A quote from Mark Twain on Religion

I can say that Twain is entitled to his own beliefs...I'm not authorized to judge another. Certainly his views differ from my own.

So, is he saying that Jesus Christ is not a Christian? If so, how does he back up his argument?

I totally agree with the first part of that quote, till it said "in a somewhat modified degree" the rest of that quote make absolutely no sense to me since it is blasphemous to the Almighty creator praise be to Him, My dear friend you need to understand that God's divine revelation brought to the humanity (in the original versions of the sacred books) is a perfect plan for the guidance of human beings in all aspects, being under God's law is something that honor everyone who choose to life under it, it means that people don't kill, don't steal, don't bear a false witness ETC because these are good values not because of the fear of being caught by the police, needless to say that there was no police in the ancient times. many of the sacred Books in the Bible are corrupted/falsified (some people like to say heavily edited!) by the religious leaders of the Children of Israel in the old time, this is why Jesus Christ was sent to them, and this is why All the debates of Jesus were against the religious leaders not against the common people of Israel and this why the message was taken from them later and was given to their brethren, Islam is All about the Law and only Muslims preach it, But the Jews don't preach the Law after they taught that it is only for them and others are dogs, not only they don't preach the Law but also they always employ someone as a deceiver to deceive other people when they fell that they will adhere to the Law. Jesus in the Bible used to recommend the Law for those who asked him repeatedly what should they do to inherit the Eternal life, But Paul (a Jew) preached that the Law is a curse!! and preached inheriting the eternal life (for the wicked and the righteous) Just for believing that God killed the God to please the God!! it should be noted that Paul is the founder of churches, and Christianity is based on the deception of Paul, in fact Christianity is a religion about Jesus, not the religion of Jesus which is All about the Law. the hell is not invention I believe in the existence of the hell since it is mentioned in the Holy Quran (the final pure version of God's divine revelation) but you need to understand: the Hell for whom ? it is for criminals and murderers who spend their life in the corruption of the earth and harming other people, and keep doing this during their life till they die without repent, and not the hell used by priests to threaten their followers to keep them under their control, as I said, the hell exist but you we need to know the truth about it, Can you imagine What the security of punishment leads to? the security of punishment is hazardous, it leads to more and more criminals and murderers, there must be a Law and punishment for breaking it, it is a must for every society for its benefit and God's Law is for All the humanity as a society. some evil people used to brake the Law calling things by other names, they used to kill and call themselves freedom fighters! used to steal and call themselves bankers and money lenders!! used to commit adultery and call it love making!! for all of this there is a judgment by our Almighty creator who know not only the truth about our deeds but also our insides. and finally, I hope that I don't offend anyone by my response, I believe in a quote by Bill Cosby: "I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody." Best regards!

I don't think Christianity has any corner on these things, study most other religions and you will find the same. This seems to be a reoccurring human trait, one would hope that with the next step in evolution we would spritually grow beyond the need to enforce or destroy each other for differences.

Unfortunately, just being religious is not enough. Much atrocity has been done by 'religous people'. Witness today's mid east. Just because a Church body does something in the name of God, does not mean God condones it. In fact, in scriptures there's the warning that just because you called yourself by Christ's name, does not mean He will acknowledge you in the end. It's really sad that the Truth of God's love has been overshadowed by human hate, greed and avarice. But if you believe in God and the devil, you realize there is warfare between the two for the hearts and minds of human beings. And since mankind has free will and is not a robot he is free to abuse the love his Creator has for him. Would you have God intervene? put a stop to all the killing in His name. Then He would be a tyrant no more worthy of praise than those killing in His name.

They always say that one topic that will definitely spark a conversation is religion. If you want to get into a fight talk about religion. I'm a Christian and I always feel on defense every time other people criticize what I believe in. That maybe close minded of me but I love what I believe in so why is that somebody else's business. To each is own, to each is own.

Hi barehugs, Mark Twain did not mince words and was not afraid to speak out against even the church which had so much control over people. He knew the church had great power over the masses, but clearly not over him. The Christian church was never patterned after the teachings of Jesus. It great to know that it doesn't have the control it had over people in the middle ages. Blessings.

sorry, it is a test.