God is imaginary part 2

[watermouse]

ORIGINAL FOR THIS WEBSITE: http://godisimaginary.com/

Proof #11 - Notice that there is no scientific evidence
There is no scientific evidence indicating that God exists. We all
know that. For example:

God has never left any physical evidence of his existence on earth.
None of Jesus' "miracles" left any physical evidence either. (see this
page)
God has never spoken to modern man, for example by taking over all the
television stations and broadcasting a rational message to everyone.
The resurrected Jesus has never appeared to anyone. (see this page)
The Bible we have is provably incorrect and is obviously the work of
primitive men rather than God. (see this page)
When we analyze prayer with statistics, we find no evidence that God
is "answering prayers." (see this page)
Huge, amazing atrocities like the Holocaust and AIDS occur without any
response from God.
And so on…
Let's agree that there is no empirical evidence showing that God
exists.
If you think about it as a rational person, this lack of evidence is
startling. There is not one bit of empirical evidence indicating that
today's "God", nor any other contemporary god, nor any god of the
past, exists. In addition we know that:

If we had scientific proof of God's existence, we would talk about the
"science of God" rather than "faith in God".
If we had scientific proof of God's existence, the study of God would
be a scientific endeavor rather than a theological one.
If we had scientific proof of God's existence, all religious people
would be aligning on the God that had been scientifically proven to
exist. Instead there are thousands of gods and religions.
The reason for this lack of evidence is easy for any unbiased observer
to see. The reason why there is no empirical evidence for God is
because God is imaginary.
<<< Proof #10 | Home | Go to Proof #12 >>>
Understanding the Rationalizations
The most common rationalization for the lack of scientific evidence is
the "God must remain hidden" argument. See this proof for details.

Many believers try to rationalize God's existence by saying something
like this: "The existence of the universe proves God's existence.
Something had to create the universe. Science has no explanation for
the universe's creation. Therefore, God created it."

The way to understand that this is a rationalization is to look back
in history. Ancient people, before they had science, explained many
things that they did not understand with "gods." There have been sun
gods, thunder gods, fertility gods, rain gods, etc.

The Bible works the same way. It tries to explain many things that its
ancient authors did not understand by attributing them in God. For
example, if you read Genesis 9:12-13 you will find this:

And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant which I make between
me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future
generations: I set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the
covenant between me and the earth..."
This is the Bible's explanation of rainbows. Of course we now know
that rainbows are a prismatic effect of raindrops. In the same way,
Genesis chapter 3 tries to explain why human childbirth is so painful
and Genesis chapter 11 tries to explain why there are so many human
languages. These are myths, nothing more.
In the same way, Genesis chapter 1 contains the Bible's creation myth.
The creation of the universe and life is attributed to God. We already
know that God had nothing to do with the creation of life (click
here), but religious people still try to attribute the creation of the
universe to God.

The fact is, God had nothing to do with the creation of the universe,
in the same way that God has nothing to do with the sun rising or
rainbows appearing. Science does not have a complete explanation for
the universe's creation, yet. While it is true that science does not
yet know everything there is to know about the universe, scientists
will eventually figure it out. When they do, what they will find is
that nature created the universe, not an imaginary being.






Proof #12 - See the magic
When you look at different religions, they usually contain "magic."
For example:

The Mormon religion contains the magical golden plates, the magical
angel, the magical seer stones, the magical ascension of the plates
into heaven, etc.
The Muslim faith contains the magical angel, the magical flying horse,
the magical voices, the magical prophet, etc.
The Christian faith contains the magical insemination, the magical
star, the magical dreams, the magical miracles, the magical
resurrection, the magical ascension and so on.
The presence of "magic" is a clear marker for "imaginary." For
example, how do we know that Santa is imaginary? Because (among other
things) he has eight magical flying reindeer. How do we know that Jack
and the Beanstalk is a fairy tale? Because (among other things) the
story contains magical seeds. In the same way, how do we know that God
is make believe? Because God is surrounded by magic.

According to believers, God is an all-powerful being who has the
divine, magical power to do anything. How do we know that this belief
is a fairy tale? One way to know is to try to invoke God's magical
power. For example, as described in Proof #1, the Bible tells us in
many places that God answers prayers. However, whenever we try to
pray, we notice that nothing happens (See Proof #1 and Proof #2). That
tells us that God is completely imaginary. The magical powers ascribed
to him are a fairy tale.

Another way to know is to read the stories of magical events in the
Bible. There is the magical flood, yet we know with certainty that the
flood never happened. There are the magical miracles of Jesus, but
(predictably) none of these miracles left behind any tangible evidence
(see Proof #14). There is the magical resurrection, yet there is zero
evidence that it ever occured and no reason to believe it (See Proof
#15).

God is identical to Leprechauns, mermaids and Santa. God is a magical
fairy tale creature. The magic surrounding God tells us that God is
imaginary.















Proof #13 - Take a look at slavery
Here are ten passages from the Bible that clearly demonstrate God's
position on slavery:

Genesis chapter 17, verse 12:

And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every
man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought
with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed. He that is born
in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be
circumcised.
In this passage God understands that people buy other people and,
quite obviously, is comfortable with the concept. God wants slaves
circumcised in the same way as non-slaves.
Exodus chapter 12 verse 43:

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, "These are the regulations for the
Passover: No foreigner is to eat of it. Any slave you have bought may
eat of it after you have circumcised him, but a temporary resident and
a hired worker may not eat of it.
God again shows that he is completely comfortable with the concept of
slavery and singles out slaves for special treatment.
Exodus Chapter 21, verse 1:

Now these are the ordinances which you shall set before them. When you
buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve six years, and in the seventh he
shall go out free, for nothing. If he comes in single, he shall go out
single; if he comes in married, then his wife shall go out with him.
If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters,
the wife and her children shall be her master's and he shall go out
alone. But if the slave plainly says, 'I love my master, my wife, and
my children; I will not go out free,' then his master shall bring him
to God, and he shall bring him to the door or the doorpost; and his
master shall bore his ear through with an awl; and he shall serve him
for life.
Here God describes how to become a slave for life, and shows that it
is completely acceptable to separate slaves from their families. God
also shows that he completely endorses the branding of slaves through
mutilation.
Exodus Chapter 21, verse 20:

