If you are Christian I would highly recommend learning as much as you can about the religion and the Bible. This is the fastest, surest way of becoming a non-Christian. After that happens, the best use you have left for all those things that you learned is probably going to be taking quizzes on the subject.
Ugh, such flawed reasoning. So, by this 'logic', I guess all the pastors and priests of the world still haven't actually read and understood the bible. If they had they would (quickly) quit.
I didn't say it was a guarantee I said it was the fastest, surest way. And, actually, there are quite a lot of pastors who are atheists. See: The clergy project. They go on acting like they believe because it's their job, mostly.
I've heard it said many times by people who have firsthand experience with this that it's basically impossible to get through seminary and still believe. Because they actually study how the Bible came about. Many pastors at Protestant churches never go through the same level of training or study. Stalin went through seminary. Matt Dillahunty was studying to be a preacher when he was younger. Bart Ehrman is one of the most respected Biblical scholars alive today and used to believe, as well. Most atheists I meet in fact became atheists because they learned about their religion.
I would have to meet them myself to say for sure, and until then will have to take your word for it Mama, but I am skeptical of that claim. All of the people I have ever met who claimed to be "atheists" and then started going to church really never were atheists... they were non-practicing or non-religious theists. Or agnostics that didn't really care and then one day decided their life was missing something.
Also, while I have met people who, after studying the Bible or Quran carefully decided that their faith was stronger, they are, in my own experience, the minority. Most of the people I know who went from being less religious to more religious, or believers in one god and then converted to worshipping another, have spent very little time studying the texts they are supposed to venerate. It seems to be more the norm that they believe in what they are told at church, at mosque, by friends, et cetera.
But this is all anecdotal evidence which I recognize the weakness of.
Sure it does. Daniel was cast into the lions' den, but was saved because "God sent his angel and shut the lions' mouths so that they would not hurt [him], because [he] was found blameless before him." (Daniel 6:22) There's nothing in the story about anyone wrestling with the lions and ripping their jaws apart.
Samson, meanwhile, was confronted by a lion and "[t]he spirit of the Lord rushed on him, and he tore the lion apart barehanded." (Judges 14:6) Besides, the painting in the clue is called "Samson Slaying the Lion," by Peter Paul Rubens.
That's what I thought, but I just realized that Daniel just sat there and prayed. He wouldn't have fought the lion. It had to be someone else,,,,just couldn't think of who!!
The Bible mentions 3 men who killed a lion, but only Samson's defeat of a lion is described in detail. David mentions that he killed a lion, but that's more of a side remark before he fights Goliath. The third one is Benaiah, one of David's heroes, who killed a lion 'in a pit in a snowy day'.
I could have sworn the last one was Myrrh. I spent ages trying different combinations of spelling. The two do look quite similar which makes that quite a tricky question.
Could have been either Daniel or Samson. What tipped me to the fact that it was Samson was his protruding muscles. I don't recall any biblical reference to Daniel's physique as being particularly muscular.
Well, what if the angel *did* shut the lions' mouths, but Daniel, being the contrarian that he was, just **insisted** on prying their mouths back open?
What??? what is weird about that? what kind of weird laborious things do you have to do to get a parting then? which apparently requires lots of modern stuff that didnt used to exicst.
gravity was already there so it wouldnt have stand up straight, but falls down just like it does now. And when it doesnt part in the middle automatically, you run your hand through your hair.. or shake your head.. (or put your head down and up again).
I really dont get it, people have always had hands..
I would think that you would need to type more than just "ark" to be awarded credit for that! I mean, what about the boat Noah built? Isn't that the same thing?
The bioluminescent glow from baby Jesus has washed away the sinful brownness from all those basking in his aura. The most surprising thing to me about this picture was learning that apparently Huckleberry Finn was there.
Alright, it's been a while since I've done any Bible reading, but Eve, Jesus, and Huckleberry Finn all in the same scene? I definitely missed something.
The Holy Spirit is not 'part' of the Trinity. God is indivisible --- there are no parts to an indivisible being. The Holy Spirit is a Divine Person. He is God, the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity.
A better clue is: The symbol for a Person of the Trinity.
Incorrect, Trinity is defined as 3 persons in 1. It is literally defined as not being 3 parts but one. Whether you believe that is possible or not is another matter but that is simply how it is defined.
Although it's not really mainstream, Christianity is sometimes considered a polytheistic religion precisely because of the trinity - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polytheism#Christianity
I love how ancient Europeans made so many of the Biblical characters look like them, despite said characters originating in the Middle East--and by love, I mean it's kinda silly.
If God didn't want humans to sin, why did he make Eve such a (Western) fox? That is nothing like the picture I have had of her (in my mind, obviously).
THANK YOU, Jet Punk
I didn't say it was a guarantee I said it was the fastest, surest way. And, actually, there are quite a lot of pastors who are atheists. See: The clergy project. They go on acting like they believe because it's their job, mostly.
I've heard it said many times by people who have firsthand experience with this that it's basically impossible to get through seminary and still believe. Because they actually study how the Bible came about. Many pastors at Protestant churches never go through the same level of training or study. Stalin went through seminary. Matt Dillahunty was studying to be a preacher when he was younger. Bart Ehrman is one of the most respected Biblical scholars alive today and used to believe, as well. Most atheists I meet in fact became atheists because they learned about their religion.
Also, while I have met people who, after studying the Bible or Quran carefully decided that their faith was stronger, they are, in my own experience, the minority. Most of the people I know who went from being less religious to more religious, or believers in one god and then converted to worshipping another, have spent very little time studying the texts they are supposed to venerate. It seems to be more the norm that they believe in what they are told at church, at mosque, by friends, et cetera.
But this is all anecdotal evidence which I recognize the weakness of.
Samson, meanwhile, was confronted by a lion and "[t]he spirit of the Lord rushed on him, and he tore the lion apart barehanded." (Judges 14:6) Besides, the painting in the clue is called "Samson Slaying the Lion," by Peter Paul Rubens.
his strength came from his hair yet he clearly has short hair in the picture
in the bible it does say david fended off lions and bears with his bare hands so id be inclined to say it was david not samson
It's clearly not Daniel in the picture.
gravity was already there so it wouldnt have stand up straight, but falls down just like it does now. And when it doesnt part in the middle automatically, you run your hand through your hair.. or shake your head.. (or put your head down and up again).
I really dont get it, people have always had hands..
Like if vampires have no reflection, how do they always get their make-up and hair looking so good?
A better clue is: The symbol for a Person of the Trinity.
really nothing you say makes sense