{
  "trx_id": "8f94277738faa84a2c28724e8796c88e121d32c6",
  "block": 35292806,
  "trx_in_block": 9,
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "virtual_op": 0,
  "timestamp": "2019-08-05T17:13:06",
  "op": [
    "comment",
    {
      "parent_author": "dpdoug",
      "parent_permlink": "true-meaning-of-christmas-part-3",
      "author": "steemitboard",
      "permlink": "steemitboard-notify-dpdoug-20190805t171305000z",
      "title": "",
      "body": "Congratulations @dpdoug! You received a personal award!\n\n<table><tr><td>https://steemitimages.com/70x70/http://steemitboard.com/@dpdoug/birthday3.png</td><td>Happy Birthday! - You are on the Steem blockchain for 3 years!</td></tr></table>\n\n<sub>_You can view [your badges on your Steem Board](https://steemitboard.com/@dpdoug) and compare to others on the [Steem Ranking](https://steemitboard.com/ranking/index.php?name=dpdoug)_</sub>\n\n\n###### [Vote for @Steemitboard as a witness](https://v2.steemconnect.com/sign/account-witness-vote?witness=steemitboard&approve=1) to get one more award and increased upvotes!",
      "json_metadata": "{\"image\":[\"https://steemitboard.com/img/notify.png\"]}"
    }
  ]
}

{
  "trx_id": "72545cb70835e2939171ed5676596bfe0dfed5a9",
  "block": 22380843,
  "trx_in_block": 25,
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "virtual_op": 0,
  "timestamp": "2018-05-13T01:26:30",
  "op": [
    "custom_json",
    {
      "required_auths": [],
      "required_posting_auths": [
        "dpdoug"
      ],
      "id": "follow",
      "json": "[\"follow\",{\"follower\":\"dpdoug\",\"following\":\"quickfingersluc\",\"what\":[\"blog\"]}]"
    }
  ]
}

{
  "trx_id": "0000000000000000000000000000000000000000",
  "block": 18531498,
  "trx_in_block": 4294967295,
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "virtual_op": 5,
  "timestamp": "2017-12-30T06:15:27",
  "op": [
    "author_reward",
    {
      "author": "dpdoug",
      "permlink": "true-meaning-of-christmas-part-3",
      "sbd_payout": "0.173 SBD",
      "steem_payout": "0.000 STEEM",
      "vesting_payout": "118.863181 VESTS"
    }
  ]
}

{
  "trx_id": "baf38d284fdce0d37b7038c64e2a4452d76abc9b",
  "block": 18355585,
  "trx_in_block": 21,
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "virtual_op": 0,
  "timestamp": "2017-12-24T03:34:24",
  "op": [
    "vote",
    {
      "voter": "dpdoug",
      "author": "thegrinder",
      "permlink": "the-bitconnect-scam-exposed",
      "weight": 10000
    }
  ]
}

{
  "trx_id": "9f2c18ff0b3133d9eb86c472dfe6394e870fac92",
  "block": 18330771,
  "trx_in_block": 6,
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "virtual_op": 0,
  "timestamp": "2017-12-23T06:53:15",
  "op": [
    "vote",
    {
      "voter": "bue",
      "author": "dpdoug",
      "permlink": "true-meaning-of-christmas-part-3",
      "weight": 10000
    }
  ]
}

{
  "trx_id": "2403f1309635994fe0b6f964736a9a1226e2b38d",
  "block": 18330640,
  "trx_in_block": 6,
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "virtual_op": 0,
  "timestamp": "2017-12-23T06:46:42",
  "op": [
    "vote",
    {
      "voter": "hr1",
      "author": "dpdoug",
      "permlink": "true-meaning-of-christmas-part-3",
      "weight": 7
    }
  ]
}

{
  "trx_id": "45bdbc12dc38229f6e84c363a60eabc48d9448c1",
  "block": 18330015,
  "trx_in_block": 8,
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "virtual_op": 0,
  "timestamp": "2017-12-23T06:15:27",
  "op": [
    "vote",
    {
      "voter": "dpdoug",
      "author": "dpdoug",
      "permlink": "true-meaning-of-christmas-part-3",
      "weight": 10000
    }
  ]
}

