From: rpitts@emperor.gatech.edu (Richard Pitts)
Newsgroups: talk.religion.misc
Subject: Re: I'm God.
Date: 8 Oct 92 20:09:00 GMT
Organization: CERL-EE, Georgia Institue of Technology

In article <ksand-071092185018@wintermute.apple.com> ksand@apple.com (Kent Sandvik) writes:
|In article <70319@hydra.gatech.EDU>, rpitts@emperor.gatech.edu (Richard
|Pitts) wrote:
|> |You know, if there was a white bearded man that rose people from the dead,
|> |at least National Inquirer and a couple of TV shows would report it 
|> |immediately. Such events are real news! As there are no such stuff
|> |mentioned in the Roman and Jewish scriptures, it's clear that we didn't
|> 
|> The communication age is more recent than the time of Christ.  I do
|> believe if it had happened to day, the Inquirer and such would have
|> been there.
|
|So you frankly believe people were not that keen to listen and hear
|on gossip and fantastic events 2000 years ago? C'mon, you know quite
|well that even if we didn't have newspapers, the cultures had all kinds
|of other channels they used to distribute information. Not to speak

Agreed.  And we have Christianity spread thoughout the world.  It spread 
from Jerusalem out rather quickly.  Within a few days of Pentecost there
were 3,000 (Acts 2:41) and then 5,000 (Acts 4:4) believers within 
Jerusalem.  

|about all the historical recordings people wrote. It's a known problem
|that for a man that was such a special being, there's hardly anything
|recorded.

Oh.  What is the volume of books we call the Bible that predicts and
confirms this one man Jesus the Christ as he was to come, was here,
and will come again?  I understand that's not enough.  

|> Again, Jesus rose from the grave and never died again.  Name another
|> that never died again, even it you claim they rose from the dead - many
|> rose from the dead at the hand of Jesus and at his resurrection, but
|> Jesus stands above them all - he ascended into heaven - he is alive and
|> with the Father today.
|
|Well, Osiris rose from the dead, Mitras died weekly in the Mitras cult

Where are their bodies today?   Jesus never died again - he is alive.

|rituals, and the worshippers ate his body and drank his blood. Buddha
|didn't die. What's so special with this religion, really. Is the

I think Budda's body is spread across the region and there are temples
built over parts of his body - I think he did die.

|justification
|that someone didn't die the key? If so I must inform you that resurrection

He died and rose never to die again - did your men above do that?

|is an early religious idea. Actually it's even a requirement so the
|worshipped entity will get followers.

A afterlife is promised for all who follow Jesus.  Jesus rose and proved
there was life beyond the grave and death had no more power over him nor
will it have power over those who believe, for we will overcome death
at the resurrection.

|> Evidence - Luke says that Jesus was "the son of Joseph, SO IT WAS THOUGHT."
|
|So they didn't even have enough information, and continue speculating
|about Jesus' ancestory. Doesn't that look really pathetic, you don't
|know who was the father, but you have to continue with the ancestory 
|line. How sad.

Who said there was an earthly father even know his name?  All of the
information and understanding I have says that Mary conceived - if
God can created mankind, then surely he can cause a woman to conceive,
without a man.

|> He didn't say Jesus was Joseph's son.  Luke starts with Jesus and goes
|> backwards - each of the names could be seen to be an ancestor of Jesus
|> and not of Joseph.  Matthew starts at Adam and says that the names were
|> begat (which I believe means father or direct ancestor) the next name.
|> Matthew ends with Joseph, as the end of the line, who was the husband of
|> Mary, who begat Jesus.  Note Mary begat Jesus and Joseph was her husband
|> but not Jesus' father.  (The NIV puts it Joseph the husband of Mary, to
|> whom was born Jesus.)
|
|I'm confused. You say that each of the names seen to be an ancestor
|of Jesus. But he didn't have an earthly father. Matthew ends with 
|Joseph, but Luke doesn't. Why all the contradictions, didn't they
|even have simple facts like Jesus family figured out? Who would 
|believe me if I presented to confusing ancestory lines from my 
|family side. Not even me myself, I would go back and double check
|my references!

They had them figured out.  Joseph was not the father.  Mary was the
mother.  The legal line came through Joseph, as Matthew presents it.
Matthew does not say Joseph was Jesus' father.  Luke gives the
male ancestorial line and so the blood line of Jesus through Mary to 
David -  Jesus was the son of each of those in Luke's geneology.  Both 
of them mention Joseph.

For Christ and His Kingdom,
Richard Pitts
-- 
rpitts@cerl.gatech.edu       |    
Atlanta, GA                --|-- 
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