does the “hate molecule” weigh? What’s the chemical composition of love? That is absurd on how materials are responsible for a non-material thing such as morals. If materialist and evolutionist are correct then we shouldn’t blame Hitler, Sadam Hussein, or Osama bin Laden for their actions because they just has a few bad molecules in them and it was inevitable due to their genes. Obviously, Hitler himself supported the Darwinist view by eliminating the Jews, in which he though was an inferior race. But we all can agree that he was wrong, right? Should we blame evolution? Of course not! Furthermore, one can say that morals are needed for the “good” of the species. Well that statement itself is self defeating because how can the word “good” be used if it regards morals in itself. By who’s definition are we using when we define something to be “good” or “bad” anyways? Who is to say what is “good” for the species and assume that survival is “good” to begin with? And, to whom is it good for? Is this moral reciprocity for the individual species or for the group? Who has the right to be right? How could such a process determine what “right” or “wrong” is initially and at what point did evolution know what “right” or wrong” was? In other words, how could something have the impulse to take the “right” course of action if there was no “right” or wrong” to begin with? Morals could not have been the source of itself. If morals were the product of evolution then why should the strong cooperate with the weak when its all about “survival of the fittest”? Why should we feel compassion for the weak, unable, and retarded people? If evolution strives to ultimately aim for survival then how can it explain why people commit suicide, engaged in destructive behavior with substance abuse, or take noble risk of their lives for others? If one group of species were in direct competition to their equal counter parts but were more moral, does that mean that they would out do their competition? But that wouldn’t be considered good would it?C.S. Lewis adds another perspective in this topic:

When you see someone being mugged and calling for help, our stronger instinct tells us to be safe by running away as oppose to our weaker instinct telling us to help. However, there is a third thing that suppress the stronger one and encourages the weaker one that we ought to help and that itself can not be instinct.

And if everything can be explained in terms of evolution then our curiosity to seek truth and understand morals is due to hard wiring in itself in which we have no control of. All in all, I must say that evolution fails to provide a biological explanation to man’s moral faculties and stating that evolution is responsible for morals faces grave difficulties. It faces what I call a 2 point dilemma:

1. If morals had a natural source through genetics, then it is not objective or absolute, there is no right or wrong, and our values are equivalent to that in which we came from, slime, since we have no grounds to say we are morally better; The only reason why you are understanding about morals is because you are genetically engineered to do so.

2. Even if morals were genetically subjective, then we shouldn’t blame people for murder, rape, and stealing because they were hard wired like that. Its permissable. It would just be one’s opinion over the other so get over it and stop whining and complaining!!

To me, evolution serves no justice when answering where morality came from.If morals did not come from evolution then where did it come from? We must then seek other avenues to possibly answer that question. But what about society and culture? Could society play an important role in the development of morals? I believe so, however I don’t agree that it was the cause of morals. But that too faces another challenge. Where did that society get their morals from? From the generation before them? And where did that society get their morals from? It would be a neverending question without a satisfying answer. Some can distinguish the difference between morals in different countries but fail to look at the similarities. For example, Hindus revere their cows but Americans eat their cows so morals must be different. But the reasoning behind why Hindus don’t eat their cows is because they believe that their ancestors live in them but Americans don’t. If Americans shared the same beliefs then they too would probably not eat their grandmother. The underlying truth is that murder is wrong. The belief might be different but the morals are still the same. Well what about the abortion issue? Some say that people have different morals when pertaining to that. The reason why its up for debate is because no one can determine at what point its actually a human. No mother would murder their own child for the sake of murdering or the knowledge of it being wrong. If everyone knew at what point it was then there wouldn’t be such a huge disagreement. Even Ronald Regan pointed out that if everyone had to go back to their mothers womb, they would be anti abortionist. When regarding abortion, there is a huge controversy and divisions between pro choice and pro life, which some address that it demonstrates that morals are relative. The belief of when its actually a human may be different the the morals that murder is wrong is still shared. While morals indicate what “ought” to be done, different cultures have values and beliefs of “how” it should be done. For example, we all know that when we meet someone we “ought” to express some sort of hello and acknowledge the individual. However different cultures express them in different ways from a kiss, waving a hand, shaking hands, hug, etc. Also, some may see the differences but what about the similarities? Do you think any country or civilization,no matter what time period, would honor a coward? Would praise a man that killed his own parents and raped his kids? Of course not!! That is ridiculous to believe that. If anyone, regardless of age, race, background, sex, culture, (including notorious murderers) saw a baby on the edge of a well, potentially endagered by plundging down to its death, I can guarantee that compassion and concern would be expressed to its highest degree. That implies a universal moral we all share. Well , what about tribes that eat others and sacrifice their own people? Isn’t that sufficient reasoning that morals are based on time era and culture? Not necessarily, because the only reason why they practice cannibalism is because they don’t think that they are humans. They still know that murder is wrong or else they wouldn’t perform cermonial, spiritual rituals before a sacrifice to relive themselves before the act because they know its wrong. Even Hitler knew murder was wrong or else he wouldn’t have dehumanized the Jews in order to rationalize killing them. Murderers know that killing is wrong its just that they don’t have remorse. There is also another confusion about one’s position on morality. I often hear the statement, ” Morals did not come from God because I’m atheist/agnostic and I have morals/ or understand them”. That doesn’t necessarily prove that God doesn’t exists and that morals didn’t come from God just because atheist have morals. Christians believe that God was the source of morals but why do they sometimes do immoral things? Some Christians claim that since atheist do not believe in God, therefore they do not have morals. That itself is not true. Atheist or Christians have innate knowledge of what right or wrong is. Everyone has. Religion may play an influence but is not the source of morals. Religion is not necessary for people to live a moral and ethical life. It could be stated that even that the animal kingdom exhibits some set of morals. I believe that there is confusion between instinct and morals. Animals don’t have morals in a sense that they can think over the result before acting on it and judging whether its right or wrong. Animals do kill each other but its always for the mere reason of territorial gains, defense, power, or food. I can hardly imagine an animal killing for the sake of killing, committing rape, and plotting wars. It would be hard to imagine conditioning a monkey to express compassion when another steals from its friend.

