Their tests against him only allow for him to exercise his truth and ability to better explain it. With time and more tests from them about his faith, it makes it easier for him to give better explainations and also allow us to learn more. Their efforts may be in vain and with bad intent, but it serves for the betterment of us.

Yet you can't touch his reasoning.

Good arguement / logic.

Lol exactly!! The scenario that student was putting forward made no sense. The student (Christ’s apostle) will receive $5000 (heaven) if he believes there is a pink elephant next to him (if he believes Christ is risen) but there is a gun pointed at his head (death by martyrdom) and if he answers that be believes there is a pink elephant (Christ is risen) then he will be shot dead (death by martyrdom) The $5000 is inaccessible because if he does not believe the elephant is there he won’t get it but if he does believe then he won’t get it because he dies. But it’s even worse in the real scenario because if Christ wasn’t risen, just like there is no pink elephant, then there was no reward to begin with. I’m really confused why the student even tried to argue that heaven was their benefit because the only way that could be Peter’s perceived benefit in declaring Christ is Lord is if he truly believed he is risen and the messiah. Which is what he’s arguing against.

@@D1sc0rd- I really enjoyed what you wrote. I find it to be a fuller and more robust explanation which can be easily digested by those in the comments.( one plants and another waters) Which is edifying to the church. The part about , if Jesus is not risen then there was no reward to begin with .. (I don't know the word/words to highlight the importance of this statement) which Paul also echos in 1 Corinthians , but I like the real time application first for Peter, then for us. May the Lord Jesus Christ continue to bless you.

I'm not sure of that because he kept trying to smuggle in the eternal benefits angle when it's clear that if they knew Jesus didn't rise, there would be no eternal benefits for them.

Yes they were

Where did you learn this information from?

I was born into the Jewish tradition and tried many religions on for size, even atheism for a few years. I finally went to school and got my MA in Comparative Religion and yet I did not want to become a Christ-ian due to what people did in their name to Jews. But I studied the history and the chain of evidence and became convinced that the NT was true and truly unique in the history of religious writings. The gospels record events of the time in micro detail that only eyewitness and residents of that particular region of geography would know so intimately. As to supernaturalism, you seem to have a predisposition against it, so that would color your conclusions. You should read "Cold Case Christianity" by J. Warner Wallace a former atheist and cold case detective who applied FBI forensic eyewitness testimony analysis to the Gospels and found them to be right in line with real eyewitness testimony. He became a Christian for the same reason I did: we were convinced they were the true. Like Warner, I say "Christianity does not work for me, but it is the Truth and I follow it for that reason. " Have a good day.

Yes you do believe in the super natural and miracles. Far greater than Christ rising from the dead.

Supernatural occurences do not occur in the atheism's worldview yet somehow the first living organism came about due to chance and from a non life substance. Supernatural occurences do not occur yet somehow the big bang just happened? Or if theres a cause then what caused the cause of the big bang? If its an infinite number of caused causes is it logical? You see, atheists have faith just as much as the Christian does. They believe something based on the evidences presented yet its still unproven. You talk about you cant believe on the supernatural, yet in your worldview the first life form comes from non life, the inanimate. The only difference between you and me which is a theist is that supernatural things can be justified in my worldview through God. But supernatural things in your worldview is unjustified by anything, yet it happens. How do you explain that?

@@JoeMama-sd2kl I disagree Sir, I don't think the 2 comparisons are the same. Firstly i don't have a clue how life came about, science hasnt worked that out yet to the best of my knowledge. Certainly there are various ideas. I have no clue how the big bang came about, .. its funny that the only people on here who talk about how life came from non life are Christians when they assert that's what we Atheists believe. Find me a single atheist here on these comments who you've heard say "life came from non life". It's not my worldview that life came from non life, when have I *ever* said such a thing. There is a world of difference from stating that, and stating "I do not know" .. they are in no way the same thing. Absolutely i reject all the claims in the Bible of supernatural occurrences, as i've stated over and over, how do we go about verifying *any* of those claims?, if you're telling me eye witness accounts, that is nowhere near good proof. YourDal, .. could your God heal someone with severe dementia? if he could, why don't we see *any* such proof?

@@bonnie43uk but the logical conclusion is that if you dont believe that life comes from non life, then it must come from life. So my question is it then reasonable to think that theres a living being as the creator? You def can say "i dont know" you are an agnostic then. But some atheists are different from you sir, they concluded that naturalism is the way meaning reality on comprises of matter and energy. They concluded life will eventually came from non life. Also, agnosticism as Cliffe said is impossible to live through. Cause either way, you make judgement calls on ethics and morality. Whether you sit on pure subjective morality or you believe theres objective morality, that choice would trace you back to your belief and worldview. You are asking for proof that God heals dementia, and yet there are a ton of testimonies out there where the sick are healed. You just have to look it up yourself. Again, it doesnt "proof" anything. Because no one can proof God's existence nor disprove it. But everyone can share their subjective experiences when it comes to encountering God and it serves as anecdotal evidence.

Hi Rusell, according to what you believe, what is the consequences of rejecting Christ's offer.?

A. Christianity or any religion including atheism is not based on "according to what you (Rusell) believes." All faiths including agnosticism are based on your belief in a certain set of tenets. The tenets of Christianity are found in The Bible. So, if you are truly interested in the consequences of rejecting Christ's offer, read The Bible. Just like Cliff says begin with the 4 Gospels-Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. More specific to your inquiry read John Chapter 3. There you will find at least 2 of the results of rejecting Christ.

Jesus continuously prophesied his own death and resurrection throughout his life, and fulfilled it, showing he is God.

+creamone says the guy who has a painting of the "galaxy" as profile picture and believes it is real. Oh the irony is of the charts.

+creamone Meanwhile if there is no God, then we are nothing but molecules and cells....which do not have the capacity to use reason or logic. Maybe you can explain to me who or what started the universe and life? Please use your "reason and logic" to tell me.

+Todd Johnson What's wrong with molecules and cells? It doesn't sound good to you but you prefer some invisible watchman in the sky that created you from dirt? What's your evidence that we are made from dirt? There is a lot of mystery in the world and that is what makes Science a beautiful method. It is a tool we use to make discoveries and arrive at decisions from the world we live in. If you don't know something you don't inject what you prefer or some unknown entity that can't be proven. This is the problem with religion it acts on faith not reason. Fatih is the things hoped for. Christians would would present circular arguments for example like Hebrew 11:1 as if it is true. What is the source to back up that statement? Stop pretending you know something when you don't. Be humble and say I don't know. Sometimes we have to live with that. The knowledge of man has increased over the years and will continue as long as Science leads the way. There will always be mystery and that is find, there is nothing scary about it. Sooner or later logic and reason will prevail and the answers will come. There is a Book by Lawrence M. Krauss A Universe From Nothing. In the world of Quantum Physics, Scientists have observed on the sub atomic level that particles randomly just pop into existence. You are projecting your own human values of what you see around you. Your human mind tells you that a watch has to have a watch maker. For some reason you can't comprehend something so different from our human perspective. As far as I know the Universe is a massive organism and we are inside the belly of the beast. The Universe is our Creator or God. This of course is pure speculation from the Pantheism point of view. I hope you understand that speculation or faith isn't truth. There is beauty in mystery.

creamone​​ So you trust the writers of "science" books and the authors of atheistic philosophies but you dont trust a word of what Matthew,Mark,Luke,John,Paul,Peter have to say? Thats quite the logic.

+creamone Maybe Lawrence Krauss doesn't know what "nothing" means.