If a man beats his male or female slave with a rod and the slave dies
as a direct result, he must be punished, but he is not to be punished
if the slave gets up after a day or two, since the slave is his
property.
Not only does God condone slavery, but he is also completely
comfortable with the concept of beating your slaves, as long as you
don't kill them.
Exodus Chapter 21, verse 32:

If the bull gores a male or female slave, the owner must pay thirty
shekels of silver to the master of the slave, and the bull must be
stoned.
Not only does God condone slavery, but here God places a value on
slaves -- 30 shekels of silver. Note that God is not sophisticated
enough to understand the concept of inflation. It is now 3,000 years
later, and a gored slave is still worth 30 shekels of silver according
to God's word.
Leviticus Chapter 22, verse 10:

No one outside a priest's family may eat the sacred offering, nor may
the guest of a priest or his hired worker eat it. But if a priest buys
a slave with money, or if a slave is born in his household, that slave
may eat his food.
Here God shows that the children of slaves are slaves themselves, and
that he is completely happy with that concept.
Leviticus Chapter 25, verse 44:

Your male and female slaves are to come from the nations around you;
from them you may buy slaves. You may also buy some of the temporary
residents living among you and members of their clans born in your
country, and they will become your property. You can will them to your
children as inherited property and can make them slaves for life, but
you must not rule over your fellow Israelites ruthlessly.
Here God states where you may purchase your slaves, and clearly
specifies that slaves are property to be bought, sold and handed down.
Luke, Chapter 7, verse 2:

Now a centurion had a slave who was dear to him, who was sick and at
the point of death. When he heard of Jesus, he sent to him elders of
the Jews, asking him to come and heal his slave. And when they came to
Jesus, they besought him earnestly, saying, "He is worthy to have you
do this for him, for he loves our nation, and he built us our
synagogue." And Jesus went with them. When he was not far from the
house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying to him, "Lord, do not
trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof;
therefore I did not presume to come to you. But say the word, and let
my servant be healed. For I am a man set under authority, with
soldiers under me: and I say to one, 'Go,' and he goes; and to
another, 'Come,' and he comes; and to my slave, 'Do this,' and he does
it." When Jesus heard this he marveled at him, and turned and said to
the multitude that followed him, "I tell you, not even in Israel have
I found such faith." And when those who had been sent returned to the
house, they found the slave well.
Here Jesus shows that he is completely comfortable with the concept of
slavery. Jesus heals the slave without any thought of freeing the
slave or admonishing the slave's owner.
Colossians, chapter 3, verse 22:

Slaves, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not
with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing
the Lord. Whatever your task, work heartily...
Here God shows that he is in complete acceptance of a slave's
position, and encourages slaves to work hard. This sentiment is
repeated in Titus, chapter 2 verse 9:

Bid slaves to be submissive to their masters and to give satisfaction
in every respect; they are not to be refractory, nor to pilfer, but to
show entire and true fidelity.
Once again God shows that he is quite enamored of slavery.
God loves slavery

If the Bible is written by God, and these are the words of the Lord,
then you can come to only one possible conclusion: God is an
impressive advocate of slavery and is fully supportive of the concept.

As you can see, these slavery passages present us with an immense
contradiction:

On the one hand, we all know that slavery is an outrage and a moral
abomination. As a result, slavery is now completely illegal throughout
the developed world.
On the other hand, most Christians claim that the Bible came from God.
In God's Word, the "creator of the universe" states that slavery is
perfectly acceptable. Beating your slaves is fine. Enslaving children
is fine. Separating slave families is fine. According to the Bible, we
should all be practicing slavery today.
The intensity of this contradiction is remarkable. It shows us quite
clearly that God is imaginary.

If God were to exist, and if he were playing any role whatsoever on
our planet, he would eliminate this connection between himself and
slavery. There is no way that a loving God would allow himself to be
perceived as condoning and encouraging slavery like this.

Here is the thing that I would like to help you understand: You, as a
rational human being, know that slavery is wrong. You know it. That is
why every single developed nation in the world has made slavery
completely illegal. Human beings make slavery illegal, in direct
defiance of God's word, because we all know with complete certainty
that slavery is an abomination.

What does your common sense now tell you about a Bible that supports
slavery in both the Old and the New Testaments? Given the fact that
the Bible clearly condones slavery, your common sense should be
telling you that God is imaginary.

<<< Proof #12 | Home | Go to Proof #14 >>>
Understanding the Rationalizations
Many believers will argue that God had to talk this way in the Old
Testament in order to "fit in" with the dominant culture. This, of
course, is silly. In Christian mythology, God is the one who created
humans and human culture. In addition, a God that condones the beating
of slaves and the enslavement of children at any time is an
abomination.

A believer might say, "Well, all of those verses are from the Old
Testament and no longer apply because of Jesus." This line of
rationalization prompts several obvious questions. Why would the Old
Testament still be printed in the Bible if Jesus overturned it? Why
would God EVER tell us to beat slaves?

The most important thing that this line of rationalization misses is
that Jesus specifically states that the laws of the Old Testament
still stand. In Matthew 5:18 Jesus says:

For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one
letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all
is accomplished.
Then he goes on to say:
Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and
teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of
heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in
the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness
exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the
kingdom of heaven.
According to Jesus, the Old Testament is alive and well. According to
Isaiah 40:8, "the word of our God stands forever." The notion that
these old testament verses no longer apply is completely untrue
according to the Bible. Christians imagine that they "no longer apply"
as a way of rationalizing their religion.
Other believers rationalize that God did not write these slavery
passages in the Bible. The Bible was somehow corrupted by slave-loving
men. In that case, the obvious question to ask yourself is this: If
the Bible has been corrupted, how can we possibly know which parts of
the Bible came from God and which parts were inserted by primitive
men? You have absolutely no way to know.

