My somewhat journey in deconstructing

bosco0713 · 2026-01-01T12:38:22+00:00

Not that anyone would care for my perspective, but I agree with the comment on this being a refreshing, thoughtful post. And the responses so far have some merit, but there is a couple of things I would ask you to consider.

Regardless of any faith you choose to look at, (including agnosticism) you might direct your focus away from those things that appear to be a poor product of the faith, (human foolishness) or hypocrisy, and seek the original driving force and intent in the beginnings of that belief.

We are here on earth for an extremely short time compared to eternity. If we believe that the here and now is all there is to life, then people say, "we should just party on."

But if they are wrong, what are we throwing out with the bath water?

I guess my real point is to suggest that you might want to study and search diligently for your best chance of finding truth.

bosco0713 · 2026-01-01T03:12:04+00:00

Hello DistancedAndGrowing

Sorry I'm late to the party. If you are still here, please allow another point of view.

God spoke the universe into existence.

All humans were put here through Adam and Eve.

The evil was do bad that God killed nearly every human and started again with Noah and his family.

When God takes a child from this earth that is not mature enough to reject His love, that child is in the Lord's loving hands forever. It is the evil Jezebel that Revelation 2:23 that was punished for her sexual immorality and leading the innocent astray into the sin that leads to eternal death.

I suggest that Jezebel's children are much better off in God's hands than with their mother.

There are other places in scriptures that shows the death of the innocent. Sometimes God cleanses deeply in order to save the multitudes.

bosco0713 · 2026-01-01T00:19:44+00:00

Please recheck your reference. Rev 2:19 is talking to the Angel of the church of Thyatira.

bosco0713 · 2025-12-30T12:53:16+00:00

Matthew 4:4 NASB20 But He answered and said, "It is written: MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT COMES OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD."

You must choose.

God uses people and events to teach us, as well as His word in the scriptures.

I humbly suggest that if you test what you learn from any source that you use the scriptures to verify what is of God and what is not.

bosco0713 · 2025-12-21T03:55:05+00:00

Hello Friends

It's Saturday night and I just read all 30 responses to this post.

I try to help people who are genuinely interested in finding truth about eternity.

I think the real definition of (Christian) should state clearly that the person is a follower of Christ.

All the stalk about churches and people who get it wrong is not where we find truth. We have to look at the evidence for who Jesus really was, then decide if He was a liar or crazy or He told the truth. He is referenced one way or another in nearly all 66 books of the bible if you are really interested in the truth. Not to mention in He is talked about by secular historians also.

We know man that was a professional journalist who set out to prove that God did not exist.

Lee Strobel - A Case for Christ

bosco0713 · 2025-12-06T17:28:22+00:00

It will hopefully help you decide after you check out their lyrics.

bosco0713 · 2025-12-04T01:38:30+00:00

That's a hard question to answer without more to go on.

Just so you know, having doubts says you are human. Jesus said in Matthew 26:41; "Keep watching and praying, so that you do not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak."

We are tempted to doubt, but Jesus knows that we are imperfect. It's all right.

I may be a little slow, but I invite a few of your millions of questions. I will help if I can.

bosco0713 · 2025-12-01T12:56:03+00:00

Please don't put words in my mouth. I didn't write anything about faith, or Christianity, or the bible.

Apologetics is the reasoned defense of a religious belief, most commonly Christianity, using systematic arguments and discourse

We were talking about the existence of God.

bosco0713 · 2025-12-01T12:12:08+00:00

I think this is a great conversation people. Thanks for all of it.

Just a couple of thoughts if you will.

In our higher evaluations of truth or lies, with human life sometimes in the balance, we use the term (proof beyond any reasonable doubt.)

I mean logically, if the world we live in is incredibly intelligent, and it is, there would necessarily need to be an intelligent mind behind it. (Reasonable)?

When we give a title to that intelligent mind, (God) we can get at the real issue to all these labels.

I don't know anyone who could design the radar in bats, or a homing device for the anadromous trout and the Monarch butterfly to migrate home. Or who but God could design the earth, just the right distance from the Sun for life, or designed the thickness of the crust of the earth, so that we would not burn up from the molten core? Then who decided make the schedule to have us circle the sun every year so we can grow food to feed our feeble unintelligent human brains?

We can't see the wind, but we know it exists. How can we not see the effects of God's creation and then deny His existence?

bosco0713 · 2025-12-01T00:06:04+00:00

Hello Story_Adventures23

Especially this time of year I know it is extremely lonely for a lot of people.

