An Excerpt from Harvey Kaye's Thomas Paine And The Promise of America:

Appreciatively acknowledging that Jesus Christ was a "virtuous and an amiable man" and that the "morality that he preached and practiced was of the most benevolent kind," Paine portrayed Jesus "the person" as a preacher of the "equality of man" and a "reformer and revolutionist." Nevertheless, Paine absolutely rejected the story of "miraculous conception...resurrection...and ascendance," noting that it is "altogether the work of other people," and "has every mark of fraud and imposition stamped upon it."

All I'm going to say is that it all boils down to faith at the end of the day, its something that can neither be proven or disproven. Yes there are historical records, the Bible. But these documents are several hundred years old. Who's to say whether what happened 2000 years ago is true or false.

What you've posted is one man's opinion. I'd like to see him back it up with evidence.

 

Its a bit contraversial to post this in the middle of easter, though.

Choose Freedom!

 

All I'm going to say is that it all boils down to faith at the end of the day, its something that can neither be proven or disproven. Yes there are historical records, the Bible. But these documents are several hundred years old. Who's to say what happened 2000 years ago is true or false.

What you've posted is one man's opinion. I'd like to see him back it up with evidence.

 

Its a bit contraversial to post this in the middle of easter, though.

I have faith in the spirit of the enlightenment. Galileo said in essence, "God gave us brains to think and eyes to see, as well as hearts to feel and hands to work" - to me, it is the spirit of Jesus's message that walks on and resonates into the present - and I think a dose of rational thinking would do some good to set the records strait.

Easter is really a pagan tradition - the rebirth of life in the northern hemisphere, and all the symbolic components of older traditions wove into one - rabbits, colored eggs, and all the costumes... It's good to remember that life returneth to the land, and so does life among us and the other animals, in the birth of new young, and a refreshing of the spirit. I do like Easter, as it's good fun!! And we all like a good tale - if for no other reason, than it makes us feel good, and strengthens our bonds between one-another, and in the positive future on humanity..

And would we be truly free, if we could not speak our minds, regardless of the day or occasion?:)

Edited what I originally posted.

Happy Easter.

 

Why should we 'rationally' think things through and look for meanings to the Bible. What if it's all true and Jesus, shoch shock horror God forbid, DID rise from the dead... Just a thought.

Bread rises, tides rise, tulips and lilies rise, and sometimes molten lava rises from beneath the earth.. I see it symbolically - Jesus rose as life returned after a long pause.

True - it is possible that Jesus rose from the dead. Probability makes it an extremely, extremely, extremely long shot; but perhaps it is true, just as sub-atomic particles do occasionally 'tunnel' through solid materials, and emerge on the other side, with no sign of them ever having gone through..

To me, the miracle is life itself. Here we are, chatting online - that's amazing enough!

I thought you were talking about Max Paine.

I thought you were talking about Max Paine.

 

& Who is Max Paine?

oh it's actually Max Payne.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Payne

 

People quote him quite a lot.

Oh my! Well, that explains the confusion! :laugh3: I think the novel would be more like "Max Payne and the Promise of Pain in New York"! (which is actually historically true, as our beloved NYC is now safer than almost anywhere else these days..