Standing ovation.

As an atheist, i like seeing people asking these questions that eventually lead to their freedom from ridiculous religions and imaginary gods. Keep asking these questions, that's the first step towards liberation.

You are actually nice. I call religious folk weak minded and idiots. They sound like insults but to an objective person who knows and can see the truth, they will see that my "insults" are actually facts.

Good point swenani. Some of the assumptions here are plainly 'miseducated' if not misinformed.

I will only be reading posts in this thread.

Because the rich and the connected, the elite of the time of Jesus, did not want to hear anything to do with God. THEY WERE HYPOCRITES AND BETRAYERS. Jesus himself described them very well "Ye hypocrites"

MATTHEW 23:13 "Ye wicked and adulterous generation Matthew 12:39 "Ye whited sepulchers..."
MATTHEW 23: 27 "Ye generation of vipers..."

Look at witchcraft in the Bible: How to know if a woman has committed adultery.

Numbers 5:11-31. ‘The priest should take holy water in a vessel, take dust from the floor, and put it into the vessel - And that is the bitter water ‘And after cursing it, give it to the woman And if the woman has committed adultery, after she drinks it, the curse will enter her body, the stomach will swell, the thigh will rot, and she shall be cursed by the people. If the woman has not committed adultery, she will remain clean and she will bear the seed."

A state of the art method to identify a woman who has committed adultery. Very uneductional. Very unscientific!

Oh, you're right. I've read and understood.

What is 'high education'? To me it's the kind of education that allows a person to live optimally- mutually, constructively, and harmoniously with the self and with others- including animals and plants and even 'aliens'. High education isn't simply being a professor or in the highest class in the social hierarchy. Education, is a tool for survival.

Intelligence isn't about knowing things, it's about learning to adapt in a universe of many forces through finding out where and how to strike the balance.

In this case, Christ exemplifies high education and intelligence, and it's no surprise that he should find students and disciples who are able to learn from him. Zen Buddhists say that only an empty cup can be filled.

Always wondered why there are no churches in some neighborhoods.

Fire is only good when it's controlled and its scope well defined. In this thread I doubt whether the fire generated is well controlled and scope clear.

The hypotheses are half baked, assumptions floated almost thoughtlessly and different agendas are springing left right and center. Yet when I think about it I see there's something interesting that can be cooked here.

I can only hope the mover can make some rectification and instead of asserting untested hypotheses he/she moves to identify the different hypotheses and probably conduct some tests in a discussion format. For example, the question, 'How is progressive education relating with Christianity'? Or, 'How does Christianity fair among the poor and probably less educated masses'? Could limit the scope and guide more intelligent conversation.

Otherwise right now I feel like responding to @AlphDoti on 'witchcraft', start chasing Hamburglar on dilettantism and the like. Then compound the effect when other minds chip in with their preferences.

It'll be like cooking omena in a blast furnace.

@tycho
Just dance brother. Let the chips fall where they may.

'We' are capable of hearing the still small voice even in the noisy marketplace of ideas and worldviews.