{
  "trx_id": "45bdbc12dc38229f6e84c363a60eabc48d9448c1",
  "block": 18330015,
  "trx_in_block": 8,
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "virtual_op": 0,
  "timestamp": "2017-12-23T06:15:27",
  "op": [
    "comment",
    {
      "parent_author": "",
      "parent_permlink": "christmas",
      "author": "dpdoug",
      "permlink": "true-meaning-of-christmas-part-3",
      "title": "True Meaning of Christmas? Part 3",
      "body": "### The True Meaning of Christmas Did Not Even Exist Originally ###\n\nThe stories of Jesus's birth in the canonical gospels of Matthew and Luke were written by their authors in Greek. These are each compared to a version of the story of the birth of Jesus originally written in Aramaic and translated directly to English. It becomes fairly obvious that the Greek authors derived their stories from the original in Aramaic and radically modified the most important parts to make the story agree with the doctrines being pushed by the roman church of the time. \n\nThe most striking changes that they made were with the motives of convincing their readers that Jesus was not merely a man but the incarnation of Almighty God and that Mary was a virgin when she had Jesus not having had sex with her husband until after the birth of Jesus. These are the most serious forgeries of the true story of the birth of Jesus.\n\n### The Overwhelming Evidence in the Bible Itself ###\n\nYou might say that the Aramaic version is the corrupted version that was created to discredit the bible. However, the **overwhelming evidence in the bible itself** shows that it is impossible that Mary was a virgin; impossible that Joseph was NOT the biological father of Jesus; and impossible that Jesus could be the Messiah and God Almighty both. Moreover, there were manuscripts of Matthew and Luke in circulation early on that did NOT have the story of the virgin birth. \n\n![JosephAndSonJesus.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmPMdi73dGoni5bxLcrHUYA8oHtQYvFBY4YiqEH6uv6xs6/JosephAndSonJesus.png)\nJoseph and Son Yeshua\n\nNeither Paul nor any of the other disciples mentioned anything of the virgin birth in the New Testament and history shows that early Jewish believers rejected the church's dogmas of the virgin birth and the divine incarnation and believed that Jesus was an ordinary man. For just these reasons alone is enough to see that the Aramaic version of the birth story is the true one, but there is much much more evidence that points to this conclusion. \n\n### The Original Gospel of Matthew the Disciple ###\n\nRemember, the **Greek author is unknown** and the canonical gospel of Matthew is **not the original gospel** and was **written after the death of Matthew**, the actual disciple of Jesus. This falsified gospel is a collection of manuscripts available at the time and forgeries. All copies of the original gospel were tragically lost or destroyed (for obvious reasons). And as already mentioned it **did not contain the story of the birth of Jesus**.\n\n### The True Meaning of Christmas Is Not True At All ###\n\nThe most serious thing about the Christmas celebration is not the fact that something religious has been turned into a materialistic tradition and little or no remembering of the *\"real meaning\"* of the celebration, but the fact is that **the true meaning of Christmas is not true at all**. \n\nFor centuries December 25 has been the supposed date of the birth of Jesus. God Almighty supposedly came to earth and was born in the form of a man, making Jesus God in the flesh. Mary had to be shown as a virgin at the birth of Jesus to prove that it could only be a miracle and Jesus was the saviour of the world. That day was born the second person of the Trinity Godhead. \n\n**The fact that Jesus became a son of God only at his baptism, was erased from all official gospels of the church since this would contradict his being God at birth.** For Jesus to be the Messiah, Joseph would have to be the biological father of Jesus because only Joseph was a descendant of Solomon (not Mary). This just would not do because if Jesus had a flesh and blood father then it would be impossible for him to be God. According to Christology, the holy ghost impregnated Mary. But since Jesus had to be a biological descendant of King David through Solomon, David's son, this is impossible. \n\nSee also parts 1 and 2 of this series: \nhttps://steemit.com/christmas/@dpdoug/what-is-the-true-meaning-of-christmas-part-1 \nhttps://steemit.com/christmas/@dpdoug/true-meaning-of-christmas-part-2\n\n> *If God has spoken why is the world not convinced. - Percy Bysshe Shelley*",
      "json_metadata": "{\"tags\":[\"christmas\",\"forgeries\",\"truth\",\"matthew\",\"aramaic\"],\"image\":[\"https://steemitimages.com/DQmPMdi73dGoni5bxLcrHUYA8oHtQYvFBY4YiqEH6uv6xs6/JosephAndSonJesus.png\"],\"links\":[\"https://steemit.com/christmas/@dpdoug/what-is-the-true-meaning-of-christmas-part-1\",\"https://steemit.com/christmas/@dpdoug/true-meaning-of-christmas-part-2\"],\"app\":\"steemit/0.1\",\"format\":\"markdown\"}"
    }
  ]
}

