Do you believe that Jesus of Nazareth was God (or the son of God)?

[walto]

Just curious.

[walto]

And I mean the ONE AND ONLY.

Don't be answering Yes if you believe EVERY son of Man fits the bill!

[Gentle Giant]

No. He was just a nice Jewish boy who went into his father's business.

[Gentle Giant]

Was he the guy who sang "Love Hurts"?

Or was that a different Nazareth?

Originally Posted by walto

Don't be answering Yes if you believe EVERY son of Man fits the bill!

Whoops.


Ed the Pantheist Clown

[sonic1]

When so many people believe something and their actions are guided by those beliefs, it doesn't matter what truth is. Belief is a powerful thing. Unfortunately it is manipulated all the time (cough... cough... the election).

Somewhere between what we all call reality and our imagination (some argue our imagination guides reality) lies your answer. In my world, HELL NO. The story of Jesus is just that, a story. Probably originated in some character long ago whose story has been long obscured by time.

But if you guide your actions based on your belief that character exists (whatever that means to you), it really doesn't matter what the truth is.

[mke]

Clearly, JC is going to hell.

[Dan G]

I guess my answer has to be no, but could the poll be altered to add "There is no god, so there can be no son"

I have no problem believing that someone did exist, and was written about in the New Testament, who did some 'miraculous' things. But I have no reason to see him as being any different than someone like David Blaine (except that Blaine seems to be nuts) or any other illusionist. I'm sure Jesus was pretty good at card tricks.

[Squaredancecalling Steve]

Wendell P. Bloyd




THEY first charged me with disorderly conduct,
There being no statute on blasphemy.
Later they locked me up as insane
Where I was beaten to death by a Catholic guard.
My offense was this:
I said God lied to Adam, and destined him
To lead the life of a fool,
Ignorant that there is evil in the world as well as good.
And when Adam outwitted God by eating the apple
And saw through the lie,
God drove him out of Eden to keep him from taking
The fruit of immortal life.
For Christ’s sake, you sensible people,
Here’s what God Himself says about it in the book of Genesis:
“And the Lord God said, behold the man
Is become as one of us” (a little envy, you see),
“To know good and evil” (The all-is-good lie exposed):
“And now lest he put forth his hand and take
Also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever:
Therefore the Lord God sent Him forth from the garden of Eden.”
(The reason I believe God crucified His Own Son
To get out of the wretched tangle is, because it sounds just like Him.)



-- Edgar Lee Masters, Spoon River Anthology

[walto]

Rednecks Lyrics
Artist(Band):Randy Newman





by Randy Newman

Last night I saw Lester Maddox on a TV show
With some smart-ass New York Jew
And the Jew laughed at Lester Maddox
And the audience laughed at Lester Maddox too
Well, he may be a fool but he's our fool
If they think they're better than him they're wrong
So I went to the park and I took some paper along
And that's where I made this song

We talk real funny down here
We drink too much and we laugh too loud
We're too dumb to make it in no Northern town
Keepin' the niggers down

We got no-necked oilmen from Texas
And good ol' boys from Tennessee
And colleges men from LSU
Went in dumb - come out dumb too
Hustlin' 'round Atlanta in their alligator shoes
Gettin' drunk every weekend at the barbecues
Keepin' the niggers down

We're rednecks, we're rednecks
We don't know our ass from a hole in the ground
We're rednecks, we're rednecks
We're keeping the niggers down

Now your northern nigger's a Negro
You see he's got his dignity
Down here we're too ignorant to realize
That the North has set the nigger free

Yes he's free to be put in a cage
In Harlem in New York City
And he's free to be put in a cage in the South-Side of Chicago, the West-Side
And he's free to be put in a cage in Hough in Cleveland
And he's free to be put in a cage in East St. Louis
And he's free to be put in a cage in Fillmore in San Francisco
And he's free to be put in a cage in Roxbury in Boston
They're gatherin' 'em up from miles around
Keepin' the niggers down

We're rednecks, rednecks
And we don't know our ass from a hole in the ground
We're rednecks, we're rednecks
We're keeping the niggers down

We are keeping the niggers down

[john williams]

No, absolutely not! He was probably an interesting fellow though.

[RBS]

I believe it and I voted "yes," but I think it is true for all of us.

[Pete C]

.

Originally Posted by walto

And I mean the ONE AND ONLY.

Don't be answering Yes if you believe EVERY son of Man fits the bill!

[Sergio Zamora]

Sure, why not? So is the mass over yet?

Wasn't there. Didn't know the man. Can't say for sure.


Agnostic Noyz

[Ron Thorne]

I'm married to a "preacher's kid", but remain ambivalent. Imagine how hip my father-in-law might be. And, he's a retired college professor and lover of jazz.

~ Father Thorne

[walto]

RBS, you gotta read ALL the instructions!

[walto]

You too, Scott. I asked you whether you believed that Jesus is God, not whether you were sure it was true. Option 3 is there for those who aren't sure whether they believe or not! You don't have to have met the man to know that!

I'm not grading this on a curve, btw. Plus, I want to talk to a couple of your parents.

[Gary Sisco]

I believe that when it rains, water falls from the sky.

[Root Doctor]

I don't, but I'm a Christian nonetheless.

[Vince Kargatis]

Originally Posted by Root Doctor

I don't, but I'm a Christian nonetheless.

Hm, do you differentiate between Walt's question and the "divinity" of JC, or do you posit a form of Christianity that doesn't require said divinity? I'm unaware of the latter type.

[Root Doctor]

Originally Posted by Vince Kargatis

Hm, do you differentiate between Walt's question and the "divinity" of JC, or do you posit a form of Christianity that doesn't require said divinity? I'm unaware of the latter type.

The latter, Vince, which probably makes me an heretical Episcopalian. To answer your last question, Unitarianism, I believe, doesn't require a belief that Jesus was divine. I'm likely wrong about this, so I'm glad to be corrected on it.

[Noj]

Since God can't be proven to exist, I voted unsure. If there is a God, I believe everyone who ever existed would be God's creation by default.

[walto]

F for you too, Noj. Gotta read the question!

[Noj]

OK, so there's something wrong with wanting proof.

Then no, I don't believe he was the one and only son of God.

[walto]

There's nothing wrong with wanting proof (it's kind of a good thing, actually), my point is that the poll question didn't ask if Jesus was God, it asked if you BELIEVE Jesus is God. You shouldn't need any sort of proof to determine what you believe!

[Enforcer]

No.

Concise and singular, yet in an inexplicably multifaceted way,
Larry

[Noj]

How does one believe without proof?

[Gary Sisco]

Are you kidding?

[Noj]

Are Christians?