If, in fact, Jesus was the only being who it was claimed that they raised the dead it would certainly be worth some discussion. The trouble is that this is for deities what claiming to have climbed mount Everest is for humans… more or less. The passages quoted have a chronology. The claim that he was the first comes after the claims that he wasn’t so a reading of the book in a traditional front to back manner would seem to be quite contradictory without interpretation of some sort. Either they are contradictory or they need interpretation and that brings up a whole can of worms, with things like truth, other deities, historical context, veracity of the book and so on. Having suffered any or all of the other contradictions in the Bible, at this point the logical and reasoning reader can safely toss the book aside as a work of fiction or otherwise not really worth the effort to read it… IMO

So, your faith is just an insurance policy?

As for Biblical standards making the world a better place… now that is some wishful thinking. For about 2000 years there have been people claiming to live by Biblical standards. Has the world really been a good place because of it, or is just the opposite true? How long do we wait for these good Christian people to start making the world a better place? Wait, do we have to get rid of the gays, Muslims, and others first, or do they get to be part of this ‘better world’ you mention?

Live your life in fear of hell on the chance that the fairy tale is right. I know that makes sense to some people, but it is nothing more than superstition, and dangerous superstition at that.

“Religion is an insult to human dignity. With or without it, you’d have good people doing good things and evil people doing bad things, but for good people to do bad things, it takes religion.”

-Steven Weinberg

Weinberg says it about as simply as it can be put. People justify good with Christianity, others justify hate with Christianity, and some even justify murder with Christianity.

Fearing an invisible deity does not make the world a better place. It only makes it a delusional place. I am morally the same man I was as a Christian. I love my wife and help others because I choose to. Not because an primitive Jewish man told me to.

Yes, putting people to death for working on the Sabbath would definitely improve things…or for wearing clothing made from more than one type of fabric.
Remember, Jesus came to fulfill the law, not destroy it.

If everyone lived by the GOOD parts of the Christian Bible, or any other religion, yes, the world would be a better place, but the GOOD teachings of any religion are really just common sense stuff.
We don’t NEED religion or fear of eternal torture to be good, we just need SENSIBILITY and EDUCATION.

- ‘I AM ingnoring most other religions though.’

Why aren’t you willing to at least learn about other religions?

- ‘Had I known that such a simple statment would have pulled you underwear so far up your butt I may not have made it. I am sorry I upset your world.’

My underwear are still sitting comfortably in their appropriate spot, and my world is perfectly unfazed by your willful ignorance.
I am a closeted exChristian who is (once again) living in the loving Christian home I grew up in, because of this I see and hear more than my share of…well, I’ll say it again, willful ignorance.
I come here for the purpose of my entertainment (mostly), but I thank you kindly for your concern.

- ‘I dont believe that ANYONE else other than Jesus rose from the dead on their own power… I believe that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior.’

Realise that people of other faiths believe that their god/deity is the only true lord and savior, or whatever, yet everyone is still trying to convert everyone else to their religion.
What makes Christianity any more real than the many other (OLDER) religions with slain gods/half gods coming back from the dead?
They are no different.

- ‘I DO REALIZE that a lot of the Bible sounds far-fetched, starting with the story of Adam and Eve.’

But I’m certain you DIDN’T REALISE that the Judeo-Christian creation story is based on the ancient Sumerian/Akkadian creation story, from the creation of man from dust from the earth to talking snakes in the garden, it’s all there.

‘There is no way that EVERYTHING was made by NOTHING.’

Ex nihilo nihil fit. Nothing can come from nothing.
Even science proves this, matter and energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transformed; science shows us that everything could not possibly come from nothing.

Had I known that such a simple statment would have pulled you underwear so far up your butt I may not have made it. I am sorry I upset your world.

Every post after mine indicates that you are all very learned and well read people in the area of the theology whether you are Christian or not.

Most of Christianity needs to be based on faith, child-like faith. This is what I have. These are my beliefs. Call me simple, call me ignorant, call me uneducated in facts of history or theology…whatever you feel.

I dont believe that ANYONE else other than Jesus rose from the dead on their own power. I believe in the teachings of the Bible. I believe that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior.

I DO REALIZE that a lot of the Bible sounds far-fetched, starting with the story of Adam and Eve. But to be a true Christian and have the beliefs that I have you must let faith take over at some point.

I believe that God created the universe and everything in it. What else could there be?? There is no way that EVERYTHING was made by NOTHING.

So, that is just my view. I am sorry that I have seemed to put the intentions into the mouth of the writer. But, for Christians, it is obvious.

The argument that these stories conflict is valid.
The point isn’t whether all these people rose from the dead on their own/with their own power, the argument is that the Bible says that Jesus was the first to rise from the dead when, in fact, there are many stories in the Bible before ‘Christ’s resurrection’ where people have risen from the dead.

And if we’re gonna be really specific (and this is mainly for Dale), ‘Jesus’ was most certainly NOT THE ONLY ONE (or even the first) to rise from the dead on his own, but that would be a repeat of the history lesson we gave to Prayerson Daniel…I’m a bit sad he hasn’t come back.