Just had a brief discussion with my brother (which I cut off) about the fact that he doesn't believe Jesus actually existed. It beggars belief that people actually think that might be the case. It seems that atheists are so desperate to deny Christianity that they try anything. And they accuse us of being deluded.
Anyone else here in a family surrounded by hostile atheists?
Silvertusk.
Venting.
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Silvertusk
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RickD
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Re: Venting.
Sorry Silver, I can't help you. I can't think of anyone in my family or my wife's family who doesn't believe in God. I can see how it would be frustrating in your situation.
I can think of one thing you could do. Pray for your brother, and pray for yourself too. Pray that God will give your brother the questions, and give you the answers.
I can think of one thing you could do. Pray for your brother, and pray for yourself too. Pray that God will give your brother the questions, and give you the answers.
John 5:24
24 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.
“A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves.”
-Edward R Murrow
St. Richard the Sarcastic--The Patron Saint of Irony
24 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.
“A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves.”
-Edward R Murrow
St. Richard the Sarcastic--The Patron Saint of Irony
Re: Venting.
*Holds up hand*
I am an Atheist (On the agnostic side of the sliding scale).
Does that count as being surrounded?
Much cheers to all.
I am an Atheist (On the agnostic side of the sliding scale).
Does that count as being surrounded?
Much cheers to all.
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1over137
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Re: Venting.
Surrounded by atheists, yes. Hostile, well, probably not that as your brother.Silvertusk wrote:Just had a brief discussion with my brother (which I cut off) about the fact that he doesn't believe Jesus actually existed. It beggars belief that people actually think that might be the case. It seems that atheists are so desperate to deny Christianity that they try anything. And they accuse us of being deluded.
Anyone else here in a family surrounded by hostile atheists?
Silvertusk.
But there was really hard time for me not so long time ago when my family had to get used to the fact that now am Christian. Now there is more peace and I would not say even that they are hostile.
But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good.
-- 1 Thessalonians 5:21
For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.
-- Philippians 1:6
#foreverinmyheart
-- 1 Thessalonians 5:21
For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.
-- Philippians 1:6
#foreverinmyheart
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1over137
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Re: Venting.
To the delusion: I sad once this: you have your data and I have my data.
Data based on which I believe.
Data based on which I believe.
But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good.
-- 1 Thessalonians 5:21
For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.
-- Philippians 1:6
#foreverinmyheart
-- 1 Thessalonians 5:21
For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.
-- Philippians 1:6
#foreverinmyheart
Re: Venting.
I'm surrounded with atheists, or uninterested people living solely for themselves and their own agendas. I live with one, my friends are them, the only people I see are them. You do what you can to try and have meaningful conversations. Explanations, reasoning, history, science, philosophy, morality, etc... nothing seems to matter to them. They usually hold on fiercely to one thing that goes against their way of life and throw anything out that can point them to truth and go on an agenda about. While not having the patience to try to understand they might be wrong, but to get there you have to start with fundamentals. Who would believe they're wrong unless it can be shown? People don't like to be shown, even 'nicely'.
I follow prophecies, pay attention to the world and am continuously thirsty for the Word of God and a daily battle to transform myself to someone clean of good heart and intentions. All I can think, is that if we truly are not living in the end times then all hope will soon vanish. The way the world is degrading politically, naturally, morally and spiritually, I really don't think there will be much of real Christianity to be seen by the time I die (I'm 27), if at all. And by how the world is evolving, I'm not going to want to live in it 20 years from now.
As for my family, its split. The majority are atheists or spiritual in some sense, not much of a difference in my opinion, just two different types of crazy. Then the rest are Catholics, which is really just a Jewish religion off-shoot masquerading as Christians. So that's the closest I have to a Christian influence in my family!
I follow prophecies, pay attention to the world and am continuously thirsty for the Word of God and a daily battle to transform myself to someone clean of good heart and intentions. All I can think, is that if we truly are not living in the end times then all hope will soon vanish. The way the world is degrading politically, naturally, morally and spiritually, I really don't think there will be much of real Christianity to be seen by the time I die (I'm 27), if at all. And by how the world is evolving, I'm not going to want to live in it 20 years from now.
As for my family, its split. The majority are atheists or spiritual in some sense, not much of a difference in my opinion, just two different types of crazy. Then the rest are Catholics, which is really just a Jewish religion off-shoot masquerading as Christians. So that's the closest I have to a Christian influence in my family!
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Furstentum Liechtenstein
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Re: Venting.
Yeah, me. What do you want to know?Silvertusk wrote:Anyone else here in a family surrounded by hostile atheists?
FL
Hold everything lightly. If you don't, it will hurt when God pries your fingers loose as He takes it from you. -Corrie Ten Boom
+ + +
If they had a social gospel in the days of the prodigal son, somebody would have given him a bed and a sandwich and he never would have gone home.
+ + +
+ + +
If they had a social gospel in the days of the prodigal son, somebody would have given him a bed and a sandwich and he never would have gone home.
+ + +
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crookedvulture
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Re: Venting.
I used to be the hostile atheist of the family. Heh.
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neo-x
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Re: Venting.
I have a few...also I had this one time argument with an atheist friend of mine and he said, that Jesus never existed, Paul never existed and so far as the crucifixion goes he does not think even Herod or Pilate existed too and then pointed me to a book which briefly tries to make a case that Pilate was just a mythical figure. I had nothing to say to him because I didn't see the point. I am fine with "I don't believe in god/gods" but I am really not into conspiracy theories.
