I am forever grateful for the opportunity this forum provides to extend my education.

Josephus tells us that...

>>St Nicholas is also recognised at this time because of his quiet giving of gifts to the poor. It is the spirit of the person we admire and recognise as divine. St Nicholas was not a god, but expressed the generosity and heart of God.<<

Such modesty, Josephus. Surely, this should be far more worthy of recognition...?

"Another story tells of three theological students, traveling on their way to study in Athens. A wicked innkeeper robbed and murdered them, hiding their remains in a large pickling tub. It so happened that Bishop Nicholas, traveling along the same route, stopped at this very inn. In the night he dreamed of the crime, got up, and summoned the innkeeper. As Nicholas prayed earnestly to God the three boys were restored to life and wholeness. In France the story is told of three small children, wandering in their play until lost, lured, and captured by an evil butcher. St. Nicholas appears and appeals to God to return them to life and to their families. And so St. Nicholas is the patron and protector of children."

http://www.stnicholascenter.org/pages/who-is-st-nicholas/

Surely, bringing three pickled people back to life is far more impressive than dropping bags of gold down chimneys? Or has my value-set been eternally corrupted by my atheism?

Given of course that these might be mere legend, where does that leave the raising-the-dead stories that are attributed to Jesus, some three hundred years further back in history?

Just curious.

Josephus I was born in to a solidly Christian family.
Anglican, however dads dad was a Salvationist.
I followed my parents path , a little unwillingly.
But became a born again full on early 30,s.
Full on.
Watched the Church leave a kids broken arm unfixed for days while they prayed to God to fix it!
The God whom watched 6 million Jews murdered.
Over heard a preacher from that growing Church, on phone,we hams are far from alone in listening in to the old mobile system.
God was not the subject, financial benefits of being in his, and the prospect preacher he was talking to was.
Never fe4ar for me bloke, if I have it wrong and God exists, I am an unlikely caricter to spend eternity on my knees.

Josephus,

“Atheist Foundation of Australia Inc.
I suggest you examine the recent TV presentation on SBS where Dawkins proposes that to create a hill you have to create a hole so one cancells the other out to have energy you must also have an equal field of negative energy. So in effect there is no energy as negative energy cancells any positive energy equalling zero energy.”

Thankfully there haven’t been many documentaries on television so I’ll go straight to it. The analogy by Dawkins, if you have relayed it correctly, which I doubt, has nothing to do with your previous assertion that Richard Dawkins, a biologist, postulated as a fact that the universe is in a positive/negative energy state.

But really, who cares what Richard Dawkins thinks about cosmological physics. I'll say again, he is a biologist.

This kind of argument is about as low as it gets. Atheists do not accept the words of others without confirmation by expert peer review, there are no leaders or followers. This makes it markedly different from religion.

David

http://www.rferl.org/content/feature/24803587.html
I am not trying to revive the thread.
In my honest opinion a great thread may have just one post.
And H made in my view the best thread of the year, in trying to open our eyes to reality of our politicians.
I also am not trying to out do a shock jock, one we know off here.
But while I wanted to exclude Islam, not wanting to further air the honest concerns SOME have.
But I got that wrong.
How can we talk of religion without this.
5 is it more? murdered because they wanted to save lives.
Not in my view blind hatred.
But a sign of real damage religion can do.
In training followers to ? lets leave that.
These folk helping immunize for Polio, died because of FEAR AND SUPERSTITION.
The thought hidden in the vaccination was a thing that harmed or killed Muslims?
Education, not an in build lack of humanity drove these fools to kill.
In Egypt, Google it, SOME CLAIM mens penus falls of if the drink Coke Cola
Only education, honest education, can stop such things.

WmTrevor,
You are correct.
I am not sure where Stephen Hawking fits in the authority of Atheism.
His analogy was poor as he had to have substance of matter to make the analogy.

Most of his allusions to science have 5,000 year old documentation in Genesis 1. He just denies there is a mind behind the universe.

Josephus I have met you.
Not you, but about a Dozen like you.
So very sure you are right.
Science is wrong.
BAFFLED STILL!
The ability of Christians to believe in their God.
And freely cast out all others.
WE who is meant by that,I thought I was includeing every one when I first asked that question.
NO however mention God and one springs to mind,YOUR ONE, that is the God of who ever is talking.
Y is his own God he says.
Then I need no God, want no God.
But what a wounder full world this would be if no one needed a phantom.
If all humanity was one, not racism, no need for wars, in Gods names every one of them/.