Hello everyone. I recently read a book about dinosaurs and was fascinated by them. I was inspired to draw some coloring pages to share. Feel free to print as many as you like (the file downloads onto your computer when you click it).
Dinosaurs
.pdf
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@windar12q @ekrause1406 @S.M.S. @cwh @Kirk Peters @agetoage07 @burrawang @burrawang @T_aquaticus
Hello windar12q! I think the reason that each religion claiming to have a personal relationship to God is so much more of an obstacle to you than it is to me is a different understanding of how valid the claim is. In my view, someone can claim to have a relationship with God all they want, but it's only a claim (however deeply they believe it) unless they are actually following the real God. A more tangible explanation of this concept is an analogy: I could claim to be a personal friend of a famous person all I wanted (I am not), but that claim wouldn't be evidence against the famous person's existence (even if I sincerely believed I was a friend, even if I believed things about the person that weren't true, and even if many other people also held this false belief).
Then that brings up the question, how do we know that the Jesus I follow is the true understanding of God, and not one of the misrepresentations of His identity?
I have mentioned in previous posts the various historical writers who agree with the Bible on key facts of Jesus' life. So, I wondered, do other religions also have strong historical evidence? Here is what I found in my research.
Islam:
Scholars have difficulty studying the Quran because of the belief that it must not be questioned, and also because there are few early texts. However, many of those who have studied the earliest copies and compared them to non-Islamic contemporary sources believe that Islam evolved from Christianity and Judaism, not a fully-formed revelation to Mohammed (researchers do believe that Mohammed existed, they just don't believe the accounts of how he developed his teachings are accurate).
https://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/02/arts/scholars-are-quietly-offering-new-theories-of-the-koran.html
https://mag.uchicago.edu/arts-humanities/islams-origins
Hinduism:
The Hindu religion is extremely diverse with many different gods, holy books, and philosophies, which often seem contradictory to one another. The identity of the Hindu gods is viewed differently by different groups: some believe that the different gods are all manifestations of the one substance of nature or that one should relate to the god that suits you best without denying the existence of others. The sources of Hindu beliefs date back thousands of years B.C, it's founding documents being a collection of teachings by anonymous sages. I searched for quite a while but did not find any specific pieces of evidence, scientific or historical, that the gods of Hinduism are true.
https://www.ancient.eu/hinduism/
https://www.cnn.com/2017/03/03/world/believer-hinduism-nine-myths-debunked/index.html
As you can see from this information and that provided before, the Christian beliefs about God are more clearly supported by what we know from history than two of the other most popular religions. Just because God has been misrepresented in other religions does not mean He doesn't exist. Thankfully the God I know is compassionate and forgiving. Salvation by God's grace (and not by rules you have to follow) is something unique to Christianity.
Good evening windar12q! The first paragraph in your last post inspired me to do a little more research on the Bible's impact on society. Here are some interesting articles that I highly recommend you read:
An account of the spread of Bibles and Biblical literature in American history, with an enlightening section on how slaves viewed the Bible: https://hbu.edu/museums/dunham-bible-museum/influence-in-history-and-culture/the-bible-and-american-culture-by-mark-noll/
A collection of short essays on various topics relating to the Bible's cultural influences. I especially recommend numbers 5, 12, 14, and 16 https://fcta.org/Misc/Potpourri/BiblesInfluence.html
As for your other question, I can address it later but I need to get to bed.
Hello windar12q. I highly frown on the idea that teaching children to follow Jesus is "mental abuse". I am grateful that my parents and teachers have taught me about God. Their encouragement and example in faith has helped shape me into the person I am today. Think about it this way: if what the Bible says is true, then the worst possible thing a parent could do to a child is refrain from teaching them about Jesus, and the greatest gift a parent can give is teaching that child all about Him. I count myself incredibly blessed to have been given this gift; and one of the reasons I want to share my faith is because I want you to have the same opportunity.
The fact that there are many different religions in the world, all of which profess to know the truth, is not as problematic to me as you might think. Even though God wants everyone to follow Him, He does not force us. God did not design us to be machines unthinkingly following Him because we have no other choice, He made us in His image with the ability to make decisions and gave us the freedom to act on them. An analogy may be helpful to understand a possible reason why: Would you rather have a robot say it loved you or a child say he loved you? I assume you would prefer the child. While the robot only says that because that is what it is programmed to say, the child says it of his own free will because that is how he genuinely feels. God created us to be children, not robots. But do children always behave? Of course not! As humans we often misuse the freedom that God has given us by worshiping other gods and disobeying what He says. Most people who follow other religions are probably unaware that they are disobeying God, but being unaware of God's rules does not mean the rules doesn't exist.