{
  "trx_id": "f71dafd20503c3b022ea2ef17ae6c3ba1604f4f7",
  "block": 18329957,
  "trx_in_block": 21,
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "virtual_op": 0,
  "timestamp": "2017-12-23T06:12:33",
  "op": [
    "comment",
    {
      "parent_author": "",
      "parent_permlink": "christmas",
      "author": "dpdoug",
      "permlink": "true-meaning-of-christmas-part-2",
      "title": "True Meaning of Christmas? Part 2",
      "body": "The story of Christmas originates from two gospels: Matthew and Luke. The Gospel of Matthew is not the original gospel written by the disciple Matthew. It is not known who the author really is, nor when or where it was written. \n\n![JosephAndMary.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmY6QYGJyekWtX4fABD6UQAnjkzjbjK2ZZt2mNPCngp9o8/JosephAndMary.jpg)\n\nWe know this because the church fathers quote from the **gospel of the Hebrews**, written by the disciple Matthew, which was *\"written in Aramaic with Hebrew letters\"*. The gospel called Matthew in our bibles we know was written in Greek. These facts reveal two very important facts about the early church: 1) their mother language was Aramaic or Hebrew and 2) the gospel of the Hebrews was likely the earliest gospel ever written.\n\n### Excerpts from the writings of church fathers: ###\n>*In the Gospel which the Nazarenes and the Ebionites use which we have recently translated from Hebrew to Greek, and which most people call **The Authentic Gospel of Matthew**...* \n\n>*In the **Gospel of the Hebrews**, written in the Chaldee and **Syriac language [Aramaic] but in Hebrew script**, and used by the Nazarenes to this day (I mean the Gospel of the Apostles, or, as it is generally maintained, the Gospel of Matthew, a copy of which is in the library at Caesarea)*\n\n>*Matthew, also called Levi, who used to be a tax collector and later an apostle, composed the Gospel of Christ, which was first published in Judea in **Hebrew script** for the sake of those of the circumcision who believed. This Gospel was **afterwards translated into Greek** (and the Greek has been lost) though by what author uncertain.* \n\n>*The **Hebrew original** has been preserved to this present day in the library of Caesarea, which Pamphilus diligently gathered. I have also had the opportunity of having this volume transcribed for me by the Nazarenes of Beroea, Syria, who use it.*\n\n### Christmas Story Absent in Original ###\n**The Christmas story was completely absent from the disciple Matthew's \"the gospel of the Hebrews\"**. The gospel of the Hebrews written by the disciple Matthew begins with the baptism of Jesus as do the canonical gospels of Mark and John and was **written in Aramaic and not Greek**. \n\nThe canonical gospel named \"The Gospel According to St Matthew\" was written in Greek by an unknown author. In the canonical gospel so-called Matthew, the **story of the nativity was a later addition most likely composed of hearsay**, some selected parts of other manuscripts that were extant at the time, and parts that were made up by the author to make his story convincing to his readers and principally made to coincide with the developing doctrines of the church at the time. \n\nBut the story of the birth of Jesus, obviously, is **mostly made up of the anonymous Greek author's fabrications**. None of the prophecies are found in any other place in the New Testament. These forgeries are unique to the canonical gospel called Matthew.\n\n>*\"most scholars now agree that the Gospel of Matthew found in the Bible was not written by Matthew, but composed posthumous to him.\" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gospel_of_the_Nazarenes#cite_note-The_Interpreters_Bible_1951.2C_p.64-66-10)*\n\nYou must understand that the contradictions that I bring forth are within the context of the canonical bible itself, not outside of it. When compared with manuscripts outside of the bible, the whole story gets a lot more surprising and even more illuminating in some very important aspects. \n\n### Contradictions ###\nSome things appear to be contradictions is because of the lack of information the authors of Matthew and Luke provide. This fact reveals that these gospels were not original, but were extracted from a manuscript(s) written in Aramaic. **However, the greatest fact that this reveals is that these authors left out important parts of the story and even corrupted the story**. \n\n### The Christmas story in the gospel called The Gospel According to Saint Matthew: ###\n* Was not written by the disciple Matthew, who spoke Aramaic\n* Was written by an author who spoke Greek and is unknown\n* Was not originally in this gospel, but added on at a later date\n* Has contradictions, forgeries and corruptions\n* Says Mary was a virgin which is non-existent in the original text\n* Refers to a prophecy in Isaiah mistranslated virgin instead of \"young woman\"\n* Says Jesus was begot of the holy ghost also not existent in original\n* An angel supposedly says his name shall be Jesus -- He was actually named Yeshua or Joshua\n* Refers to a prophecy says he would be called Emmanuel -- He was never called by this name\n* Removed from gospel \"thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee\", so as to not contradict  the virgin birth story that makes Jesus God Almighty incarnate\n* Jesus is supposed to be born in Bethlehem to fulfill prophecy -- Bethlehem is not a city in the so-called \"prophecy\", but a person\n* Herod supposedly killed babies according to prophecy -- but the OT passage is not even a prophecy, and the children were not murdered\n* If Herod actually did kill babies then Jesus had to have been born about 10 years earlier than we are told, since Herod died in 4 BC\n* No archaeological evidence of babies being killed in or around Bethlehem\n* Supposedly fulfills 'out of Egypt have I called my son' -- scripture is not even prophecy, but about Israel coming out of Egypt who are also idolaters (Jesus was not an idolater)\n* Supposed prophecy 'He shall be called a Nazarene' -- can be not found anywhere in Old Testament\n\n(See also part 1 of this series: https://steemit.com/christmas/@dpdoug/what-is-the-true-meaning-of-christmas-part-1)",
      "json_metadata": "{\"tags\":[\"christmas\",\"xmas\",\"gospel\",\"matthew\",\"hebrew\"],\"image\":[\"https://steemitimages.com/DQmY6QYGJyekWtX4fABD6UQAnjkzjbjK2ZZt2mNPCngp9o8/JosephAndMary.jpg\"],\"links\":[\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gospel_of_the_Nazarenes#cite_note-The_Interpreters_Bible_1951.2C_p.64-66-10\",\"https://steemit.com/christmas/@dpdoug/what-is-the-true-meaning-of-christmas-part-1\"],\"app\":\"steemit/0.1\",\"format\":\"markdown\"}"
    }
  ]
}

