Do you believe the Easter story?

I believe that Jesus was crucified, died, and was buried. On the third day, he rose again, and ascended into Heaven. I also believe that Jesus was wholly human and wholly God, as part of the Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit)

I picked the "physically rose again" option, and the "half and half" option. I don't consider myself to be a Christian as such BTW.

Blah... I'm not very Christianity-smart, but why is it so important to people to bicker about details like this? Personally, I think Christianity is a bunch of fairy tales (not to slander anyone else's beliefs, just stating mine), but the particulars everyone always fights about is ridiculous.

Crucifixus etiam pro nobis
sub Pontio Pilate
passus et sepultus est,
et resurrexit tertia die
secundum scripturas,
et ascendit in cealum,
sedet ad dexteram Patris.
(Nicene Creed)

I guess that is the answer to the survey.
Jesus was crucified, and on the third day he came back to the life.

Here's an English version of that bit of the Nicene Creed for those who don't understand Latin:

For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.

mmmm, great creamy Jesus!

Half of these options. Any of us could walk on water or be resurrected with enough faith.
All of the story is also a metaphor/allegory. It's a pretty high state to be in the water, even higher to walk above it. And people of all faiths experience rebirths.

Where is the "I don't know" option?

I can't get Him out of my jacuzzi! >

You're going to Heck for that!

If you can't get Him out of your jacuzzi, at least have Him turn the water into wine.

I really don't know. I was taught to believe the first option, but I don't know if a metaphorical rising has been changed to a true, physical rising. the Bible has been translated so many times it's hard to say what's true about it.

easter is a christianization of a pagan equinox celibration, just as christmas is a christianized theft of pagan solstice celebrations.

as for jesus (the other one, not me!), i never met him so i don't know. but he was probably a real cool guy.

I wish I could believe that there is hope for humans. I believe that the gist of the story is rooted in reality. No doubt it has been changed many times. There is so much wrong with this world, it will take a God to ever straighten it out. One by one, in childhood we 'lose' our fantasies (no Santa Claus, no tooth fairie) I'm afraid this is the 'big one'. I want to believe that there is hope for people, like I said, but I see no sign of hope at all.

Even if you can read the original languages (in which the Bible does still exist), it's hard to say what is true about it. Part of the problem is that even the originals were written down after the fact and involve some "translation" and interpretation.

Oh, ye of little faith!

Oh sure! Get Him drunk...then He'll never leave.

I hadn't thought about that. What kind of drunk do you think He would be?

I wonder if he tells that joke where the guy's playing golf with Jesus...

Krishna is in the heart of the atom.

Krishna is in the heart of everyone.

Jesus knows this and act accordingly.

Jesus is a Hare Krishna.

That would be fun.

Well, my easter gift from God was being asked "whatever do I want?" I didn't have an answer or really want to. I was entirely dumbfounded actually. I sort of wanted to cry, and not out of joy but rather I think because I didn't feel equipped to answer such a question. Things like recreating Eden came to mind eventually and then as I got more down to earth personal (& pretty much concluded I wouldn't ask for anything in my present state of wisdom), things like being able to teleport. The offer alone was enough for me. Things are pretty good already. The wierd thing is that in the face of infinite encompassing possibility, all I really wanted to do was tell my friends here and I wasn't sure if that was irreverant or not. The thing I ask again and again is that my wisdom and knowledge exceed my power. I'm not sure anyone gets that wish granted. Who here is even absolutely sure if they should kill a cockroach.

Do you believe Pinocchio's story?

yes I do believe the traditional Easter story.

I think he was crucified and probably considered wise. That should be enough for anyone!

Great options!

It's interesting that you chose to use the term Jesus. I believe that Jesus was crucified, died, was buried and spiritually rose again, but that Christ was crucified, died, was buried and physically rose again.
The semantic difference is that Jesus was the incarnation of Christ.
The main reason this is important to me is that Jesus is male, but Christ is neither male nor female, and I want the image of a crucified and risen woman to be just as real as the image of a crucified and risen man.

I was really confused for a moment there- I read your comment as "Do you believe in Pinochet's story?"

lol

I believe that Jesus Christ was crucified, died and rose again physically on the third day. He was seen by many people after His resurrection, then He ascended to Heaven, to sit by the Right Hand of God the Father. And when He was crucified, He took all the sin of the world, including all my sin, to give us access to eternal life with God.

and what about you here now?

You.. So close to God that you sit next to him while you live your life here on earth (or heaven you may wish to call it)? Happening or not?

I'm not 100% sure what you're asking. (It's late!) But God is with me (in the person of the Holy Spirit) all the time. He promises never to leave me. I don't consider myself sitting beside Him, He is already within me. Exactly what occurs after this life with regards to Heaven/Earth I don't fully understand, but I know and trust that God has it all in hand

Ok, that's great, I just have to question anyone when it seems that they might consider something out of reach that may be available for them now. It's definitely worth contemplating what the ultimate heaven might be like. Once you start to consider that people like challenges, intrigue, reasons for compassion, history, change, contrast, growth, etc. you might come to think that god has already created the ultimate playground for us. As far as suffering, I generally don't go for it, but i know that ultimately I am eternal, and it might even be interesting to leave this incarnation being torn asunder by wild animals or falling from a plane if I don't learn to teleport by then. I'm fond of intensity; that's not for everyone. My experiences just keep escalating into greater heavens and hells, and that may be my experience for eternity, and yet I can't claim that these new realms I come across impress me any more than a car accident or the birth of my daughter would have a couple decades ago. It is what you feel that matters. God could have had us simply strobe between joy and torment, awareness and forgetfullness, light and dark, without the need for any physical realm whatsoever. But s/he didn't. It wouldn't have been nearly as interesting. In my opinion, the optimum heaven was the garden of Eden. I'd like to hear your thoughts on the matter.

That's very cool!

:raises her hand....: Uuuuh. I don't believe in Jesus.

:r
We don't seem to have a smilie for that one yet.
....:
that might look like this

Hey, thanks.... there's actually a lot of good solid academic writing on the female imagery of Christ contained within the Bible. I think it's really valuable work. Men get to identify with Christ, but it's harder for women, unless we reclaim the feminine side of God and Christ.

I was really interested in your response, and I sense that you are spiritually hungry and searching. As a Christian, I believe in Heaven as described in Revelation 21 & 22 where it talks about Heaven as God revealed to John in a vision. We are a tri-partite being. We are made up of a spirit, with a soul(mind, will and emotions), and we live in a body. The Bible says in Ecclesiastes 12:7 that at physical death, the body dies, but the spirit returns to God the Father. So our time on Earth is a journey to fulfill the purpose for which we were born.

I'm basically being of service and amusing myself at this point. I now know that there are infinite number of heaven and hells available (and an infinity of those that can take place on earth) and take my time exploring them.
So what is the earthly purpose for which we were born?