So, why is god punishing me?

Originally posted by no1marauder
Cuz the author of Acts says so? Did he get elected Jesus for a Day after Jesus left town?

Well, I suppose you have another explanation about how the early Church began?

Originally posted by dj2becker
Well, I suppose you have another explanation about how the early Church began?

The same way OTHER churches began? People started them without the "Holy Spirit" getting involved? Did you ever consider that explanation?

Originally posted by no1marauder
The same way OTHER churches began? People started them without the "Holy Spirit" getting involved? Did you ever consider that explanation?

Sure. But I somehow don't believe that the early Christian Church would have survived and grown to the magnitude that it is today if it had not been for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

Originally posted by dj2becker
Sure. But I somehow don't believe that the early Christian Church would have survived and grown to the magnitude that it is today if it had not been for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

The early Muslim church survived and grew to almost the same magnitude and in less time. Do you attribute that to the outpouring of the Muslim Holy Spirit?

Originally posted by no1marauder
The early Muslim church survived and grew to almost the same magnitude and in less time. Do you attribute that to the outpouring of the Muslim Holy Spirit?

Were any Muslims martyred for their faith?

Originally posted by dj2becker
Sure. But I somehow don't believe that the early Christian Church would have survived and grown to the magnitude that it is today if it had not been for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

Yeah, there's an outpouring of something....holy spirit, it ain't.

Originally posted by dj2becker
Were any Muslims martyred for their faith?

Surely; did you ever here of the Inquistion? The Crusades??Answer my question or I'm done with ya; since you say the Christian Church couldn't have have survived and grown without the "Holy Spirit" does Islam surviving and growing to about the same magnitude in less time prove there is a Muslim "Holy Spirit" with even more power?

Originally posted by no1marauder
Surely; did you ever here of the Inquistion? The Crusades??Answer my question or I'm done with ya; since you say the Christian Church couldn't have have survived and grown without the "Holy Spirit" does Islam surviving and growing to about the same magnitude in less time prove there is a Muslim "Holy Spirit" with even more power?

I suppose this is the crux:

Christ promised the Holy Spirit before he died. He rose from the dead and as recorded in the book of Acts the Holy Spirit came down.

Mohammed never promised that the Holy Spirit would come. Mohammed died and is still in the grave.

Originally posted by dj2becker
I suppose this is the crux:

Christ promised the Holy Spirit before he died. He rose from the dead and as recorded in the book of Acts the Holy Spirit came down.

Mohammed never promised that the Holy Spirit would come. Mohammed died and is still in the grave.

Since Jesus never existed, and the resurrection is an allegory for something else entirely, where does that leave us?

Originally posted by KellyJay
You keep saying things like this, but this isn't part of the Christian
doctrine, it is part of yours, because of your lack of understanding
of the Holy Spirit of God, you diminish Christ.
Kelly

You sound just like the first inquisitor, Ireneus, of, course he, like you , knew not what he spoke of. None of the dogmatic church fathers really did, or else the religion wouldn't be so messed up.
The keys to the Kingdom are Christ's words and not anybody else's.

Originally posted by David C
Since Jesus never existed, and the resurrection is an allegory for something else entirely, where does that leave us?

I suppose that if you viewed it that way it would leave you in a bottomless pit of despondency.

Originally posted by dj2becker
I suppose this is the crux:

Christ promised the Holy Spirit before he died. He rose from the dead and as recorded in the book of Acts the Holy Spirit came down.

Mohammed never promised that the Holy Spirit would come. Mohammed died and is still in the grave.

A perfect circle. There is a Holy Spirit cuz it says so in the Bible; Christ rose from the dead because it says so in the Bible, Paul words are of equal authority with Jesus cuz HE said so in the Bible. You could have saved a lot of time by simply saying I believe everything in the Bible because it's in the Bible. BTW, what's in the Bible was decided by a group of people hundreds of years AFTER any of it was written. But I suppose the Holy Spirit was in them cuz they said so.

EDIT: You seem to judge religions on the basis of how preposterous the claims of the religion are. Since Mohammed only asserted he was a Prophet of God (a somewhat preposterous claim) he is less worthy of belief than Jesus who claimed he was the Son of God (a more preposterous claim). Plus Jesus' followers claimed after his death that he had risen from the dead (a really preposterous claim) so you find it even more believable. Of course, Paul claimed that Jesus came to him on a road after J was dead and showed him everything that had happened in J's life. Since this claim is utterly preposterous it is no wonder you find it sooooooooooooooooo convincing.

Originally posted by frogstomp
You sound just like the first inquisitor, Ireneus, of, course he, like you , knew not what he spoke of. None of the dogmatic church fathers really did, or else the religion wouldn't be so messed up.
The keys to the Kingdom are Christ's words and not anybody else's.

So do you believe that Christ really spoke the words that He did?

Originally posted by dj2becker
I suppose that if you viewed it that way it would leave you in a bottomless pit of despondency.

Actually, no. You might feel that way, given your stated allegiance to Jesus. I'm just fine, thanks for asking.