Flutterspark

What kind of peace will I get? I have nothing to look forward to, only loneliness

An awesome kind of peace! 

Jesus said:

"Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." ~ John 14:27 (NKJV)

And Paul said of this peace:

"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." ~ Philippians 4:6-7 (NKJV)

I'll be praying for you!

I'm sure there will be some non-Christians reading this, so let me just preface it by saying that I mean no offense or ill-will towards non-Christians. If I did, I'd be posting this comment in a more non-Christian-oriented thread. This is the only thread I can think of to post this in, as posting it anywhere else would likely garner a lot of animosity.

 

I've felt a bit overwhelmed on the forums lately by discussions about Magick and mysticism and various things that the Bible would basically deem Pagan. In the thread about "making a God" out of Celestia, someone actually commented that they should build an idol for her to use as an anchor into our world. Clearly, I'm not going be converting anyone via debates on the MLPF—it would be absurd for me to even expect to do so—but all that talk, all that active acceptance of things that I simply cannot accept, makes it very difficult for me to see any merit to remaining in this fandom. I harbor no judgment toward people who believe such things, but frankly, I'd rather not associate with them simply because those beliefs clash so powerfully with everything that makes me who I am. Ponies is a great show, but if being active in the fandom means putting my faith on the line even for a moment, it's not worth it to me.

 

I don't mean to vilify anyone, and I apologize if that is the effect. I just needed to say this, and I thought y'all would be the most likely to understand.

Bravo, good sir! I am impressed by your willingness to forsake the show in your desire to live a Christian life. It's pretty sad, but out of all the bronies I have seen who claim to be Christians, I think very few would give up My Little Pony for the sake of Christ. It is strengthening to hear a Christian say what you just said.

I too, have been wondering about my connection to the fandom. I like to identify myself as a "brony", a fan of MLP:FiM. It lets other people who also enjoy the show know about my stance towards it, accelerating my friendship with those people through common interest. But what about all the people who call themselves bronies who are obsessed with the show to an abnormal degree? What about all those who treat My Little Pony like a religion, a way of life? Or what about the bronies that sexualise or otherwise pervert the show? Am I lumping myself in with all those people by choosing to call myself a brony?

"Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?" - 2 Corinthians 6:14 (ESV)

I'm happy to submit mine. Good luck with your massive project!

Bevel Gear

I need to ask a favor. My town was just hit by a tornado today. Many have lost their homes, businesses and power. If you guys could keep us in your prayers, we would greatly appreciate it. 

 

http://www.kokomotribune.com/local/x143678763/Storm-strafes-Kokomo

Ouch, the damage looks pretty bad according to that article. I'm glad no one was seriously injured.

Will be praying.

@@Dragonheart,

I can find the papers if you'd like, but among other things, there's research NASA was doing to use E. coli DNA to make "living wires" to run computers built in space,

No way! 

the bacteria (that I helped work on XD ) that produce electricity from ocean sediments (they're trying to run off-shore equipment off them),

Wow, that's amazing!

the bacteria that convert soluble uranium to an insoluable form to be extracted from ground water

Woah. Didn't expect that one.

Many of the things are just manipulations of what bacteria could already do, but right now the possibilities seem near endless .

Programmable bacteria don't seem so far off any more... 

Did you know that insulin is mostly made from E. coli now, and has been for over a decade? In fact, many drugs are.

Interesting, I hadn't realised that!

Good ol' E. coli, making us sick one moment, helping us the next. 

Viruses are AMAZING tho, because they're not technically alive! Crazy at how efficient they are at what they do, tho!

Yeah, I agree!

Kind of scary at times, too...

Computer stuff is awesome too!

Definitely!

Two of my friends are computer security experts and another builds computers for fun.

Cool!

My interest in biological viruses also goes for technological viruses! Computer security, specifically ethical hacking, is my long-term career goal at the moment.

Myself, I am a klutz when it comes to doing ANY line command at all :/

 Well, make sure to contact me if you ever need help with it 

If you want, I can get you in touch with them to find out what the field is really like.

Wow, really? I'd love to chat with someone in the field!

Myself, if you're interested anywhere in biology, I'd be happy to answer questions too!

Thank you!

And don't worry about "not being on the right path"! There's no such thing as a right path. Myself, I entered undergrad with the full intention on becoming a historian at a museum... and ended up studying apple snails (invasive species the size of your fist)... and then went to grad school to study microbial biofuels... and five years later, I'm seriously considering being (at least a part time) artist. 

