Blasphemy Challenge
Offline After doing some research, the Blasphemy Challenge doesn't really have a connection to an authentic saying of Jesus.
According to Mark, the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit refers to those who claim that Jesus was being controlled by an unclean spirit (look at the context of the passage, Mark 3:20-30). This defense of Jesus was even taught in the Didache (11:7).
This defense looks back on Jesus from the perspective of the later community, which sought to set limits on its ecstatic leaders without inhibiting intrusions of the spirit. Thus, it should not be considered an authentic saying of Jesus.
Mark 3:28-29 and the parallel passages in Luke and Thomas are considered non-authenitc sayings by the Jesus Seminar.
"A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word, 'darkness' on the walls of his cell." (CS Lewis)
"A young man who wishes to remain a sound atheist cannot be too careful of his reading." (CS Lewis)
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I don’t even believe that jesus existed but I can change my beliefs to meet your challenge.
Ok, now I believe that jesus existed.
Now I believe that jesus existed and he was being controlled by unclean spirits.
There, I’ve blasphemed the Holy Spirit in the particular way you wanted are you happy?
Now I think the whole thing is stupid again.
There are twists of time and space, of vision and reality, which only a dreamer can divine
H.P. Lovecraft
Whether or not it should be considered on authentic saying of Jesus, or even how it is interpreted, is besides the point. The point is, many people do believe it is authentic, and believe that you will go to hell for denying the holy spirit. That's the point.
http://flyingbagpiper.blogspot.com
Not this cat again!
yeah I'm kinda wondering whats up with the cat. that and who's cat it is...
Shouldn't the truth matter more. People who participate in the Blasphemy Challenge are not actually going off an authentic saying of Jesus. They aren't even actually blaspheming against the Holy Spirit. To do so, you would have to associate Jesus with demons.
Btw- I'm going to throw it out there, I'm not a Christian. I float between agnosticism and deism.
"A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word, 'darkness' on the walls of his cell." (CS Lewis)
"A young man who wishes to remain a sound atheist cannot be too careful of his reading." (CS Lewis)
What truth are you talking about? And what should it matter more than? Blasphemy is a word that godders made up to describe a lack of respect for another stupid concept they made up. What does “an authentic saying of jesus” even mean? Or a better question would be what do you think it could possibly mean to a forum full of people that don’t even believe you’re talking about an actual person? I mean really, do I need to turn my back to the ocean and fart three times to say I don’t believe in poseidon or can I just fart twice? You act as if this matters; wondrous strange.
There are twists of time and space, of vision and reality, which only a dreamer can divine
H.P. Lovecraft
That makes perfect sense. It's like someone tells you not to use swear words so you just can't say the word 'fuck' but that means 'shit' and 'asshole' and 'prick' are not swear words. Just like there can't possibly be more than one way to commit blasphemy against the holy spirit, the only means is to say that Jesus is controlled by Satan.
Another perfectly lame argument presented to us by a clueless fundy. Moving on....
She's one of my cats - Miss Callie. I took a picture of her when she was pissed off and added the words with "Paint"
Matt Shizzle has been banned from the Rational Response Squad website. This event shall provide an atmosphere more conducive to social growth. - Majority of the mod team
How do you know if a cat is pissed off? They always look the same to me. I remember when I was a kid my parents had this big orange tabby and every time I saw the cat it had blood all over it and it used to bring home dead things all the time like birds and chipmunks. It was just like a wild animal that used to come to our house for free food. Well, one day a neighbor came over and started yelling at my parents because he said our cat attacked his dog and ripped one of its ears off. And I thought no wonder the cat is getting its ass kicked all the time it’s out there fighting with dogs. The cat never learned its lesson and we ended up burying it next to this big oak tree in the backyard after a pitbull broke his neck. That was kind of a pointless story I guess.
There are twists of time and space, of vision and reality, which only a dreamer can divine
H.P. Lovecraft
The great thing about the blasphemy challenge was that it inspired a gazillion atheists to take focused action. The fact that the biblical interpretation is still up for grabs doesn't mean a heck of a lot. What bible verse isn't "interpreted" to death by one denomination or another. The challenge made atheists jump and it was up to christians to put out the fire. When christians are forced into "exegesis mode" to refute a (well conceived IMHO) atheist stunt, we win! I doubt that a nominal christian could be impressed by the pretzel logic that was used.
You're an idiot D-cubed. I would have to be a Christian to be a "fundy."
My only point is that according to Mark, you have to associate Jesus with demons in order to actually blaspheme against the Holy Spirit. That was the only unforgiveable sin. Thus, saying that you deny the trinity is not actually an unforgiveable sin.
This was a common saying in early Christianity to oppose Jewish leaders who thought that Jesus was associated with demons (therefore not an actual saying of Jesus). This charge against Jesus existed for centuries. The Babyloian Talmud associated Jesus with sorcery in the 5th century.
"A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word, 'darkness' on the walls of his cell." (CS Lewis)
"A young man who wishes to remain a sound atheist cannot be too careful of his reading." (CS Lewis)
This has already been dealt with countless times.