An Adult Should Really Know This - Silly Things You've Had to Tell People

[poundcake]

I once had to tell a co-worker that people in the Old Testament weren't Christian- we were all chatting idly in the office. She was flabberghasted and asked me seriously how I knew. I said "because they lived before Christ. How can they have believed in Him if he hadn't been born yet?" She thought and finally "So Adam and Eve weren't Christians?" No. No they weren't.

And yes she is a devout Christian.

Does she know that Jesus was a Jew?

 

This reminds me of the criminally-stupid TV show hostess insisting that "I don't think anything predates Christianity!" Actually, dummy, Jesus predates Christianity!

[iridaceae]

Sadly, I am not surprised. My dad was a Baptist preacher and I've known people like this. I admit, it amazes me that people will claim they would die for their faith, yet know so little about it (yes, I consider knowledge of the OT part of it).

I used to wonder if it was her pastor (I know it was not her denomination) who kind of glossed over this or her; I would certainly have believed it was her.

[Thipu1]

I once had to tell a co-worker that people in the Old Testament weren't Christian- we were all chatting idly in the office. She was flabberghasted and asked me seriously how I knew. I said "because they lived before Christ. How can they have believed in Him if he hadn't been born yet?" She thought and finally "So Adam and Eve weren't Christians?" No. No they weren't.

And yes she is a devout Christian.

I had a boss who was very surprised to learn that Islam is not the oldest of the  Big Three monotheisms. 

[LadyJaneinMD]

(((sigh)))  He has good points - but he grew up in the John Wayne era and he doesn't like seeing doctors.  I'm not sure if there is any cause & effect or just coincidence...

My father is 84 and has the sense to go to a doctor when he needs to.  I've always been thankful that my father is a sensible sort.  He'd be dead by now otherwise. He once went to the doctor because he was 'short of breath a little', and ended up with a quadruple bypass!

So it's not just the 'John Wayne era' kind of guy.  It's just the guy in general. 

[Dr. F.]

I once had to tell a co-worker that people in the Old Testament weren't Christian- we were all chatting idly in the office. She was flabberghasted and asked me seriously how I knew. I said "because they lived before Christ. How can they have believed in Him if he hadn't been born yet?" She thought and finally "So Adam and Eve weren't Christians?" No. No they weren't.

And yes she is a devout Christian.

I had a boss who was very surprised to learn that Islam is not the oldest of the  Big Three monotheisms.

I once saw a bumper sticker that said, "If it isn't the KJV (King James Version), it isn't the Bible!"

Weird.

[VorFemme]

I once had to tell a co-worker that people in the Old Testament weren't Christian- we were all chatting idly in the office. She was flabberghasted and asked me seriously how I knew. I said "because they lived before Christ. How can they have believed in Him if he hadn't been born yet?" She thought and finally "So Adam and Eve weren't Christians?" No. No they weren't.

And yes she is a devout Christian.

Sadly, I am not surprised. My dad was a Baptist preacher and I've known people like this. I admit, it amazes me that people will claim they would die for their faith, yet know so little about it (yes, I consider knowledge of the OT part of it).

Dad told a joke about a little old lady who got irate when told about the translators working a "NEW, more accurate translation" (Old Testament being in originally written in Hebrew and the New Testament being originally written mostly in Greek - the language that educated people used in those times).  Or the other quibbles compared to Jesus speaking Aramaic, not Greek - nor would he have been able to study his own words as they didn't get written down for a while - certainly not until after he spoke them!

SHE was happy with the King James Version because that was what Jesus had used (as well as the style of language that he had spoken) and did not seem to understand that it was also a TRANSLATION - just one made close to 500 years earlier rather than the newer one (which was going to be made & published using late 20th century standard English).

Sadly, at least three people in the group did not get that it was intended as a joke...they thought exactly the same as the little old lady in the joke did - they were happy with the KJV!

[nuit93]

I once had to tell a co-worker that people in the Old Testament weren't Christian- we were all chatting idly in the office. She was flabberghasted and asked me seriously how I knew. I said "because they lived before Christ. How can they have believed in Him if he hadn't been born yet?" She thought and finally "So Adam and Eve weren't Christians?" No. No they weren't.

And yes she is a devout Christian.

I had a boss who was very surprised to learn that Islam is not the oldest of the  Big Three monotheisms.

I once saw a bumper sticker that said, "If it isn't the KJV (King James Version), it isn't the Bible!"

Weird.

Oy...the KJV is barely 400 years old.  Did they not think people used the Bible before then?

[jaxsue]

I once had to tell a co-worker that people in the Old Testament weren't Christian- we were all chatting idly in the office. She was flabberghasted and asked me seriously how I knew. I said "because they lived before Christ. How can they have believed in Him if he hadn't been born yet?" She thought and finally "So Adam and Eve weren't Christians?" No. No they weren't.

And yes she is a devout Christian.

I had a boss who was very surprised to learn that Islam is not the oldest of the  Big Three monotheisms.

I once saw a bumper sticker that said, "If it isn't the KJV (King James Version), it isn't the Bible!"

Weird.

