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I don't believe Christians are among the most persecuted in the world, no. Quite the opposite, they are the largest, most powerful and influential religious group on this planet today. While there are without question countries where Christianity is disadvantaged, and Christians are subject to...

I know, right? (But what makes you think I'm not really an atheist? Did you check my record at the annual atheist profession of unbelief rally?)

If you believe that only God can change hearts, aren't you questioning God by grumbling how people won't change their hearts?

You were marveling at Non-Christians reading the Bible, though. The Bible, a Book which Christians found ready-made and merely added some chapters at the end. :) C'mon, be a good sport, admit it is a funny thing to say, let it go, move on.

It is written in poetic language, not prose. When I read poetry, I have to go slowly. I can't read a whole anthology cover to cover in one go. With wine, or whisky, I need to sip small mouthfuls, and let it do its thing, and watch. With poetry, I need to take my time, too. And repetition is a...

The gospels of Matthew and Luke go to great lengths to establish that Jesus was a descendant of David. Both genealogies go through Joseph, Mary's husband. I've always wondered what Christians make of these genealogies. I'd be interested in your Thoughts. Do you think Matthew and Luke believed...

I was gently poking fun at your amazement that non-Christians read the Bible, too, by pointing out that most of the Bible predates Christianity.

Most of the Bible, by volume, is not Christian ;)

Disclaimer: I'm not a Christian. I'm answering your question from my understanding, knowing that believers have a completely different interpretation. Jesus may have believed that there were armies of angels waiting in the wings, as it were, to come to his aid at some point. He is quoted to...

It is in the interview with Pilate, where Jesus acknowledges his claim to kingship. It is one of the tasks expected of the the Jewish Messiah, to be a political leader.

I misunderstood your earluer post, in that case. You wrote in the present tense, and that made me think you meant contemporary circumstances. But even in the John passage, it does not come across that his opponents believed Jesus to be God, rather, that they didn't, and found his claim blasphemous.

I'm not a historian, so take what I'm about to say as my layperson's understanding. Pilate was the one giving the orders to the Roman army stationed in Judea. He was in a politically difficult situation, with Rome far away, where the power games between his patrons and their oponents were...

Want me to move this thread to the Christian forum, @muhammad_isa ? It seems to be all about Christian apologetics and not about Islam.

I think you are mistaken. None of the Jews I know think that.

I agree that living up to such simple standards as "be nice to each other" is a challenge. That's certainly true. I'm not sure this is the truth Pilate was wondering about, when he asked his famous question. But since this part of the dialogue between Jrsus and Pilate is not recorded, we can...

That's nice! Have you been to Berlin? Oh, and not invalidating each other's world views is part of our Code of Conduct here. I think it is a good one, it helps make this forum the nice place it is. Have a look, in case you didn't do so already. And if you already did, that's great!

I commend your determination to increase your understanding of physics.

That's great, and I am truly happy for you to have seen your Truth. Let me clarify that I'm not questioning your beliefs or trying to shake your faith. I was really just asking what you think it was that Jesus said to Pilate, what he testified to Pilate, which is obviously not recorded in that...

Oh, the paint and the ball attract each other all right. It's just not a very strong attraction, with such small masses. Mass is not "made of" anything like gas or paint. Rather, mass is a property of the atoms making up the gas or the paint. You may want to refresh your understanding of...

To me, this is not convincing. There is nothing to say I won't wake up tomorrow as a giant beetle, either. But I don't find that a likely scenario, either. I guess we have very different things we want to see in a belief we each would hold.