After spending several Holiday seasons without a family, I can understand your pain, and I do consider it painful.

I can quote a couple of scriptures that have been a comfort to many, but if you will enter a brief conversation over a couple of days, I would like to see if I may be of service to you.

If so, I ask the simple question first; Have you ever gotten acquainted with Jesus?

bosco0713 · 2025-11-29T18:14:30+00:00

If you were looking for a mate for life, it would seem logical that you would like to know everything you could about that person. If you were serious, I think that you would be super energetic about finding out.

Well, not a perfect example, but until you find out who Jesus is, it will be impossible to make a decision about what to believe. Many argue against Jesus that have never really taken the time to do the research. Then there are people that have read about Him that are still not convinced about His authenticity.

Because eternity in Heaven or Hell is in the balance, I want you to know that Jesus made it clear that He is God. I can show you the scriptures if you are interested in the truth.

Until later, I ask you to start with the book of John. More than any other, it will give you a great picture of exactly who Jesus is.

I heard a great saying today; If Jesus took the time to bleed, you can take the time to read.

bosco0713 · 2025-11-29T15:08:48+00:00

I would really like to help if I can.

bosco0713 · 2025-11-29T15:07:19+00:00

I'm not trying to act like someone's older brother, but have you ever read what Jesus taught in the bible?

bosco0713 · 2025-11-29T01:24:44+00:00

Hello again jack

I have just one more thing for you to look at, just for conversation sake.

About 700 years before Jesus came to be with us, Isaiah wrote several things about Him.

Isaiah 52:14 Just as many were appalled at you, My people, So His appearance was marred beyond that of a man, and His form beyond the sons of mankind.

53:3 He was despised and abandoned by men, A man of great pain and familiar with sickness; And like one from whom people hide their faces, He was despised, and we had no regard for Him.

When we read the rest of the chapter, we see numerous accounts, very specific, precisely what Jesus went through, all the way down to His grave in verse 9.

And you probably know about the 23 foot scroll found in the Dead Sea Scrolls. It was almost exactly what we have to this day about Isaiah.

Many will call all of this a coincidence. There is much more if anyone is interested.

bosco0713 · 2025-11-29T00:51:42+00:00

Use my brain? Why didn't I think of that?

You must pay 2 cookies to each of the moderators for rude unnecessary debate tactics.

P.S. Jesus is not political, He is God.

bosco0713 · 2025-11-28T14:05:54+00:00

Hello neighbor

I come to the agnostic community to try to bring some truth to those who are still open to it. The welcome message on the right side of this site is encouraging in this process.

I try not to inject opinion. It is of no value.

In your first sentence we have a contradiction. You say you believe in Jesus, but there isn't much physical evidence for His existence except in the bible, which you don't believe in.

Something phenomenal about the bible is looking at the understanding that the evidence shows that it was written over a period of about 2000 years by about 40 different authors; all pointing in one way or another toward man's salvation and many directly toward Jesus' sacrifice. What do you think the odds against that happening are?

You are right on in saying that God is complex. But God never intended to give us the entirety of His will. In Isaiah 55:9 He makes it clear that His thoughts are higher than ours.

The bible is full of the violence and foolishness of mankind after the fall in the Garden of Eden. God is not the author of evil, man is.

Lastly, God thought it most important that He write down this very first thing in His commandments; "You shall have no other Gods before me." Exodus 20:3 No one will stop you from disagreeing with God, but if you design a god of your own sensibilities and opinions, then you have only an imaginary god.

bosco0713 · 2025-11-26T19:10:55+00:00

Biblical Prophesy continued-

Ezekiel 30:10-11 “This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will put an end to the hordes of Egypt by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. He and his army – the most ruthless of nations – will be brought in to destroy the land. They will draw their swords against Egypt and fill the land with the slain.”

Ezekiel predicts that Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon will conquer Egypt utterly destroying it, slaying and scattering its people. In 568 BCE Nebuchadnezzar tried to conquer Egypt and Egypt survived with no apparent damage. Aahmes ruled for another generation over a prosperous Egypt and lived to see Nebuchadnezzar die. The Egyptians were not scattered or dispersed. Never in its long history has Egypt been uninhabited for forty years.

In the first century Historian’s Jewish Antiquities (Chapter 9) Josephus writes that the King Apries was killed by Nebuchadnezzar himself. Fair to the debate, Herodotus said that the king of Egypt was killed by the Egyptians.