The sect I grew up in only used the KJV. I agree, it is weird. 

[jaxsue]

Sadly, I am not surprised. My dad was a Baptist preacher and I've known people like this. I admit, it amazes me that people will claim they would die for their faith, yet know so little about it (yes, I consider knowledge of the OT part of it).

I used to wonder if it was her pastor (I know it was not her denomination) who kind of glossed over this or her; I would certainly have believed it was her.

Some Xian sects are big on education; others, not so much. Some preachers get their official documents online, instead of going to seminary 4+ yrs (which my dad did).

[lowspark]

This reminds me of a quote, attributed to Miriam "Ma" Ferguson who was governor of Texas in the 1930s (although it's apparently apocryphal), allegedly spoken in reference to bilingualism in Texas schools: “If English was good enough for Jesus Christ, it ought to be good enough for the children of Texas.”

I love that quote whether she said it or not. 

[katycoo]

It's not so much of a problem with the Winter Olympics, but I'm always irritated during the Summer Olympics that they don't cover all the sports. Fewer 'human interest' stories, more coverage of events like fencing and equestrian events!

Yes! Australia is OK at swimming internationally, I get it. But if you watch Olympic coverage, the first 6 days are the back of someone's head swimming up and down the pool. Heats, semi-finals, finals - every stroke of every race.

I want to see the hammer throw!

They always give priority to our medal-chance events.  I can guarantee if any of our hammer-throwers made the final, it would get televised.  I don't think its a sport we have excelled at in recent.

Yes, that was my point. Days of it, and little else. I want to see other events, even if my country doesn't stand much of a chance of winning.

+1. It's why I prefer Winter Olympics - we don't have a big enough presence for the telecast to get as skewed as it does for Summer.

Its still limited when Australia's not in the running.  Last night coverage of the teams figure skating was limited to the place-getters.  I've no idea what other countries even made the final, except that apparently not us.  Didn't even see a final scoreboard.

[camlan]

I once had to tell a co-worker that people in the Old Testament weren't Christian- we were all chatting idly in the office. She was flabberghasted and asked me seriously how I knew. I said "because they lived before Christ. How can they have believed in Him if he hadn't been born yet?" She thought and finally "So Adam and Eve weren't Christians?" No. No they weren't.

And yes she is a devout Christian.

Does she know that Jesus was a Jew?

I got into Very Serious Trouble when I was in second grade and studying for my First Communion about this, back in the 1960s. There was some discussion about Jews in the class, and I was perplexed about something and stated, "But Jesus was a Jew!" The nun who was the teacher was shocked, and made me stand out in the hall until my mother showed up to take me home. I was so scared.

The nun tried to convince my mother that a) I was not ready to make First Communion and b) I was clearly the spawn of Satan and designed for the Hot Place.

Thankfully, my mom defended me--after all, I was speaking nothing but truth. And she burst into giggles once we were safely in the car.

But I stopped speaking altogether in my Religious Ed classes after that.

[Paper Roses]

Just remembered a good one.

I work at night, and have for several years.  A while back, a group of us went into an empty office to try to catch sight of an eclipse we'd heard was happening that night.  We were all chatting about the eclipse - what, exactly, an eclipse is, etc.  One of the women came out with, ". . . because as the earth revolves around the moon, . . ."  I almost fell over. 

I kept trying to tell her she was mistaken, and that the moon revolves around the earth, which revolves around the sun.  She absolutely insisted that I was the one who was wrong.  Unfortunately, it was before we had internet at work, so I couldn't prove her wrong as easily as if it happened today. 

I think that was probably one of the most frustrating moments I've ever had.

[kherbert05]

This reminds me of a quote, attributed to Miriam "Ma" Ferguson who was governor of Texas in the 1930s (although it's apparently apocryphal), allegedly spoken in reference to bilingualism in Texas schools: “If English was good enough for Jesus Christ, it ought to be good enough for the children of Texas.”

I love that quote whether she said it or not. 

I once got in an argument with the 4th grade teachers, who teach Texas history about who the first Female governor of Texas was. I could understand them arguing that Ma Ferguson was just a front for her disgraced husband (former governor impeached and banned from holding state offices) - but they were completely unaware of the whole story. All but one were born and raised here.

[oz diva]

This reminds me of a quote, attributed to Miriam "Ma" Ferguson who was governor of Texas in the 1930s (although it's apparently apocryphal), allegedly spoken in reference to bilingualism in Texas schools: “If English was good enough for Jesus Christ, it ought to be good enough for the children of Texas.”

I love that quote whether she said it or not. 

I've never heard of Ma Ferguson, but the quote I know is "If English was good enough for Jesus Christ, it's good enough for me."

I was trying to find a link to the bit of Vikings (the TV series) which showed the ransack of Lindisfarne. Sure, no one really knows how English sounded back then, but it wasn't English as you and I speak it, and that was 700 years after Christ. Even if Christ spoke English (and it's doubtful He ever even heard it), it wasn't the English that we speak today.

I'm not Christian (though I was bought up with its traditions). But it seems I know more about Christianity that many of these people.