Why Did Jesus Come To The Earth?

[goodlife]

Jesus was not an imaginary person. He really lived as a man on earth. “In ancient times even the opponents of Christianity never doubted the [actual existence] of Jesus,” notes the Encyclopædia Britannica. So just who was Jesus? Was he really sent by God? Why is he so well known?

[Retrochic]

gness

'Protracted' was the major adjective concerning holidays and medical conditions. I have no problem with people asking genuine questions on their medical conditions and always try to help as do other AB'ers

My post was obviously slightly tongue in cheek ,but hey (slow day?) don't let that get in the way of you coming Off Topic to get a good dig at ole Retro I know you need your daily fix so you do.

[Khandro]

andy;//That is not in the spirit of the site, or may I venture, of his faith, which I understand to hold inclusivity as one of its cornerstones.//

Well don't respond then! :0)

[andy-hughes]

divebuddy - //Andy Hughes, I'd be careful about criticising someone for copying/pasting vast tracts, if I was you. //

I don't copy / paste 'vast tracts' - I simply c/p the post to which I am responding (and the accent is on the 'responding' bit, in view of this conversation!) to avoid any confusion - so I don't see any need to be careful as you put it.

Thank you.

[andy-hughes]

Khandro - //andy;//That is not in the spirit of the site, or may I venture, of his faith, which I understand to hold inclusivity as one of its cornerstones.//

Well don't respond then! :0) //

With the rare exception of today, I gave up directly responding to goodlife months ago - it's a futile and frustrating exercise. I only did so today secure in the knowledge that he will ignore me - as he will anyone else who tries to engage him in any dialogue.

However, a debate about his methods is something I am always happy to enter into.

[naomi24]

Khandro, people may respond if they wish – but that doesn’t preclude them from observing that Goodlife is here simply to preach and has no intention of entering into any sort of meaningful discussion. If gathering converts is his objective he's failing because he's a very poor teacher.

[goodlife]

Wow. I certainly didn't expect to get so many replies. Just goes to show you really can't resist me can you?

Now to the knitty gritty!

Talbot@ Obviously not a believer. But historic facts prove Jesus existed. Plus, if he did not exist/come down to earth, how is it that Christianity has grown as it has over the past 2,000 years?

Naomi@ Jesus' name has only been abused by those who ignore his existence and revile the whole purpose of his message.

Beso@The ancients were a whole lot more intelligent than some who are around today. How do you know Jesus was fictitious? What evidence do you have?

Andy-Hughes@ why do I keep asking questions? To annoy you of course. You get so easily agitated. I am prepared to answer questions put to me but many of your questions I have answered again and again, and you still put up the same questions. I get the impression you don't read what I put anyway.

Naomi@ Jesus commanded his followers to preach the Good News of the Kingdom.

[andy-hughes]

goodlife - //Andy-Hughes@ why do I keep asking questions? To annoy you of course. You get so easily agitated.//

How very unChristian of you - you should be ashamed!

//I am prepared to answer questions put to me but many of your questions I have answered again and again, and you still put up the same questions. I get the impression you don't read what I put anyway. //

I cannot recall a time when you have responded directly to me, but am happy to be proven wrong (being wrong doesn't upset me like it does you!)

Your impression - like your belief - is misplaced.

[naomi24]

Goodlife, //historic facts prove Jesus existed.//

No they don’t.

//how is it that Christianity has grown as it has over the past 2,000 years?//

I told you this morning.

[goodlife]

The Roman governor Pontius Pilate ask a question, “What is truth?” die with him, unanswered. Really, though, did the question die with him? Has the question remained unanswered down to this day? Though Jesus Christ did not verbally answer Pilate’s question to him himself, did he really leave the question unanswered to others, yes, to us? We are obliged to reply No! Pilate’s question has been answered, and the answer can be given to the honest seekers and lovers of “the truth.” (John 18:38)

[andy-hughes]

goodlife - //Question Author

The Roman governor Pontius Pilate ask a question, “What is truth?” die with him, unanswered. Really, though, did the question die with him? Has the question remained unanswered down to this day? Though Jesus Christ did not verbally answer Pilate’s question to him himself, did he really leave the question unanswered to others, yes, to us? We are obliged to reply No! Pilate’s question has been answered, and the answer can be given to the honest seekers and lovers of “the truth.” (John 18:38) //

Normal service has been resumed.

