Faith can wither fig trees

c4ts

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From Matthew 21

19And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree withered away.

20And when the disciples saw it, they marvelled, saying, How soon is the fig tree withered away!

21Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done.

22And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.
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http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=47&chapter=21&version=9

According to Jesus, if you have faith, you should be able to to wither a fig tree by telling it "let no fruit grow on thee henceforward forever!" or something like that, and it will instantly defoliate and die. For extra credit, throw mountains into the sea.

Sure it looks metaphorical, but Jesus stood there and did it, and then promises "this which is done to the fig tree." A promise that discreet without clear indication that it is actually a metaphor or parable is no better than a lie.
 
It is, at the very least, highly irresponsible and misleading for a god or his son to say you can do these things, knowing full well no human will ever have a sufficient level of faith to accomplish it, especially given all the blood spilled over the assumption that it does work.
 
It doesn't take a lot of faith.

The reason I quit trying to have a garden is that everything I touch dies.

Had a neighbor that found a nearly dead tree on the side of the rode, brought it home and planted it in his yard. By the following summer, it was green and growing great.

I can look hard at a bed of roses, and petals start to fall :(
 
And as soon as you learn how to make the fig trees wither, the next lesson is moving mountains.
 
c4ts said:
From Matthew 21


http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=47&chapter=21&version=9

According to Jesus, if you have faith, you should be able to to wither a fig tree by telling it "let no fruit grow on thee henceforward forever!" or something like that, and it will instantly defoliate and die. For extra credit, throw mountains into the sea.

Sure it looks metaphorical, but Jesus stood there and did it, and then promises "this which is done to the fig tree." A promise that discreet without clear indication that it is actually a metaphor or parable is no better than a lie.
Click to expand...


Already threaded in December: http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=70445&highlight=tree+Jesus
 
Kopji said:
And as soon as you learn how to make the fig trees wither, the next lesson is moving mountains.
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Working on it. But fig trees are hard to find in Tennessee. I think they've all been withered :(
 
MUST
BE
FIG
TREES

I'd settle for seeing a small hill, or even a large pile of dirt move by faith.

Literalism means never having to say you're a pessimist.
 
Not just any mustard seed. It's got to be the kind of mustard seed that grows into a tree. The smallest seed.
 
c4ts said:
Not just any mustard seed. It's got to be the kind of mustard seed that grows into a tree. The smallest seed.
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So, you can grow mustard?

I want a ketchup tree!

And Yes! I'll have fries with that!


;)
 
Yup, Jesus cursed the fig tree, even though the religionists try to evade this fact and even though the atheists make fun of the fact because the power to curse might effect them...... and yet the Biblical principle is the Lord can bless or curse people according to their actions.

We are told to bear fruit whether spiritual or physically...... Ha... for spilling our seed on the ground when a pregnancy was expected and needed can bring on a curse.

So a tree without fruit was not something the Lord looked fondly upon, when hungry. he created them to have fruit and so they better do it... or else.

good point !!
 
c4ts said:
Sure it looks metaphorical, but Jesus stood there and did it, and then promises "this which is done to the fig tree." A promise that discreet without clear indication that it is actually a metaphor or parable is no better than a lie.
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You are making the same mistake a fundamentalist makes...you are reading the bible literally. Big mistake.

The canonical gospels are not historical accounts in the sense that we use "historical" today. They are political stories designed to influence the intended audience at that time to see that the new cult of Christianity was the way to go.
 
SezMe said:
You are making the same mistake a fundamentalist makes...you are reading the bible literally. Big mistake.

The canonical gospels are not historical accounts in the sense that we use "historical" today. They are political stories designed to influence the intended audience at that time to see that the new cult of Christianity was the way to go.
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Um..ok. And just what, pray tell, would an anti-arborist story such as this influence the early Christians/potential converts to do? Eat more oranges? Mangle the local quinoa crops? Abuse the onions? What?

Even the traditional "escape route" that most apologists take for this story (the tree represents us, and if we're not producing then we'll wither and die, spiritually speaking) doesn't make much sense. Jesus is the one causing the damned thing to wither. It's not wating away on it's own. The poor thing was just sitting there and this rat bastard comes up and punishes it for not producing when it wasn't production season. What a prick.

The thing I've always wanted to know is, are figs that much better fresh? I know that citrus is WAY better when it's picked ripe off the tree, but other tree-foods aren't good until they're processed somehow, like olives. I've only ever seen dried figs, so I just don't know. Even if they are better fresh, this story doens't reflect well on the Ol' JC. It would appear that the apple didn't fall far from the tree, excusing the triple pun.
 
c4ts said:
From Matthew 21


http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=47&chapter=21&version=9

According to Jesus, if you have faith, you should be able to to wither a fig tree by telling it "let no fruit grow on thee henceforward forever!" or something like that, and it will instantly defoliate and die. For extra credit, throw mountains into the sea.

Sure it looks metaphorical, but Jesus stood there and did it, and then promises "this which is done to the fig tree." A promise that discreet without clear indication that it is actually a metaphor or parable is no better than a lie.
Click to expand...

This reminds me of a story I once heard on a science show on Radio National (ABC- Australia) as a way to disprove god.

- seed 2 rows of sunflowers seeds
- water them equally
- pray over the first row evey day asking god to help the plants to grow
- do nothing with the other row
- watch the results

Which of course, as we all know, both rows will grow equally well ("bell shape"/statsis aside!)
 
kmortis said:
The thing I've always wanted to know is, are figs that much better fresh? I know that citrus is WAY better when it's picked ripe off the tree, but other tree-foods aren't good until they're processed somehow, like olives. I've only ever seen dried figs, so I just don't know. Even if they are better fresh, this story doens't reflect well on the Ol' JC. It would appear that the apple didn't fall far from the tree, excusing the triple pun.
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Figs are much better fresh, and nothing like the dried fruit.

Unfortunately I have no scriptural evidence for this, so you'll just have to take it on faith.

Or I suppose you could buy a fresh fig somewhere and try for yourself, but where's the fun in that? :D
 
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