That is quite the academic adventure!

It's actually very encouraging to hear that. You've reminded me that we're not "boxed in" to our first field of choice. Thanks for sharing. 

So, the short answer is (not trying to be cliché) but FOLLOW YOUR HEART! Do what makes you happy and don't be afraid to ask questions or afraid of what people will think, because at the end of the day, you only will be answering to yourself.

Yeah, working in a job that you don't really enjoy sounds terribly draining to me. I appreciate your advice. 

Welcome @@Redeyes32111!
 
Would you care to tell us how you came up with that interesting name?
 
You say that you're level headed and positive. That's a good combination of character traits, I reckon.
 
The brony community is quite a fine group, I agree. How did you come to join it (if you don't mind my asking)?
 

To the many days ahead.  *Brohoof*

 
To days ahead!
 
*brohoof*
 
If you haven't had it yet, here is the official welcome which really just isn't used obnoxiously enough:

Thanks Everypony oh and I should note that hypnotizing doesnt work on me better luck next time :3

...And yet... here you are 

But really, I hope you have a good time on the forums.

*brohoof*

@@Dragonheart,

Yeah; I used to ask for ponies instead of barbies

In microbiology, I'm studying microbes that make hydrogen from agricultural waste. We're trying to see under what environmental conditions certain genes are turned on so that we can make the process produce more hydrogen. The end goal is to have the farmers dump their waste into a vat with our microbes, which then produce hydrogen, so that the farmer can then burn the hydrogen to (hopefully, one day) run different parts of the farm! It is really cool

That does sound interesting! How long have you been working on that?

As far as art + science, I think a lot of scientists are closet artists and vice versa. I've met a lot of awesome people as I go along and they're doing great things!

Wow, I had no idea.

Awesome people are pretty awesome.

Thank you for the OC compliments! I've never roleplayed as Dragonheart, but I do run a DnD campaign on weekends XD

Ah, so you're quite an experienced roleplayer then!

Someone really needs to make a pony-themed DnD variant. 

Are you a microbiologist too @Flutterspark? I love hearing what other people are doing!

No, I'm still in high school. (Well, I'm technically homeschooled.)

Microbiology used to interest me a lot, however. Specifically virology. I think it's so cool that such a tiny machine can do so much!

I'm into computer-type stuff now, but if I couldn't do something computer related, I would start studying microbiology. (It might be a bit late for me now, because I haven't done much biology stuff at all for a while.)

If someone would care to develop programmable bacteria, I'd be sold....

Hi @@Dragonheart,

Wow, you've been a Brony for a long time!

Looking at your profile, you're into art and microbiology? That's so cool! What most interests you in that field?

Nice OC, by the way. Do you like to roleplay?

*brohoof*

Yes, it was just a matter of time. Time played a big role in it, and after watching the show and going around the internet about the fandom. I got addicted to it.

Makes sense. Time is pretty powerful in that way  .

You say that you read fanfics, do you like reading a lot?

Welcome, Midnight!

Allow me to partake in a small amount of obnoxious fun...

Hey @@HydroAmbience,

It's nice to meet another brony!

I know it's quite late, but...

Happy Birthday!

I hope you had a good day!

So, do you care to tell us how you went from hater to hardcore?

Hi everypony! My handle is NickThePhoenix! I happened to stumble upon this fine forum one day because, well, because I was looking for a site that would be friendly to bronies! I happen to also be a member of MyLittleRemix, but that is more focused on music making. So I decided I wanted a place where I could just hang out and talk to people 'n' such. AND HERE I AM! OHMICELESTIA IT'S SO FREAKING AWESOME I COULD JUST, AHHHHHHH!  

*ahem* 

 

 

Anyway just wanted to say hi and that I love meeting new people so if anybody wants to talk to me, don't be shy! Please, I love talking to people! 

 

So yeah, that's me. Hi

Hey NickThePhoenix!

*brohoof*

Yeah, these forums are pretty cool. 

So, how long have you been a brony?

You like to remix music?

Nice to meet you,

Flutterspark

Hiya CMC-Applebloom,

"Hi" to you too, and nice to meet you!

I hope you enjoyed your nocturnal fun!

Hi Hero!

(Cool name, by the way.)

Let me give you the official welcome:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpQw3WLP3E4

I hope that you enjoy the forums! The Brony community is pretty cool, and these forums are not an exception. 

So, how'd you get into the show?

@@DusK,

Sorry it's been so long. I've been pretty busy lately, and I'm about to be busy again, so this'll probably have to be my last post in what was going to be a discussion.

