Ben Carson thinks Charles Darwin was encouraged by SATAN?

[sirs]

No, I'm making perfect sense, that you're trying to deflect from.  I demonstrate just how often you change the subject when you're losing an argument, then ridicule and try to denounce Christianity, and now trying to infer that's a "serious discussion", when you bring out tooth-fairies.  Hardly

[Xavier_Onassis]

It is not my fault that Christianity includes people furgling snakes to prove their faith or demons being cast into swine. I did not make up the tale of all humanity being made sinful because of what some distant ancestors ate when a talking snake tempted them. I do not need to ridicule Christianity for any of that.

So, do you believe, as Carson seems to, that SATAN caused Charles Darwin to write the Origin of Species to befuddle the tale of Earth being created in seven actual calendar days (as the Seventh Day Adventists claim)? 

Imagine how silly it would make this country look if he declared that Global Warming was another of Satan's bogus myths.

[sirs]

No one is doing anything with snakes, so you can drop that deflection,  not to mention again demonstrating how unserious you are in "discussing" anything Christianity

What I believe,  and what Carson believes,  and what Obama believes, (if he's being truthful that he's a Christian), is that Satan is ever attempting to coerce you to do/perform that which God would find inappropriate, if not sinful

[Plane]

   Wait wait wait...!

  You are talking about Ben Carson and snake handling?

    That is not his church!

     Should I speak of XO and Bertrand Russell and Fidel Castro as if their belief set were interchangeable ? I don't think it would be entirely fair to equate you and all other Atheists , Agnostics and Heathens as monolithic. There are several small differences I have been made aware of.

 There are things all Christians believe to meet the definition, but snake handling is an outlier minority. If you are trying to connect Ben Carson with Snake Handling , this must mean that what he has actually said and done is not sufficiently objectionable without the embellishment.

     

[Plane]

People in general, especially women, fear snakes. Some snakes are venomous, others won't even bite if provoked. And everyone knows that even small snakes can kill you. So snake handling has all the fixin's of an impressive religious sideshow. Lots of people like to watch impending disaster. That is the big draw for NASCAR and destruction derbies. Lacking old cars, Paul or some other religious sideshow act surely put on a snake handling fest, and people ate it up, so Paul, the ultimate PR  dude, either tried doing it himself or recruited a snake handler who was successful at not getting killed.

     The way the story goes in the scripture , Paul was camping and was attacked by a wild snake , which he shook off into the fire.
       If he did this often , you would expect more mention.

      I don't think it is credible to say that Paul "invented " Christianity , there isn't really a motive for the guy to come up with a scheme that just gets him arrested a lot.

       That Paul is highly influential is obvious, but being this influential from jail cells is just another miracle. As a prophet his sincerity got tested to the utmost, prophets old testament and new , had a retirement plan you have to be a prophet to want.

[Xavier_Onassis]

 I don't think it is credible to say that Paul "invented " Christianity , there isn't really a motive for the guy to come up with a scheme that just gets him arrested a lot.

That was good enough for Thomas Paine, Lenin, Stalin, Joan of Arc, the guy who invented Koscot Interplanetary Cosmetics, Oral Roberts, Ho Chi Minh, William Miller.   They heard the "voice" or perhaps "voices" and decided to act. For every one of them who was successful, there are hundreds who  were arrested and killed, beaten and forgotten. Paul believed his own bullshit: so did Mao, Joan of Arc, Lenin, the previously mentioned Simon Bar Kokhba, Moses, Ezequiel, Socrates. This is not unusual human behavior.

Paul was not after monetary gain, obviously, he was a prophet, and prophets do it to attract followers and of course, they believe that they are doing God's will. Or fulfilling some sort of destiny. You are thinking in 20th Century terms: Paul was not of this century, and neither were his motives.

[sirs]

You are so far off the reservation.  All my years of attending Church & Sunday School, and all those churches I also visited, and not ONCE was Paul ever referred to as anything other but a disciple or apostle, no different than Peter or Matthew.  In some discussions Paul was referred to as the 12th Disciple/Apostle, to step into Judas' spot, after Judas betrayed Christ.  Point being, that in the Christian faith, he was father/inventer to nothing religion. 

[Xavier_Onassis]

You need to read up on Paul and the history of the Church, then. Paul was personally more responsible for the spreading of Christianity than anyone else, Jesus included.
Paul was the one who decided that men did not have to be circumcised to become Christians, which was a change in what he thought Jesus taught, being as Paul circumcised Timothy BEFORE he decided to change this.

I doubt that you will be hearing a sermon on this, but here is a Christian commentary on the subject:

http://christianity.stackexchange.com/questions/16491/is-it-hypocritical-for-paul-to-circumcise-timothy-in-act-163

 I did not at any point say that Ben Carson believed in snake handling. I said the Bible, specifically Paul, mention snake handling.
Of course, it is possible that Paul wrote all, some or none of the various books that are attributed to him. But they are in the Bible, which is the basis for Christianity, and that is what I was referring to.

The Old Testament says "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live." (Exodus 22:18) which suggests that witches exist, and we should kill them.
 I did not say that Jesus bewitched anyone. Bewitch suggests an evil influence, and Jesus is never portrayed as evil.

[sirs]

I've read plenty, thank you very much.  Most importantly, the Bible.  What he spread was the word of God, just the same as Jesus, who initiated it, and his Apostles who followed.  That he may have spread it more, doesn't negate the fact he invented nothing.  The Christian religion is ALL Christ 

[Xavier_Onassis]

How many Books would there be in the New Testament if you remove those attributed to Paul?

Did Jesus say anything at all about converting Gentiles?  Did he say anything about circumcision?  He did not, because it was assumed that all his male followers were Jews.

Jesus was a Jew, The word "Christ" is Greek. Jesus was not Greek, and was not referred to as "Jesus Christ".

The growth of the Christian religion was due to Paul proselytizing among Gentiles. I don't think Jesus say more than a dozen words to any Gentile in the entire Bible.

[sirs]

How many Books would there be in the New Testament if you remove those attributed to Paul?

Irrelevant.  Whatever "growth", was not Paul's message, but Christ's......period.

[Xavier_Onassis]

Jesus is the guy's name. Jesus wrote nothing. What was written was attributed to Matthew Mark Luke and John, but who they were is debatable. Very little was written at all until 50 years after the death of Jesus.

He became "Christ" after Paul.

You are not very well read on this subject.

[sirs]

The person not so well read here is the one trying desperately to rewrite the gospels.  Sorry, Paul invented nothing,.  Simply was a very effective apostle of Jesus

[Xavier_Onassis]

Any biblical scholar worthy of his salt explains the huge influence of Paul on the creation and spread of the religion.

At most, Jesus founded a cult within Judaism that did not cater even minimally to Gentiles.

The very word "Christian" was not used in Jesus' time.

[sirs]

My faith doesn't rest in "biblical scholars", who look to try and disprove the bible.  It rests in the FACT that Jesus CHRIST died for my sins, and without his sacrifice, I'd be damned for all eternity.  At MOST, you have a very effective Apostle and follower of Christ, in Paul, who we can argue, was the most effective in spreading the word of Jesus