It is when you start thinking about the Bible in this way that you
understand something very important about the Bible. Either the entire
Bible really is God's Word, or the entire Bible was written by
primitive men with absolutely no input from God. Here is the reason
for this very strong dividing line:

If part of the Bible came from God and part came from primitive men,
you do not know which is which. You dod not know if Jesus really is
resurrected, or if that's just a make-believe story inserted by
primitive men. How do you know if God wrote the Ten Commandments or
not? If any part of the Bible has been polluted by primitive men, you
have to reject the whole thing. There is no way to know who wrote
what, so the entire book is invalid.
There really is no middle ground and the Bible has to be an all-or-
nothing book. Either the entire Bible came from God, or none of it
did.
With this all-or-nothing reality about the Bible now understood, you
can see that there are only two possible explanations for the slavery
passages in the Bible:

The Bible is right, and God loves slavery. The entire Bible is God's
word, so these slavery passages must be God's word too. The laws in
the United States and other modern nations that make slavery illegal
defy God's word. Justice Scalia should be promoting slavery in exactly
the same way that he promotes the Ten Commandments.
The Bible condones slavery because the Bible was written by slave-
owning men, not by God. God is imaginary.
Chances are that you have a problem with the first explanation. God
would not champion the abomination that is slavery. We all know that.
Therefore, what you are left with is the second explanation.













Proof #14 - Examine Jesus' miracles
If someone were to come to you today and say, "I am God!", what would
you do? Yes, you would immediately ask for proof. Of course you would.
And you would not want goofy proof.You would want real, solid,
tangible proof.

No normal person, and I mean no one, would accept anything less than
rock solid proof from a person who claims to be God.

Why should it be any different with Jesus? Jesus was a man who claims
to be God. If he is God, then he ought to be able to prove it in a
real, inimitable way. If he cannot prove it then, quite clearly, he is
not God.

A Christian would say, "But Jesus HAS proven it! Just look at all of
the miracles he did in the Bible! He healed the sick! He changed water
into wine! That PROVES that Jesus is the Lord!" Does that make sense
to you? Imagine that someone, today, were to come up to you and say,
"I am God, and I will prove that I am God by healing the sick and
turning water into wine!" What would you say? Be honest. You would not
believe this person because:

Everyone has seen all sorts of "faith healers" who can "heal" the
sick. And we all know that this sort of "healing" is quackery. If it
were true, then we would not need doctors, hospitals or prescription
medicines.
Turning water into wine... Doesn't that sound like something that a B-
grade David-Copperfield-wannabe magician would do in a nightclub act?
There are a dozen ways that you could stage things to make it look
like water is turning into wine. There is no reason why a normal
person would accept a magic trick as proof that someone is God.
Neither of these miracles can be scientifically tested today. Not one
of Jesus' miracles left any tangible evidence for scientists to study.
It is as simple as that. If someone claimed to be God today, you would
never believe it if the evidence consisted of faith healing and magic
tricks. Never. Yet billions of people claim that Jesus' faith healing
and magic tricks prove that he is God.
Let's imagine that Jesus truly is God. What might he have done to
prove it? He could have started by taking one of his most famous
quotes from the Bible and acting on it. In Matthew 17:20 Jesus says
quite clearly:

For truly, I say to you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed,
you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will
move; and nothing will be impossible to you.
To prove that he is God, Jesus would have moved a mountain. Especially
since it is so easy. And Jesus would have written something down to
explain himself. Here's what the first page of Jesus' book might have
looked like:
My name is Jesus, and I am God. I know there are a lot of people out
there who will doubt that I am God, so let me start off by proving it
to you. Take a look at Mount Sinai. Everyone knows that, until today,
Mount Sinai stood near here. It is the mountain where God, my father,
gave Moses the Ten Commandments.
Mount Sinai vanished this morning, and what was left in its place was
a perfectly smooth, polished stone base measuring four miles square.
Hundreds of years from now, people will find that Mount Sinai landed
near a place that will be called Newark, New Jersey. When scientists
dig into the mountain, they will find that the bottom of the mountain
is also completely smooth and polished, and that the bottom of the
mountain in New Jersey perfectly matches the polished plain nearby.
Scientists will be able to align the mountain and the plain, looking
at it rock crystal by rock crystal at a microscopic level. I have said
many times that, if you have faith, you can move mountains. I moved
Mount Sinai to show how easy it is, and to prove that I am God.

I know that that may not be enough, so let me offer a second proof. If
you draw a circle, you know that there is distance across the circle.
Let us call it the diameter of the circle. There is also a distance
around the outside of the circle. Let us call it the circumference. If
you divide the circumference by the diameter, you get another number.
Let us call it Pi, and its first 6 digits are 3.14159. Pi is an
irrational number. It is a number that is made up of an infinite
number of non-repeating digits.

There will come a day when machines called computers will calculate
billions of digits of Pi. If you calculate Pi out to the millionth
trillionth digit, here is what you will find:

9823456451237823492278583495083498745....

Now, having proven that I am God to any rational being, through my
documentable movement of a mountain and through my foreknowledge of Pi
at the millionth trillionth position, here is what I want to say to
the human race as your creator, and as the creator of the universe...

Wouldn't that be awesome and amazing? If we had such a book, and if
Mount Sinai had actually moved, then there would be no questions about
Jesus. We would all believe that he is God. How could we not? Imagine
what such a book would say on the following pages. A book like that, I
am sure, would leave all of us in awe.
Why would Jesus not do that? God, supposedly, has already written a
book called the Bible. And God, supposedly, has already done all sorts
of things according to that book. God, supposedly, parted the Red Sea,
carved the Ten Commandments into stone, went to the trouble to
incarnate himself, etc. So why not have Jesus write a book, and leave
behind real, tangible evidence for all of us to see?