To summarize, evolution and nurture leaves inconclusive answers to where the source of morals came from. My indications show that absolute moral laws do in fact exists. We don’t invent it but only discover it.But, if the morals laws were embedded in us, then it would require a law giver…hmmmmmm..i Wonder.Feedback anyone???*Inspired by Norman L. Geisler and Frank Turek

Mysteries of the Ancient Imposters debunked

Too often do I come across websites, blogs, word of mouth circulating while depicting how Christianity borrowed themes from earlier religions making it a copycat. I always seem to hear that Christianity is not unique because that it stole the ideas of other gods. Everyone familiar with the religion can understand that the centralized theme of “good vs. evil” and “light vs. dark” are as old as humanity itself. But specifically , there is attributes given to the gods of contesting religions of the following:

Born on Dec 25th
Was God in the Flesh
Born of a virgin
Died for our sins
Titled the redeemer, Son of God, Lamb of God,Resurrected

With the exception of his birth on December 25th, one could reasonably claim that it was stolen from pagan ideas. I believe that is true but it is more based on ideology than theology. It doesn’t make a difference. One shouldn’t assume that just because that date was fused in with Christianity that all elements such as his birth, death, and resurrection was too. I know there is a lot of information out there on the internet and he said, she said sources so I decided to investigate the actual history itself to come up with my own educated conclusion. I was quite surprised. I crossed studied each of the mythical gods in ancient history and did a break down analysis and comparison with Jesus. Anyone can make a claim but to actually be credited and backed up with history itself is quite often never used. I wanted to deflate these false information. Hopefully this might shed some more light for you to the pass the real TRUTH and the GOOD NEWS!

1. ADONIS- Associated with life/death cycle of vegetation
Death and resurrection- Apollodorus, who was a Greek writer born about 180 BC, about 2200 years ago who wrote the Library mentions his death but no resurrection

“And Adonis, while still a boy, was wounded and killed in hunting by a boar through the anger of Artemis.” – Apollodorus, The Library, Book III.

The earliest known record of a tradition involving a revived Adonis comes from Lucian of Samosata, the author of De Dea Syria.

“They say, at any rate, that the deed that was done to Adon by the boar occurred in their land, and in memory of that misfortune every year they beat their breasts and mourn and perform the ceremonies, making solemn lamentations throughout the country. And when the breast-beating and weeping is at end, first they make offerings to Adon as if to a dead person; and then, on the next day, they proclaim that he is alive and fetch him forth into the air, and shave their heads as the Egyptians do when Apis dies.”

The problem with this is that it was written a century after Christ, too late to influence Christianity.
Resurrection Theocritus, a Greek poet during the third century AD, after the time of Jesus, indicates in his Psalm of Adonis that Adonis is revived for a single day each year and then is carried out to the sea. There is a huge difference here. Jesus dies was resurrected and defeated death. On the contrary, Adonis dies, returns back to death and gets revived. Resurrection is not the same as revivication. Another problem with this is that it was written 2 centuries after Christ. So you tell me who borrowed what from whom?

Virgin Birth- according to the book, the Library:
“…this Smyrna conceived a passion for her father, and with the complicity of her nurse she shared her father’s bed without his knowledge for twelve nights. But when he was aware of it, he drew his sword and pursued her, and being overtaken she prayed to the gods that she might be invisible; so the gods in compassion turned her into the tree which they call smyrna (myrrh). Ten months afterwards the tree burst and Adonis, as he is called, was born…”
This indicates that he was born through incest than through a virgin birth.

