Cougar
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Posts posted by Cougar
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There's an interesting article on TheInquirer.net (no relation to the magazine) that talks about how much computers are going to change this year. Almost all the standards will be changed one way or the other this year.
CPUs: both AMD and Intel are going to use more pins
RAM: switching to DDR-II instead of DDR
PCI: getting replaced by PCI Express
Power Supplies: Intel is introducing a new BTX power supply
Motherboards: changing to adapt with all the above changes
Cases: changing to adapt to the new motherboard style
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of publicity since
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Do you know Greek, and have you read the texts? Having a Greek bible, and a Greek dictionary doesn't make you qualified to reach the conclusion that you're putting forth.
No I don't know Greek and I have only read parts of the texts. People much more learned than I have already reached the conclusion that the Bible is extremely consistent.
It is not wise to believe everything you hear just because you don't have information that contradicts it. There should be some evidence to support the claim.Atheists, and Agnostics, have been telling Creationists that for years.
And for years Christians have been telling atheists and agnostics that there is a God.
My point was, if something exists, it doesn't matter whether or not you believe in it, it still exists. Conversely, if something doesn't exist, believing in it will not make it real.That's not true. It's been shown that if you give patients placebo's, there are times when they'll react just as if they had taken the actual pill. To the patient, it's real.
The question of whether or not a pill is a placebo is not the the same as whether or not the pill actually exists.
A better analogy would be a black box that is either full of rocks or is full of feathers. It doesn't matter what I believe the box is filled with, whatever is in there is in there. My beliefs won't change that.
God is very real to a lot of people. The question of whether he is *actually* real has absolutely no bearing on how real he is to those people.But again, their beliefs don't change the reality of God's existence.
Just because something is Mentally Real(real in your mind), doesn't make it physically real. At the same time, just because something is physically real doesn't make it mentally real(real in your mind).Exactly, that's why faith should be based on evidence.
refer you to my False Dichotomy comments. I'll also add that statistically small doesn't mean impossible.By "very, very small" I meant 1 in 10^40,000 (that's a 1 with 40,000 zeros after it). For reference, an occurence is considered impossible if it has a probability of less than 1 in 10^50 (that's a 1 with 50 zeros after it).
True, but there is more to the church than the people.Such as? (I'm not catholic by the way
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I believe it's been pretty much accepted that "true" randomness doesn't exist, only the illusion of randomness.
Randomness is just the measure of "knowledge we don't have". If you flip a coin, we say there's a 50/50 chance for heads or tails. But, if I new the exact force that was applied to the coin, where it was applied, the amount of air resistence, etc. I would be able to predict exactly what the outcome would be.
You know Greek, and you've read the texts?I have a Greek bible and a Greek dictionary.
There were many authors of the Bible, but that actually strengthens the argument of divine inspiration since there aren't any contradictions. These 40+ authors who came from many different walks of life wrote about controversial subjects and yet all the writings agree with each other.That's a fallacy. The introduction of only two choices, when there's clearly a third(or more). It's also possible that one person was overseeing the writing of the bible when it was put together.
I'm not sure what you are saying here with "The introduction of only two choices", but it's a fact that the Bible was written by 40 authors over a span of 1500 years.
Yes, all religions claim to be the way into heaven, but you need to consider the evidence on which those claims are based. I can say to you, "Chew bubble gum twice a day and I guarantee that you will get into heaven". However, I have no facts to support this claim so it would be foolish to believe me.There are also no facts that dispute your claim, so by the same token it would be foolish to disbelieve you.
It is not wise to believe everything you hear just because you don't have information that contradicts it. There should be some evidence to support the claim.
Just because you don't believe in something it doesn't mean it doesn't exist.And just because you *do* believe in something doesn't mean that it *does* exist.
My point was, if something exists, it doesn't matter whether or not you believe in it, it still exists. Conversely, if something doesn't exist, believing in it will not make it real.
The difference between the two is that if there is a God, then the probability of creation is very high. If there is not a God, the probability of evolution is still very, very small.But that still doesn't disprove Evolution.
No, but it does make it very unlikely.
"Chew bubble gum twice a day and I guarantee that you will get into heaven". However, I have no facts to support this claim so it would be foolish to believe me.Well for that matter, what facts do you have to support you are guaranteed "get into heaven" (like it's a nightclub or something
) by any means?"In Him you also, who have heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and have believed in Him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 which is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of His glory." - Ephesians 1:13,14
I have already talked about the authenticity and reliability of the Bible, so I won't go into that again.
I believe that the Church is perfect, but the people are not.The people are the church. There is no church without the people.
