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I do not think you are advocating for all of the laws today, no, merely trying to corroborate my own understanding of some of the details surrounding them. This is completely irrelevant to the thread and might date it if either of us ever change our avatars, but I find it interesting how our...

I recently had a chance to talk with my mother on this topic and she provided a different answer. To remind everyone, I answered that I would be suspicious after 18 heads, because 19/20 is represented in percentages as 95% which rounds up to 100% depending on your degree of precision. My...

Aren't some of them impossible to observe now because they require a Temple, too?

To this in particular, you definitely shouldn't have to be a theologian or a logician to be religious, and I apologize if I have ever indicated otherwise or somehow implied that you are lesser for not being involved in those fields. I appreciate your perspective, whatever you bring, and I never...

This sentence in particular answered all of my questions for me, thank you. I understand. The Bible might be the most quoted book of all time and, even if it isn't, it's certainly up there. You're right that I've seen everyone from Humanists to Hindus quote words attributed to Jesus from the...

I would be unironically interested in a math-based horror novel.

I don't understand this. Jesus was a reformer of Jewish law. Christianity does accepts gentiles, but that's only through conversion. What is there in the message of Christ that's universally applicable? I don't mean to bring things up from other threads, but I thought you considered the...

Regarding Welfarist Utilitarianism, there are no authorities on it. It's a rather loose term and more of a movement, although several ethicists devote their careers to hashing out their own perceptions on it. It isn't like Hedonic or Preference Utilitarianism, which are more or less tied to...

As a kid, I got in trouble for using the windows instead of the doors to enter and exit buildings. I asked why I was getting in trouble, because the route is quicker. My mother told me that it's considered rude and pointed out how many people put the rugs and the coat racks by the doors, or...

You know, even as a strong atheist and metaphysical naturalist, I retain more-or-less the same general asceticism I had when I was a practicing Gnostic. I'm still a vegetarian. I still abstain from recreational drug use and alcohol, I'm still celibate, and even though I am starting to have more...

I do indeed discount the entirety of Mark. However, I don't really think my personal view is too relevant. I'm more interesting in helping you bolster the inner consistency of your argument, even if I disagree with it. For the sake of discussion, I am willing to entertain the idea that some...

The format reminds me quite a bit of boolean algebra.

No problem, the poems are a useful addition to this thread. I'm not sure how computer literate you are, but I can explain what I did. When you paste, instead of doing Ctrl+V you can do Ctrl+Shift+V (or you can right-click and select "Paste as plain text" from the menu) which allows you to paste...

Any text that contains clearly mythical elements like miracles or resurrection is one that I regard with deep suspicion. If there is anything in the Gospel of Mark that I agree with, I didn't get it from the Gospel of Mark. I think the source is incredibly unreliable. I know that many...

Here you are, I reformatted the post to be a bit more readable:

Here's a copy of Mark in Koine Greek: https://bibletranslation.ws/trans/markwgrk.pdf I do recommend learning the grammar structure of Koine Greek and referencing a Koine Greek dictionary so that you can interpret the original verses yourself. A lot of your points about punctuation or specific...

I kind of accept neither here. I don't think that the world we see is necessarily "true." We're apt to a lot of illusions and our memories are faulty. Each of us also has a very idiosyncratic perspective on the world, not just due to our genetics and our environment but also due to the...

There's only one thing that I think I can justifiably claim the majority of Christians think. That's that our Creator so loved humanity that he gave his only begotten son, Jesus Christ, to die for our sins so that we may enter the Kingdom of Heaven and be reborn to eternal life after our current...

I definitely think that, if Jesus actually had an important message from God to all of humanity, he would have written it down himself.

I agree, although I do still think it's worth pointing out that the gospels were written in Koine Greek, whereas Jesus supposedly would have spoken in Aramaic. It's possible that all we have are translations or texts built off of translations. That obviously doesn't mean we can just use a 17th...