2. DIONYSUS (BACCHUS) is the god of wine, the inpirer of ritual madness and ecstasy. He represents the intoxicating power of wine.(Doesn’t sound like a Jesus to me)
Virgin Birth- When discussing the virgin the birth, there is many version of Dionysus’ real mother. The Golden Bough, some traditions say that he was born of a deity, such as Persephone, the Greek mythical queen of the underworld, or Demeter, a Greek goddess of agriculture who is sometimes revered as the Mother Goddess. Jesus’ mother on the other hand was a mortal woman, a human. Other traditions have Dionysus born from a mortal woman named Semele. And there also was a tradition that Semele never actually gives birth to Dionysus, as we learn from Ovid, a first century Roman poet who wrote Metamorphoses. Ovid informs us that Semele asks to see the god who impregnated her. The god presents himself as a storm. Although the god tries to restrain himself, he inadvertently kills Semele: “But still Semele’s mortal body could not endure the storm, and she was consumed, by the fire of her nuptial gift. The infant Bacchus, still unfinished, is torn from the mother’s womb, and (if it can be believed) is sewn into his father’s thigh to complete his full term.” – Metamorphoses, book III, section 273-315.
Many ancient sources of literature, including The Bacchae, relay the mythical tradition that Semele was the daughter of Cadmus, who was the son of Agenor. Agenor, as we are told by ancient Greek writers, including Apollodorus, was the son of Poseidon, the legendary god of the sea, who also was known as Neptune. Semele’s great-grandfather Poseidon/Neptune was one of the very greatest gods of Greek mythology. He was also a brother to Zeus. And to complicate matters even more in terms of trying to suggest that there are similarities between Semele and Mary, Semele’s mother, Harmonia, was an immortal goddess who was the daughter of Aphrodite (also known as Venus). In other words, Semele was not a virgin or a mortal woman as opposed to Jesus’ mother Mary.
Turning water into wine. The earliest source of this was from Achilles Tatius, in his romance novel, Leucippe and Cleitophon, which is most commonly said to have been written during the second century AD, after the New Testament.
Resurrcetion and crucifixion- according to myth, Dionysus is born to a female deity, torn to pieces by Titans, re-gestated by Semele who is accidentally incinerated, and then sewn into the thigh of Zeus/Jupiter, until he reaches full term for the second time, and is born for the second time, from the thigh of Zeus/Jupiter. This is however a different view from the New Testament writers about Jesus.

3. KRISHNA Although the words Krishna and Christ might sound phonetically similar, they have different meanings. “Krishna” means “the black one,” or “dark one,” whereas the “Christ” means “anointed one” or “messiah.”
Virgin birth The Mahabharata, a Hindu religious text with details about the life and teachings of Krishna, says that Krishna was born in a prison, not a manger, and that his father was a nobleman, not a carpenter.As for a virgin birth, the Mahabharata says that Krishna’s parents were Princess Devaki and Vasudeva, (Mahabharata Book 12, Section 48), who had several children before he was born.
Death and crucifixion- As for the crucifixion and resurrection, it is true that the Mahabharata says that Krishna, who is alternately referred to as Keshava, is killed and that he returns to life, but he was not crucified. Instead, he receives a mortal injury to the heel while meditating in the forest:”A fierce hunter of the name of Jara then came there, desirous of deer. The hunter, mistaking Keshava, who was stretched on the earth in high Yoga, for a deer, pierced him at the heel with a shaft and quickly came to that spot for capturing his prey.” – Mahabharata, Book 16, Section 4

4. HORUS son of Osiris and Isis, the war god, lord of the sky, often depicted as a falcon, hawk, or a lion’s body with a head of a hawk ( but never as the “Lamb of God” such as Jesus)
If you study the history of Horus, such as his losing his eye, avenging his father’s death by battling his uncle Set, and losing his testicle which explains why the desert is infertile, there is nothing similar to Jesus.
Virgin Birth- according to Plutarch, Isis lost her virginity before she was born:”… but Isis and Osiris were enamored of each other and consorted together in the darkness of the womb before their birth. Some say that Arueris came from this union and was called the elder Horus by the Egyptians, but Apollo by the Greeks.” – Plutarch, Osiris and Isis.Isis and Osiris were not only husband and wife, they were brother and sister. In fact they were twins. And in accordance to their mythology, they had consummated their love for one another before they were born. There is also a tradition that Isis later marries her son Horus, further complicating any reasonable comparisons to Christianity. There are no reasons to believe a virgin birth from a mortal woman as the New Testament writers write. Its also very difficult to believe that a mortal virgin woman would produce a half lion/half hawk god.
Baptismal- According to the Egyptian book, the Book of Going Forth by Day, baptism was used to purify the newborn from the mothers womb. Also, water, especially the Nile’s cold water, which was believed to have regenerative powers, is ONLY used to baptize the dead in a ritual, unlike how the way the living Jesus was baptized.
Crucifixion and resurrection- There are two passages within the writing of Plutarch that might lead one to assume that the reconstruction of Osiris leads to a resurrection:• “Later, as they relate, Osiris came to Horus from the other world and exercised and trained him for the battle.” – Plutarch, Osiris and Isis.• “In this way we shall undertake to deal with the numerous and tiresome people, whether they be such as take pleasure in associating theological problems with the seasonal changes in the surrounding atmosphere, or with the growth of the crops and seed-times and ploughing; and also those who say that Osiris is being buried at the time when the grain is sown and covered in the earth and that he comes to life and reappears when plants begin to sprout.” – Plutarch, Osiris and Isis.
This is too ambiguous to assume a bodily resurrection like Christ. It just indicates of a spiritual resurrection. He then became the ruler of the underworld, a story unlike Jesus. Another problem with crucifixion is that it wasn’t practiced 4 thousand years ago at the time of Horus so how is that possible? The earliest that we can actually date crucifixion is to the act of Darius the Persian, conqueror of Babylon in 519 BCE, when he had 3000 Babylonian prisoners crucified
Other- There are no mentions that Horus had 12 disciples like Jesus, but a mention of 4 demi-gods and 16 nobles accomanying him. There are no mentions of Horus being born in a manger, no mentions of Horus raising anyone from the dead like how Jesus rais ed Lazarus from the dead. Horus did however avenge Osiris’ death. If that these are true where are these facts at? Someone please tell me!