Unless He exists, and the Bible was simply written by man. Not exactly an out-there concept. Too many people put far too much stock in the Bible. If a person's ability to believe hinges significantly more (or even entirely) on a book instead of a personal relationship through trust and prayer, then really, any book is fair game, because there's no solid proof in any way that the Bible is "the absolute word of God", and certainly not "infallible". I prefer to put a personal relationship with Christ above a book that's "infallible" in name only, as I'll detail later in this post.

However, if you choose to reject the Bible as the Word of God, then you really don't have anything on which your ideas of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ stand. What is God? What is He like? What are His promises? All of these things and more you throw away.

You seem, in a sense, to be unwilling to consider the Bible as being the Word of God because it is presented in book format. Christians who accept the Bible are not putting their faith on a book, they are putting their faith on the Living Word.

How do we know, for absolute certain, that the Bible is the Word of God? The Holy Spirit, inside of every Christian, testifies of the Truth, and the Bible agrees with this Truth.

If you don't trust the Bible as God's word, why trust anything that it says? Why even bother with it? You see, this is an all or nothing deal. I would describe it as very "out there".

Furthermore, people insisting that people who don't revere that Bronze Age collection of texts are doing it wrong are themselves doing it wrong according to the very book they're revering (Romans 14:1-23).

You are misusing that passage. The subject line, the first verse in that chapter is:

"Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters." - Romans 14:1 (NKJV)

The authority of the scriptures is not a disputable matter.

"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness," - 2 Timothy 3:16

In this verse, Paul says that all of the Bible is inspired by God.

Please understand me, I'm not here to tell you "you're doing it wrong" for the sake of saying it. I'm here to build up your faith. I can see where you are not getting things right, and I wish to direct you along the right road.

In the very passage you listed:

"Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another." - Romans 14:19 (NKJV, my italics)

The Bible contradicts itself on many occasions, the most notable being the massive inconsistencies in testimony on the death of Jesus between the various disciples.

What appears to be a difference, is not necessarily an inconsistency. The Bible never contradicts itself. This site has a bunch of information on the differences between the gospels:

http://carm.org/bible-difficulties/matthew-mark

http://carm.org/bible-difficulties/luke-john-and-acts

Aside from these, there are smaller examples. For example, is God a God of peace (Romans 15:33) or a God of War (Exodus 15:3)?

Exodus 15:3 does not state that God is a God of war, it says He is a warrior. You are not applying the Law of non-contradiction. Isn't it possible that God is a peaceful warrior?

Is Joseph the son of Jacob (Matthew 1:16) or Heli (Luke 3:23)?

See "Why are there different genealogies for Jesus in Matthew 1 and Luke 3?"

If you're not for God, are you automatically against Him (Matthew 12:30), or if you aren't against God, are you automatically for Him (Luke 9:50)?

That isn't contradictory.

If the Bible were indeed as perfect as people claim, not a single inconsistency would exist.

This is true. And there are no inconsistencies.

Firstly, I find it rather easy to rationalize a believe in evolution with Christianity, especially if one doesn't revere the Bible as the "perfect word of God" that others seem to.

Indeed, rationalizing a belief in evolution with Christianity is impossible if you do hold the Bible as the perfect Word of God.

See "Did God Create Over Billions of Years?"

But what you have presented to me is not Christianity. It has no solid foundation, as far as I can see.

Additionally, there's incontrovertible evidence supporting evolution. Mounds of it. The same cannot be said for creationism; it only exists inside the Bible.

I don't really want to go into an indepth debate about Evolution. Other than the basic reasons on why why it doesn't work, I know little about the evidence for it. However, I highly doubt it is "incontrovertible".

Creation only exists in the Bible? We only have a reliable eye-witness account given by God Himself. It doesn't account for anything.

There is loads of evidence for a young-earth Creation.

For starters, see "Age of the earth - 101 evidences for a young age of the earth and the universe".

Thirdly, Creation Ministries is far from scientific, and certainly not rational. They have zero credibility. The closest thing they have to a real scientist is the founder Carl Wieland, and his degree is in medicine; far from a field of any credibility regarding the subject at hand.

So people with science degrees and Ph.D.s are not real scientists?

Also, you do you wave-off the all of Creation Ministries International like that? It's all just "not rational"? Who says?