For any normal, rational person, the reason is obvious -- God is
imaginary. We would not believe that anyone today is God without
concrete proof. Jesus doesn't get a pass because he lived 2,000 years
ago. Jesus, if he existed at all, was a human being just like you and
me. All of the stories in the Bible are just that -- stories.

<<< Proof #13 | Home | Go to Proof #15 >>>
Understanding the Rationalizations
If you ask a religious person about Jesus' divinity, you may find
yourself in a conversation like this:

Norm: If Jesus is God, why didn't Jesus ever prove that he is God?
Chris: He did! He performed many miracles, and he was resurrected.
That proves that he is God!

Norm: Why did he not prove that he is God in a way that is definitive
and scientifically provable -- for example, by moving a mountain?

Chris: He could not do that! That would take away man's free will to
believe in him. People must come to God through faith.

Norm: Why, then, did Jesus perform the miracles described in the
Gospels?

Chris: To prove that he is God. If he had not done the miracles,
culminating in his final most miraculous resurrection, we would not
know that he is God.

Norm: I thought that if Jesus performed miracles to prove that he was
God, then it took away our free will.

Chris: No.

Norm: Isn't that what you just said?

Chris: No. What I just said is that Jesus' miracles prove that he was
God.

Norm: So why didn't Jesus perform real, concrete miracles like moving
a mountain?

Chris: Because that would take away our free will.

Try having this conversation yourself with a Christian and you will
find it to be a very odd discussion. The circular logic will make you
dizzy:
Jesus had to perform miracles to prove his divinity, and that doesn't
take away free will...
...But if Jesus performed miracles that we could see and
scientifically verify, it would take away free will.
Any unbiased observer can see reality. The reason why Jesus did not
perform concrete, verifiable miracles is because Jesus was a man like
any other.
Here is another rationalization that believers will frequently use to
try to explain Jesus' behavior. In the book "The Case for Faith," the
author Lee Stroble interviews Peter Kreeft, Ph.D. Dr. Kreeft says the
following:

"Scripture describes God as a hidden God. You have to make the effort
of faith to find him. There are clues you can follow. And if that
weren't so, if there was something more or less than clues, it's
difficult for me to understand how we could really be free to make a
choice about him."
Clues? Hidden? According to the Bible God incarnated himself. He
created an entire human being named Jesus. That is not a "clue" --
that is a huge, obvious piece of evidence. It is very hard to "hide" a
170-pound human being who is running around performing miracles on
every street corner. Then you collect the stories of those miracles
and publish them in a book. Where is the hiding in that?
There are examples of God's desire for publicity throughout the Bible.
The best known is God's parting of the Red Sea in the book of Exodus,
chapter 14:

Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD drove the
sea back by a strong east wind all night, and made the sea dry land,
and the waters were divided. And the people of Israel went into the
midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall to them on
their right hand and on their left.
That is impressive, and it is utterly obvious. Thousands of Israelites
witnessed this event. There are many other events that are equally
obvious: manna from heaven, the Ten Commandments carved onto stone
tablets, the Passover massacre and so on. All of it is described in
the Bible, which God wrote so that billions of people can read about
these events and experience them vicariously today.
It is pretty hard to hide something that you do in front of thousands
of people and then describe and publish in billions of books. Clearly
God is not a hidden God.

But there is an even more impressive sign that we often forget. If God
exists and God wrote the Bible, then rainbows are actually proof that
God exists. God is not hiding at all. If you read Genesis 9:12-13 you
will find this:

And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant which I make between
me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future
generations: I set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the
covenant between me and the earth..."
What could be more obvious than that? God left a sign for all future
generations, according to the Bible. Clearly God does not want to
hide.
There are also plenty of cases in the New Testament. For example,
Matthew, Chapter 17:

After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother
of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There he was
transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes
became as white as the light. Just then there appeared before them
Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.
Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish,
I will put up three shelters--one for you, one for Moses and one for
Elijah."

While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a
voice from the cloud said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am
well pleased. Listen to him!"

These are not exactly the actions of a God in hiding. Apparently the
free wills of Peter, James and John were not that important to God.
And again it is published in the Bible so that billions of other
people can read about it.
Or take this passage from the book of Matthew, Chapter 3:

As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that
moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like
a dove and lighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, "This is my
Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased."
Again, not exactly a hidden God.
Or this passage from the book of Luke, Chapter 2:

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping
watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to
them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were
terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you
good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the
town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.
This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and
lying in a manger."
Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel,
praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth
peace to men on whom his favor rests."

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said
to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has
happened, which the Lord has told us about."

The free will of the shepherds was certainly tarnished a bit here.
In 1 Corinthians 15:6, Paul says,

Then he [Jesus, after the resurrection] appeared to more than five
hundred brethren at one time.
Those 500 people must have lost their free will. And John says:
Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written
down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the
books that would be written. (John 21:25)
That's an awful lot of miracles -- so many that the world would not
have room for all the books describing them. Presumably at least one
person witnessed each miracle. Think of how many names fill just one
phone book. Now imagine a whole world full of phone books. That's a
lot of people. Weren't all of their free wills affected? How is God
hiding if millions of people saw Jesus and the miracles he performed?
Clearly the notion that "God is hiding" is pure rationalization.



















Proof #15 - Examine Jesus' resurrection
Jesus' resurrection after his death is the ultimate and defining proof
of Jesus' divinity. Just about everyone knows the story, which is
summarized in the Apostles' Creed. Jesus was crucified, died, and was
buried. He descended into hell. On the third day he arose again from
the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God
the Father Almighty.

There is only one way for Jesus to prove that he rose from the dead.
He had to appear to people. Therefore, several different places in the
Bible describe Jesus' appearances after his death:

Matthew chapter 28
Mark chapter 16
Luke chapter 24
John Chapter 20 and 21
1 Corinthians 15:3-6 provides a nice summary of those passages, as
written by Paul:
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received,
that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, that
he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with
the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.
Then he appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most
of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he
appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one
untimely born, he appeared also to me.
As you can see in this passage, Jesus appeared to hundreds of people a
number of different times.
Being like Paul

When we look at these Bible passages, there is a question that comes
to mind -- why did Jesus stop making these appearances? Why isn't
Jesus appearing today?