6. MITHRA- Mirthra was born out of a rock, not a virgin; was known for killing a bull; there are no textual evidence suggesting Mithras die, therefor no sacrifice or resurrection could be possible. Myths about Mithras parallel accounts to Jesus wasn’t invented till 2 to 5 centuries after the Gospels were well known and circulated. Must I say more?

CONCLUSION: Truth is revealed when you actually take time to study history. People see parallels and then jump into conclusions without examing history, dates, and sources. While other religions are constantly adapted and changing, the story of Jesus doesn’t. When you look closely, you see that some of the stories were written after the New Testament writers. Also those myths were created off pure imagination. The writers of Jesus did not take amusement because they were actually being killed, fed to lions, crucified, shot with arrows, burnt, beaten and exiled. Why do you think they would suffer and risk their lives for just writing a story with no monetary value? For fun? Furthermore, Christ may have been born over 2 thousand years ago, after those gods were known, but his prophecy and fulfillment as the Messiah predated up to 2000BC, longer than Adonis and Dionysus. A major difference was that stories were created using these Gods to explain seasonal, vegetational changes and cycles whereas Jesus actually had eyewitnesses, was historically documented, and was not related to cycles and changes. Even more, the gods depicted in other religions and myths had different forms and shapes, and some would come down to mate with humans giving birth to demi god offsprings. These concepts were alien to Christians and Jews. Their God had no form or shape just expressed in 2 different concepts until Jesus. Last but not least, just because there could be slight similarities, its details that make the difference. So read history and stop believing that crap and even worse, stop spreading it!! You must equip yourself with the armor of Truth so that the injection of lies can not penetrate you. The Truth will be revealed to you if you search for it!!
Inspired by George Konig and About-Jesus.org, Lee Strobel Case for the Real Jesus

The Gospels of according to the Bible: Was Jesus God?

Was Jesus God? This question has caused many tribulations, controversy, and divisions of faith when we read history. Many, such as the Muslims, attribute Jesus as an angel from God, a saint, a great moral teacher, or a wonderous prophet. Some dignifiy Jesus as a perfect example of how to live life in which we too could achieve God status. God-like, one of the gods, or God incarnate, nowhere in the Bible did Jesus ever say the exact words “I AM GOD”. However, he did proclaim to be God, insinsuated it, did not reject the worship of God, and never corrected anyone that gave Him that Title. According to the following scriptures, I have good reasons to believe he is God.

1. In John 10:30, Jesus states, “I and the Father are one.” This might not seem to be a claim to be God. However, look at the Jews’ reaction to His statement, “We are not stoning you for any of these, replied the Jews, but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God“ (John 10:33). The Jews understood Jesus’ statement to be a claim to be God. In the following verses, Jesus never corrects the Jews by saying, “I did not claim to be God.”

2. Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.” Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how do you say, ‘Show us the Father’?” (John 14:6-9)
I think if we apply a little bit of common sense we know exactly what’s going on.

3. Martha therefore said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. Even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother shall rise again.” Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” She said to Him, “Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world.” (John 11:21-27)

4. Thomas the disciple declared concerning Jesus, “Lord and my God” (John 20:28). Jesus does not correct him.

5. Titus 2:13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;

6. 2 Peter 1 Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ:

7. Hebrews 1:8 But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. (This is the Father God speaking about his Son Jesus)

8. In Revelation, an angel instructed the Apostle John to only worship God (Revelation 19:10). Several times in Scripture Jesus receives worship (Matthew 2:11; 14:33; 28:9,17; Luke 24:52; John 9:38). He never rebukes people for worshiping Him. If Jesus were not God, He would have told people to not worship Him, just as the angel in Revelation had.

9. First, turn to Exodus 3, where Moses encounters God in the burning bush. God tells Moses that he is the one He has chosen to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. Moses says to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me ‘What is His name?’ Then what shall I tell them?” God replies to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” God has said that His own name, His personal name, is “I AM.”