This, compounded with their usage of the "reverse scientific method" (coming to a conclusion first, seeking out only answers that can be construed to fit that conclusion, and ignoring evidence opposed to the conclusion out entirely no matter how reliable or, in the case of the young-earth vs. old-earth debate, irrefutable) makes them far from reasonable.

You are confusing what is effectively pseudoscience with having a world view. A world view (in my understanding) is one's framework for interpreting evidence which allows one to interpret and form conclusions about the world around him. Evidence does not speak for itself, it must be interpreted according to some kind of world view. Both Creationists and Evolutionists have world views. You have to start somewhere in order to be able to make sense of the world around us. Young-earth Creationists started with the presumption that there is a God and that the world was created 6000 years ago in a certain way. Evolutionists started with the presumption that there is no God, and that the world is very old, and essentially made itself.

Young earth creationism flies in the face of stuff we've known with 100% certainty to be true for the past few decades. It's essentially the modern equivalent of believing in a flat earth, and Creation Ministries, attempts to rationalize using pseudo-science and all, is not unlike the Flat Earth Society.

100% certainty? Science can never prove or tell us with 100% certainty something that happened thousands of years ago. It is a framework for understanding the world around us today. The only thing that can tell us what really happened, in detail, is a reliable eye-witness account.

See It's Not Science. (Scroll down to the section called "A Valid Distinction")

Hosea 9:11-16 Numbers 5:11-21 Numbers 31:17 Hosea 13:16 2 Kings 15:16 1 Samuel 15:3 Psalms 135:8 Psalms 137:9 Leviticus 20:9 Judges 11:30-40 Psalms 137:8-9 Deuteronomy 21:18-21 Judges 19:24-29 Exodus 12:29 Exodus 20:9-10 2 Kings 2:23-24 Leviticus 26:30 Isaiah 13:15-18 Jeremiah 11:22-23 Jeremiah 19:7-9 Lamentations 2:20-22

Those are all good examples of God's purity and often his righteous wrath.

See Is the God of the Old Testament a Merciless Monster?

Here are some passages on God's mercy:

2 Samuel 24:14

Psalms 86:5

Psalms 145:9

Luke 6:36

Ephesians 2:4

Titus 3:5

Hebrews 4:16

1 Peter 1:3

1 John 1:9

Joel 2:12-14

Good talking with you! Again, I'm arguing with you not to bring you down, but to make you question. I'm not here to make an enemy of you, but to edify you.

I won't have time to write for a while, so this'll be my last post in our discussion, but please feel free to PM me if you want to talk more about this or anything, really.

I hope this post makes an interesting read. God bless you. 

@,

But sadly, I've recently been disagreeing more and more with what the Bible, specifically with what the new testament says. It's just hard for me to believe in all the historical accounts of all that happened being totally true, especially with Jesus Christ.   I believe he existed but such old history can only explain so much in detail. I do admire most, probably all of his teachings though. It has and still has it's effect on my life.

I really do like the fact that you choose to believe in a God.

But, why would a history book being "old" have any significance in your considerations of such a major topic as Christianity?

If you have a problem with the historical accuracy of the New Testament, you should check out this article:

Should we trust the Bible? - Creation Ministries International

@@DusK,

Really cool testimony! Certainly, personal experience is a very valid reason for holding any belief.

And I still remain skeptical of the Bible on the whole, as any reasonable person would; even the best apologetics fall short of explaining all of the massive inconsistencies it has with both science and itself.

The Bible has no inconsistencies with itself. If the Bible has inconsistencies, then I believe all of our faith is in vain, and our salvation is in vain. There is really no basis for God if the Bible cannot be considered His unerring word.

Inconsistencies with science? I'm assuming you're probably thinking of Evolution. Anyone can see that Evolution and the Bible are mutually exclusive. I personally dislike when people try to merge the two together: Christianity is a man's religion. It has no room for compromises.

If Evolution indeed puts science at odds with God's Word, then we should consider this: Is Evolution, dare I say it, wrong?

Enter Creation Ministries International and the organizations like it. Christian scientists who have created a rational, scientific explanation of the world around us that fits in with the Bible.

See: 

The 3 Rs of Evolution: Rearrange, Remove, Ruin—in other words, no evolution! - CMI 

You're right in the fact that no sane adult actually believes in Santa Claus.  A better comparison would be Zeus or Thor.  Very few modern people believe in them as deities.  Their very concept is rather silly by contemporary standards: magical super-beings with terrible powers, unfathomable motives and unknowable thoughts, yet always invisible and maddeningly unwilling to actually step up and speak directly to us in a way that can be proven to anybody aside from our own ego.