[benhilton]

The Roman Catholic church has 1.2 billion followers , if you add on Orthodox protestant and others the number of Christians tops 1.5 billion . Nobody can doubt that Jesus has a huge following . If this is the result of a perpetuated myth then this myth must strike a remarkably resonant chord in peoples' hearts to build up a following that size .
I agree with Goodlife that the ancients were far more intelligent than people realise - they managed to write down and preserve over centuries the scriptures which detail these histories , also , let's see the modern construction companies build an exact replica of the Great Pyramid (.....yes , I know no-one would finance such a white elephant but technically - could they do it ?.....)
Naomi you touched on a mystery there with the genealogy , the genealogy at the start of Matthew is the genealogy of Joseph , but the fundamental tenet of Christianity is that Jesus is the son of God (not Joseph) .
Andy you've responded three times to Goodlife's post to tell us that you no longer bother to respond to Goodlife's posts ????.......

[sandyRoe]

Looking at the state the world's in, he must sometimes ask himself that same question.

[Kimdottir]

Naomi, goodlife doesn't read what's put to him either. No need, if you already know everybody else is wrong....

[naomi24]

Goodlife, //The Roman governor Pontius Pilate ask a question…//

Do you ever look beyond what you’re told by your anonymous teachers? Do you ever ask a simple but rationally obvious question like, “Who recorded Pilate’s words?”, or “Who recorded Jesus’ trial?” His disciples fled so we know they weren’t witnesses to it, and the Romans left no record of Jesus or of his alleged encounter with Pilate, so who? You may as well believe what I write – I’m just as anonymous to you as the unknown authors of the bible are - but you do have an advantage with me in that you can be sure that I exist, and hence, unlike those shadowy and long dead writers, I am in a position to answer any queries my words may provoke.

benhilton, //Naomi you touched on a mystery there with the genealogy , the genealogy at the start of Matthew is the genealogy of Joseph , but the fundamental tenet of Christianity is that Jesus is the son of God (not Joseph) .//

If you think about it, you’ve got it in one.

//If this is the result of a perpetuated myth then this myth must strike a remarkably resonant chord in peoples' hearts to build up a following that size .//

It does strike a remarkably resonant chord. It offers eternal life. Without that Christianity wouldn’t exist. Quite a carrot to the fearful.

Kimdottir, indeed.

[ludwig]

Goodlife is basically a spammer. Normally their questions just get deleted, but we engage with the religious ones because it's interesting.

[wildwood]

goodlife is, I believe, a fun person. He continuously provokes a certain type of AB member and gives us a regular laugh. Sometimes I think he purposely copy/pastes the 'good word' to make folks read them so they can retort. This, he feels, must be his mission in life.

[goodlife]

“What is truth?” That is as far as the governor went in his interest in the truth. Three years later he was summoned to Rome to answer for misconduct in office. According to the historian Eusebius, he was banished to Vienna in the Roman province of Gaul and later he committed suicide. He died without getting the answer to his question.

So who really believes that there is no truth. When it comes to physical realities, such as medicine, mathematics, or the laws of physics, even the staunchest relativist will believe that some things are true. Verifiable truths do exist; they surround us, and we stake our lives on them.

For example, the Bible’s moral teachings, which say clearly that sexual immorality is wrong, are only rarely held as truths anymore. Situation ethics—“decide what is right for you”—is the order of the day. Could anyone claim that social decay has not resulted from this relativistic outlook? Surely the worldwide epidemics of sexually transmitted diseases, broken homes, and teenage pregnancies speak for themselves.

[boxtops]

The same moral teachings are in the Koran, goodlife - they're not exclusively Christian.