₦airaland Forum

Ah, Noetic. Sorry o. Didn't mean to be a SOB. Enter google and input Council of Nicea + Emperor Constantine and you should get plenty of material. You'll find folks writing both for and against (what exactly I don't know) but the ones that are impartial are the best bet for accuracy. Also I wasn't even trying to make a case about whether or not Jesus' and Paul's teachings dovetail. That's Max agenda. Mine was to get you to read more about how the bible came about and why I know it contains some truths and many other stuff (outright lies, white lies, allegories, illustrations, myths and legends, exaggerations, half-truths, history and some quite frankly unnecessary information) besides. My problem is how can I know which is which. So read up cuz it is a whole lot and Max cannot possibly summarize it as I remember there being six different councils where the members busied themselves shortlisting 66 books out of the thousands already in circulation and calling their collection the bible and destroying everything else.

The dude asking about early church history should do a little research. It amazes me the amount of information at our disposal and some people will just refuse to seek it.

Personally, I fear to speak my views on Christianity cuz many people see it as some kinda attack. It is comforting to see some people making sense for I'd started to wonder if there's something I'm missing. People tell me to accept things on faith. Bull. God gave me brains that only realises that two plus two gives four. I cannot accept that it makes five. If indeed it makes five, I cannot be held accountable for rejecting this. I'm saying a lot in code speak cuz I don't wanna be branded as anything.

That said, Max and m_nwankwo, as fascinating as most of your submissions are, you guys have a disconcerting way of stating conjecture as if it were fact. Also, sometimes when you reject a certain thing previously thought to be true, it upsets the whole equation and something else you still you still assert as truth becomes mutually exclusive. Instances of this are too numerous. I think you guys are weaving a fascinating but complex web and are getting caught in it. You guys should please delineate your conjectures from provable fact and things ONLY you believe but cannot prove. Frankly, I'm getting awfully confused. This is why I love C. S. Lewis. He seems to go out of his way to inform you that he doesn't really know what he's talking about. It's most endearing.

A few questions to Mr. Nwankwo and MadMax. Anyone who can answer may and I'll be much obliged.

From Max, I gather that one's soul is essentially either evil or good. Good souls also do evil and they pay for it in this life or reincarnate to pay for it or it may simply let Jesus do the paying. Three options. Evil souls just drift away to some realm where they can hobnob with there own kind and God does not look upon them. Does it mean that as long as one is inherently good, no matter one's belief or lack thereof, one will encounter God's presence when one dies? What defines a good or evil soul? Its actions or its inherent nature? Btw, I don't subscribe to the belief that man is inherently evil. I believe man is so much evil and is also so much good. If not we wouldn't be able to tell the difference. This leads me to ask, do we then choose which side we wanna be on? Good or evil?

About reincarnation, I gather it happens mainly for someone to pay off a debt or to complete a mission. I don't buy the mission thingie at all but it'll be too lengthy to go into that. Let me talk about karma then. Why does it seem like the universe is only concerned with punishing evil and never concerned with rewarding good? Doesn't the universe care about the innocent who was wronged? Does Karma have no flip side? Also mathematically the punishment of someone can only be brought about by someone else doing evil (John's beheading was evil done by the ruler) and the evil-doer will pay by someone else's hand and so on and so forth. It seems like an eternal domino effect to me.

Mr. Nwankwo. I really loved the angle of Jesus' death not being salvation per se but his coming at all. In other words, salvation came immediately he came to this world. That would explain somewhere where he told some dude that this very day salvation has come to you or was it his household. Personally I think his death was elevated to that level of importance simply because he supposedly resurrected from the dead. What was the point of this resurrection if it happened? Plus it appears every single one of the gospel writers believed Jesus' demise on the cross was the sole purpose of his coming. Why do you have a different view?

Why did Jesus let himself be killed and if that were not the plan, what was? Did he intend to frolic with us till he died of old age or what? Plus, God must certainly have a taste for drama for it appears to me he made things infinitely worse since in incarnation. Nothing but zealots and well meaning white liars and dogmatic fools and outright truth manipulators since then if you ask me.

It is the most conspicuous thing that Jesus never called himself the Son of God once. Is it possible that he is too humble to state what he is or is it possible that he simply is not that?