I enjoy your use of imagery, but the Greek and Nordic gods serve as terrible comparison to the God of Christianity.

Did Zeus give all of humanity a great wealth of knowledge on his nature and motives in the form of an easily accessible medium? The God of Christianity gave the Bible.

Did Thor send his one and only son to live a mortal yet blameless life on earth, and then to be tortured and killed unjustly, in order that every tribe and every nation could have eternal life? The God of Christianity did.

The stories of Zeus describe drunken revelry, rape and unjust destruction. The stories of the God of the Bible describe a terrible, yes, but perfect and beautiful God of love and mercy.

@@Vinstar59,

Powerful testimony, sir. Bravo!

I'm sorry to hear about your troubles, and glad to hear about your overcoming them through the power of our God.

Again, bravo, and God bless you!

@, 

No problem, no problem at all.

Remember, true Christians never waste their time making converts. They're too busy saving lives.

Feel free to give me a PM if you ever want any encouragement, or prayer, or anything of the sort.

I'm an atheist but my family is very Catholic. (I promise I won't be hateful or anything, I swear.)

 

Like I said before, my family's very Catholic and my parents don't know that I'm atheist. My parents are very church going, so I get dragged to church against my will almost every Sunday. My dad takes the Sunday off from work just to go to church. In church, I just sit there and daydream about random stuff, I never sing, and I'll only cross myself if my mom gets mad at me for not doing anything. I really don't like going to church, it's just very alienating and depressing. I don't feel very welcome at church. My dad is always complaining about how my two older brothers don't go to church (they moved out of the house), and this other time he was talking smack about atheism. So I'm kinda scared to tell him "Dad, I don't believe in God". I also don't tell anyone IRL about my extremely complicated and label less sexuality but that's a different story. My mom is also pushing me to make my Conformation and I told her "No, I have school to worry about", she wasn't pleased. She was also not pleased when I told her that I didn't want a crucifix in my room, and she hung it anyways. My grandma is also VERY religious, she ALWAYS prays whenever she come to our house. I also have an uncle who's also very fond of his religion and a lot of my cousins are very fond of their religion as well. I have many uncles and aunts who enjoy their religion, I remember an uncle of mine sat in his car reading the bible all alone. I just feel like I don't belong with the rest of my family, and sometimes I wish I didn't have such a religious family. Anyways, I've been an atheist for about a year now. For me, being an atheist feels very liberating and I really like that feeling of independence and freedom.

 

So do you guys think I should be more open about my religious views with my family, or should I keep quiet for now? 

Firstly, I want to say that I'm very pleased with your openness. I think it's really cool that you feel comfortable asking for advice on this thread.

Secondly, Woah. Catholic, eh? Yeah, I understand how that can be distancing. I'm a Christian and even I feel estranged from Catholics due to their many traditional practices sometimes.

Now, I'm afraid I cannot advise you on timings. I do not know if it is best for you to inform your family of your beliefs now, or to wait, but I can tell you some things that I hope will encourage you.

Your family thinks you are Catholic, but you aren't. While you don't say anything about it, you are letting them believe something that is not true. I think that you should probably reveal yourself sooner than later, so that the situation does not fester. Basically, in a way, you are lying to them, and I think that you should tell them the truth before that lie has gone too far. I would personally tell my family before I was confirmed into the church. I'm not a Catholic, but as far as I see it, Confirmation is the point of no return.

But I think you already recognise this, hence the reason you are asking. xD

Now, you say your family is very Catholic. Catholicism, as of course you know, is a denomination of Christianity. If your family is Catholic, they should be Christians.

In the Christian Bible, Jesus says:

"And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”" - Mark 11:25 (NIV)

The Bible also says:

"Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity." - Colossians 3:12-14

God calls Christians to forgive. To love.

When you tell your family that you are an atheist, they will be shocked at first. They will likely get quite angry. They may be angry for a long time. And it might take them an even longer time after they have settled down, but if they are Christians, they will forgive you.

Maybe your telling the truth about yourself will be a test of their faith, I don't know.

So yeah, sooner rather than later, would be my advice, but I am not all knowing.

Thanks again for your honesty, I'll pray for you.

EDIT:

@@MichaelxXxTrixie,

Look, I can see that you are only here to pick a fight. That's not what I'm here for.

I like a good debate as much as the next high schooler with time to waste, but I'm not going to debate with someone who isn't out to actually learn anything.

I'll still be here to answer any questions you have concerning the Bible, if you are willing to consider my answers. Just shoot me a PM.