{
  "trx_id": "d6beebacc3dab9acba5e9c424b0ba9565b7ff4e9",
  "block": 18301674,
  "trx_in_block": 3,
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "virtual_op": 0,
  "timestamp": "2017-12-22T06:37:45",
  "op": [
    "comment",
    {
      "parent_author": "dpdoug",
      "parent_permlink": "true-meaning-of-christmas-part-2",
      "author": "steemitboard",
      "permlink": "steemitboard-notify-dpdoug-20171222t063745000z",
      "title": "",
      "body": "Congratulations @dpdoug! You have completed some achievement on Steemit and have been rewarded with new badge(s) :\n\n[![](https://steemitimages.com/70x80/http://steemitboard.com/notifications/posts.png)](http://steemitboard.com/@dpdoug) Award for the number of posts published\n\nClick on any badge to view your own Board of Honor on SteemitBoard.\nFor more information about SteemitBoard, click [here](https://steemit.com/@steemitboard)\n\nIf you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word `STOP`\n\n> By upvoting this notification, you can help all Steemit users. Learn how [here](https://steemit.com/steemitboard/@steemitboard/http-i-cubeupload-com-7ciqeo-png)!",
      "json_metadata": "{\"image\":[\"https://steemitboard.com/img/notifications.png\"]}"
    }
  ]
}

{
  "trx_id": "a94ae196e79f9f71c5585bf0ac7481425d8d784f",
  "block": 18253961,
  "trx_in_block": 6,
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "virtual_op": 0,
  "timestamp": "2017-12-20T14:51:27",
  "op": [
    "vote",
    {
      "voter": "ccworld",
      "author": "dpdoug",
      "permlink": "what-is-the-true-meaning-of-christmas-part-1",
      "weight": 500
    }
  ]
}

{
  "trx_id": "397fe216cc3d3a70491a8bd5ad048b979a9c4267",
  "block": 18253940,
  "trx_in_block": 9,
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "virtual_op": 0,
  "timestamp": "2017-12-20T14:50:24",
  "op": [
    "comment",
    {
      "parent_author": "",
      "parent_permlink": "christmas",
      "author": "dpdoug",
      "permlink": "what-is-the-true-meaning-of-christmas-part-1",
      "title": "What is the true meaning of Christmas? Part 1",
      "body": "@@ -14294,8 +14294,109 @@\n usiness.\n+%0A%0A(See part 2 of this series: https://steemit.com/christmas/@dpdoug/true-meaning-of-christmas-part-2)\n",
      "json_metadata": "{\"tags\":[\"christmas\",\"santa\",\"forgeries\",\"jesus\",\"cocacola\"],\"image\":[\"https://steemitimages.com/DQmWSa34ZJp3gfLrJb3s4qTvmytF1NEbaW1BF7z2VJbGaeU/SantaClaus2.jpg\"],\"app\":\"steemit/0.1\",\"format\":\"markdown\",\"links\":[\"https://steemit.com/christmas/@dpdoug/true-meaning-of-christmas-part-2\"]}"
    }
  ]
}

{
  "trx_id": "a9c7876e0ffdc49890d8a23dadcdbb6a727c3d04",
  "block": 18253805,
  "trx_in_block": 21,
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "virtual_op": 0,
  "timestamp": "2017-12-20T14:43:39",
  "op": [
    "vote",
    {
      "voter": "dpdoug",
      "author": "dpdoug",
      "permlink": "true-meaning-of-christmas-part-2",
      "weight": 10000
    }
  ]
}

