Why Did Jesus Come To The Earth?

[goodlife]

Jesus was not an imaginary person. He really lived as a man on earth. “In ancient times even the opponents of Christianity never doubted the [actual existence] of Jesus,” notes the Encyclopædia Britannica. So just who was Jesus? Was he really sent by God? Why is he so well known?

[naomi24]

Goodlife, so you don't ask the rationally obvious questions. Thought not.

Boxtops, //The same moral teachings are in the Koran, goodlife - they're not exclusively Christian.//

The Koran is a rip off of the bible. Neither book is a beacon of morality. Far from it.

[Kimdottir]

Atheists have morals. Morals don't come from religion.

[Khandro]

Some atheists have terrible morals as do many followers of religion, what's your point?

[Kimdottir]

That morals and religion aren't related. Same as yours.

[flobadob]

If you can keep a cult going for a couple thousand years, you've got yourself a religion, buddy.

[benhilton]

So how DO you keep a cult going for a couple of thousand years ?.....

Naomi you've got us Christians all wrong , we don't do this out of fear we do this because we are responding positively to a positive message .

As for morality , if you can manage to commit yourself to the ten commandments then you won't go wrong .

[andy-hughes]

benhilton - // ...we don't do this out of fear we do this because we are responding positively to a positive message .//

You are clearly not a Catholic then!!!!

[naomi24]

benhilton,

//So how DO you keep a cult going for a couple of thousand years ?.//

You take an assortment of pre-existing myths, you impose upon the gullible the sentimentally incontrovertible burden of guilt, you introduce a notion of favourable selection in exchange for unquestioning sycophancy, and you add to all of that a distinct element of fear for personal security in the 'hereafter'. Voila!! Job done!

//Naomi you've got us Christians all wrong , we don't do this out of fear we do this because we are responding positively to a positive message .//

And the positive message is what? Ultimately something other than the promise of eternal life? Be honest now.

//As for morality , if you can manage to commit yourself to the ten commandments then you won't go wrong .//

Make that the last six. The first four are irrelevant.

[joggerjayne]

Is this the bit where Christians maintain that morality stems from the Ten Commandments, and the teachings of religion?

The usual response being ...

If we found out tomorrow, that God definitely did NOT exist ... would Christians all become ruthless savages, devoid of all morals?

Or, as seems more likely, are our moral feelings actually completely independent of any connection to religion?

[goodlife]

Take One the matter of sexual morality. Scriptural standards are very strict. The only place for sexual intimacy is within marriage, and all such intimacy outside marriage is forbidden. We read: “Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men kept for unnatural purposes, nor men who lie with men . . . will inherit God’s kingdom.” (1 Corinthians 6:9, 10

But for true Christians the Bible requires monogamy, one husband for one wife. (1 Timothy 3:2) And while there are extreme cases where divorce or separation might be allowed,

The Bible says that in general the marriage bond is for life. Jesus himself said: “He who created them from the beginning made them male and female and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and his mother and will stick to his wife, and the two will be one flesh’ . . . So that they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has yoked together let no man put apart.”—Matthew 19:4-6, 9;

Today, well these standards are widely ignored. Loose sexual practices are tolerated. Sexual relations between dating teenagers are viewed as normal. Living together without the benefit of marriage is accepted. Among married couples, illicit sexual affairs by either partner are not uncommon. And divorce is pandemic in this modern world. These relaxed standards, however, have not brought true happiness.

The bad results have proved that the Bible was right .

True, many say that the Bible is out-of-date and irrelevant in this 21th century, why, the reason likely is that the Bible does not say what they want to hear.

[andy-hughes]

goodlife - //Today, well these standards are widely ignored. Loose sexual practices are tolerated. Sexual relations between dating teenagers are viewed as normal. Living together without the benefit of marriage is accepted. Among married couples, illicit sexual affairs by either partner are not uncommon. And divorce is pandemic in this modern world. These relaxed standards, however, have not brought true happiness.

The bad results have proved that the Bible was right . //

What a good job there are absolutely no murderers, rapists, child abusers, perverts or generally horrible people among the married population of the world ....

Hang on ....

[naomi24]

Goodlife, all this talk of sex doesn't seem to be good for you. You’ve forgotten to tell us the answer to your original pseudo-question – “Why did Jesus come to the earth?” - but no rush. You'll no doubt find something that someone else has written about it to copy and paste eventually.

[goodlife]

naomi Oh sorry I thought you knew,explaining why he had come to earth, Jesus told the Roman governor Pontius Pilate, For this I have been born, and for this purpose I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth.” (John 18:37)

[naomi24]

Goodlife, //Jesus told the Roman governor Pontius Pilate....//

Back to my unanswered question. How do you know what Jesus told Pilate? Who recorded that conversation?

[DTCwordfan]

wildwood - //Sometimes I think he purposely copy/pastes the 'good word' to make folks read them so they can retort. This, he feels, must be his mission in life.//

Yeah, he's probably sponsored by Xerox for the copying that he does.

[benhilton]

//...These relaxed standards, however, have not brought true happiness... //
How very true .

// You take an assortment of pre-existing myths, you impose upon the gullible the sentimentally incontrovertible burden of guilt, you introduce a notion of favourable selection in exchange for unquestioning sycophancy, and you add to all of that a distinct element of fear for personal security in the 'hereafter'. Voila!! Job done! //
Naomi if you truly believe that this is what drives the faith of myself and 1.5 billion others then you are truly gullible .
Andy yes I am a Roman Catholic .

The positive message is that forgiveness and love triumphs over revenge and hate .
Well , our cult is 2000 + years old and still going strong . Let's see whether the " sands of time " or the "gates of Hell " ever manage to prevail against it...

[benhilton]

That's a fair point Methyl , that people now and in ancient times have joined religions to oppose the negative phenomena that you mentioned , but I think that the positive aspect , the positive commitment to your faith ( rather than opposing something ) draws many more people in .