9A. Turn to John 8:56-58. Jesus is talking to the unbelieving Jews. “Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing My day; he saw it and was glad.” “You are not yet 50 years old,” they said to Him, “and you have seen Abraham?” “I tell you the truth,” Jesus announced, “before Abraham was, I AM!” Jesus was the great I AM from before the beginning of time; He existed before Abraham ever was. He is claiming here to be the I AM of the Old Testament. Verse 59 says the Jews picked up stones to stone Him, but the Lord Jesus slipped away. The reason they wanted to stone Him was because stoning was the death penalty for blasphemy. He was claiming to be Yahweh–Jehovah–Almighty God–I AM. (Of course, it wasn’t blasphemy when Christ claimed to be who He truly was!)

9B. John 18:4. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Judas and some priests and soldiers are about to take Jesus prisoner. “Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to Him, went out and asked them, ‘Who is it that you want?’ ‘Jesus of Nazareth,’ they replied. ‘I AM,’ Jesus said. When He said, ‘I AM,’ they drew back and fell to the ground.”

10. Isaiah 9: 6-7For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Think about a child could be born and be called God and the Father??

11. Timothy 3:16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.I wonder who they are referring too? hmmmm12.

John 5:17-18 Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working.” For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.13.

Revelation 22:12-13, 16 “Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End…. [16] “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.”

14. Hebrews 3:3-4 Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself. For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything.

15. Isaiah 43:12b, 14-15 “You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD, “that I am God…. [14] This is what the LORD says — your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “For your sake I will send to Babylon and bring down as fugitives all the Babylonians, in the ships in which they took pride. I am the LORD, your Holy One, Israel’s Creator, your King.”
Hosea 11:9b For I am God, and not man — the Holy One among you. I will not come in wrath.
Mark 1:24 “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are — the Holy One of God!”
Even the demons recognized Jesus as God and only God can “destroy” the soul

16.
“‘My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.’ Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus said to them, ‘I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?’ ‘We are not stoning you for any of these,’ replied the Jews, ‘but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.’”

John 10:27-33
Christ ascribes to himself the very exclusive prerogatives of Deity:
“See now that I myself am He! There is no god besides me. I put to death and I bring to life, I have wounded and I will heal, and no one can deliver out of my hand.”Deuteronomy 32:39
“Yes, and from ancient days I am he. No one can deliver out of my hand. When I act, who can reverse it?” Isaiah 43:13

CROSS COMPARISONS BETWEEN GOD THE FATHER AND JESUS THE SON
God Never Changes
Malachi 3:6 For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.

Jesus Never Changes
Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.

God is the only Saviour
“I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour.” Isaiah 43:11
To the only wise God our Saviour… Jude 1:12
God our Saviour. Titus 2:10
…we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour. I Timothy 4:10
God my Saviour. Luke 1:47

Jesus is our Saviour…the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. 1 John 4:14
…our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. II Peter 3:18
…God and our Saviour Jesus Christ. II Peter 1:1
…the Christ, the Saviour of the world. John 4:42
…the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour. Titus 1:4
a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. Luke 2:11
Neither is there salvation in any other (than Jesus): for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.–Acts 4:12

God Created the Universe, Heavens and Earth
I am the LORD that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself. Isaiah 44:24
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. Genesis 1:1

Jesus Created the Universe, Heavens and Earth
[U]nto the Son he saith…Thou, LORD, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands. Hebrews 1:10
[B]y him (Jesus) were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth…all things were created by him, and for him. Colossians 1:16
All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made. John 1:3

God is the first and last
I the LORD, the first, and with the last; I am he. Isaiah 41:4

Jesus is the first and last
Jesus said, “Fear not; I am the first and the last:” Revelation 1:17

God is our Redeemer
[T]hou, O LORD, art our father, our redeemer.. Isaiah 63:16

Jesus is our Redeemer
[T]the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ…gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity.. Titus 2:13-14

God is the Holy One
Psalms 71:22 I will also praise thee with the psaltery, even thy truth,O my God: unto thee will I sing with the harp, O thou Holy One of Israel.
Psalms 78:41 Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel.
Psalms 89:18 For the LORD is our defence; and the Holy One of Israel is our king.
Isaiah 10:20 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and such as are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again stay upon him that smote them; but shall stay upon the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.
Psalms 16:10 For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. (Messianic Psalm)

Jesus is the Holy One
Acts 2:27 Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
3:13-14 The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go. But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you;

God is the Judge of the World
O Lord God, to whom vengeance belongeth; O God, to whom vengeance belongeth, shew thyself. Lift up thyself, thou judge of the earth: render a reward to the proud. Psalms 94:1-2
[Abraham to God]…Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? Genesis 18:25

Jesus is the Judge of the World
[T]he Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: John 5:22

MORE SIMILARITIES

“see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. ” 2 Corinthians 4:4

“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. “Colossians 1:15

“Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was… Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.” John 17:5, 24

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…All things were made by him…He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not…And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us John 1:1, 3, 10, 14

Philip saith unto him, ‘Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.’ Jesus saith unto him, ‘Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me Philip? HE THAT HATH SEEN ME HATH SEEN THE FATHER; and how sayest thou then, ‘Shew us the Father? John 14: 8-9

“…CHRIST, who is the IMAGE OF GOD…”– II Corinthians 4:4

“…glory of GOD in the FACE OF JESUS CHRIST.”–II Corinthians 4:6

Colossians 2:9 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form,

GOD…hath in these last days spoken unto us by his SON…who being the brightness of his glory, and the EXPRESS IMAGE OF HIS PERSON…” –Hebrews 1:1-3

Heb. 1:88But about the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever, and righteousness will be the scepter of your kingdom.(That’s God the Father addressing his own son as God!)

