PART THREE - FACT CHECKING @themickey @themickey said "it took something like 70 years later before other followers made mention of it" You are ignoring PART ONE AND PART TWO OF FACT CHECKING @themickey! In Part One and Part Two I showed, using non-Christian sources, that Paul is well-accepted among scholars as the authentic author of 1 Thessalonians and Galatians and both of those books were written around 18 years after Jesus' death in 33 AD. Galatians may have actually been written only 15 years after his death, in 48 AD. PART THREE - FACT CHECKING @themickey 1 Corinthians is also considered an authentic letter written to the churches in Corinth by Paul around 53-54 AD. Note a few very important details in what Paul wrote, just 20 years or so after Jesus' resurrection. 1. He used the phrase "hold firmly to the word I preached to you" which reveals that this was a message that had been preached to them previously, it did not change. 2. The facts of the message are that Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures, He was buried and raised the third day and seen by many people. 3. There were more than 500 people who saw Jesus after He had been physically resurrected, and this appearance was "at once" meaning they all saw Him at the same time. Most of those people were still alive when Paul wrote this letter, so about 20 years after the 500 had seen the resurrected Jesus many of them were still alive and this was evidence of Jesus' resurrection that was accepted by the early churches. 1Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, and in which you stand firm. 2By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.3For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5and that He appeared to Cephasa and then to the Twelve. 6After that, He appeared to more than five hundred brothers at once, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7Then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8And last of all He appeared to me also, as to one of untimely birth. 1 Corinthians 15:1-8
Something to consider is that IF the gospels HAD been written immediately after Jesus' resurrection, you and doubting skeptics all over the place would say that the disciples met together and spent a few weeks planning out the details of Jesus' life and resurrection (so as to not contradict their stories), then widely distributed their written works so that all new converts would be basing their new beliefs off of the collaborated work of the disciples' plot to deceive people and gain a following. But THAT is not how it happened. Instead, the things that were recorded later on by the disciples, or by Paul, were things the churches already believed because many of their early members were those that had personally seen a miracle performed by Jesus and seen Him in His resurrected body. It would not be too hard to go find someone who could tell from firsthand experience what they saw of Jesus. In my mind this is stronger evidence that it happened as recorded in the Scriptures than if the disciples had immediately recorded everything and mass distributed the books.
I do not fall off a horse from Jesus' blinding light and loud voice every day. But yes, He does guide me in fellowship with Himself.
Humans are humans, never mind what race or religion. For them to pray and worship, what would be a reason if they thought this was the result, bearing in mind, Jews do go to a wall and pray. The reason I suppose, everyone lives in hopeium.
I can say from experience that God has certainly answered many of my prayers in ways that were very unlikely, maybe even impossible, without His having done a "miracle" or directly intervening to answer them. There was one time in my life when someone I knew became involved in some heresy in a small cult-like group. Some members of the group came to my house to try to convince me to join them. They had one particular verse they twisted the meaning of and tried to get me to see that this is what the Bible teaches. I didn't actually know an answer to reply to them, but I knew that it couldn't be right. Around that time, and for a while after, I would pray for God to help me, since the person I knew that was involved with it was trying very hard to get me to change my beliefs. I experienced God working very strongly to help me. I remember thinking, after a while, that on almost a daily basis, something would be brought to my attention that would contradict the heresy. Oftentimes this was completely separate from my seeking to find reasons. It would be more like randomly reading a scripture and then it would dawn on me that this passage proved that the verse they used to put a twisted meaning on it could not be true. It was sometimes hearing a sermon or talking with someone, but they were, I believe, reminders and helps from God to help me be strong and not have my faith shaken. I watched the video below last week and it was interesting to me the way the mom in the video describes how God sent confirmations to her to help her stand strong in leaving/being excommunicated from the Amish. The way she described God sending her answers to her prayers reminded me of my own experience. Just thought I'd share it, I hope you watch for 2 minutes from the place I have it queued to. The context is that this Amish family came to believe in Jesus as their Savior and they were sure that they were now saved. This caused them to be excommunicated which meant their extended family members would no longer associate with them. But God was with them, and this section of the video describes some of how God led them. Begin at 33:04 34:27--It was as if the Lord was speaking directly to me, answering my question that I had asked on the mountain. And it was just like that, one thing after another, that I would just cry out to God and He would either show me in the Bible, show me a verse, or else a preacher would preach about it. Or I would open a book and the answer would be there, or some way, I always got an answer. 34:51 end
Hillsong founder Brian Houston steps down ahead of court hearing over the concealment of alleged child sex offences By Paulina Vidal Posted 1 hour ago Hillsong founder Brian Houston is due to face a Sydney court in October over allegations of concealing information about child sexual abuse.(Supplied: Facebook Hillsong Church) Hillsong founder Brian Houston has stepped down as leader of the church while he defends a criminal charge alleging he covered up his father's child sexual abuse. The founder of the Christian church made the announcement today, after last year stepping aside as director of all Hillsong boards. The pastor was charged in October last year with one count of concealing the serious indictable offence of another person and says he intends to vigorously defend the charge. In a statement on the church's website, he said the charges were "unexpected" and the allegation he had failed to disclose information about his father had come as a "shock". Frank Houston died in 2004 before the allegations became public.(ABC News) Frank Houston, who died in 2004, is accused of the alleged abuse of a young man back in the 1970s. Mr Houston also said his latest decision came after discussions with the board last month. "In December, during our board meeting, Hillsong's external legal counsel gave the board advice regarding the current charge I am facing," Mr Houston said. "That it would be 'best practice' for me to step aside completely from church leadership during the court proceedings. "The court processes are likely to be drawn out and take up most of 2022 [especially considering the backlog in the courts, exacerbated by the COVID pandemic]." The 67-year-old, who is due to appear before a Sydney court in October, said his emotional wellbeing was also a factor. "We have talked about the effects of the situation with my father, which go back many years up to the current legal case, and the impact this has had on me emotionally." Mr Houston said he will use the time to work with his legal team to set the record straight. Police have previously alleged their investigation into Mr Houston began in 2019. The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse heard Frank Houston admitted to the abuse, which took place in Australia and New Zealand. He was allowed to retire from the church before the abuse became public.