I can understand why they do it though and that's fine. It is the same reason why any person sticks to their convictions/faith/worldview/philosophy...that is they have shaped their lives around their convictions and its hard to change that. Nobody likes to admit that they are/could be wrong.
In the end what changes anybody is not just theories but something more substantial than that. I mean lets say even if an atheist does concede that Christ was a real historical man, so what? so was buddha, muhammad and plenty others. No, it has to be more than that to get someone impressed with the truth of christian faith.
EDIT: I do agree with you silver, making a case that Christ never existed is simply very weak. It is not a very impressive argument.
I can understand why they do it though and that's fine. It is the same reason why any person sticks to their convictions/faith/worldview/philosophy...that is they have shaped their lives around their convictions and its hard to change that. Nobody likes to admit that they are/could be wrong.
In the end what changes anybody is not just theories but something more substantial than that. I mean lets say even if an atheist does concede that Christ was a real historical man, so what? so was buddha, muhammad and plenty others. No, it has to be more than that to get someone impressed with the truth of christian faith.
EDIT: I do agree with you silver, making a case that Christ never existed is simply very weak. It is not a very impressive argument.
It would be a blessing if they missed the cairns and got lost on the way back. Or if
the Thing on the ice got them tonight.
I could only turn and stare in horror at the chief surgeon.
Death by starvation is a terrible thing, Goodsir, continued Stanley.
And with that we went below to the flame-flickering Darkness of the lower deck
and to a cold almost the equal of the Dante-esque Ninth Circle Arctic Night
without.
//johnadavid.wordpress.com
the Thing on the ice got them tonight.
I could only turn and stare in horror at the chief surgeon.
Death by starvation is a terrible thing, Goodsir, continued Stanley.
And with that we went below to the flame-flickering Darkness of the lower deck
and to a cold almost the equal of the Dante-esque Ninth Circle Arctic Night
without.
//johnadavid.wordpress.com
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Silvertusk
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Re: Venting.
Thank you for all those comments guys.
For me it still comes down to the same question is why are some atheists so hostile in the first place. If they don't believe in it - then fine - why put so much energy into it sprouting off so much venom. What is it that they hate so much. Which then makes be think - is there objection to Christianity intellectual or in actual fact just emotional.
For me it still comes down to the same question is why are some atheists so hostile in the first place. If they don't believe in it - then fine - why put so much energy into it sprouting off so much venom. What is it that they hate so much. Which then makes be think - is there objection to Christianity intellectual or in actual fact just emotional.
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1over137
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Re: Venting.
Why some people are so hateful?
(it does not have to be specifically atheist to Christian)
(it does not have to be specifically atheist to Christian)
But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good.
-- 1 Thessalonians 5:21
For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.
-- Philippians 1:6
#foreverinmyheart
-- 1 Thessalonians 5:21
For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.
-- Philippians 1:6
#foreverinmyheart
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crookedvulture
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Re: Venting.
Well, that's a long discussion. But when it comes to the atheist v. Christian dynamic, I always felt it was something to do with the mortality factor. When a Christian tells an atheist there's a God, it often translates to "there's a God, and since you're an atheist you're going to hell" no matter how nicely you put it. And the other way around, when an atheist tells a Christian there is no God, it translates to "there is no God, and all life is meaningless, so you will receive the same end reward as any thief, serial rapist, or murderer."
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1over137
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Re: Venting.
Yes.crookedvulture wrote:Well, that's a long discussion. But when it comes to the atheist v. Christian dynamic, I always felt it was something to do with the mortality factor. When a Christian tells an atheist there's a God, it often translates to "there's a God, and since you're an atheist you're going to hell" no matter how nicely you put it. And the other way around, when an atheist tells a Christian there is no God, it translates to "there is no God, and all life is meaningless, so you will receive the same end reward as any thief, serial rapist, or murderer."
But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good.
-- 1 Thessalonians 5:21
For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.
-- Philippians 1:6
#foreverinmyheart
-- 1 Thessalonians 5:21
For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.
-- Philippians 1:6
#foreverinmyheart
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1over137
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Re: Venting.
On proper conduct towards unbelievers http://carm.org/christianity/sermons/co ... nbelievers
But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good.
-- 1 Thessalonians 5:21
For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.
-- Philippians 1:6
#foreverinmyheart
-- 1 Thessalonians 5:21
For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.
-- Philippians 1:6
#foreverinmyheart
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Silvertusk
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Re: Venting.
Well had another argument with my Brother. I deleted him as a friend from my facebook account because he was posting quite offensive things on it about Christianity. When he learned that this was the reason he went off on one stating that I have broken one more line of communication and that I care more about a man that lived 2000 years ago than I do about my family. Also that he has even less respect for religion now because it has made his little brother disrespectful and that he thought Christians were suppose to be "tolerant" and accused me of being intolerant to his postings.
To be honest I just despaired. I did not reply because I knew that it would result in a full blown argument. I know Jesus said this would happen but it makes me desperately sad that some people seem to hate what we believe in so much. I can imagine that my brother thinks I am being brainwashed against my family but the truth of the matter is that my family have moved away from me and cannot accept what I believe. What about their tolerance?
Makes me sad.
To be honest I just despaired. I did not reply because I knew that it would result in a full blown argument. I know Jesus said this would happen but it makes me desperately sad that some people seem to hate what we believe in so much. I can imagine that my brother thinks I am being brainwashed against my family but the truth of the matter is that my family have moved away from me and cannot accept what I believe. What about their tolerance?
Makes me sad.