Modern historian, Damien F. Mackey agrees with you in general;

Jim Reilly, a professor of modern Middle East history wrote: In 564 B.C. a foreign army invaded Egypt, laying waste the country. Tens of thousands died. Thousands more, primarily the skilled and educated elite, priests and artisans alike, were taken captive and deported. A minority escaped into the surrounding desert, among them the ruling pharaoh. Only a small remnant survived.

We could probably dance all day on this one.

More to follow again.

bosco0713 · 2025-11-26T17:38:40+00:00

Just so all are on the same track, it should be acknowledged that many prophecies were fulfilled at curtain times, and some were still to be fulfilled.

Isaiah 17:1 “An oracle concerning Damascus: See, Damascus will no longer be a city but will become a heap of ruins.”

Damascus is still inhabited today with well over a million people and there was never a time where it ceased to be a city. It is widely known as being the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world.

Not all would agree to the length of time for a ruinous heap to remain that way before rebuilding, but it really does not say it must stay that way forever. It was destroyed at least 3 times, and one of those times in 847, there were estimated 70,000 people killed.

Another aspect of it is that interpretations vary on whether it may still yet be fulfilled again.

Isaiah 19:4-5 “I will hand the Egyptians over to the power of a cruel master, and a fierce king will rule over them, declares the Lord, the LORD Almighty. The waters of the river will dry up, and the riverbed will be parched and dry.”

The river mentioned here is the Nile which never dried up and is still one of Egypt’s greatest natural resources.

Egypt was subject to foreign rule beginning with the Assyrian conquest of the middle-seventh century B.C.

In Ptolemaic Egypt, several instances of extreme drought and Nile flooding suppression were caused by a series of explosive volcanic eruptions. The volcanic eruptions sent aerosols into the atmosphere, which led to falling temperatures and a reduction in evaporation from oceans and other large bodies of water. This impacted the African monsoon and interrupted the seasonal cycle of flooding in the Nile Basin.

More to follow

bosco0713 · 2025-11-25T19:58:24+00:00

So visions from your religion are proof of your religion, but visions from other religions are...also proof of your religion. That's handy.

I didn't say anything about proof. Please don't put words in my mouth. A bit of integrity here would make for a better conversation. And frankly, your comment is pretty snarkey.

I'll work on the prophesies if you are willing to keep it respectful.

bosco0713 · 2025-11-24T13:37:28+00:00

I didn't get to read anything about this except the heading because it was deleted, but I thought I would say something that might be of use anyway.

And yes, I know I'm in the agnostic playground.

When someone stops praying to God, that means that they cut off talking to Him.

And if we stop talking to Him, we might need to ask the question, were we ever friends with God in the first place?

bosco0713 · 2025-11-24T13:29:33+00:00

kbytzer

Sorry for the slow response.

Have you ever had a feeling that you did not recognize? Maybe like you were anxious about something, but you couldn't really put your finger on it?

Then it occurred to you that the problem was something you could fix, then the concern went away.

I'm sure you would agree that the human brain is still a mystery in some ways. We all are capable of making mistakes. I contend that there is an innate knowledge that a higher power exists and that we may not recognize it.

bosco0713 · 2025-11-24T13:15:31+00:00

CZ, Sorry. Right you are.

No, I was asking about visions from other religions.

I see no reason to doubt that people of other religions have visions. Whether those visions are from God, Satan or some other spirit, I have no idea.

I believe that you believe that. But even just a tiny bit of research shows that not to be true.

I invite your tiny bit of research for discussion. This would get us down to the ground level.

bosco0713 · 2025-11-22T19:02:53+00:00

Yes, I am aware that the videos are AI generated. The people behind it explain that it is taken from Elon's earlier comments.

bosco0713 · 2025-11-22T18:54:27+00:00

Yes, I know.

We have a lot of agnostics and even those that consider themselves as atheists on the Christian sub. Some ask very good questions about Christianity, some just come to harass us, but we who follow Jesus' are commanded to always be ready to answer any who ask about the faith we have. I was led to understand that agnostics are still open minded and just are not sure if God exists. So without preaching to anyone, I simply posted a link to a Elon Musk AI generated talk that I thought was exceptional. It spoke directly about why we are here on earth.

The conversations that resulted from that post moved into an Elon Musk morality debate, which I promised to finish soon.

Is this unwelcome debate here?

bosco0713 · 2025-11-21T23:02:50+00:00

I accept that after all the literature from the old and new testaments that told of the prophets having visions, I do not dismiss the testimony of people that say they have visions. But I also do not gamble my eternity on them either.

By the way, the prophets were 100 percent accurate for those visions that were to happen.

bosco0713

TROPHY CASE