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First off, I don't think anyone who has murdered another person in cold blood should ever be able to walk free again. Once you have taken a life, yours should be forfeit as well. I would prefer mandatory execution, but I know that's never going to happen.
Secondly, I don't understand why life in prison is preferred over a death sentence. If someone is going to be living in prison for the rest of their life, why not just execute them and save the money? This would also help prevent overcrowded prisons.
@Mythos_Ruler
I would be appalled if there was a longer sentence just because of the victim's was an older person. This implies that our elders are less valuable than the rest of us. I find the thought very disturbing...
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I can use and example with a puzzle. Lets say that the factors needed for life are puzzle pieces (in, let's say, a 1000 piece puzzle) are taken out and scattered on the floor. There is only one right way to put the pieces together, and they eventually will be put together if someone tries over and over again to get it right (i'm not implying that a supreme being like God is putting them together, i just need to add a person in so the analogy makes sense
). Once the puzzle is put together, it's easier to take the puzzle apart and put it back together again because you know where the picture on the face of the pieces go. Eventually, done enough, putting the puzzle together is a piece of cake, and not so hard. The probability that you could put together a 1000 piece puzzle together is high, I don't know the number, but it is still done, with a transfer of energy That's an oversimplification though. A better analogy would be dust forming into a million puzzle pieces that happen to fit together to form an intricate picture and then eventually combining in the proper order.
What do you mean? Don't you think it's odd how Humans, share a lot of features with primates, who share a lot of features with other mammals, who share a lot of features with birds and reptiles, who share a lot of features with amphibians, who share a lot of features with fish, who share a lot of features ..... and so on.To me this is evidence of a common creator.
evolutionists see the creation as an impossible chance, and have faith that evolution will one day be revealed to them in full, whereas creationists see the evolution as an impossible chance, and have faith that the creation will one day be revealed to them in full.The difference between the two is that if there is a God, then the probability of creation is very high. If there is not a God, the probability of evolution is still very, very small.
But you ask a scientist where the big bang came from, or when the universe began oscillating, and he can't answer you.This is the crux of it, there must be something that has "always been" or else this universe would never have been created. For me, it is easier to believe it was God rather than something else. I guess you could say I don't have enough faith to not believe in God.
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Jesus fullfilled many prophecies regarding his birth, life and death. The odds of such an event is astronomical. Just to give you an idea, the conservative odds of anyone fulling eight of the major prophecies are 1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000 (17 zeros).Well then why on earth are you guys so opposed to the odds that evolution demands?
I misspoke (typed?). I should have said that those are the odds of Jesus fullfilling the prophecies by accident. In other words, it wasn't just a coincidence that things unfolded as they did.
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The odds of such an event is astronomical. Just to give you an idea, the conservative odds of anyone fulling eight of the major prophecies are 1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000 (17 zeros).
Hmm seems a bit similar to other odds I've heard about in this thread.
What's even more amazing is that Jesus fullfilled over 60 prophecies in all. The above statistic only takes eight of them into account.
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Cougar, if you didn't understand what I meant by the fulfilling of prophecies, I'm sorry if you think I'm attacking you. I'm not. I just got angry that my question was turned around and quotes were used that didn't back it up.
I'm not taking this personally. I hope you you don't think my responses are personal attacks on you, they aren't meant to be. I've noticed that I tend to "sound" angry when I post, but that is not the case.
The problem is, if you start with the assumption that the new testament is not true, you will inevitably come to the conclusion that Jesus was not God. The new testament passes every historical test regarding it's accuracy and authenticity with flying colors.
Jesus fullfilled many prophecies regarding his birth, life and death. The odds of such an event is astronomical. Just to give you an idea, the conservative odds of anyone fulling eight of the major prophecies are 1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000 (17 zeros).
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Yes, but H20 cannot be ice, water, steam, or plasma (if it takes on that form) at the same time. So you are saying that God is Jesus and the Holy Spirit, all three at the same time? Or does he choose which form he wants to be in? If he's all three at the same time, where was the holy spirit and jesus before jesus was born?
The water thing is just an analogy to give you an idea of how there can be three entities that are really just one.
This doesn't make sense. Why do Catholics and Christians believe in sin if it apparently has no meaning?Sin still has consequences here and now. If I choose to commit murder I will still be prosecuted for it.
When was Psalms written? As far as I know, cruxifiction was a widely used form of torture for many years before Jesus' birth....Psalms was written approximately 1100 years before the birth of Jesus.
So doesn't this statement help my point, that non-followers don't believe he fulfilled these criterion?Secular resources don't have any reason to record the fullfillment of prophecy since they don't believe He was God in the first place. Of course Christians would take note of them becuase it's the evidence that supports Jesus' divinity.