EDIT 2:

Ouch. What I wrote above seems rather angry, reading it again. I apologise, I meant what I said, but annoyance or anger is not what I meant to convey.

Good talking.

I have a question for all the Christians in here of all types of denominations. What do you think of this website? And try not to interpret anything into something else.

 

 

http://www.evilbible.com/

Good to meet you!

I can't believe how long this thread this been active for. It's impressive!

I was not very impressed, however, with the website that was linked to.

Here are my arguments against Evil Bible.com:

1. This guy uses the New Living Translation for some of his Bible verses. This is a paraphrase translation. It is only an interpretation of the original text, not a direct translation. It should certainly not be used for refuting the Bible.

2. Our God is not a namby pamby baby. He is the perfect, holy, righteous King of the Universe. He does not stand for evil. It is not His nature. In our modern Western culture, we often play down who God is. We tend to forget about the fact that He sometimes chooses to show his wrath. You'll notice that all of the times God did something "evil", it was a result of judgement. There are also many cases in the Bible where God actually holds back his judgement because of repentance. The story of Jonah is one example.

3. One of the examples the author of this website used was God killing the Israelites because of a census that King David commanded. God killed the Israelites even though they were innocent, right? Nope. They had also refused to obey a law about a ransom to God that was supposed to be given during every numbering of the people. The Israelites knew there own laws very well, they would also have known very well that they were disobeying. See David's Census and the Plague.

4. Now let's look at the "Ritual Human Sacrifice" page. It says God is a "big fan" of it. Unfortunately for the validity of that page, there was never a case of a human being sacrificed to God in the Bible. The one time God commanded it, God caused the sacrifice to never actually be carried out, as the website states.

From Evil Bible.com:

"Abraham takes his own son up on a mountain and builds an altar upon which to burn him. He even lies to his son and has him help build the altar. Then Abraham ties his son to the altar and puts a knife to his throat. He then hears God tell him this was just a test of his faith. However, God still wanted to smell some burnt flesh so he tells Abraham to burn a ram."

Abraham never lies to his son. If you read the passage in depth, Abraham trusted that God would not allow Isaac to be sacrificed.

Additionally, sacrifices in the Old Testament are symbolic of the Sacrifice that was to come. That is, Jesus Christ dying on a cross so that we might be saved. God does not care about the smell.

See The Sacrifice of Isaac.

I think the fact that this site uses this as an argument against the Bible demonstrates that this guy is just out to pick fights. I mean, the site is called "Evil Bible.com"...Does that tell us something?

5. The section titled "Japheth burns his daughter". Japheth makes a really silly promise to God, and he ends up having to kill his own daughter to keep that promise. Rash words -> Big negative consequence. The Bible never suggests that Japheth was supposed to make that promise, but he did do the right thing in choosing to keep it rather than let his daughter live. Why? Because the God who created the universe is worth more than anything else. The story is a lesson that we should not make those kinds of promises:

"But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ For whatever is more than these is from the evil one." - Matthew 5:37 (NKJV)

...And yet, the author of the site has attempted to use it to show that God is evil because Japheth did the wrong thing. Yes, it's not a secret, Christians sin sometimes. It's unfortunate, but it doesn't make God any less righteous.

6. Then the page goes on to talk about God's "obsession" with first-born sons. It says:

"Even more peculiar is God's obsession with first-born sons. In Exodus 13:2 the Lord said "Consecrate to me every first-born that opens the womb among Israelites, both man and beast, for it belongs to me." It is clear from the context that "consecrate" means a burning sacrifice."

It is not clear from the text that consecrate means a burning sacrifice. It completely depends on the thing that is being consecrated. Note how the author does not give any scriptural reference for the context. He is again demonstrating that he's just looking to pick fights, not to consider the text seriously.

"A human sacrifice is a human sacrifice, and it is just sick."

...said the author as he failed to demonstrate any Biblical cases of human sacrifice.

For more info on consecration, see What does the Bible say about consecration?

7. Back on the homepage: The site claims that Jesus said men should castrate themselves. And how does the site support this? They take a Bible verse out of context. And not only that, it quotes the American Standard Version. Hmmm? I wonder why he's swapping Bible versions like that? Maybe the author is interested in misleading us?

Let's look at the passage that the author talks about in more detail, shall we?

"His disciples said to Him, “If such is the case of the man with his wife, it is better not to marry.”