It really is odd. Obviously Paul benefitted from a personal meeting
with the resurrected Christ. Because of the personal visit, Paul could
see for himself the truth of the resurrection, and he could ask Jesus
questions.

So... Why doesn't Jesus appear to everyone and prove that he is
resurrected, just like he appeared to Paul? There is nothing to stop
Jesus from materializing in your kitchen tonight to have a personal
chat with you. And if you think about it, Jesus really does need to
appear to each of us. If Paul needed a personal visit from Jesus to
know that Jesus was resurrected, then why wouldn't you?

It is an important question for the following reasons:

We are told by the Bible that Jesus appeared to hundreds of people.
We therefore know that it is OK for Jesus to appear to people -- it
does not take away their free will, for example.
We know that it would be easy for Jesus to appear to everyone all
through history, since Jesus is all-powerful and timeless.
We know that, if Jesus did reappear to everyone, it would be
incredibly helpful. We could all know, personally, that Jesus is
resurrected and that Jesus is God. If Paul (and all the other people
in the Bible) needed a personal visit to know that Jesus was
resurrected, then why not you and me?
Yet, we all know that Jesus has not appeared to anyone in 2,000 years.
In other words, there is nothing stopping Jesus from appearing to you,
and several good reasons for him to appear.
Praying to Jesus

What if we pray to Jesus like this: "Dear Jesus, please appear to us,
as you did to Paul and the 500 brethren, so that we can see the
evidence of your resurrection. In your name we pray, amen." Here is
what Jesus has promised us in the Bible:

Matthew 7:7 Jesus says:

Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it
will be opened to you. For every one who asks receives, and he who
seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man of
you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he
asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil,
know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your
Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
In John chapter 14:14:
Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it, that the Father may be
glorified in the Son; if you ask anything in my name, I will do it.
In Matthew 18:19:
Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they
ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or
three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
Jesus is actually in our midst. So he is right here already,
supposedly. Yet when we pray to him to physically materialize, nothing
ever happens.
Isn't it odd that Nothing happens, given the fact that Jesus promises
us that something will happen? Isn't it odd that nothing happens when,
supposedly, Jesus is right here with us already, and materialization
would be trivial for him?

We have created an unambiguous situation where coincidence cannot
"answer" the prayer. The only way for this prayer to be answered is
for Jesus to actually, unambiguously, materialize.

As you think about this, you will realize that Paul's story in the
Bible must be false. Simply look at Paul's story like any judge in a
courtroom would. What Paul's story in 1 Cor 15 is suggesting is
entirely unprecedented - a man dead three days with mortal wounds came
back to life. Yet:

There is absolutely no evidence that the story is true,
There are many alternative explanations for what Paul is saying. Paul
could be fabricating the story, Paul could have hallucinated or
dreamed the meeting, Paul could have seen an imposter, etc.
In addition, no one is seeing Jesus today, even though it would be
trivial and obvious for Jesus to appear to people today just like he
did with Paul.
Given this evidence, rational people would automatically conclude that
Paul's story in the Bible is untrue. There is zero evidence to support
Paul's story, zero reason to believe it, a motive to lie and plenty of
alternative explanations. There is also the fact that much of the rest
of the Bible contains provably false stories. Plus the fact that it
would be trivial for Jesus to provide the evidence that Paul needs to
confirm his story by reappearing on earth. Add to that the fact that
Jesus has promised to answer our prayers but refuses to materialize
when we pray to him. The only thing to do is to reject Paul's story.
Every bit of evidence points to the fact that the resurrection story
is a myth, nothing more.

Given that the resurrection story is clearly a myth, it means that
Jesus (if he existed at all) was a normal human being, not God. The
resurrection clearly did not happen.

And with that, we can see that God himself is imaginary. If God
actually did exist and was playing any role whatsoever on this planet,
there is no way that he would allow an imposter like Jesus.

<<< Proof #14 | Home | Go to Proof #16 >>>
Understanding the Rationalizations
Many believers will try to rationalize Jesus' absence by pointing to
his famous statement in the Bible, "Happy are those who have not seen
yet still believe."

If you think about this statement, what you realize is that it creates
the perfect cover for a scam. Let's say you are Jesus, you are a
normal human being, you realize that you are going to die and you want
to cover for this fact. Here is what you would say: "Happy are those
who have not seen yet still believe." What you are saying is, "I
exist, and the way I am going to show you that I exist is by not
showing that I exist." For every other object in the universe, the way
that we know it exists is because the object provides evidence of its
existence. If there is no evidence for an object's existence, we call
it imaginary (e.g. Leprechauns). But with Jesus, the lack of evidence
is turned into evidence. Quite clever, but obviously a scam.

You simply need to look at the evidence and accept what it is telling
you. If the resurrection were true, then Jesus would be answering
prayers as he promises in the Bible. He would also appear when people
pray to see him. The fact is, as we saw here and here, there is
definitive evidence that prayer accomplishes nothing. It is also
obvious that Jesus is not appearing on earth today.

While we are on the topic of the resurrection, have you ever thought
about how odd the whole crucifixion story is? Imagine the all-
powerful, all-knowing creator of the universe sitting on his
magnificent throne in heaven. He looks down onto earth and says to
himself:

Those evil humans down on earth. I hate what they are doing. All this
sin...
Since I am all-knowing I know exactly what the humans are doing and I
understand exactly why they commit each sin. Since I created the
humans in my own image and personally programmed human nature into
their brains, I am the direct author of all of this sin. The instant I
created them I knew exactly what would happen with every single human
being right down to the nanosecond level for all eternity. If I didn't
like how it was going to turn out, I could have simply changed them
when I created them. And since I am perfect, I know exactly what I am
doing. But ignore all that. I hate all these people doing exactly what
I perfectly designed them to do and knew they would do from the moment
I created them...