{
  "trx_id": "a9c7876e0ffdc49890d8a23dadcdbb6a727c3d04",
  "block": 18253805,
  "trx_in_block": 21,
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "virtual_op": 0,
  "timestamp": "2017-12-20T14:43:39",
  "op": [
    "comment",
    {
      "parent_author": "",
      "parent_permlink": "christmas",
      "author": "dpdoug",
      "permlink": "true-meaning-of-christmas-part-2",
      "title": "True Meaning of Christmas? Part 2",
      "body": "The story of Christmas originates from two gospels: Matthew and Luke. The Gospel of Matthew is not the original gospel written by the disciple Matthew. It is not known who the author really is, nor when or where it was written. \n\n![JosephAndMary.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmY6QYGJyekWtX4fABD6UQAnjkzjbjK2ZZt2mNPCngp9o8/JosephAndMary.jpg)\n\nWe know this because the church fathers quote from the **gospel of the Hebrews**, written by the disciple Matthew, which was *\"written in Aramaic with Hebrew letters\"*. The gospel called Matthew in our bibles we know was written in Greek. These facts reveal two very important facts about the early church: 1) their mother language was Aramaic or Hebrew and 2) the gospel of the Hebrews was likely the earliest gospel ever written.\n\n### Excerpts from the writings of church fathers: ###\n>*In the Gospel which the Nazarenes and the Ebionites use which we have recently translated from Hebrew to Greek, and which most people call **The Authentic Gospel of Matthew**...* \n\n>*In the **Gospel of the Hebrews**, written in the Chaldee and **Syriac language [Aramaic] but in Hebrew script**, and used by the Nazarenes to this day (I mean the Gospel of the Apostles, or, as it is generally maintained, the Gospel of Matthew, a copy of which is in the library at Caesarea)*\n\n>*Matthew, also called Levi, who used to be a tax collector and later an apostle, composed the Gospel of Christ, which was first published in Judea in **Hebrew script** for the sake of those of the circumcision who believed. This Gospel was **afterwards translated into Greek** (and the Greek has been lost) though by what author uncertain.* \n\n>*The **Hebrew original** has been preserved to this present day in the library of Caesarea, which Pamphilus diligently gathered. I have also had the opportunity of having this volume transcribed for me by the Nazarenes of Beroea, Syria, who use it.*\n\n### Christmas Story Absent in Original ###\n**The Christmas story was completely absent from the disciple Matthew's \"the gospel of the Hebrews\"**. The gospel of the Hebrews written by the disciple Matthew begins with the baptism of Jesus as do the canonical gospels of Mark and John and was **written in Aramaic and not Greek**. \n\nThe canonical gospel named \"The Gospel According to St Matthew\" was written in Greek by an unknown author. In the canonical gospel so-called Matthew, the **story of the nativity was a later addition most likely composed of hearsay**, some selected parts of other manuscripts that were extant at the time, and parts that were made up by the author to make his story convincing to his readers and principally made to coincide with the developing doctrines of the church at the time. \n\nBut the story of the birth of Jesus, obviously, is **mostly made up of the anonymous Greek author's fabrications**. None of the prophecies are found in any other place in the New Testament. These forgeries are unique to the canonical gospel called Matthew.\n\n>*\"most scholars now agree that the Gospel of Matthew found in the Bible was not written by Matthew, but composed posthumous to him.\" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gospel_of_the_Nazarenes#cite_note-The_Interpreters_Bible_1951.2C_p.64-66-10)*\n\nYou must understand that the contradictions that I bring forth are within the context of the canonical bible itself, not outside of it. When compared with manuscripts outside of the bible, the whole story gets a lot more surprising and even more illuminating in some very important aspects. \n\n### Contradictions ###\nSome things appear to be contradictions is because of the lack of information the authors of Matthew and Luke provide. This fact reveals that these gospels were not original, but were extracted from a manuscript(s) written in Aramaic. **However, the greatest fact that this reveals is that these authors left out important parts of the story and even corrupted the story**. \n\n### The Christmas story in the gospel called The Gospel According to Saint Matthew: ###\n* Was not written by the disciple Matthew, who spoke Aramaic\n* Was written by an author who spoke Greek and is unknown\n* Was not originally in this gospel, but added on at a later date\n* Has contradictions, forgeries and corruptions\n* Says Mary was a virgin which is non-existent in the original text\n* Refers to a prophecy in Isaiah mistranslated virgin instead of \"young woman\"\n* Says Jesus was begot of the holy ghost also not existent in original\n* An angel supposedly says his name shall be Jesus -- He was actually named Yeshua or Joshua\n* Refers to a prophecy says he would be called Emmanuel -- He was never called by this name\n* Removed from gospel \"thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee\", so as to not contradict  the virgin birth story that makes Jesus God Almighty incarnate\n* Jesus is supposed to be born in Bethlehem to fulfill prophecy -- Bethlehem is not a city in the so-called \"prophecy\", but a person\n* Herod supposedly killed babies according to prophecy -- but the OT passage is not even a prophecy, and the children were not murdered\n* If Herod actually did kill babies then Jesus had to have been born about 10 years earlier than we are told, since Herod died in 4 BC\n* No archaeological evidence of babies being killed in or around Bethlehem\n* Supposedly fulfills 'out of Egypt have I called my son' -- scripture is not even prophecy, but about Israel coming out of Egypt who are also idolaters (Jesus was not an idolater)\n* Supposed prophecy 'He shall be called a Nazarene' -- can be not found anywhere in Old Testament\n\n(See also part 1 of this series: https://steemit.com/christmas/@dpdoug/what-is-the-true-meaning-of-christmas-part-1)",
      "json_metadata": "{\"tags\":[\"christmas\",\"xmas\",\"gospel\",\"matthew\",\"hebrew\"],\"image\":[\"https://steemitimages.com/DQmY6QYGJyekWtX4fABD6UQAnjkzjbjK2ZZt2mNPCngp9o8/JosephAndMary.jpg\"],\"links\":[\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gospel_of_the_Nazarenes#cite_note-The_Interpreters_Bible_1951.2C_p.64-66-10\",\"https://steemit.com/christmas/@dpdoug/what-is-the-true-meaning-of-christmas-part-1\"],\"app\":\"steemit/0.1\",\"format\":\"markdown\"}"
    }
  ]
}

