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Stigmata

Stigmata

Spirituality

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How do atheists explain this?

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Originally posted by lioyank
How do atheists explain this?
Why would someone need to be an atheist to believe that a
stigmatic appearance was a hoax? The Roman Catholic Church
Herself denies the existence of the vast majority of stigmatas that
claim the wounds came from God.

Which stigmatic were you thinking of? Padre Pio?

Nemesio

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Do purported stigmata bleed from the hands or the wrists?

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Originally posted by Nemesio
Padre Pio?

Nemesio
And to think that I was going to include him in my opening thread. Always one step ahead, aren't you?

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Originally posted by DoctorScribbles
Do purported stigmata bleed from the hands or the wrists?
Does it matter? Would you deny it if it occurred on someone's hands rather than on the wrists? Why do you ask this? Because Jesus' wrists were (supposedly) nailed to the cross, and not his hands?

4 edits
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Originally posted by lioyank
Does it matter? Would you deny it if it occurred on someone's hands rather than on the wrists? Why do you ask this? Because Jesus' wrists were (supposedly) nailed to the cross, and not his hands?
I deny it out of hand, regardless of where the bleeding is from.

But as a logical exercise, what needs to be reconciled is:

A) The physics of crucifixation pertaining to the placement of the nails.
B) The account of Thomas observing holes in Jesus' hands.
C) The location of stigamata bleeding.

Until one has a coherent explanation that accounts for each of these, one cannot believe in all three.


D) The blood stains on the Turin shroud

can be incorporated into the explanation for bonus points.

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Originally posted by DoctorScribbles
I deny it out of hand, regardless of where the bleeding is from.

Would this include the Padre Pio accounts? How would you explain what was seen there by numerous different people?

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Originally posted by lioyank
Would this include the Padre Pio accounts? How would you explain what was seen there by numerous different people?
First, give me a coherent explanation of A, B and C. This is a necessary condition for having a theory that Padre Pio exhibited genuine stigmata. Until you construct one, I have nothing to refute.

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Originally posted by DoctorScribbles
First, give me a coherent explanation of A, B and C. This is a necessary condition for having a theory that Padre Pio exhibited genuine stigmata. Until you construct one, I have nothing to refute.
What's the point? You already said you deny it, so what would I prove even if I had an argument for A,B,C?

Besides, something as trivial as whether Jesus was nailed through his hands or wrists doesn't matter. The fact remains, there are unexplained events that occurred in San Giovanni Rotondo that were of a supernatural nature, therefore proving that God exists.

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Originally posted by lioyank

Besides, something as trivial as whether Jesus was nailed through his hands or wrists doesn't matter.
It's not a trivial matter. If he had nails put in his wrists, why would Thomas have seen holes in his hands, and why would stigmata bleed from the hands?

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Originally posted by lioyank
What's the point? You already said you deny it, so what would I prove even if I had an argument for A,B,C?

Besides, something as trivial as whether Jesus was nailed through his hands or wrists doesn't matter. The fact remains, there are unexplained events that occurred in San Giovanni Rotondo that were of a supernatural nature, therefore proving that God exists.
?????? Your conclusion certainly doesn't follow from your premises.

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Originally posted by lioyank
You already said you deny it, so what would I prove even if I had an argument for A,B,C?
That you have at least thought critically about the matter.

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Originally posted by lioyank
What's the point? You already said you deny it, so what would I prove even if I had an argument for A,B,C?

Besides, something as trivial as whether Jesus was nailed through his hands or wrists doesn't matter. The fact remains, there are unexplained events that occurred in San Giovanni Rotondo that were of a supernatural nature, therefore proving that God exists.
Until you define the criteria you believe should be in place to
authenticate a stigmatic -- which will entail defining what happened
to Jesus -- a discussion cannot take place because there is no
foundation upon which to rest a solid argument.

You also ignored my question: there are many non-atheists and
even Christians who deny the existence of stigmatics. Why would
someone need to be an atheist to deny a stigmata appearance?
And, I'll add, what does their disbelief say about them as theists?

Nemesio

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Originally posted by DoctorScribbles
It's not a trivial matter. If he had nails put in his wrists, why would Thomas have seen holes in his hands, and why would stigmata bleed from the hands?
Ok. Let's for a second pretend I agree with you.

If you don't believe in it, what do you propose causes it?

("It" being Padre Pio's "stigmata/bleeding/whatever the hell you wanna call it"😉

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Originally posted by lioyank
Ok. Let's for a second pretend I agree with you.

If you don't believe in it, what do you propose causes it?

("It" being Padre Pio's "stigmata/bleeding/whatever the hell you wanna call it"😉
I don't believe that it actually occurred. That is, there is no physical phenomenon to explain. He was also purported to be able to be in two distinct physical locations simultaneously, such as in Paris and in Rome at the same instant. Do you believe this actually happened? I don't.