So here's what I am going to do. I will artificially inseminate a
virgin. She will give birth to an incarnated version of me. The humans
will eventually crucify and kill the incarnated me. That will,
finally, make me happy. Yes, sending mself down and having the humans
crucify me -- that will satisfy me. I feel much better now.

It makes no sense, does it? Why would an all-knowing being need to
have humans kill himself (Jesus is God, after all) to make himself
happy? Especially since it is a perfect God who set the whole thing in
motion exactly the way he wanted it? The story of the crucifixion is
absurd from top to bottom if you actually stop to think about it. By
combining the crucifixion story with the resurrection story, you can
see the truth -- "God" is a mythological creature just like every
other human god. The entire religious domain is make believe.











Proof #16 - Contemplate the contradictions
A thoughtful person who thinks about God cannot help but notice the
amazing contradictions. They are everywhere you look.

Here is one very simple example. On the day Moses comes down from
Mount Sinai with the stone tablets containing the Ten Commandments, he
discovers that the Israelites have created a golden calf. To punish
the people, Moses gathers a group of men and takes the following
action in the book of Exodus, Chapter 32:

Then he [Moses] said to them, "This is what the Lord, the God of
Israel, says: 'Each man strap a sword to his side. Go back and forth
through the camp from one end to the other, each killing his brother
and friend and neighbor.' " The Levites did as Moses commanded, and
that day about three thousand of the people died.
So... one minute we have God carving into stone, "Thou shalt not
kill." Then the next minute we have God telling each man to strap a
sword to his side and lay waste to thousands. Wouldn't you expect the
almighty ruler of the universe to be slightly more consistent than
this? 3,000 dead people is a lot of commandment breaking. Obviously
that is a total contradiction. The reason why you find contradictions
like that in the Bible is because God is imaginary.
When you look at slavery, you get the same feeling of total
contradiction. It is obvious to modern human beings that slavery is an
abomination. The fact that God is a huge proponent of slavery in the
Bible shows us that God is imaginary.

A recent issue of Christianity Today featured this cover:


The cover story is: 5 Reasons Torture Is Always Wrong.

If you think about it, you can see the contradiction here. What does
God plan to do to people who do not accept Jesus Christ as their
savior? According to the Christian faith, he plans to torture them for
eternity in the fires of hell. Since we all know that torture is
always wrong, we have a contradiction.

According to Genesis, God also tortures all women for eternity with
painful childbirth. For her trangression of eating the fruit, God says
to Eve:

"I will greatly increase your pains in Childbearing; with pain you
will give birth to children."
This, of course, is torture. Inflicting excruciating pain on someone
as punishment is the dictionary definition of torture, as you can see
here:
tor·ture: Infliction of severe physical pain as a means of punishment
or coercion. [ref]
So, according to the Bible, God is the universe's all-powerful
torturer. Unfortunately, according to Christianity Today, torture is
always wrong. The fact that a perfect God is doing something that is
always wrong shows you the contradiction.
If you would simply look at and accept how obvious these
contradictions are, you can see the truth: God is imaginary. The
evidence is all around you.

<<< Proof #15 | Home | Go to Proof #17 >>>
Understanding the Rationalizations
It has actually been stated by one reader that Hell does not involve
torture. "Hell is nothing more than a separation from God, not a fiery
place of torture," according to the reader. Therefore, in his mind, he
is able to rationalize that God is not a torturer.

In order to believe this rationalization, this reader has to
completely ignore the Bible. If you read the Bible, you cannot miss
the fact that Hell is a place of torture. According to the Bible, Hell
is a place of eternal torment. Here are several Bible verses that
describe Hell:

And His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear
His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but
He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. (Matthew 3:12)
The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of
His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness,
and will cast them into the furnace of fire; in that place there shall
be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 13:41-42)
So it will be at the end of the age; the angels shall come forth, and
take out the wicked from among the righteous, and will cast them into
the furnace of fire; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
(Matthew 13:49-50)
A place of unquenchable fire is, obviously, a place or torture.
What you need to do is stop rationalizing and accept the evidence that
you see everywhere. God is imaginary. All of the contradictions in
your religion prove it.










Proof #17 - Think about Leprechauns
Many believers will say, "It is impossible for you to prove that God
(Allah, Ra, Vishnu, whatever) does not exist. There is no way to prove
that something does not exist." This is a silly argument for the
following reason.

Imagine that we have a conversation one day and I say to you, "I
believe in the gerflagenflopple. You cannot prove that the
gerflagenflopple does not exist, therefore it exists." You can see
that this is ridiculous. Just because I have invented something out of
thin air does not mean that its non-existence is suddenly unprovable.
There has to be some evidence that the gerflagenflopple exists in
order to assert its existence. Since there is not, it is quite easy to
say that the gerflagenflopple is imaginary.

Now let's imagine that we have a conversation one day and I say to
you, "I believe in Leprechauns. You cannot prove that Leprechauns do
not exist, therefore they exist." You actually have heard of
Leprechauns. There are lots of books, movies and fairy tales dealing
with Leprechauns. People talk about Leprechauns all the time.
Leprechauns even have a popular brand of breakfast cereal. But that
does not mean that Leprechauns exist. There is no physical evidence
for the existence of Leprechauns. Not a single bit. Therefore, it is
obvious to any normal person that Leprechauns are imaginary.

If you think about it, you will realize that there is no difference
between God and Leprechauns. Lots of people talk about God as though
he exists, but there is no actual evidence for God's existence. For
example:

God has never left any physical evidence of his existence on earth.
All historical gods were imaginary and we know it. (see this page)
None of Jesus' "miracles" left any physical evidence either. (see this
page)
God has never spoken to modern man, for example by taking over all the
television stations and broadcasting a rational message to everyone.
The resurrected Jesus has never appeared to anyone. (see this page)
The Bible we have is provably incorrect and is obviously the work of
primitive men rather than God. (see this page)
When we analyze prayer with statistics, we find no evidence that God
is "answering prayers." (see this page)
Huge, amazing atrocities like the Holocaust and AIDS occur without any
response from God.
And so on…
There is absolutely no evidence indicating that God exists. There is a
tremendous amount of empirical evidence that God does not exist.
Therefore we can conclusively say that God is imaginary. That is the
only thing that a rational person can say.
Another angle

Here is a second way to look at the same question.