{
  "trx_id": "9bb39756a77894d5d64e2928d0238e9535441158",
  "block": 18214610,
  "trx_in_block": 33,
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "virtual_op": 0,
  "timestamp": "2017-12-19T06:03:36",
  "op": [
    "comment",
    {
      "parent_author": "",
      "parent_permlink": "christmas",
      "author": "dpdoug",
      "permlink": "what-is-the-true-meaning-of-christmas-part-1",
      "title": "What is the true meaning of Christmas? Part 1",
      "body": "@@ -13820,16 +13820,24 @@\n lie and \n+frankly \n don't re\n",
      "json_metadata": "{\"tags\":[\"christmas\",\"santa\",\"forgeries\",\"jesus\",\"cocacola\"],\"image\":[\"https://steemitimages.com/DQmWSa34ZJp3gfLrJb3s4qTvmytF1NEbaW1BF7z2VJbGaeU/SantaClaus2.jpg\"],\"app\":\"steemit/0.1\",\"format\":\"markdown\"}"
    }
  ]
}

{
  "trx_id": "d97b9cf9fe8692b034a5c386462c0a5b02df27e2",
  "block": 18214500,
  "trx_in_block": 8,
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "virtual_op": 0,
  "timestamp": "2017-12-19T05:58:06",
  "op": [
    "vote",
    {
      "voter": "hiren03",
      "author": "dpdoug",
      "permlink": "what-is-the-true-meaning-of-christmas-part-1",
      "weight": 10000
    }
  ]
}

{
  "trx_id": "f2dca0008e7d5b78d3782127b2bf246639f652f6",
  "block": 18214497,
  "trx_in_block": 28,
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "virtual_op": 0,
  "timestamp": "2017-12-19T05:57:57",
  "op": [
    "transfer",
    {
      "from": "hottopic",
      "to": "dpdoug",
      "amount": "0.001 STEEM",
      "memo": "Hello dpdoug. I Followed you.If you follow me, I'll be happy.Thanks :)"
    }
  ]
}

{
  "trx_id": "5cb454444680c3c260b7019b5c4632125f1e7f06",
  "block": 18214494,
  "trx_in_block": 27,
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "virtual_op": 0,
  "timestamp": "2017-12-19T05:57:48",
  "op": [
    "vote",
    {
      "voter": "dpdoug",
      "author": "dpdoug",
      "permlink": "what-is-the-true-meaning-of-christmas-part-1",
      "weight": 10000
    }
  ]
}