How do we know that he was perfect, there are like 17 years of his life unaccounted for. These are the times hormonal raging. How do we know he didn't impregnate someone and have kids. How do you know you aren't a direct heir of Jesus?? You can't call someone perfect if you a good portion of his life is unaccounted for.The Jewish leaders hated what Jesus was doing. They would have done anything to prevent the spread of Christianity. If Jesus had not been perfect it would have been easy to find some dirt on Him, but they couldn't find any. His desciples followed Him for three years, do you think that anyone except God himself could be perfect for even three years? I know that I can't even make it through a single day without screwing up somehow.
God initially design Adam and Eve to be perfect and have perfect offspring. With the introduction of sin, our bodies are not pure anymore. Thus we cannot have perfect offspring, the sin is handed from generation to generation.I disagree. I don't believe any child is born homosexual.Don't you contradict yourself here? If the sin is passed down from generation to generation, then why can't someone be born homosexual? I know homosexual people. They all tell me it's not a choice. Do you know a gay person who chooses to be gay?
I was merely stating that we are not perfect when we are born. But that doesn't change the fact that I don't believe homosexuality is a birth defect. Certain males are more feminine and certain females are more masculine, but that doesn't make them gay.
And isn't it natural for a human to procreate? So, is procreation a sin because it's from nature?Procreation is not a sin in and of itself. It's the situation in which it occurs. Premarital or extramarital sex is a sin, but within the bounds of marriage it can be a beautiful act of love.
Where is the evidence that these people actually were dead, or crippled? If people today are able to fool people on these matters, what is stopping people back then from doing the same?I'm sorry, but this is an absurd argument. I'm pretty sure that even people back then could tell the difference between a life-long cripple and someone who was faking it. Lazarus was dead three days before Jesus brought him back to life, you can't fake that.
Leviticus 19:14 "You shalt not insult the deaf, or place a stumbling block before the blind. You shall fear your God: I am the LORD."Leviticus 19:17 "You shalt not hate your kinsfolk in your heart. Reprove your kinsman but incur no guilt because of him. 18 You shalt not take vengeance or bear a grudge against your countrymen. Love your fellow as yourself: I am the LORD."
Leviticus 19.34 " The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as one of your citizens; you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I the LORD am your God."
These are God's commandments (Leviticus), and his Word is final. In my mind, there is no way God would decide to change his mind. He commanded that certain holidays be celebrated, and christians don't celebrate them, thus breaking these commandments. (There were a lot more than ten)
I am a dispensationalist. That is, I believe God chose to deal with man in different ways at different times. In the old testament, many of the laws were for the Jews' own protection or to distinguish them from the world. Once Jesus paid the price for our sin, He fullfilled the law and set us free. We are no longer slaves to the law.
Catholics don't belief that sin has no effect. In fact, according to Catholic teaching, merely accepting Jesus as your savior won't get you into heaven unless you lead a good life. So no wonder it doesn't make sense, "yes" is the wrong answer.There are so many scriptures that say you cannot lose your salvation. I don't understand why people believe that you can.
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Quacker, correct me if i'm wrong, but don't only Catholics believe in the holy trinity? Still, how does that make sense? If God came before Jesus, and he created Jesus, how does that make him the same as God? Isn't that two different "entities?" It's like the age old question: Which came first, the chicken or the egg? (i'm not relating Jesus to a chicken or an egg... )
I'm not sure that we as humans will ever be able to fully comprehend this, but God the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are three distinct entities but are one in the same as well. The best analogy I can give is water, steam and ice. They are three distinct forms of one element.
Cougar, are you saying that if I accept Jesus, i'm going to heaven, regardless of the sins I do, as long as I still accept Jesus?Yes.
Could you differentiate the prophecies he fulfilled, and not using sources written by Christians. You know, those that didn't believe in Jesus?There are not many secular sources that note specific fullfillment of prophecy that I know of. There are a few though:
Prediction: Darkness over the land
"And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord GOD, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day" - Amos 8:9
Fullfillment (secular):
"On the whole world there pressed a most fearful darkness; and the rocks were rent by an earthquake, and many places in Judea and other districts were thrown down. This darkness Thallus, in the third book of his History, calls, as appears to me without reason, an eclipse of the sun...Phlegon records that, in the time of Tiberius Caesar, at full moon, there was a full eclipse of the sun from the sixth hour to the ninth - manifestly that one of which we speak." - Julius Africanus, Chronography, XVIII
Prediction: Pierced hand and feet (crucifixion)
"They pierced my hands and my feet." - Psalms 22:16
(this was prophesized before crucifixion was invented)
Fullfillment (secular):
"Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man; for he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews and many of the Gentiles. He was [the] Christ. And when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him; for he appeared to them alive again the third day; as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him. And the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at this day." - Josephus, Antiquites
The fullfillment of the rest of the prophecies can be found in the new testament which has been shown to be very accurate.
