erinja:

orthohawk:
If the person is an Orthodox Christian, you'll want to say "Kristo Leviĝis!" to which they will reply "Vere Li leviĝis!"

For an American Orthodox Christian, would they say that in English, or would they say it in Greek or Russian or another language, depending on what kind of orthodox they were?

Ordinarily, sure, but I use the E-o greeting to sameklezikajideanoj

Mendacapote:
I’m not at all a fanatic Christian. For me Jesus Christ was a human being, not the Son of God. But the mountain sermon, Mathews 5-8 is my moral code. I can save this three chapters and burn to ashes the whole bible.

But Jesus SAID that he was the Son of God. He called himself the "I AM". He said he made the world. Now, if you don't believe him, then he was a lunatic, no? A man who said the things that he said, either was a lunatic, either he lied to you (which makes his evil) or he really is God. You can only choose one.

Pastorant:

How many colors exist between black and white? If I don’t believe what you believe will I go to hell? If I don’t see Jesus exactly the way you see him will I burn for ever?

Many of the sayings attributed to Jesus were written many years after his death. How can you be so sure Jesus said anything of all that he was supposed to say if he wrote nothing himself? I’m not sure of ANYTHING! Even those three chapters (Mathew 5-8) that I so much love could be an inaccurate compilation of his sayings memorized by his apostles and put together arbitrarily!

I do love Jesus the human being, the labor man, the prophet, the preacher, the questioner, the defender of the poor, the moralist, the healer, the merciful, the compassionate, the lover of his friends… and enemies.

I don’t need any overpowered and divine Jesus to call myself a Christian. What he (supposedly) said and did (no miracles needed) was sufficient for me to want to be baptized on his name and adhere myself to Christianity.

Do I believe in God? Yes, I do believe in God.

All those sayings of Jesus calling himself one with the Father… are mystically TRUE. It’s a MYSTIC experience, brother Pastorant, just like the creation of Eve from one rib of Adam; not a literal FACT.

I've dedicated my life to this fact. I'll just discuss it briefly, but you had fisherman who were upset at the crucifixion, saw their dreams go up and smoke, go back to fishing, then they saw Jesus resurrected! That's the difference between any other religion in the world. Jesus said the only way to get to heaven was by him alone. So, if I said you can only go to heaven by believing in me, what I be a nutcase? I'm not trying to convince you of anything. I'm just trying to have you look at it logically. The word Christian means disciple of Christ. Christ is the guy who said he was God, and he ALSO said that if you don't follow him, you'll be lost forever in hell.
Be sure you are clear who you are following We only know of God by what the Bible says. Christ said that if you believe the Bible, you will believe in Him.

pastorant:
Be sure you are clear who you are following We only know of God by what the Bible says. Christ said that if you believe the Bible, you will believe in Him.

But Jesus (with standard disclaimer - assuming he existed) didn't know what was going to be in the Christian Bible, because it hadn't been written yet. The very earliest part of it wasn't even written until around 40 years after his death - and in the meantime, a huge Jewish rebellion against Rome happened, a siege against Jerusalem, all kinds of mayhem and chaos. It isn't exactly the recipe for detailed transmission of a text of exact quotes from a minor prophet that not very many people had even heard of.

To me, someone can very easily be a Christian without believing that the Christian Bible is the literal truth. It isn't saying that Jesus was a madman or that he was lying or anything like that. It is only saying that he didn't write the book and that the text is not the literal truth (even if you agree with the general ideas contained in it). You can agree with the ideas in the text without believing that the entire book, every word, is the literal truth and the literal words that Jesus spoke, the same way that I can believe in the general ideas of a news article without necessarily believing that every quote was reproduced exactly. Therefore, you can believe in the general ideas that are attributed to Jesus, without believing that he ever even said that he was a god. You can be a follower of a person without believing every single word that comes out of the person's mouth (even assuming they really said those things).

And if you told me that the only way I could reach heaven was through you - yes, I would think you're a nutcase. Such a statement would go against the entire Torah (by telling me to turn away from G-d's commandments, as mentioned in Deuteronomy), and far from encouraging a "personal relationship with G-d", would in fact put intermediaries between me and G-d (namely, you).

In any case, I don't believe in heaven and hell, so I don't really take much notice of the Christian focus on damning people to hell anyway.

Happy Easter to you all as well.

While we're on the subject, isn't the Greek Orthodox liturgical calander different from the Catholic liturgical calander? I know that the Copic is different (although I am Catholic, not Coptic) Isn't Easter somewhere around the begining of the year?

Hi Erinja:

I read a wonderful book several years ago: “Ancient Israel” of Roland de Vaux. I think you could benefit from its reading. It won’t harm your faith. Please, give it a try!

pastorant:But Jesus SAID that he was the Son of God. He called himself the "I AM". He said he made the world. Now, if you don't believe him, then he was a lunatic, no? A man who said the things that he said, either was a lunatic, either he lied to you (which makes his evil) or he really is God. You can only choose one.

From alt.atheism FAQ (http://www.flashback.se/archive/atheism_faq.html):

Lord, Liar or Lunatic?

"Did Jesus exist? If not, then there's not much to talk about. If he
did, he called himself Lord. This means that either:
* He was Lord,
* He was a liar, or
* He was a lunatic.

It's unlikely he was a liar, given his morals as described in the
Bible, and his behaviour doesn't sound like that of a lunatic. So
surely we must conclude that he was Lord?"

Firstly, note that this argument hinges on the assumption that Jesus
did in fact exist. This is at least debatable.

Secondly, the argument attempts a logical fallacy which we might call
"trifurcation", by analogy with "bifurcation" (see the Constructing a
Logical Argument FAQ). That is, the argument attempts to restrict us
to three possibilities, when in fact there are many more.

Two of the more likely alternatives are:
1. He was misquoted in the Bible, and did not claim to be Lord.
2. The stories about him were made up, or embroidered with fictitious
material by the early Christians.

Note that in the New Testament, Jesus does not say that he is God. The
claim was first made after the death of Jesus and his twelve
disciples.

Finally, note that the possibility that he was a "lunatic" is not
easily discountable. Even today in the western world there are
numerous people who have managed to convince hundreds or thousands of
followers that they are the Lord or his One True Prophet. People like
L. Ron Hubbard, Sun Myung Moon, Jim Jones and David Koresh continue to
peddle their divinity. In more superstitious countries, there are
literally hundreds of present-day messiahs.

mnlg:From alt.atheism FAQ...

Let the can of worms be opened!