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_______________________ This is not the Christian view of demons. According to Christianity, God lived in the company of many angels in heaven. Some of the angels joined Lucifer in a rebellion against God and were "cast out" - (check Affleck's speeches in "Dogma" for some of specifics)...

I wasn't critical of the English. I said the announcement of the messenger was so emotional, so polished, it seems to me that it was written and re-written as dialogue performed in front of an audience. Luke 2:9 and lo, a messenger of the Lord stood over them, and the glory of the Lord...

that's one opinion. But the subject is exorcism. Jesus encountered "unclean pneumas" who not only identified him by name, but shouted at the surrounding spectators that Jesus was "the Holy One of god." It's not that I see deception and trickery at work when it isn't present. The...

_______________ First, we're talking about Mary Magdalene, NOT the mother of Jesus. Second, she is identified IN THE TEXT as the woman who was possessed by demons, which were exorcised by Jesus. So I'm not guessing about that. But if we KNOW she was a member of Jesus' group, and washed...

________________ that can be answered two ways. (1) saying it's "a bona fide religion" is equivalent to saying it's a con game, because any man or group who claims they are speaking for god are pulling a con. (2) Christianity has a greater % of con game elements than other religions...

My point was, most of the "problems" with Christianity can be explained by making the simple realization that yes, Jesus could have been a con man. And, as you suggest, Christians will take offense at such a theory if I don't back it up. Fortunately, the facts ARE there. He was an exorcist...

According to most sources, the Gospel accounts were written (in part) in response to the popularity of Paul's letters. Peter gave a sermon in Rome and after he left, the church there asked Mark to write down what Peter had said.... I think there was another source for some of the stories. I...

__________________ OK, I think you need to understand HOW this all came about. You said, "Schemes based upon purposeful deceit eventually fail." How did Jesus die? He was arrested by Roman soldiers and nailed to a cross, where he hung for six hours until he died, in great agony. Not...

Carrying out the hypothesis that much of the gospel accounts was the product of a group of con men and women working together.... Mark 15:46 And Joseph of Aramethea, having brought fine linen, and having taken him down, wrapped him in the linen, and laid him in a sepulchre that had been...

________________ It does read like it was the original ending. But what about the women at the tomb? One account missing from Mark is the raising of Lazarus. "Secret Mark" - a letter - suggests that the raising of Lazarus appeared in some versions of Mark, though in a different form...

___________ Jesus died ~30 or ~ 33 AD. Gospels were written before ~ 100 AD. So, it's been 1,900 years. Mark 9:1 And Jesus told them, "Truly, I say there are some standing here who will not taste death till they see the kingdom of God present with power." In 70 AD, Temple of...

______________ Christianity started as a small group within Judaism. They met and recruited members in the synagogues. They needed a "theology" - a sales pitch - in order to convince people to join THEIR group, especially after the rabbis asked the Christians to leave and not come...

_____________ Brian, My theory that Jesus was a con man... or to narrow it a bit, the men in Jesus' group were con men who spread a story after Jesus died that they knew was false... because most of what we know about this group came from the period after Jesus was dead... but this...

________________ Excellent points. And if the gospel hadn't been written for a church group of Christians in Rome, from a speech Peter gave to this same group, I might not have made the connection. But the motive was to sanitize jesus for converts living in Rome... and ending the gospel...

_______________ Such as...? Augustus was the Emperor when Jesus was born. If I said your mannerisms "remind me of a peanut farmer from Georgia," would eveyone here understand I was referring to Jimmy Carter? Mark was written in Greek, some time between 30 AD and 65 AD. Probably you...

___________ Hi, Keith and Brian, nice to meet you.... My question here was... If this "good gentile" gruff old Roman sergeant was on guard duty, watching the convicted criminals die hanging from crosses... and he sees one of the prisoners "give up the ghost"... and he looks at...

_____________ Going back to the adage, "Proportion your belief according to the evidence." Which is more likely? Which is a better explanation? (a) Jesus had one of his friends pretend to be possessed so he could exorcise the "unclean spirit" in front of witnesses, on cue, in a...

_________ Not exactly on point. The story in Mark says that the possessed man spoke to Jesus. Said he addressed him by name, "Jesus of Nazareth." Said he shouted in a synagogue full of Jews, "Jesus of Nazareth is the Holy One of God." Not exactly "disease" or "unseen forces."...

____________ Let me show you Chapter 5 of Acts. The term "End of the World cult" has lots of great examples today. Heaven's Gate suicides in San Diego, hundreds of murders by the Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandants in Africa... ...enough examples that we can write a...

___________________ Not sure I understand the logic of this answer, Keith. If Peter told his followers that "the Last Days are upon us" and the world was going to burn up in fire, and then 1,900 years pass and nothing the man predicted has happened then why can't we come to the...