Also, the new testament is being questioned as having inconsistencies, not the old testament. This is so because the old testament doesn't give a highly subjective account of someone's life.The new testament was originally written in Koine Greek, which is more precise than any other language. Thus, any translation of the original manuscripts will have apparent inconsistencies.
It is also accepted that Jesus was human, therefore, open to human nature. There is no way that Jesus did not perform sins, like the rest of humans do. Why aren't these sins portrayed in the new testament?This is the whole point of Christianity. Jesus was perfect. He never sinned. Without leading a sinless life, His sacrifice would mean absolutely nothing. Jesus did have the temptations we do, but He never succumbed them.
Being the all powerful creator that God is, is it not correct to assume that sin penetrates the body AFTER it has been designed? The chemical imbalance in homosexuals was there from the start, not added afterwards.God initially design Adam and Eve to be perfect and have perfect offspring. With the introduction of sin, our bodies are not pure anymore. Thus we cannot have perfect offspring, the sin is handed from generation to generation.
I've never heard of an inherrent sin, because that is what homosexuality basically is. It is never the person's choice to be, they just are.I disagree. I don't believe any child is born homosexual.
Obviously the message of Jesus is not powerful enough to overcome stupidity.Even though we believe that Jesus Christ is our saviour, we are still human and imperfect. We still have free will and the ability to sin. Our old sin nature is constantly trying to get us to screw up.
When Jews did bad things, God made sure they never did them again (Soddom and Gamorrah). That is supreme governance, Jesus' message obviously isn't. If it was, these acts of stupidity should have stopped after the first one.The Israelites turned away from God time after time. He showed His infinite patiance as He accepted their repentence again and again. Also, Soddom and Gamorrah were not Jewish settlements.
A step further... if Jesus is God, then shouldn't he have that supreme governance, and if he does, he sure does a bad job of using it. Besides, if Jesus is God, then why isn't he vengeful and wrathful like the Jewish God? When did this transition occur?This is another thing I don't think we will ever be able to fully understand. Jesus was completely human and He was completely God. Jesus "gave up" his divine powers to be human and allowed God the Father to work through him.
True, but he did these "miracles" in front of unsophisticated people. The corniest trick performed today would amaze these same people, and they would regard it as a miracle.I don't consider raising people from the dead, making the lame walk and the blind see "corny tricks". He healed people of life-long afflictions.
Lucifer is supposedly a fallen angel. Besides, isn't going against God a sin? Aren't sins human traits? Why would God's angels perform sins?? Besides, everything doesn't have a counter force. When God destroyed Soddom and Gamorrah, he didn't create two new cities.In the beginning, angels had free will. Lucifer decided to challenge God and was subsequently cast out of heaven. I'm not sure, but I don't believe angels have free will anymore.
Whew! That turned out to be a long post...
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Btw, in a post a whole ago which was quoted now again someone said Romans have written about Jesus' miracles. Could someone refer me to those authors and maybe tell in which works and where exactly? Just out of curiosity.
This is the post in which I mentioned several of the secular sources.
Jesus' Resurrection and/or the persecution of His followers were documented outside of the Bible by the following historical authorities: Gaius Suetonius Tranquillas, Flavius Josephus, Thallus, Pliny the Younger, Justin Martyr, Tertullian, and the Jewish Sanhedrin.
Josephus was a historian who lived from 37 A.D. to about 100 A.D. He was a member of the priestly aristocracy of the Jews and was taken hostage by the Roman Empire in the great Jewish revolt of 66-70 A.D. Josephus spent the rest of his life in or around Rome as an advisor and historian to three emperors, Vespasian, Titus and Domitian. He mentions Jesus in Antiquities, Book 18, chapter 3, paragraph 3 (this paragraph is so phenomenal that scholars now debate the authenticity of some of the more "favorable" portions of this text):
"Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man; for he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews and many of the Gentiles. He was [the] Christ. And when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him; for he appeared to them alive again the third day; as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him. And the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at this day."
You can read more excerpts here:
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The messiah is supposed to bring peace to Jews, and the world.
He does bring peace to those who believe in Him. The Jews were (and still are) expecting the Messiah to be a warrior who would deliver them from their enemies.
Jews never believed in a Devil, nor do they believe in a hell. It just doesn't exist.If there is a God and heaven, why wouldn't there be a devil and hell? Lucifer and his minions are even mentioned in the pentaeuch.