Who’s Blood Redeemed Us?

28Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. Acts 20:28

3Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand. 4John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne; 5And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, Rev 1:3-5

Who is the Lord?

1The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. Psalm 110:1 41

While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, 42Saying, What think ye of Christ? whose son is he? They say unto him, The son of David. 43He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying, 44The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool? 45If David then call him Lord, how is he his son? 46And no man was able to answer him a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions. Matt 22:41-46

32This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. 33Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear. 34For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, 35Until I make thy foes thy footstool. 36Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made the same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. Acts 2:32-36

Who’s on the Throne? 1In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the LORD sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. 2Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. 3And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. 4And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. 5Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. 6Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: 7And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. 8Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me. Is 6:1-8 37

But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him: 38That the saying of Esaias the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report? and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed? 39Therefore they could not believe, because that Esaias said again, 40He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them. 41These things said Esaias, when he saw his glory, and spake of him. John 12:37-41

Who’s gets the Glory?
8I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images Is 42:8 11

For mine own sake, even for mine own sake, will I do it: for how should my name be polluted? and I will not give my glory unto another. Is 48:11 1

These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: 2As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. 3And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. 4I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. 5And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. John 17:1-5

Who shall we Bow Down to?
23I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. Is 45:23

10That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Phil 2:10-11

Who shall we Worship?

5And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. 7If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine. 8And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Luke 4:5-81

God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, 2Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; 3Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high: 4Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. 5For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son? 6And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him. 7And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire. 8But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. Heb 1:1-8

Who is Your Shepherd?

1The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. Psalm 23:1 7

Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. 8All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. 9I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. 10The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. 11I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. John 10:7-11

How can anyone redeem the sins of the world besides God Himself? How can an ordinary man or prophet cure the sick, heal the blind, leper, deaf, mute, work on the Sabbath, raise the dead, walk on water, feed the thousands, and most importantly raise Himself with a bodily resurrection from the dead? Only God can do these things!!

Why does God allow Evil and Suffering?

1.Barbers cut, style, and groom hair

2.There are people out there with shaggy and unclean hair.

3.Therefore barbers do not exist

See where I’m coming from? Just like messy hair, evil does not mean that God does not exist. Then one might take it to the next step and say, “Then why does God allow evil to happen and not stop it?” Now there posits another problem with this question and we will closely examine that. The answer lies with the concept of FREE WILL and misunderstanding of it. Free will is the most loving act of all and God is all love. We know that forced love is not real love. It’s like forcing someone to marry someone at the altar. Now, is that real love? Of course it isn’t.

So now let’s go back to the answer. In order for God to stop all evil, he would have to interfere with one’s own will. What if someone wanted to commit murder by their own free will? If God stopped them, He would then be violating His own love for us and His gift of Free Will. Let’s take it a step back further- which evil then should God stop: some of it or all of it? Evil is evil no matter what shape, form, or degree including an evil thought. Evil actions are born from evil thoughts. In order for evil to not exist, God would have to program our minds to never think evil and remove our freedom of thought. Essentially we would be nothing more that robots with only once choice available: to make the right choice only! But once again, that wouldn’t make us humans and that would not be authentic love. If you cause someone to make a specific choice than that choice is no longer free. God loved us so much that he gave us a choice to love Him back or not, to believe Him so or not.

Another problem with that is who is to say that God allowed all evil? You can prove this right now through a simple project. Look at a pen and pick it up….now was God responsible for you picking up that pen or did you make a choice and committed the action? It was all your choice. Part of evil that occurs is because of a self made choice. God didn’t cause that guy to drink too much alcohol on a party Friday night and then caused him to drive home that resulted in killing someone by accident. It was entirely his choice and choices have a consequence of suffering or non-suffering.

Blaming God for someone’s evil is like blaming parents for giving birth to their child that grew up and later on gave birth to another child that committed such an atrocity! So who is to blame: The parents, or their parents, or their parents? You might as well not have kids at all to prevent a potential suffering for them and for others in the future right?

If God is all powerful, then He would prefer to create a perfect world than a world full of evil.….

Now, that is not necessarily true because of the hidden assumption and misunderstanding that the objector has made that an all powerful God can just create any possible world. All powerful does not mean you can do logical impossibilities such as create a round square. God is all good, all love. God can not sin and can not break His own promise. He never violates his own nature and grants us Free will. With free will comes the potential to choose evil. Even a beautiful hand-crafted vase has a potential to break and shatter but that doesn’t mean that its created state isn’t perfect. Furthermore, just because God didn’t do something doesn’t prove that He doesn’t exist. If you didn’t want to lift your left hand, does that mean you don’t exist?

