From: "Alice"
Subject: interesting.....
The coming of Jesus was foretold more than 40 times in the old testament, and Jesus was an actual historical figure, yep, a REAL person.
Here we have two highly disputable claims: that Jesus was prophecized in the Old Testament and that Jesus really existed.
First, the prophecies: are any of them really valid? That's not at all clear - and by that I don't simply mean that they weren't necessarily fulfilled, but that they weren't necessarily prophecies in the first place. It's important to remember that we are talking about Jewish scriptures here and that Jewish scholars know them pretty well. In all cases, however, those scholars do not agree either that we are dealing with a genuine prophecy in the first place or, if we are, that Jesus fulfilled it. It's not obvious why Christians' belief about these passages is superior to that of Jews. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't - that's why the claim is disputable.
Second, Jesus: did he really exist? Christians obviously believe this, but it isn't obviously true. The only clear records we have for Jesus are in the New Testament, and they aren't independent confirmations of each other. The only extra-Biblical evidence of any reliability whatsoever comes from Josephus - one longer passage which was edited at a later date, so it's not clear that it ever referred to Jesus originally, and one shorter passage which may or may not have been edited later and which probably referred to a Jesus originally. This is not a strong foundation upon which to rest the claim that Jesus really existed. It's possible, there's no question about it, but it's not definite.
Even if we were to allow that Jesus did exist, however, that wouldn't answer the question of "what" Jesus existed. Just because there was a Jesus doesn't mean that every single claim about his life, words, personality, travels, etc. is completely accurate. It's entirely possible that there was a Jesus but myths and stories were built up around him over time. Thus, even more important than the question of whether Jesus really existed or not is the question of what, if anything, we can say about such a Jesus should we grant his existence.
I respect your beliefs as an atheist,( or lack of them) but please don't stereotype all christians, that is a very narrow minded attitude. That would be like me saying ALL atheists are evil, which i do not believe. Or that ALL black people can dance, which is also not true, or that ALL gay people love Broadway musicals, i mean How ridiculous!! So, i say to you, Christians , in general, are NOT the violent, hateful people you seem to think they are. Maybe you just haven't met them all!
This is a curious accusation from Alice because I actually go to some lengths in order not to stereotype all Christians. I will admit that I may use inappropriate general language from time to time, but that is a sign of fallibility rather than malice. Throughout most of my writing you will find that I use adjectives and other language to emphasize the fact that, when talking about hateful and/or violent Christians, I am not actually referring to all Christians.
This is because I don't think that all Christians are hateful and violent. Sure, I think that they are wrong - but that isn't nearly the same thing.
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