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[Eckhart Aurelius Hughes]

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Hi Scott,

Thank you for your reply. I had a good chuckle at your description of Jesus as a table-kicking, law-breaking rebel.

You're right when you say Jesus wasn't a Christian. He is the foundation of the Christian faith and people who have faith in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior later became known as Christians, including his followers and disciples. I'm sure you're right when you say He was a rebel, at least in the eyes of the Jewish religious leaders, because He threatened their power base.

You said you don't believe in the virgin birth. Do you believe Jesus was the Son of God and performed miracles?

Kind regards
Alida

Hi, Alida Spies,

Thank you for your question!

Assuming you use the words the same as I do, I don't believe in miracles. That is, at least not without sufficient empirical evidence. But, if there is sufficient evidence that something happened, then it typically wouldn't be called a miracle; it would just be science and fact. For example, if a series of reliable reproducible scientific experiments showed telekinesis was possible and existed, I'd believe in it, but then it wouldn't be "supernatural", "paranormal", or "miraculous" because it is no longer counter to the evidence. In other words, I don't believe in things without strong and convincing empirical evidence and/or logical proofs.

So, indeed, I don't believe in things like literal talking snakes or literal virgin births or that fortune tellers can actually read my future via my palm. In other words, generally speaking, I don't believe in anything literally supernatural, paranormal, miraculous, or magical. In fact, that is the case nearly by definition. I only believe in things based on logic and/or empirical evidence, and supernatural/paranormal/magical things lack convincing evidence by definition.

Whether or not I believe Jesus was the "Son of God" depends on what you mean by the phrase "Son of God".

The most common interpretation I'd have of that phrase is that it is a reference to an alleged virgin birth, meaning a magical miraculous immaculate conception. If so, no, I don't believe anything like that ever literally happened. I don't believe a human ever conceived a child with God and God alone. In other words, I don't believe a woman has ever gotten pregnant without using sperm from a human male. These days we can mix the sperm and eggs in a petri dish, but especially back then I think I can safely say no woman ever got pregnant without coming into physical contact with a human man's sperm.

However, if there is a singular omnipotent omnipresent all-loving all-forgiving God and that God is viewed as a mother or father figure, then I'd generally say all of us humans are the son or daughter of that God, including Jesus.



With love,
Eckhart Aurelius Hughes
a.k.a. Scott

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[Bethel Saint Bright]

First of all, I believe that there are two realms, which your book also agrees with. The content of the realm beyond the physical is left for anyone who experiences it to explain, much like our physical experiences are unique. I also believe that things in this realm must have a rational explanation for them. My ignorance of the explanation does not make it impossible that there is an explanation. On the other hand, I can call it a miracle (or magic, for those who believe it or any other supernatural occurrence).

For instance, a few years back, one of my blood test results came back positive for Hepatitis B. I was to see a gastroenterologist for further medical guidance. I refused, and chose to pray to God for healing. I never visited the gastroenterologist and did not take any medication or vaccine. After a month, I ran another test at another place, the result came out negative. I went back to the first clinic and the result was negative.

There could be many explanations, like the first test was wrongly done. However, I chose to believe it was a miracle.

[Shirley Labzentis]

I totally agree with Scott. When I was younger, yes, I believed in all of the things in the Bible. Now that I am older, no, I don't. I want scientific proof that this or that happened. I don't believe something just because someone said so.