But He said to them, “All cannot accept this saying, but only those to whom it has been given: For there are eunuchs who were born thus from their mother’s womb, and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake. He who is able to accept it, let him accept it.”"

- Matthew 19:10-12

Jesus is teaching on celibacy. Whatever your interpretation of this piece of Scripture, Jesus is clearly not commanding anyone to abstain from marriage or sex. He is simply stating some facts.

For more on eunuchs, see What is a eunuch in the Bible? What does the Bible say about eunuchs?

8. I could go on and on about these poor arguments, but I'll stop. I need to direct attention to the main reason that website is rather silly. The big illogical argument that is sitting right in front of us.

The title of the website is Evil Bible.com. On the homepage, it says:

"This type of criminal behavior should shock any moral person."

But here's the thing. Where does the author get his definition of evil? Where does his idea of what is moral even come from?

Obviously, he is measuring Bible verses against some sort of moral scale, otherwise he wouldn't call the Bible "evil". But what is this scale? Does he subscribe to some other religion, that he holds as the definition of morality?

Ah ha! Here on the "About" page, the author writes:

"EvilBible.com is a non-profit web site which was developed to promote atheism by revealing the wicked truth about the Bible and religion."

So he promotes atheism, I see. ...Wait a minute, I thought atheism disregarded concepts like "good", "evil", and "morality" altogether, because it says that there just is no higher power?

You see, if there is no such thing as perfect, then there can be no such thing as imperfection. If there is no such thing as good, there can be no such thing as evil. If there is no such thing as morality, there can be no such thing as immortality. This is the belief atheists are forced to subscribe to by the very nature of atheism itself.

Can you see the illogicality of this statement now?

The author of this website is calling the Bible "wicked", even though he himself does not hold to any scale that defines "wickedness". The ruler that he is measuring the Bible with is an object that he doesn't even believe exists.

Christians on the other hand, hold God as the definition of goodness, morality, purity, love, and righteousness. The Bible is good, because it is the word of the one true God, who is good. When we call something evil or wicked, we are comparing that thing to the nature of God. Lying is evil because God is truthful. Mercy is good because God is merciful. Love is good because God is love.

Evil Bible.com is a misleading website standing on a shaky foundation, and I would just ignore it, if I were you.

EDIT:

I may be beating a dead... tree... here, but I just wanted to shamelessly advertise for a bit. Please stop reading now if you really don't need another book on your reading list that you'll never get around to finishing anyway.

C.S. Lewis's Mere Christianity, does a really good job of explaining the morality stuff that I fumbled around with in section 8 above. He makes very clear that all of humanity seems to compare "good" and "evil" by some invisible law, and then goes on to blow the reader's mind.

If anypony's interested, I found an (unfortunately poorly formatted) online version:

http://lib.ru/LEWISCL/mere_engl.txt

You have to scroll down for a bit to get to the start of the book. The part before the index is just a preface.

Ok, I'm going to give everypony some peace and quiet now.

I don't think I could ever be a Christian. Simply the idea of anyone other than me controlling my future sounds like fucking hell. Plus, being a Christian would make me have to give up my music, which isn't an option. A lot of the kindest people I've met, however, are Christians.

 

God wishes he was me.

Nice to meet you. I appreciate your honesty.

I can see where you are coming from with the "future controlling" thing. Think about this, though. If God is real, then He has power over your life whether you choose to be a Christian or not. Just like whether you believe in gravity or not has no affect on what happens if you jump off a cliff. So if God is real, being a Christian won't put you in "hell", but it can change you into a person who does not consider it "hell".

Give up your music? Actually, you'd have to give up your entire life.  In fact, we all would, and some, those who call themselves Christians, actually have.

But really, I see where you're coming from.

Again, nice meeting you.

Yes I mean an actual physical father son relationship, Mary bearing God's son the power of the Holy Ghost. When Jesus speaks of his Father he actually means father

Thanks for clarifying.

I don't quite understand your sibling situation, due to poor syntax.

 

I have two older brothers. The younger of those two likes ponies as I do (though does not browse forums), and the older one doesn't care at all for it. I also have a younger sister, who isn't all that much of a fan but is aware of both me and my older brother's interest.

 

You should make it clear to him that Bronies is a very large and broad term-- "Bronies" includes everything from casual interests like myself to fanatics who spend every waking moment thinking about ponies, or clopping to them or buying all the merchandise. It is a bit unfair to state that that all bronies exhibit such fanatical behaviours when in truth only some (indeed few) of them actually do. For which reason, I personally refuse to be classified by my interest in the show as a primary description. If anyone says that I am a brony, I correct them saying that first and foremostly I am a Christian, and then agree with the notion that yes I am a confirmed fan of the show My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, but how much of a fan I am, is limited in scope, and compared to many, exercises a great deal of restraint.