{
  "trx_id": "5cb454444680c3c260b7019b5c4632125f1e7f06",
  "block": 18214494,
  "trx_in_block": 27,
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "virtual_op": 0,
  "timestamp": "2017-12-19T05:57:48",
  "op": [
    "comment",
    {
      "parent_author": "",
      "parent_permlink": "christmas",
      "author": "dpdoug",
      "permlink": "what-is-the-true-meaning-of-christmas-part-1",
      "title": "What is the true meaning of Christmas? Part 1",
      "body": "The majority of Christians celebrate Christmas on the 25th of December. They share presents, spend lots of money and many get further into debt. This is probably the most lucrative times of year for commerce. \n\n![SantaClaus2.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmWSa34ZJp3gfLrJb3s4qTvmytF1NEbaW1BF7z2VJbGaeU/SantaClaus2.jpg)\n\nBut what does that have to with the birth of Christ which is supposed to be the real meaning of Christmas? They buy all kinds of trees and decorate them, put their presents under the tree. What does the Christmas tree have to do with Christmas? Most Christians even know that Dec 25th isn't really the real birth date of Christ, but who cares? And old saint Nick, AKA Santa Claus, is the great bringer of gifts the parents tell their children. \n\nBut what does Santa Claus have to do with Christmas, either? Well, most kids discover pretty quickly who it really is that brings the gifts. Some kids are really emotionally marked by the deception, but \"oh well, they'll get over it\". Of course, the real meaning of Christmas is the birth of Christ and the celebration of God's coming to the world in the form of flesh for the salvation of the world. Now all true Christians eventually tell their kids about the true meaning of Christmas, and the story of the nativity according to the bible. For many Christians this is one of the only times that they set foot in a church, except for funerals, weddings and occasionally Easter. \n\n### Praying to Santa ###\nSo kids get Santa Claus which replaces the nativity story. What happens is, since many of them find out Santa Claus was just a fantasy story, so is the baby Jesus story, and how can you blame them? Then for those who aren't disillusioned with the baby Jesus story, they are supposed to \"swallow it hook, line and sinker\". They are told that the bible is the true history of what really happened and is the inerrant word of God. In the bible, the Christ becomes the saviour of the world, being born in Bethlehem (or was it Nazareth?). \n\nHe is born of a virgin, which means that he is actually \"God incarnate\". Joseph, Mary's husband finds out that she's pregnant and he's never even had sex with her! Since Christ is born of a virgin, that makes him the Son of God, which translates into God comes to earth in the form of a human being. \n\nSince prophecy says that he will be the new king of Israel, Herod the current king, decides he will kill all the children to make sure that he will eliminate any competition. So according to the story, Joseph and Mary flee to Egypt to protect baby Jesus and when they hear that Herod is dead they return to Nazareth. \n\nBut is the bible really inerrant? But what is the reality? **Is the true meaning of Christmas really true? Beside God there is no Saviour**.  The problem is Jesus couldn't possibly be God and the Messiah -- both. And since bible prophecy makes Jesus the Messiah, Jesus couldn't possibly be God. So, since Jesus was not God, this creates another polemic. If there is no saviour but God and there is no other God but Jehovah (Hos 13:4), then how is it that the New Testament calls Jesus a Saviour?\n\n> Isa 43:11 I, even I, am the LORD, and **beside me there is no saviour**. \n\n> Isa 45:21 and **there is no God else beside me**, a just God and a Saviour, there is none beside me. \n\n> Hos 13:4 Yet I am the LORD thy God from the land of Egypt, and thou shalt know no god but me: for **there is no saviour beside me**.\n\nIn the New Testament it does call Jesus a \"Saviour\", however if by calling Jesus a saviour means he is God, then there is either a contradiction here and/or the New Testament has been liberally adulterated to make Jesus look like God come to earth in the flesh -- as was the intention of the Trinitarians. There are exactly 24 verses in the New Testament that use the word \"Saviour\". Eight times this word is used calling God the saviour, and 16 times this word is referring to Jesus Christ. \n\n### Saviour of the World ###\nNow this makes it look like it is saying that since God is called saviour and so also is Jesus called saviour, that Jesus and God are one in the same person. \n\nHowever, knowing how drastically the bible has been forged, falsified and modified from its original form, it is only logical the assume that these verses were changed at a later date to fit the changing church doctrines of the day -- especially seeing that the men who modified the bible were trying to make the whole New Testament coincide with the developing doctrine of the church at the time that Jesus became God Almighty in the flesh. And there is absolutely NO proof that this isn't the case. \n\nThe evidence all points to the fact that the epistles have been radically modified from their original state. Even the majority of Jewish believers during the first century did not agree with the roman church that taught Jesus was God Almighty come in the flesh -- this is basically what all the bickering and fighting was all about during the first three centuries. \n\n### Forgeries as early as the second century ###\n\nFrom recent discoveries of ancient manuscripts, it has been discovered that copies of the Gospel of Matthew were in circulation in the second century that did not include the forgery of the virgin birth. This forgery was added many decades after the writing of the original. In the original manuscript, the genealogy of Jesus is different in that Joseph is the biological father of Jesus and not the holy ghost. \n\nTheoretically, (and according to Christology) Jesus could only be God if the holy ghost were his father, but since Joseph had to be his father for him to be the Messiah, this is impossible. In a Syriac variant of the gospel of Matthew from the second century Joseph is explicitly referred to as the father of Jesus. A Greek variant says: \"And Joseph begat Jesus, the one called Christ.\" \n\nNeither the Syriac nor the Greek variant contain the story of the virgin birth. This means that the story of Jesus being the incarnation of God and the story of the virgin were forged into the document only during the second century and copies of this gospel were circulating without this myth. \n\nIn the Syriac manuscript the translation reads:\n\n> \"Eliud begat Eleazar, Eleazar begat Matthan, Matthan begat Jacob, Jacob begat Joseph, Joseph, to whom was betrothed a young woman, Mary, begat Jesus who is called Messiah.