The ONE person with the biggest impact on history.

[Nilocon165]

Adam or eve

The person has to be real

[Sarcastic]

Jesus. Not even close.

No conclusive proof he actually existed.

[poido123]

No conclusive proof he actually existed.

Here's something to ponder for those who doubt the existence of god.


If a god was to give free choice of faith to those to believe in him, why would he provide conclusive evidence and remove the need for faith as a pathway to the kingdom of heaven?


In other words, why make it so easy for people to have faith when our time on earth is the test of that faith?

Nobody said believing in god was easy. Nobody said that conclusive evidence would be provided to gain your approval of Jesus/God.


When you go to college and you learn your subjects, you are given the tools and the textbooks to achieve a goal of passing. It's that easy right? No, it requires effort, it requires YOUR INPUT to gain that result.


It is no different with christianity. Faith is what you put in and what you are prepared to open your heart to.

[gigantes]

No conclusive proof he actually existed.

there's no conclusive proof about almost ANYTHING in history, the further back you go.

IMO joshua son of joseph and mary is as real a figure as you'll find in any other age and time.

[oarabbus]

Definitely not Jesus or Mohammed.

Probably Genghis Khan. Greatest emperor the world has ever known.

[lakers_forever]

No conclusive proof he actually existed.

There is not a single one full Professor of Ancient History, Classics, or New Testament in an accredited university in the entire world who thinks Jesus never lived.

[gigantes]

There is not a single one full Professor of Ancient History, Classics, or New Testament in an accredited university in the entire world who thinks Jesus never lived.

oh please.

last time i checked, the scholarly doubt upon jesus' existence is alive and blooming in all directions.

...

here's a question for the extremists on either side--

have you people who are absolutely sure or absolutely not sure about jesus (or hey-zeus as i like to call him) existence ever checked out the studies upon the human mind which suggest that we need to know about this kind of thing, one way or the other?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambigu...%93intolerance

[D-Wade316]

Easily Isaac Newton. His discoveries would be the foundation of the Industrial Revolution, and with it the modern world we live in today, and all mathematicians and physicists that immediately followed him all owe some debt in his work on mechanics, calculus, etc.

[K Xerxes]

Here's something to ponder for those who doubt the existence of god.


If a god was to give free choice of faith to those to believe in him, why would he provide conclusive evidence and remove the need for faith as a pathway to the kingdom of heaven?


In other words, why make it so easy for people to have faith when our time on earth is the test of that faith?

Nobody said believing in god was easy. Nobody said that conclusive evidence would be provided to gain your approval of Jesus/God.


When you go to college and you learn your subjects, you are given the tools and the textbooks to achieve a goal of passing. It's that easy right? No, it requires effort, it requires YOUR INPUT to gain that result.


It is no different with christianity. Faith is what you put in and what you are prepared to open your heart to.

This doesn't make me reconsider my doubt in the existence of god. Not one bit.

[sd3035]

If god exists, who created god?

[CarlosBoozer]

Jesus

[JEFFERSON MONEY]

Okay this is getting ridiculous.

You can NOT not nominate Abraham, Noah, and Moses as well.

[gigantes]

If god exists, who created god?

some other asshole who magically came in to existence before him.

[Overdrive]

Easily Isaac Newton. His discoveries would be the foundation of the Industrial Revolution, and with it the modern world we live in today, and all mathematicians and physicists that immediately followed him all owe some debt in his work on mechanics, calculus, etc.

Without Newton Leibniz would take his place. Galileo was more important imo.

[JEFFERSON MONEY]

If god exists, who created god?

Holy Quran Chapter 112:

https://www.al-islam.org/enlightenin...as-chapter-112

He is One with none comparable to Him, without any beginning or end, unlimited by time, space or circumstances. A reality before which all others have no existence. He is the Creator, One, and everything is His creation.

A tradition from Imam Muhammad Baqir (as) says:

"Ahad' and 'wahid' both have one concept which is One with nothing comparable or similar to it, and monotheism is the confession to His Oneness".11

In the Qur’an /wapid/ and /apad/, both, refer to Allah, the One, the Only.

In the next verse, another epithet of that Holy Essence is referred to:

"Allah, the Eternal"
Many meanings are mentioned for /samad/ in Islamic narrations, commentaries, and lexicons.

Raqib cites in Mufradat that 'Samad means a Lord; one to whom reference is made in matters of importance'. Some others have said that 'Samad' means 'something whose inside is not hollow, but it is full'.

