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tonyrey
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Why would the Incarnation be unlikely? 
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CHRISTINE77
Guest
Who cares if it’s unreasonable! God is with us! With God - all things are possible.
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PumpkinCookie
Guest
Certainly not unreasonable at all! The ancient Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Persians, Indians, Celts, Vikings, and pretty much all human civilizations believed that god(s) came to Earth in human forms, or that some very special humans ascended to ‘godlike’ status. Nothing unusual whatsoever. Most of humanity has believed very similar things, and they can’t all have been totally unreasonable right? They must had have some reason or other to believe the Pharaohs or Ceasars or Hercules were actually gods though they appeared to be human.
Actually, the belief that God has no form, cannot be represented, and is absolutely singular is the tiny minority report of an exceedingly odd levatine tribe. Of course, since the 7th century this odd belief in an abstract God with no body and no incarnations spread to billions of people via Islam so it isn’t so unusual anymore I suppose. Interesting question.
Actually, the belief that God has no form, cannot be represented, and is absolutely singular is the tiny minority report of an exceedingly odd levatine tribe. Of course, since the 7th century this odd belief in an abstract God with no body and no incarnations spread to billions of people via Islam so it isn’t so unusual anymore I suppose. Interesting question.
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SAVINGRACE
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Tthe Church believes that reason is limited and not contrary to faith.
True faith is not irrational, but supra-rational
True faith is not irrational, but supra-rational
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inocente
Guest
The Incarnation, the belief that Jesus is both God and human, is a long debated philosophical issue:Why would the Incarnation be unlikely?
“We are morally flawed beings lacking in both power and knowledge. God, on the other hand, is typically understood to be morally perfect, all-knowing and all-powerful. If being truly human includes moral failure and limitations in knowledge and power, and being truly divine requires moral perfection, along with perfect knowledge and power, then the incarnation runs afoul of the law of non-contradiction. This law, which Aristotle calls the most certain principle, states that nothing can both be and not be at the same time and in the same respect (Metaphysics, Bk. IV, Part 3). And so, neither Jesus of Nazareth, nor anyone or anything else, can simultaneously have a property (e.g. be all-powerful) and lack it (e.g. be limited in power).” - iep.utm.edu/incarnat/
Don’t know the answer to that, but I’d say the event itself - the Virgin birth of the undeserved Gift - is something far beyond anything we could have reasonably expected.
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oldcelt
Guest
Merry Christmas to all my Christian friends. It is perfectly reasonable for you to believe as you do and I hope you have a wonderful time with your families.
John
John
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tonyrey
Guest
I think it would be unreasonable if God weren’t with us.Who cares if it’s unreasonable! God is with us! With God - all things are possible.
A Creator who left us isolated, alone and entirely in the dark wouldn’t be worth having!
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SAVINGRACE
Guest
Thank you for the warm greetings John, likewise for you and your family.
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fisherman_carl
Guest
No. Christmas exists. In fact its proved every December 25th.
Just what were you buying all those Christmas presents for anyways?
Just what were you buying all those Christmas presents for anyways?
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fisherman_carl
Guest
I would say it would be difficult to say that the Incarnation is unlikely, with any kind of credibility. Unexpected,yes. I could see it as unexpected. But unlikely is another matter. If you were an atheist and were trying to determine the probability of an Incarnation you would have very different results than a theist. But in neither case can you in fact provide a meaningful number to actually quantify the possibility. Because any number you provide can not be proven. It would all be conjecture.Why would the Incarnation be unlikely?
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PRmerger
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Well, from the point of view of Judaism and Islam, the Godhead is so numinous, so other, so transcendent, so mighty and infinite, the Incarnation is unimaginable.Why would the Incarnation be unlikely?
That’s what makes the Incarnation so shocking.
It is either the most blasphemous, horrific, profane sacrilege…
or it is true and the most sublime, magnificent event that ever occurred.
One cannot simply look at it, if one’s Christology is well informed, and shrug a “Yeah, so?”
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PumpkinCookie
Guest
Yes, from the point of view of Judaism and Islam it is inconceivable.
However, you have to remember that the vast majority of the early converts to Christianity were neither Jews nor Muslims. Notions of god-men were totally familiar to our ancient ancestors. It would not have been shocking or unusual at all for someone to propose that God was actually a man named Jesus. The largely Jewish morality would have been foreign but the dogmatic beliefs were not so unusual (among ancient pagans). There were other apocalyptic salvation cults cropping up around Isis, Apollo, Mithras and others at the same time so the message would have been not so unfamiliar.
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CHRISTINE77
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No - I believe in Christ - the Glorious Impossible! Merry Christmas everyone!
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PRmerger
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Could you please cite the demographics of these early converts, as well as your source?
Well, only if you equivocate with the definition of of “god” to mean “a super-hero, only more awesome”.
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tonyrey
Guest
The existence of salvation cults is evidence that many people had a sense of guilt and realised they needed to be liberated from evil.
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