"14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry,“Abba! Father!”" - Romans 8:14-15
Good evening windar12q! It is interesting that you use peoples' beliefs about religion to determine whether the religion is true (you believe God only exist because we think he does). Remember that God does not depend on what people think about Him to make Him exist. However, the Bible itself states that false religion, by nature, dies out. Here is what one pharisee said of the spread of faith in Jesus. His conclusion: let the apostles go spread Christianity and let God make them succeed or fail.
34 But a Pharisee named Gamaliel,a teacher of the law,who was honored by all the people, stood up in the Sanhedrin and ordered that the men be put outside for a little while.35 Then he addressed the Sanhedrin: “Men of Israel, consider carefully what you intend to do to these men.36 Some time ago Theudas appeared, claiming to be somebody, and about four hundred men rallied to him. He was killed, all his followers were dispersed, and it all came to nothing.37 After him, Judas the Galilean appeared in the days of the census and led a band of people in revolt. He too was killed, and all his followers were scattered.38 Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail.39 But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.”
- Acts 5:34-39
So, is the declining population of European Christians evidence that Christianity is false, or are there other reasons?
First of all, I decided to do a little more research on the state of the worldwide Christian population. According to Pew Research Center:
There are an estimated 2.18 billion Christians (about 1/3 of the world population). This is nearly 4x how many there were 100 years ago, though they made up about the same percent of the world population then as now.
While the Christian population in Europe and America has declined, the Christian populations of sub-Saharan Africa and the Asia-Pacific region have seen massive growth. https://www.pewforum.org/2011/12/19/global-christianity-exec/
It seems to me that Christianity has not declined, but the population distribution has shifted. I did some research on why this might be so.
A significant percentage of the decline of Christianity in Europe and America can be attributed to the rising popularity of being religiously non-affiliated (not atheism. Religiously unaffiliated means incorporating beliefs from various religions into your own personal belief system). Being unaffiliated is especially popular among young people across all races and levels of education.
One possible explanation for the decline of Christianity in America has to do with a shift in culture and what it means to be a "good American". There was once an expectation that you identify as a Christian whether your faith was actually important to you or not; now that expectation is no longer there. https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2019/november-web-only/future-of-christianity.html
One reason for the growth of the African Christian population is that large families are common. The Christian faith has grown so much in Africa that churches there engage in "reverse missions" (sending missionaries to Europe). https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/trend/archive/summer-2016/how-africa-is-changing-faith-around-the-world
In Asia, persecution of Christian churches may actually be contributing to the growth of those churches. Persecution is viewed as a sign that the persecuted have strong faith. https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2182800/christians-asia-persecuted-oppressed-keeping-faith
This post got quite long, but I enjoyed researching it. Good night.
Hello windar12q! What kind of tangible evidence are you referring to? I mentioned several historical writers that were near-contemporaries of Jesus in my previous post. As those historians were not Christian themselves (and were actually somewhat hostile to the religion) they would not have had any motive to make up those stories about Jesus. If you were looking for evidence from science and nature, I know Burrawang has cited many articles.
Also, I would be interested to hear more about your observations of declining religious belief. I heard once that Europe is in need of the Gospel as much as, if not more than, the places we normally think of as needing missionaries. To what extent has religious observance declined where you are and why do you think it happened?
Hello windar12q! As I was thinking about your comment about the source of nature's patterns, it reminded me of Romans 1:19-20
19 "For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse."
We both believe that these patterns can't possibly be random. This verse reminds me that God designed nature in this way so that His power could be seen by anyone.
Hello! I think I understand a bit better now how you feel about energy in the universe. It sounds beautiful. However, when I think of things that are beautiful, I am reminded of Ephesians 2.
"And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." - Ephesians 2:1-10
I heard someone say on Tuesday that those two words "but God" are the most hopeful two words ever known to man, and it really resonated with me. We may sin terribly, but God still loves us; we may feel powerless, but God still has plans for us.
I guess I should have been more clear. Earth's energy giving us life and death is fiction. Life does not come from non-life. So you're still left with the original life question. Thankfully, the One who created life has given us the answer. You and I weren't there, but He was.
Hello S.M.S,
Space and orbit are real and can be demonstrated, all you do is recite from a book. A book is proof of nothing except our vulnerability.
Keep safe
I would like to say, "Live long and prosper" but, unfortunately, that is simply science fiction. With all due respect, what you have written is fiction. And, by the way, there IS a Man who has boldly gone where no man has gone before, into the grave of death and back out again alive forevermore. His name is Jesus. And all who trust in Him will do the same thing. Because of Jesus, we don't just live long and prosper, we live forever. I continue to pray each day for your deliverance.
Thank you ekrause1406.
My son is an artist and has drawn dinosaurs for the cover of my book..
Good work.
You are such a great artist, Elizabeth! Thanks for sharing.