Inconsistency of the argument

If evil is evidence that God does not exist then the opposite has to be true. “If good exist, then God has to exist” right? That alone is not sufficient evidence and only proves that evil does not permit God from existing. Once again evil itself is not evidence that dismisses God’s existence.

Why does God allow suffering?

A fallacy is that if all evil in the world was removed, there would only be good consequences. That is not necessarily true. We don’t know that. But one should know that both pain and suffering is not all entirely bad. Another possibility is that God uses pain and suffering to help us grow and to forge us into excellence. For example: there comes a point where parents can no longer tend to their child’s bruises and ouches, and that child must no grow and becomes tempered from mistakes, suffering, and growing pains. Virtue could not exist and have any value if evil did not exist. You can’t be considered virtuous or moral unless you are tested with evil. Besides, if God removed all the pain and suffering in this world, we would all
become spoiled brats having our own ways. C.S. Lewis puts it in this perspective: God is like a surgeon who operates on us and knows best on how to heal us. The entire surgical process is painful but we will be all right at the end. If God stopped in the middle of the surgery then all of that pain was in vain. Also, suffering and pain is sometimes necessary. Imagine a world where you never experienced pain. Every time you placed your hands above a flame you couldn’t feel pain. You could burn to death. Finally, by definition, God has the attributes of all-knowing so He knows the final outcome and purpose as we are limited. We might not see the purpose for evil then and there or at all, but if God is all knowing and all loving, then He is in full control.

THE PERFECT CURE:

Based on what I have discussed so far, there is only 3 cures that could remedy evil and suffering in this world.

Cure 1: Eliminate mankind

Cure 2: Eliminate our ability to do evil

Cure 3: Provide us a way to be holy and give us the ability to do good thus eliminating or minimizing evil

I’m not going to further emphasize on cure 2, or even bring up cure #1. But I am going to leave it up to you to think about if cure #3 was already in motion.

How did Life originate?

From the complexity of humans to more supposed simple life forms, the single cell organism, how can life be created or is it even possible? Many adherents to abiogenesis will claim different theories such that life nearly emerged from self organization of matter, zap of lightning, in a theoretical primordial soup during Earth’s early prebiotic conditions. So, let’s review how likely it is that life could have sprang into existence without intelligent design using some of these models. But in order to discuss that we are going to review biochemistry 101 and go and explore one evolutionary step behind a single cell- the DNA and RNA.

In a single cell’s nucleus, there contains DNA, a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living
organisms and some viruses. The DNA molecules’ function is to store instructions use to construct cellular components such as RNA and protein that serves other functions

Chemically, DNA consists of two long polymers of simple units called nucleotides, with backbones made of sugars and phosphate groups joined by ester bonds. These two strands run in opposite directions to each other and are therefore anti-parallel. Attached to each sugar is one of four types of molecules called bases. It is the sequence of these four bases along the backbone that encodes information. This information is read using the genetic code, which specifies the sequence of the amino acids within proteins. The code is read by copying stretches of DNA into the related nucleic acid RNA, in a process called transcription.

Problem #1 Chicken or the Egg?….

Now, protein is used to create DNA and RNA but that introduces a few problems. In order to make proteins you need DNA, but in order to make DNA, you need proteins, thus the “chicken and the egg problem”. They would a have to occur simultaneously.

Problem #2 Where did the information in DNA come from?

Some scientist and atheists claim that information in DNA was born out of accidental and randomness of self organization. But here’s a huge challenge to that. The bases in DNA act as a 4 letter alphabet. Now as we know, letters in an alphabet have no meaning and represent nothing unless it is coupled together to form a sentence which are specifically arranged to create a paragraph which now have informational meaning! That is exactly how the bases in DNA work. Now picture this, 1 DNA contains more information than an entire encyclopedia!!!

Information always requires a sender and a receiver, an encoding/decoding mechanism, and a convention of symbols. That is consistent in all areas of life. Now what if you came across writings in a beach that spell out “Tom and Mary was here”…Would you assume that someone (messenger) wrote that message out to someone (receiver) or would you assume that it was out of randomness?? The bases in DNA act like a software program. But everyone knows that even with software it still requires a programmer. What or who? But we know that only a mind can create information. The materials that carry information is independent on information itself. It’s the information that actually makes the molecules into something that actually functions. Information is habitually connected to intelligent activity.

A. DNA/RNA is a code, language, protocol….
B. Every code, language, protocol comes from a mind (This is totally 100% consistent with observation)….
C. Therefore DNA must come from a mind….

You create information every time you talk to somebody. The creation of information begins with a desire, which lead to an idea, which you express in words, which you break down into sounds and letters when you speak or write, in that order. The way you and I design a paper airplane or a car, or remodel a kitchen is no different. In other words, language and design are always a top-down mental processes – not something that nature does “bottom up.” –Cosmic Fingerprints.

