...you better be straight when you do that 1040EZ

oh its all second nature now.

If you read my post you'd know that im aware of what's in the bible and that I just don't find it divinely inspired. I used to and I was a devoted catholic for most of my life until I set out to research my faith as well as other faiths. My journey ultimately ended with me dropping my beliefs since I found them lacking a good reason to be held.

That being said i view the supernatural aspects of the bible as I view the supernatural in a harry potter book. I see no reason to view it differently. I doubt my skepticism of religion would change with a near death experience since it's based on the research I did. If during that experience I discovered a god does exist then I would change my mind and my faith would be restored. I like to keep an open mind on the subject, but not so open that my brain falls out.

This post was edited by dark-soul on Jan 26 2014 02:50am

So, all you guys know better then the pope?
How often have you been to heaven that you know all this for sure

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/pope-francis-assures-atheists-you-dont-have-to-believe-in-god-to-go-to-heaven-8810062.html


And since you say heaven is a "place" the same goes for hell, right?
But hell has been made a bit smaller by the last pope
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1549439/The-Pope-ends-state-of-limbo-after-800-years.html

I don't say that I believe the pope, I think everyone creates them self a hell or a heaven,
and the best would be if we would start to create a heaven on earth.

I'm 100% sure that heaven and hell as described by Christianity are a load of shit and were created to control people. Jesus was a nice dude who people thought was god.
This doesn't mean god doesn't exist but the conception of some old man in the sky who knows and cares about everything you do is a fantasy.

Yeah I do don't I?



Nothing to focus on then, except for you getting saved. It is so easy to tell me how to act when you, yourself have a partner isn't it?
Somebody once told me that I need to treat girls as I would treat guys, as if they know it all. I bet if I came up to them and bombarded then with ALL of the problems I had, they would have nothing to offer including false hope.



So do you believe that the places that The Bible say that whatever events took place were all made up? Do you believe that there ever was a place called Rome? Italy? Damascus? Athens? Corinth? Jerusalem? etc.
What about the Red Sea or the Jordan River? If some or none of these places exist then how could The Bible possibly be true? I don't think that you would have travelled the world for that.

The Bible I own has a map of the area where all the events took place. One such part includes the area of The Mediterranean Sea, which is right below Italy. On that map it shows Paul's Missionary Journeys throughout the large area. Paul's Missionary Journeys shows how Christianity started in Jerusalem and then proceeded to spread across the Globe.
The message of the good news that started in Jerusalem went to Samaria, Damascus, Philippi, Thessalonica, Athens, Corinth, Ephesus, Rome, all the way down to the city that you and I live in.

From that, there is little doubt that anybody would not have heard the news of the Gospel. The reason I'm telling you this is that you can check what The Bible says about the Journeys that many people have made and compare it with the world map. I'm grateful in that The Bible I own has everything already worked out, put into a timeline, shows the map of the Areas and the cities, even the city of Jerusalem in Jesus' time. With all this in mind, it is not a simple matter of reading the words every Bible study. I always check if the timelines are true and the areas do exist. It is easy to check if a place is made up. However whenever I checked what The Bible claims and researched its stories, the stories did indeed add up.

I am a Christian and I voted no.

if not Christian will not go to heaven?
is a concept somewhat lazy and selfish.
believe that Jesus died for us and cleansed us from all sin is irrational and lazy.
would be better to believe that their attitudes and moral conduct do it?

is easy to assign to others the responsibility for our failures.

grace vs faith vs good works?

Ephesians 2:8-9

New International Version (NIV)

8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—
9 not by works, so that no one can boast.

James 2 (New International Version)

20 You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?