You guys seem never to talk of the other entity, the holy spirit. What is that one about?

The end of the world will occur. This is a fact foreign to any religious doctrine. If one crazy asteroid doesn't hit us, we'll blow ourselves to extinction or after billions of years we'll either fall out of orbit and spiral towards the sun or the sun itself will become a supernova and finito. But will God get tired of this little experiment and kill us all? Or won't He ever?

I personally believe that God exists independent of time. That fourth dimension cannot restrain Him. In other words He exists yesterday, today and tomorrow simultaneously. I think it was Max who said once that He doesn't know the future cuz there's no such thing and He only knows every possible outcome of all actions. Chai! God must have some mean super computers. So which is it? Does God know the future or not?

I am consumed by consternation and there are very little answers. In my opinion there is terribly very little one can be sure of. And this segues into my last question. Is unbelief a crime? Will God take me up on saying, 'Hey Lord, the waters are so muddied that it's impossible to acknowledge your existence.' Does unbelief make me a bad person and unworthy of God's presence?

Jeez. These long posts are giving me vertigo. I'll come back abeg. Chai!

Fascinating thread. I've been reading it from the beginning. Personally I do not believe in reincarnation as a special isolated event. In my opinion, it either does not ever occur or all of us reincarnate. If it were in special cases to complete a mission or to serve a punishment say, the supposedly reincarnated has no idea he has come back and how can he serve punishment for some stuff he has no memory of ever doing? We could all be reincarnated for all we know.

All una conspiracy theorists. Jesus most certainly walked the earth. It's the accounts of him are questionable. If you learn of the early church history and how many gospels were gotten rid of to save the few we have, you'll conclude that the man is virtually unknowable.

When something that would be funny as fiction happens in reality, it ceases to be funny. Wow. Very soon, there'll be conferences and workshops and certification requirements.

The Hurt Locker

Personally I do not think this movie deserves all the acclaim and pean. The beginning was quite riveting but the lead actor just turned out to be the redneck with an adrenaline deficiency as he was made out to be. There were no characters I could relate to. The story sef no trip me. Those hot heads in Iraq sef don't leave bombs like that around hoping that U.S. soldiers will come upon them. I think the film should have won for technicality cuz I liked what I saw. Cinematography was quite good. After one hour I was dozing and waking so it's possible I missed the best parts but I doubt that. I'd say the film's major flaw was lacking a bad guy. Dialogue was wack jare. The only lesson I learnt in the movie is that violence begets more violence. Kai. Not a bad film but absolutely not the best film of 2009. God!

@JK. Is JeSoul ok? Abi she got kidnapped by some crazies who think they're torturing her by putting Norbit on repeat and making her watch every bit? Pun intended.

Lol. I just got a jolt of like 18KV of pure nostalgia. I wish they would leave Commando alone for I'm picturing scenes in my head that makes it like one of the best films ever. I remember the escape via the plane's tyre. I remember when he killed a guy and put a hat on his head and wheeled him out on a wheel chair. I remember the dude who has a skin probably only second in darkness to his soul. He was in Predator too. My favourite scene of all was when he came ashore and was suiting up and getting ready for battle. Holy macro, that guy almost made me gay. Now these bastards are gonna ruin everything.

An Education

Doyin. You spoilt this film for me small. I was watching and forgot that I was supposed to be enjoying myself and not assessing it. Anyways, I snapped out of it soon enough. The film is supposed to be set in the late 40s or early 50s as the memories of WWII seems to be fresh. Asides from the cars, nothing really impressed the date upon me. Above average performance from ALL the actors but my laurel goes to Alfred Molina who sounded more English than even Tilda Swinton. If this guy were in more successful and artful films, he'd be right up there rubbing shoulders with Anthony Hopkins and company in my book. I was very pissed with the girl who obviously is brilliant but seems to be more interested in the arts. I'd think that at Oxford, one could be as artistic as one likes. No wonder I never got the interest of girls while I was growing up. They were busy fawning over the geriatrics. This was a good film but it'd have been better in the hands of someone like Sam Mendes.

Best part of the film. A snippet:

Headmistress: you are aware that I take it the jews killed our Lord.