That all said, the whole paragraph I just gave was a comparison to myself, in regards to those with knowledge of extreme fringes of the Brony fandom. The whole argument would be different if he's simply hating on 'bronies' from the basis of a handful of details or few reports.

Brony-ism, is like space (sort of). The reality of it can get pretty complicated to understand, and it's really easy to just grab on to simplified, oversimplified, or overblown details.

Nice explanation!

I found the example you gave of yourself very encouraging. I think a lot of the fandom needs to realise that liking the show does not equal needing to define yourself on the basis of that like, myself included. There was a period I went through where I was thinking about ponies a lot more than God, and I required a figurative slap on the face to snap out of it. I'm grateful to people like you setting an example for other Christians to follow.

Statements made by the Trinity doctrine:

There is only one God, The Father is God, Jesus is God, The Holy Spirit is God, Jesus is not the Father, Jesus is not the Spirit, The Father is not the Spirit

 

I do not believe in the three in one aspect, I believe they are literally separate... physically though one mentally and emotionally.

There's another aspect of the Trinity that I did not cover the last post and that is the belief God is a spirit... I believe God has a very real and physical body as does his son after living a mortal life, dying, and being resurrected. The only one without a physical body is the Holy Spirit thus allowing him to dwell within all of us and allowing us to be connected with God.

This is why I am a Nontrinitarian Christian.

 

Thank you I'm glad to meet you as well.

Ah, I see. Thanks for the explaination, I had never previously considered Nontrinitarianism (say that three times fast!) before.

EDIT:

Oh, wait, I think I misunderstood your first explanation. When you say an "actual father and son relationship", do you mean physically? Like a human father and son? Please excuse my sluggish mind.

Well God is the Father and Jesus Christ is the Son. An actual father and son relationship thus why you see the words 'Son of God' in the New Testament so often. The Holy Spirit is His voice and messenger of God, the one that allows connect with the Father in prayer and tells us God is very real.

 

One analogy I use when it comes to the Father and the Son is that the first was the architect of the universe and the second was the builder of the universe.

 

As Jesus Christ said "I and my Father are one" which is that they are one in purpose and mindset... they will never disagree. Jesus Christ goes about his Father's business, not his own though because they are one the Father's business is the Son's business.

 

Also Jesus Christ is the Jehovah thus why Jesus said he is the great 'I Am', the god the Old Testament.

This is interesting stuff. Where exactly do you differ in respect to Trinitarian Christians?  I believe in the trinity very strongly, but what you have written seems to agree with that for the most part.

Nice to meet you, by the way!

There are a fair number of threads in the Debate Pit, where you could do just that, if you're so inclined.  The discussions on pro-life/choice and gay rights almost always boil down to whether or not somebody believes in God (and by extension, whether they consider the Bible a valid source of laws/customs).

I'm looking forward to reaching 40 posts!

That's very true. All debates I've had on any ethics topic seem to boil down to the basis of God and the Bible in the end. Kind of tells you where the issue lies, doesn't it?

Hey dude. I am a Christian and I recently got into a debate with a handful of aethist on this site. Let's just say I didn't make any progress. Not because I said the wrong stuff but because they weren't listening to me. They were being simple minded and extremely annoying.

 

Debates always end that way. You shouldn't bother debating against people unless you enjoy that sort of stuff. It never really gets anywhere in the end and only makes you tired.

Yeah, debating is incredibly draining... Even debating other Christians.

Debating over the internet makes things even more difficult.

I get the feeling that ponies don't tend to take arguments on the internet very seriously, but I don't have much experience to speak from.

Ohhhhhhhhh! oh! oh! oh! me! me! me! me! me! pick me! pick me! pick me! am! I am! *jumps up and down repeatedly waving hand in the air like a spaz* lol I am! :D :D

Welcome! 

EDIT:

Welcome to you, too!

Good to meet everypony!

It's quite heartwarming to see how many Christian bronies there are out there.

@,  @@Cobalt Thunder, @@TotalNeon,  @@takai, Nice to meet everypony!

I concur with BronySaurusSRB in that I'm also always up for a PM chat. Any questions, or you'd just like prayer or someone to give you a little encouragement.

Which reminds me, this thread could actually be very usable as a place to do prayer requests.