T
The_Sage
Guest
One of the first things that a street evangelist or preacher has to convince you
of, is that you are a sinner. If they can convince you that sin exists, then the
logical conclusion is that you must be a sinner...and if you are a sinner you
need forgiveness and forgiveness only comes from accepting Jesus.
In order to convince you of your sin, they will cite the ten commandments: Thou
shalt not steal, lie, commit adultery, etc. In reality, there are way more than
ten commandments listed throughout Exodus 20:2-17, Exodus 34:12-26, and
Deuteronomy 5:6-21. Of the most often cited ten commandments, the first four
commandments are standing orders to have no other religion other than one that
worships Yahweh (Jehovah). Funny how they never mention those first four
commandments when trying to convince you of your allegedly sinful nature! It's
like yeah, I'm "guilty" of not belonging to your religion, but isn't it kind of
bigoted and self-serving for a religion to define as a "sinner" anyone who isn't
a member of their religion? Of course it is!
What about the other commandments, for example, thou shalt not lie? They will
ask you if you have ever told a lie, and if you ever have told just one lie,
what does that make you? A liar? Well have you ever told the truth? What does
that make you then? A liar is someone who practices telling lies whereas an
honest person is someone who practices telling the truth. One lie does not make
you a liar anymore than running from one fight makes you a coward -- unless you
do it everytime you face a fight. And the Bible does not say that lying is
wrong, it says bearing false witness against your neighbor is wrong. I have
never beared false witness against my neighbor. And since when is lying always
wrong? What if you were a German living during Hitler's reign and I was a Jew
living under your protection, and all of a sudden the police come knocking on
your door, asking if you were harbouring any Jews? Would telling a lie be a good
thing or a bad thing under those circumstances?
What about using God's name in vain? That would be kind of impossible, seeing as
no one knows exactly what God's name is. "God" is not a name, it is a title,
like President.
How about thou shalt not commit adultery or thou shalt not kill/murder? Most
people will say no they haven't done either, so the street evangelist or
preacher will shift gears and say Jesus said if you even look upon another woman
with lust, you have committed adultery in your heart or if you have been angry
with your brother you have committed murder in your heart. But wait a minute! I
thought that whole purpose of this routine was to show how the Old Testament can
convince me that I'm a sinner, but here you are, throwing in a few more
amendments to the commandments from the New Testament because the Old Testament
isn't enough to convict me, as the Bible claims the Old Testament can do.
Ask your preacher friend if they keep the Sabbath (Saturday) holy like the ten
commandments told them to. Oh, it doesn't apply to them because it was just a
ceremonial law, not a moral law? So they just negate and admend the commandments
to suit their lifestyle; they've taken the ten commandments and whittled it down
to just nine. But why stop there? If they can subtract one commandment from
God's word what's to stop them from eliminating them all, when it suits their
purposes?
As you can see, you can pick their argument apart into little pieces with
nothing left for them to hold onto. Of course, by that point, they would have
given up on you and hope and pray that "the Spirit would convict you of your
sinfulness". But the point is that you would have planted seeds of doubt into
their minds of the credibility of their religion. Mind you, don't expect an
immediate renouncement of their religion, just a slow undermining of their
blind, stupid faith.
The Sage
=============================================================
http://members.cox.net/the.sage/index.htm
"The illusion that we are separate from one another is an
optical delusion of our consciousness." -- Albert Einstein
=============================================================
of, is that you are a sinner. If they can convince you that sin exists, then the
logical conclusion is that you must be a sinner...and if you are a sinner you
need forgiveness and forgiveness only comes from accepting Jesus.
In order to convince you of your sin, they will cite the ten commandments: Thou
shalt not steal, lie, commit adultery, etc. In reality, there are way more than
ten commandments listed throughout Exodus 20:2-17, Exodus 34:12-26, and
Deuteronomy 5:6-21. Of the most often cited ten commandments, the first four
commandments are standing orders to have no other religion other than one that
worships Yahweh (Jehovah). Funny how they never mention those first four
commandments when trying to convince you of your allegedly sinful nature! It's
like yeah, I'm "guilty" of not belonging to your religion, but isn't it kind of
bigoted and self-serving for a religion to define as a "sinner" anyone who isn't
a member of their religion? Of course it is!
What about the other commandments, for example, thou shalt not lie? They will
ask you if you have ever told a lie, and if you ever have told just one lie,
what does that make you? A liar? Well have you ever told the truth? What does
that make you then? A liar is someone who practices telling lies whereas an
honest person is someone who practices telling the truth. One lie does not make
you a liar anymore than running from one fight makes you a coward -- unless you
do it everytime you face a fight. And the Bible does not say that lying is
wrong, it says bearing false witness against your neighbor is wrong. I have
never beared false witness against my neighbor. And since when is lying always
wrong? What if you were a German living during Hitler's reign and I was a Jew
living under your protection, and all of a sudden the police come knocking on
your door, asking if you were harbouring any Jews? Would telling a lie be a good
thing or a bad thing under those circumstances?
What about using God's name in vain? That would be kind of impossible, seeing as
no one knows exactly what God's name is. "God" is not a name, it is a title,
like President.
How about thou shalt not commit adultery or thou shalt not kill/murder? Most
people will say no they haven't done either, so the street evangelist or
preacher will shift gears and say Jesus said if you even look upon another woman
with lust, you have committed adultery in your heart or if you have been angry
with your brother you have committed murder in your heart. But wait a minute! I
thought that whole purpose of this routine was to show how the Old Testament can
convince me that I'm a sinner, but here you are, throwing in a few more
amendments to the commandments from the New Testament because the Old Testament
isn't enough to convict me, as the Bible claims the Old Testament can do.
Ask your preacher friend if they keep the Sabbath (Saturday) holy like the ten
commandments told them to. Oh, it doesn't apply to them because it was just a
ceremonial law, not a moral law? So they just negate and admend the commandments
to suit their lifestyle; they've taken the ten commandments and whittled it down
to just nine. But why stop there? If they can subtract one commandment from
God's word what's to stop them from eliminating them all, when it suits their
purposes?
As you can see, you can pick their argument apart into little pieces with
nothing left for them to hold onto. Of course, by that point, they would have
given up on you and hope and pray that "the Spirit would convict you of your
sinfulness". But the point is that you would have planted seeds of doubt into
their minds of the credibility of their religion. Mind you, don't expect an
immediate renouncement of their religion, just a slow undermining of their
blind, stupid faith.
The Sage
=============================================================
http://members.cox.net/the.sage/index.htm
"The illusion that we are separate from one another is an
optical delusion of our consciousness." -- Albert Einstein
=============================================================