It also means 'a Lord', when applied for Allah, because affairs are dependant upon Him. 'Samad' signifies one who is high or elevated in the utmost highness, and a Lord to whom one resigns himself, has recourse to, or is in need of, or One above Whom there is no one, or One Who continues, after His creatures have perished.

Imam Husain ibn Ali (as), in a tradition, has stated five meanings for 'samad '

1. Samad is a Lord Whose Lordship has attained its utmost point or degree.

2. Samad is an Essence and Being that continues or continues for ever or is everlasting.

3. Samad is the Existence that has not a hollow inside.

4. Samad is the One Who takes no nourishment, food or drink.

5. Samad is One Who does not sleep.12

A tradition from Imam Ali-ibn-al Husain (as) says:

"Samad' is One Who has no partner and it is not difficult for Him to protect things, and nothing is hidden from Him".13

Some others have said /samad/ means 'independent of anyone' - All perfect - the One to Whom recourse is made by everything: Eternal for its needs, both for existence and for perfection; the One Who needs no sustenance of any kind-Self-existing to understand, Whose existence, every mind is captured in marvel and wonder. Nothing is hidden from His all-enveloping knowledge-is not accommodatable in anything, not even in intellect: Infinite in all aspects of existence and attributes.

The term 'samad' has such a vast meaning that we cannot mention them, completely, or in other words, the names or the attributes, mentioned to describe its nature, cannot be translated to covey the exact sense to the fullest meaning of the terms.

A tradition denotes that the citizens of Basrah wrote a letter to Imam Husain (as) and asked him the meaning of /samad/.

He replied:

"In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful:
then do not plunge in vain talk about the Qur'an and do not dispute about it and do not speak about it when you do not know (it).

Verily, I heard from my grandfather, the Messenger of Allah, who said:

'the person who talks about the Qur'an without knowing (it), his abode will be in fire'.

Allah, Himself, has rendered 'samad’ to mean:

'He begets not, nor is He begotten',
'And there is none like unto Him'...
Yes, Allah is 'samad' Who is not from anything and is not in anything or on anything; He is the Creator of everything and all are from Him by His Power; what He has created to perish will perish at His Will, and what He has created to remain will remain in His Knowledge. This is Allah; al-Samad".14

It says:

"He begets not, nor is He begotten"
Different from this is the statement of those who believe in Trinity; the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.


'begets',
in the verse under discussion, has a broader meaning. It negates any material and delicate things emerging from Him, or He, the Sacred Essence, emerging from any material and delicate thing.

In the above mentioned letter of Imam Husain (as) to the people of Basrah, about the commentary of the term /samad/, he commented on the current verse, saying:

"/lamyalid/, i.e. there emitted nothing from Him - neither material things nor a child, nor other things that emit from creatures, nor a delicate thing like a soul.

Nothing appears in Him, such as sleep, imagination, grief, sadness, happiness, laughter, tears, fear and hope, courage and discouragement, hunger and satiety.

Allah is more exalted than that something should emit from Him, or that He begets something material or delicate, nor is He begotten from something material or delicate...

Similar to a living creature coming out from another one, or a plant from the earth, water from a spring, fruits from trees, nor the like, emitting delicate things from their sources, such as vision from the eye, hearing from the ears, smelling from the nose, tasting from the mouth, speech from the tongue, knowledge and understanding from the heart (insight and soul), and particles of fire from stone...”17

According to this tradition,

'begets'
conveys a vast meaning, so that it may envelop any emitting things of any kind from anything else, and this is, in fact, the second meaning of the verse whose first and apparent meaning was the meaning that was mentioned in the beginning.

Besides, the second meaning, with the analogy of the first meaning, is quite adaptable and understandable; since, if Allah has no children, it is because He is aloof from the qualities of material. This meaning is also right for other qualities of matter.

"And there is none like unto Him".
The term /kufw/ originally means 'equal from the point of position and rank', then, it is used for any similarity.

Considering this verse, the Holy Essence of Allah is free from all qualities or obstacles that creatures have, and free from all defects and limitations. This is 'Unity of Attributes' that corresponds with 'Unity of Number’.

Therefore, He is One in Essence, in attributes, and in deeds; and He is unique in every aspect.

Amir-al-Mo'mineen
Ali (as) has said:

“...no change can take place in Him and no lessening, diminishing, dwindling, decay and dissipation of His Mighty and Glory is possible, that He is not begotten from anyone nor does He beget anyone... He has no peer and no equal. He can destroy things created by Himself in such a way that they will cease to exist and disappear into nothingness...”18

This is an interesting commentary because it discusses the narrowest points of Unity. It warns us not to ascribe our qualities and attributes to Allah and thus, not to create our glorified image as a personal diety.