With every other object and phenomenon in our experience, we use the
scientific method to determine whether it exists or not. For example,
X rays are invisible, but we know that they exist. We can devise
scientific experiments to prove that they exist. Then, once proven to
exist, X-rays can be used predictably in all sorts of beneficial ways.

If you would like to hypothesize that God exists, then you should say
to yourself, "Let's devise a repeatable scientific experiment to
provide evidence that God exists." Every experiment we devise
demonstrates, yet again, that God is imaginary.

Isn't it odd that God, unlike everything else in our universe, has
been put into a special category? When we talk about God, we are
supposed to do so "philosophically." Why? Why not treat God just like
all other objects and devise experiments to detect his presence or
absence?

The classic religious response is, "God must remain hidden. If he
proved his existence, that would take away faith." This is clever --
here we have an object named God that proves its existence by
completely hiding its existence. Of course, in the real world, any
object that provides no evidence for its existence is classified as
imaginary.

Even more interesting, this object called God, which is supposedly
hiding its existence completely, is in the meantime supposedly writing
books, answering prayers and incarnating itself. How can that be? This
obvious contradiction shows how imaginary God is. When we look at
prayer scientifically, we find that "answered prayers" are actually
nothing but coincidences. When we look at the Bible scientifically,
ethically or rationally, we find that the Bible is wrong. When we look
at all of Jesus' miracles scientifically, we find that none of them
left behind any scientific or historical evidence. Nor, for that
matter, did Jesus, nor did Jesus' resurrection. Strangely, not a
single historical source independent of the Bible ever mentions the
resurrection.

The reason why we can find no empirical evidence for God's existence
is not because "God is a magical being completely able to hide from
us." It is because God is imaginary.










Proof #18 - Imagine heaven
If you talk to a Christian about heaven, you can clearly understand
that the notion of heaven and everlasting life is imaginary. Each
conversation will be different, but a typical conversation might go
something like this:

Chris: Jesus transcends death and promises eternal life to all who
believe in him! Lift up your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ and he
will give you eternal life!
Norm: How will he do that?

Chris: Have you ever read the book called "Left Behind?"

Norm: No.

Chris: You should! They have sold over 20 million copies of the book,
because it is the truth! It describes exactly what will happen. One
day the Lord Jesus calls his children home, and they are carried
straight to heaven! Airplanes crash because their pilots have
vanished. Cars run into phone poles. This is exactly what is described
in the Bible.

Norm: The people completely vanish?

Chris: Yes. All that is left behind is their clothes, their jewelry
and their hearing aids! The believers are transported directly to
heaven!

Norm: Their naked bodies are transported to heaven?

Chris: Yes!

Norm: There are six billion people on the planet. They each weigh
about 150 pounds or so. Are you telling me that God lifts a trillion
pounds of human flesh off the planet in an instant?

Chris: Absolutely not! Only the believers are transported!

Norm: OK, half a trillion pounds?

Chris: Yes!

Norm: And where does this half a trillion pounds of flesh go?

Chris: To heaven!

Norm: To heaven... where is that?

Chris: It is in another dimension, of course! God lives in heaven!

Norm: How do all the bodies get to this "other dimension" called
"heaven"? Do they float up into the sky and then travel through the
vacuum of space?

Chris: No, silly! They are dematerialized and then rematerialize in
heaven!

Norm: So you are saying that half a trillion pounds of naked human
flesh are somehow "dematerialized" out of our universe, and then they
"rematerialize" in "another dimension" called "heaven?" And the
"dematerializing" process somehow distinguishes between natural human
flesh and unnatural things like clothing and hearing aids?

Chris: Yes!

Norm: So... what if the person has artificial heart valves, a couple
of stents and two titanium hip joints? Are those ripped out of his
body and left behind with his jewelry?

Chris: Yes!

Norm: And what happens to that poor person, whose heart collapses and
whose legs are now flopping around detached from his pelvis?

Chris: The book doesn't really talk about that... I imagine God would
fix them up!

Norm: And what about all the people whose bodies are wracked with
cancer and AIDS and emphysema?

Chris: God fixes them all up too!

Norm: And what about all the decrepit 80-year-old bodies?

Chris: God gives them new, young, beautiful bodies!

Norm: And what about all the people whose bodies have died and
decomposed?

Chris: God gives them young, new, beautiful bodies too!

Norm: So why bother transporting the bodies of the believers to
heaven? Why not just give everyone a new, young, beautiful body and
leave their old bodies on earth?

Chris: The Bible says that your body is transported to heaven! It is
right there in black and white in the "Left Behind" books! That is
God's will!

Norm: OK, so heaven is full of people whose bodies or corpses or
whatever have been "dematerialized" from earth, and then
"rematerialized" in "heaven." And then the dematerialized/
rematerialized bodies are discarded, and they are replaced with new,
young, beautiful bodies?

Chris: Yes! Now you understand the power of the Lord Jesus Christ!

Norm: What happens next?

Chris: The believers all live in heaven in peace, harmony and joy for
eternity!

Norm: What is heaven like?

Chris: We get to reunite with all of our dead friends and family
members! We get to meet our ancestors for the first time!

Norm: Really?

Chris: Absolutely!

Norm: What about people like George Washington and Benjamin Franklin?

Chris: Everyone is there! You can talk to anyone all through history!
Plus you get to meet God and Jesus. I can't wait to meet Jesus!

Norm: That sounds like fun. What else?

Chris: Well, the streets are paved in gold! It says so in the Bible!
And everyone has a big house! And you can eat whatever you want and
not get fat! And really, you just do anything that makes you happy!
Everyone is always happy!

And so on.
After listening to a conversation like this, it should be obvious to
all of us: Heaven is imaginary. It is all completely imaginary.