Schoolgirl: and you are aware I suppose our Lord was Jewish

Later

Schoolgirl: I purpose you think I'm a ruined woman

Headmistress: you're not a woman

How can you argue with that?

Abi o. They just went to dent my Dakota's dossier.

Lol. Calm down. I'm a ways into season 3, when I finish the whole lot, we'll compare notes.

Ritchie is rigid. All his films are an extension of his cockney foible. It gets tiring

The title of the thread has said it all. I need to downgrade a PSP slim from 5.5something to 5.00 firmware and I'm too lazy to do the research. Major aim is to enable the playing of .cso games from the memory stick. Please help

Sia Fuller sounds like a full name to me, no pun intended. So much for anonymity. This marks my venture into this una religion section. Seems like a fella can go crazy in here. I'm not cut out for this bull

Sia Fuller sounds like a full name to me, no pun intended. So much for anonymity. This marks my venture into this una religion section. Seems like a fella can go crazy in here. I'm not cut out for this bull

Lol. Max. You'll give yourself a heart attack that way. Thank the frakking Lords of Kobol (Gods-damn them, bite me) you haven't read the books. If you had, your contempt would have been absolute. Ritchie amuses me. He's definitely not a great. Maybe his major undoing is his rigidity. Sherlock Holmes was funny, almost farcical. Downey's Golden Globe is ridiculous. I like the way you symbolized those directors. Isn't Demme a one-timer though? Like Minghella?

I saw Hurt Locker and An Education. Impressed in spite of myself with the former. I'll post reviews later.

Ah. The Eagle has caught on. Lol. Spikey has trouble telling when she's in her waking state or not. Sidibe is a wonderful woman, I'm sure. More than enough for me. I really don't like making fun of her though.

I can't believe I'm talking about J-Lo. What's the name of the one she was in with Sean Penn?

Lol. Oh Obinna. You're like a better version of me. I meant why didn't you call J-Lo's film, The Breakup Plan (2010) as usual? I didn't really mean it when I said you shouldn't post your top 20 na. Please post it, sir.

Jk. I'm fine. Thank you for asking. Fewer and fewer people ask me that nowadays. It's alarming. I'm sure your period key misses you like frak

Wow. I absolutely loved the way Kaethar does reviewing. Wow. Like a real pro. I've not even read the review o but I like very much

Lol. Sherlock Holmes wasn't that bad. It's when you start treating it like a masterpiece that it turns dour. Treat it like any of Guy Ritchie's carefree, not-too-much-attention-for-detail outings and it just becomes another Guy Ritchie film. I've read almost all of the Holmes books and it pays it absolutely no justice. It's not so much not portraying the excellent characters of Holmes and Watson but redefining their images. I thought Watson's love interest was very beautiful. I abhor the thought of Brad Pitt in England. Finish it jare.

I've not yet seen Shutter Island

Obinna, which year is Breakup Plan? Lol. Nothing J-Lo is in gets favourable reviews even if it turns out ok. Her best film is Angel Eyes jo.

Bollocks! Sinful nature. What is this sinful nature? I'm far from born again but I sin and I do good too. If I do bad because of a sinful nature, what prompts me to do good? And whatever it is that prompts me so, what is it of no concern of God's? He can only punish and cannot reward? And don't tell me I do good only cuz of what I expect to get in return. I do good for no other reason than it makes me feel good. Sinning also makes me feel good in a different way though. Who is responsible for this sinful nature you say I have? And when you say someone is saved, from what is he saved?

Boo hoo hoo. I hope you didn't burst a vein. You misconstrue me but I don't really care. What I'm saying is that a true atheist wouldn't care if I was making sense in my post or not. A true atheist wouldn't even come to the Religion section of nairaland. Because I can't prove that God exists doesn't make him non-existant. Besides if you're a student of logic, you'll understand that proving something's non-existence is by far and away more difficult that proving its existence. Theoretically everything you can imagine exists somewhere, somehow. If you ask me to prove that God exists, I'll ask you to prove He doesn't.

Believe me, I respect true atheists. The ones who don't make it their life's goal to convert everyone to the Church of Atheism. True atheists don't care. No one is this world believes God exists without a doubt. Most people just believe to varying degrees. That's why prayer and such stuff is always the last port of call, a last resort.