That last part got a little off topic. Anyway, because no one refuted these "miracles", it just so happens that this means that they happened. This is what Couger says. This is a warped view, and those that believe it, no offense, need to rethink their views.Chrisianity was spreading very quickly and upsetting the Jewish community. It would have greatly benefitted the Jewish leaders if they could have proven that Jesus' miracles were false, however they could not do so. Jesus did not perform miracles in dark corners, He performed them in broad daylight in front of many people.
By the way, what did Jesus save those subverted Jews FROM? There is no hell....Just because you don't believe in something it doesn't mean it doesn't exist.
It seems like Jesus created more problems than solved them, with the inquisition, the crusades, and the holocaust, for examples.It is unfortunate, but people do stupid things in the name of God. Jesus' message is one of peace and love.
By saying that Jesus is Lord, this means that God was replaced. In Judaism, it is not possible for God to have kids. It just isn't. So by believing that Jesus is Lord, this breaks one of the most important commandments, Thou shalt not worship false idols. Many Christians do this without realizing it.Quacker already mentioned this, but Christians believe that God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are one in the same.
They say that gays are wrong, that God decreed gays are wrong. And it is true, God does say that gays are wrong, but i don't have the exact reference. It has been recently proven that being gay has everything to do with a chemical imbalance in the brain. According to most christians beliefs, God creates everything about man. Therefore, he created gays. He created the chemical imbalance in the brain. With this in mind, how can a loving god (as defined in Christianity) create gays, only to tell His/Her followers that they are wrong?God created man in a perfect environment. When sin entered the world, it infected every aspect, including human thought and development. God did not design us to be homosexual, this is evident simply by looking at our anatomy. I don't hate gay people, but I hate what they do and what they stand for. Love the sinner, hate the sin.
It is not some clear step, one after the other. When a mutation occured, the very first one, many eons ago, it created two "beings". Then those continued on their merry way, until they each had mutations. It's the branching effect. And evolution is not perfect. Mistakes did happen, and this stopped evolution until another mutation appeared. Now, you won't find evidence of the precursors of us as species walking around because of natural selection. Some mutations helped the species, but others didn't, so those species died off. This is why we have few forms of life, relative to the amount of time life has ever existed on Earth, or whatever brought it to Earth.If evolution is true, there should be hundreds of thousands of inter-species fossils. Instead there are a handful of these supposed "missing links" that could just as easily be explained by a freak mutation. It's hard to believe that there are generations of organisms that left absolutely no trace of there existence behind.
As for the bible being inconsistent, it is expected. What else to you expect from people who were making gross assumptions about life?I reiterate, the Bible is not inconsistent. It has been under scrutiny for the last 2000 years and yet it has not been disproven.
In Judaism, you are supposed to get a bris (circumcision), this is a requirement by god, it doesn't get you into heaven. You are supposed to rest on the sabbath, but if you don't, you aren't denied into heaven. You are supposed to wear the tallit, have the paes, wear the leather strap and box when you pray (the name escapes me), but if you don't you aren't denied into heaven. In the end, god judges you. Yom Kippur is the day of atonement, if you atone your sins, you supposedly have a clean slate. But this is not always the case. You are judged by what you do in life, and if god deems you acceptable, then you are let into heaven. There are no hoops you jump through to gain favor. Keep in mind that the Jewish god is wrathful, and might not keep his Word.There are over 600 mosaic laws that the Jews must keep in order to be in good favor with God.
You can accept the Wiccan godhead, however in doing so you must reject Christianity and by extension you must reject all the evidence that suggests Jesus was in fact the Son of God.What evidence?
Jesus fulfilled dozens of prophesies pertaining to the Messiah from the old testament that were written thousands of years before he was born.
So many Christians don't realize that we are saved by grace and grace alone. You cannot earn your way into heaven or increase your favor with God.So no matter what you do, it won't affect what happens in the afterlife? You all just go to heaven? Then what's with hell?
Once you accept Jesus as your saviour, you are sealed with the Holy Spirit. There is nothing you can do to lose your salvation. Only those who reject Jesus will go to hell.
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Using 2's compliment:
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I use EditPad Lite. It's a really nice editor with tabs.
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Glorious 1600x1200.
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@Quacker
I must say that I am very impressed. So many Christians don't realize that we are saved by grace and grace alone. You cannot earn your way into heaven or increase your favor with God. You are completely correct in saying that Christianity is NOT the same as religion. Religion was only mentioned once in the Bible and it was in a negative light. Religion may look good to us humans, but the only thing that matters to God is your attitude and willingness to serve Him.
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