Simply talk to Christians about heaven. Ask them to describe what
heaven is like, and how they will get there. You will be able to feel
the absurdity of this notion in two different ways:

There is the direct absurdity as in the dialog above, where the
creation of entirely new and completely imaginary "dimensions" and
"materialization processes" tells you everything you need to know
about how delusional things can get.
There is also the absurdity that comes when you compare any two
people's views of heaven. Everyone's fabrication of heaven is
different. For some it involves harps and clouds and halos. For others
it involves hot and cold running virgins. For some people, the actual
body is transported magically to heaven as described in the "Left
Behind" books. For others, your "soul" floats out of the body and
makes it way to St. Peter. And so on. People make up anything they
like, because heaven is a completely imaginary place.
Heaven is a fairy tale invented by human imagination. And each
person's fairy tale is different.
We imagine that we have "souls," fabricate the concept of "eternal
life" and then fantasize a place called "heaven," complete with
streets of gold, calorie-free foods, frolicking virgins and whatever
else we can come up with. Christians imagine it so vividly and repeat
the fantasy so often that they actually believe it to be reality.

How bizarre can the fantasies get? Fly to Cairo and take a look at the
Great Pyramid. There is the pyramid itself -- still one of the largest
man-made objects on earth. In addition there is the whole
mummification process, the disassembled boats, the sacred artwork and
so on. All of this was designed to help the pharaoh reach the
afterlife. We look at it now and we all know, with absolute certainty,
that it was a complete and total waste of time. The Egyptian notion of
the afterlife was a fantasy.

The Christian notion of the afterlife is a fantasy in exactly the same
way. Heaven is completely imaginary, just like God.










Proof #19 - Notice that you ignore Jesus
Jesus made a number of very clear statements about money and wealth in
the Bible. For example:

Matthew 6:19

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust
destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for
yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys
and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure
is, there your heart will be also.
Luke 14:33
Any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my
disciple.
Matthew 6:24
No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love
the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other.
You cannot serve God and Money.
Matthew 19:21-24
Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions
and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come,
follow me." When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because
he had great wealth. Then Jesus said to his disciples, "I tell you the
truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again
I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle
than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."
Matthew 19:28-29
Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all
things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have
followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes
of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or
father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a
hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.
Luke 9:23-25
Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny
himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants
to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will
save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet
lose or forfeit his very self?
Matt 13: 22
The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man
who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness
of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful.
Hebrews 13:5
Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what
you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I
forsake you."
Phil 2:3
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility
consider others better than yourselves.
Acts 2:44-45
All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling
their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.
The message is clear. If you want to follow Jesus, you need to "sell
your possessions and give to the poor." It is a very simple message,
and easy to do. Have you done it? The fact that you are reading this
page would indicate that you have not. Chances are you own a computer,
pay for an Internet connection every month, live in a home or
apartment, have a car, etc. In other words, you live a life at a level
of wealth unimaginable in Jesus' time. Meanwhile, billions of people
on the planet live in startling, abject poverty.
Why don't you sell everything and follow Jesus, as he requests in the
Bible? The reason is simple: Jesus and God are imaginary, and you know
it. If Jesus were real, you would do what he says.















Proof #20 - Notice your church
Here are six important statements about wealth from the Bible:

Matthew 6:19

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust
destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for
yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys
and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure
is, there your heart will be also.
Luke 14:33
Any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my
disciple.
Matthew 6:24
No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love
the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other.
You cannot serve God and Money.
Matthew 19:21
Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions
and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come,
follow me."
Hebrews 13:5
Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what
you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I
forsake you."
Phil 2:3
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility
consider others better than yourselves.
Acts 2:44-45
All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling
their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.
Now, the next time you go to church, look at the building. At any
"normal" church in America, the church building is an immense
structure worth significant amounts of money. Here is a typical church
in Raleigh, NC:
Colonial Baptist Church
The church's web site has this to say: "In May of 1993 the church
fellowship voted unanimously to relocate our church campus. As a
result of God's gracious plan, our Tryon site almost immediately
became inadequate to facilitate our growing numbers. Thus, the church
body once again demonstrated its pioneering spirit, faith and vision—
vision to be a church not only blessed with a wonderful past, but
faith and trust in God for an enduring, effective future. As of May
21, 1996, we became the owners of 33 acres on which to build our new
facilities. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!" This church has
soccer fields, indoor basketball courts, dozens of meeting rooms and
classrooms, several buses, a library, a huge sanctuary and ample free
parking.
[One obvious question to ask after reading the church's statement is
this: If all blessings flow from God, then why are his blessings so
amazingly unbalanced? Why are tens of thousands of children dying of
starvation every day on this planet [ref], while Colonial Baptist
Church is blessed with such wealth? Why wouldn't God spread his
blessings evenly among all his children? Answer: Because God is
imaginary.]

If you look at this article you see this description of the Catholic
Church: "The Vatican's treasure of solid gold has been estimated by
the United Nations World Magazine to amount to several billion
dollars. A large bulk of this is stored in gold ingots with the U.S.
Federal Reserve Bank, while banks in England and Switzerland hold the
rest. But this is just a small portion of the wealth of the Vatican,
which in the U.S. alone, is greater than that of the five wealthiest
giant corporations of the country. When to that is added all the real
estate, property, stocks and shares abroad, then the staggering
accumulation of the wealth of the Catholic church becomes so
formidable as to defy any rational assessment."

The contradiction is startling. No where in Jesus' teachings is it
suggested that Christians should buy land and build church buildings
with indoor basketball courts. No where does Jesus suggest the
accumulation of billions of dollars in gold bars. Chistians are
supposed to sell everything and give the money to the poor, according
to Jesus. Yet church congregations do exactly the opposite on a
regular basis. Building a large sanctuary and indoor basketball courts
is an exercise in vanity, ego-boosting, selfishness and human pride.
These attributes are the opposite of Jesus' prescriptions and everyone
knows it.

Church congregations regularly and willfully ignore Jesus' teachings
because they know that Jesus is imaginary.