Well what about self ordering and pattern (amino acids attracted to each other)? Well here is a problem with that. If A was attracted to G it would produce A-G-A-G-A-G and you wouldn’t get a message. They work like alphabets acting like letters to create words which creates sentences. You need irregularities and variety to form
informational sequences which once again, a mind can only create. The laws of
nature describe only patterns, repetition, and regularities. Also, there is no attraction or bonding between individual letters (bases themselves). The bases are interchangeable. As for patterns, there are chaotic things such tornadoes, stalagmites, and snowflakes that are unaided and occur naturally. However, all patterns have design but not all design have patterns such as language, maps, binary programs, literature, and music. They all have properties of intelligence behind them.

Problem #3: A pre-biotic soup?

Stanley Miller demonstrated in 1953 that mixtures of reducing gases, thought to be present in the primordial earth, when subjected to electrical discharges, produced many organic compounds, including several amino acids. Problem with Stanley Miller’s project- first of all that prebiotic soup is talked about like it actually existed even though there is no evidence at all or even any traces of it! Just because he managed to create a few amino acids, those amino acids reacted immediately to the environment forming a sludge. Those amino acids would have to be contained against the environment before further reactions would permit it to take on life friendly direction. Also, he only managed to create both left handed strands and right handed strands when life’s composition require exclusively left handed. Even though proteins could be synthesized with the manipulation of amino acids, it would still require a method to replicate them. No model could be proposed which would explain inclusion of only one form of amino acids to the exclusion of the other, without the aid of RNA’s, in the form of ribosomal RNA (rRNA), transfer RNA (tRNA), and messenger RNA (mRNA). All models would require the spontaneous evolution of both RNA’s and proteins simultaneously. In addition, specific proteins are required in combination with rRNA in order for other proteins to be synthesized. Even if this ancient prebiotic soup existed, there would’ve been a nitrogen rich atmosphere because amino acids are nitrogenous but it comes out to be that the earth was 15% nitrogen. The window for this theoretical soup to exist is very, very slim and guess how much evidence we have that it existed? There are NONE!!

Problem #4 Early Earth’s atmosphere model:

A. Pyrimidine nucleosides (cytosine and uracil) do not form under prebitic conditions and only purine (adenine and guanine) nucleosides are found in carbonaceous meteorites. However, pyrimidine nucleosides do not form in outer space.

B. Even if a method for pyrimidine formation could be found, the combination with phosphate under prebiotic conditions, also produce other products that interfere with RNA polymerization and replication.

C. Purine and pyramidine nucleotides do not form under prebiotic conditions.

D. the first RNA could not exist without enzymes and was four times longer. Plus it could only replicate 16 base pairs at most which makes it unable to replicate itself.

E. Enzymes and amino acids can not form under the presence of oxygen which was known to have been present 500 million years before the first life form.

Problem #5 Difficulty creating just 1 protein

DNA choreographs the manufacturing of amino acids to assemble together to create proteins to that fold the exact way to manufacture biological system There is a simple molecule threshold and that is having a tertiary structure, a level of folding that a molecule is suppose to have that is necessary to perform its function. To get that structure you need at least 75 amino acids and then you need the right bonds. You also need at least 1200 to 2000 bases to build on protein molecule. Also amino acids come in right handed or left handed versions, but you need to only get left handed ones. Last, the amino acids must link up to a specific sequence like letters in an alphabet and that’s only 1 protein molecule…the most simplest cell needs at least 300-500 protein molecules…That’s one in a trillion to the trillionth power chance of that ever happening! Plus all of this would have to be accomplished in a 100 million years between the Earth cooling to the first micro fossils found.

Problem #6: Give the possibility more time

Some objectors will state that given more time, the possibilities of life could be created! However, the second law of thermodynamics insist that nature has the tendency to head towards disorder not organization. So in effect, it means that more time would actually make the possibilities of life ever emerging more difficult. Its like saying that over time if I throw all pieces of scrabble over time I will produce Shakespear’s Hamlet.

What does our observation in the natural world tell us about biochemistry so far?

1. It is a biological fact that only life can originate from life. There must be a living parent to produce life.

2. Information comes from intelligence

3. Rearrangements of chemicals only produce a rearrangement to chemicals, not life.

4. we have NEVER witness or seen any life spontaneously pop up into existence through self assembly, and transform into an organized system through an unintelligent process naturally through random chance, intelligently controlled, or an
materialistic process that produced encoded information. Self organization,
chance, or natural processes do NOT have the casual power to create
information. There are no known physical laws which give molecules a natural
tendency to arrange themselves into such coded structures. ….

5. Even with controlled conditions in a lab with the most intelligent and skilled scientist, they still can not create life.

So there you you have it- the improbability that life sprang into existence unguided without intelligent design. The irony is that most atheist will vouch for “scientific method”. But scientific method calls for observation, testing, and retesting. We have never observe life out of non-life and our tests have all failed. So what you have left is logic and common sense, what science presupposes. The same method creationists uses. So far we are only left to 2 options: Either life was unguided with no creator or life was manged and created through a powerful intelligent design. I will leave that up to you to decide.

.. *godandscience.org, I dont have enough faith to be an atheist, The Case for a Creator