Understand me, compadre and don't flip

Your mom is dead. Death is never a punishment. It's just transition. All the stupid delusions that people spew about dying before their time is so absurd it's frightening. Don't expect God to give you a multimillion dollar contract because you have been good. His blessings of the spiritual nature. Peace of mind, love, joy, contentment, fulfillment etc. Being well off is not a bad thing but that is a means to attain other things and not an end in itself. God did you no wrong by taking her. If you're spiritual you'll believe she's better off now. I frankly don't know but you'll find out when you die too.

Jesus definitely existed. The events surrounding him are the things that may be inconclusive. Even though the historical evidence pointing to his existence is little, it is not non-existent. It is extremely hard to fool humanity o. Even the Lochness monster has been proved to be a hoax and it wasn't like it had a considerable host of believers anyway.

I'm not a Christian but I know that paying tithes is absolutely not compulsory. What a Christian ought to do is give freely of what God has blessed him with. It may vary in percentages however the giver feels he can afford and live with. But some Christians suspect this and still keep on paying tithes because they think that way they can buy God's favour. Some think it as a way of cleaning money. Rob the public treasury and pay the Mafia boss (God) ten percent and he won't kick your ass in the world to come. Most pay it cuz they don't wanna take responsibilty for many things. They're scared of the thought of going against a pastor. What I wanna know is, do pastors pay tithe?

Lol. It still amazes me the power of the human mind. It is so great, this power, that the human mind can convince itself of an untruth without imploding in on itself. Flushed from head to toe. Wow

Bros. You flatter the devil a lot. So he has the power to take away souls now? Why is it that you people conveniently blame the devil for every bad thing that happens and praise God for every single good thing that happens? Either thing can be in disguise. God is the ultimate power. The devil is pitiful and so so powerless in comparison (if you are dumb enough to even bother to compare). You act like the devil is the flip side of God, like God was matter and Satan was anti-matter. If I didn't know better, I'd say you people think God made Satan so that he can take the fall for every evil thing that He chooses to inflict on us.

Lol. I hope you know all this suicide bombing and terrorism is a 2oth/21st century affair. It is not enough to judge a 'religion' by the actions of a few hotheads or even the main, their scripture is what should be examined. Christianity had a bloodier past than Islam but history is quickly forgotten and delineated when it doesn't serve one's purpose. Many muslims (who are really mad arabs) do crazy things because they're a terribly tribal people but 80% of muslims do not speak arabic. I'm not making a case for anything. All I'm saying is do not be confused by events from 1948 till date and judge a religion and its proponents by just this. Read books my friend.

I'm just gonna go ahead and just say it. Even though I don't subscribe to the whole we need deliverance hullabaloo (if the wages for sin is death, there must be reward for righteousness) but I'll let you humour me. What I can't understand, and it just drives me nuts that everybody goes gaga over it, is that it doesn't seem odd that the nature of such an awesome being God will be so conveniently tailored as to remedy the problem of sinning man. It seems to me that if the dynamics were different and say there was need for one godhead to die, another to hold the fort, another to play evil and a last to keep us from relapsing, we'd be talking of a quadrahead and not trinity. How can God's nature seem like a means to an end. An end that it seems He created Himself? God can't deal with sin etc as if He wasn't the one who decides what is to be sin and what is not. There's no such thing as sin. It only has to do with God.

I can't go thru your links now huxley but I believe in Jesus' existence. I can't be sure about everything that is said about him. I do concede that it is quite odd that for such a personality there's an acute shortage of historical evidence of his existence. No one really talked about him except the gospel writers. I'm guessing all the burning of literature during the many ecumenical councils are responsible for this. It's bullshit but it's BS for thought.

The bible contains honest errors, human errors, a lot of doctoring (omissions, additions, twisting etc), a lot of well meant lies, or white lies if you like, plenty speculations and fantasy. It also contains literal things which some people prefer to treat as allegorical and vice versa. But after all these, it contains plenty unarguable truths but whether they are divine truths are a different matter. My major problem with the book is being able to tell which is which. I know many intelligent Christians who think they are liberated by believing that the book as a whole is not from God but they're just as guilty cuz they don't question the parts that suit their point of view. Truth is not good news or bad news. It is simply truth. Falsehood is the same way.