\"\n\n**Joseph begat Jesus** and Mary is not referred to as a virgin, but a **young woman**. This in itself reveals that the church modified scripture to try to convince the world of their myth that Mary was a virgin and Jesus was born of a \"virgin birth\" without a biological father. This they had to do to make it look like Jesus was born a god. \n\n### Men dared to change the very words of the Bible! ###\n\nIn quotations of church fathers such as Justin Martyr, Clement of Alexandria, Augustine, and others the original version of the baptism of Jesus has God speaking these words to Jesus:\n\n> \"You are my son, **today** have I begotten thee.\" (Luke 3:22)\n\n**Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee** \n\nThe original verse shows that Jesus was first recognized as God's son at the time of baptism. But a forger altered it make it read similar to what we have in the King James Version of the bible today:\n\n> \"You are my son, whom I love.\" (This is my son in whom I am well pleased -- King James Version)\n\nIt was purposely altered to conform the gospels to the current church dogma that Jesus became the son of God at his birth, that is he was the \"incarnation of God\", the result of a virgin birth begotten by the holy ghost as is described in Matthew and Luke and even before the creation as inferred in John chapter one, and not at his baptism. \n\n**The very words of God were completely edited out of the story** in the gospel of John chapter one, since with the first forged passages of John one, attempting to show Jesus as God himself would have created an **obvious contradiction**. In fact, in the story of the baptism of Jesus this declaration to Jesus by God is missing in all four gospels, which proves without a shadow of doubt that **heavy corruption of the gospels** were carried out at the hands of men who dared to change the words of the Bible! \n\n### Where was Jesus born? ###\n\nAccording to a \"prophecy\" quoted in the gospels Jesus was to be born in city of Bethlehem -- Matthew 2:1-6, Luke 2:4-7 and John 7:42.\n\n> \"But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you one will go forth for me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity.\"\n\nHowever, \"Ephrathah\" is the old name for Bethlehem (Genesis 35:19, Ruth 4:11) which is not a city but a person.  What complicates things more is that \"Bethlehem Ephrathah\" is the name of the son of Ephrathah (1 Chronicles 4:4, 2:50-51). **Bethlehem Ephrathah is not the name of a city**. So the writer of Matthew most certainly invented this story to make it look like Jesus was fulfilling messianic prophecy in the Old Testament. Furthermore, if this were a prophecy about the Messiah, then Jesus was disqualified since Jesus was never a \"ruler in Israel\".\n\n> \"Everyone thinks \"Bethlehem\" is a place, and indeed there were towns named \"House of Bread\" in Judea and in Galilee, but...the term Bethlehem-Ephrath/Ephratah is the name of a clan of Judah--children of Caleb through Hur, who was the firstborn of an extraordinary woman named Ephrathah...\"(Tabor, 2006)\n\nOutside of Matthew and Luke there are no other places that say he was from Bethlehem, but the rest of the bible contradicts these claims saying that he was from (or born in) Nazareth in Galilee. In fact, Jesus is always referred to as Jesus of Nazareth and never Jesus of Bethlehem. So one of these two authors were trying to link Jesus with Bethlehem in an attempt to strengthen the church's claim that Jesus was Israel's Messiah and the other author just copied what the first had written. According to the rest of the bible, Jesus was born in Nazareth. \n\n### King Herod killing children ###\n\nThe writer of Matthew quotes a supposed prophecy from Jeremiah:\n\n> \"A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and she refused to be comforted, because they were no more.\" (Matthew 2:16-18, Jeremiah 31:15)\n\nThis is not a prophesy about killing innocent children, it is referring to the mother of Joseph and Benjamin crying about their children being taken captive into Egypt. If you read the passage in context it is referring to the captivity of children and NOT a prophecy about the murder of children by Herod. The writer of Matthew is the only one in the New Testament to have mentioned this event. \n\nIn fact, if you read on to the next 2 verses, and read it in context, you will see that the **children were NOT killed at all** but God promises them that they would return from the land of the enemy! This is false prophecy -- in the bible itself!\n\nEven Flavius Josephus, a famous historian who carefully wrote about all the wrong-doings of Herod, would certainly have written about this horrific event. But he says **not a word** about this, which is a strong indication that this is a forgery created by the writer of the gospel of Matthew. Moreover, there is no evidence at all, from archaeology that this ever happened. \n\nThe writer of Luke says (Luke 2:2) that Mary was pregnant with Jesus during the census of Quirinius (Luke 2:2). However, the problem with this is that the census was in 6 AD and Herod died way before this in 4 BC as most historians believe. There are a few historians that put Herod's death in 1 AD, however this still puts Jesus' birth at least 5 years after King Herod's death -- more forgery in the bible!\n\n### The flight into Egypt ###\n\nThe writer of Matthew goes on to claim that to protect the child from Herod's supposed murders, the child Jesus was taken to Egypt.\n\n>Mat 2:15 \"that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled, saying, 'Out of Egypt did I call my son.'\"\n\nThis verse references Hosea 11:1 which is not even a prophecy. It is talking about the exodus of the Jews from Egypt. This is an obvious forgery. What's more is that the the people that the passage in Hosea refers to are idolaters! \n\n### Where did Jesus grow up? ###\n\nThe writer of Matthew again uses his creativity saying that Jesus's parents took him and they set up their home in Nazareth:\n\n> Mat 2:23 \"... that what was spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, 'He shall be called a Nazarene.'\"\n\nThe problem with this is that there is no such prophecy in the Old Testament. Some claim that this verse refers to Judges 13:5, however this is not a prophecy either but it is the angel telling Samson's mother that he would be a \"Nazirite\", it has nothing to do with the city of Nazareth.\n\n### City of Nazareth ###\n\nA Nazirite is one who has taken special vows to abstain from wine, not cut his hair, etc., a Nazarene is a person who lives in the city of  Nazareth. What's more is that if it is true that Jesus drank wine as the New Testament says he did (and even turned water into wine), then Jesus wasn't even a Nazirite (unless only for a short time). \n\n### Santa Claus! ###\n\nThe myth of Santa Claus has nothing on the so-called \"nativity of Jesus\". There are so many forgeries, contradictions and inconsistencies in the \"real meaning of Christmas\" myth that even most adults are not able to see though this one -- but even children can eventually see through the lie of old Saint Nick. \n\nNo one even knows the birth date of Jesus, but Christians just go along with what the church has told them: that his birthday is to be celebrated December 25th. However, this date is actually the birth date of the pagan god Mithras (also a myth). \n\nPeople know it's a lie and don't really even care! Finally, who is Santa Claus and what does he really have to do with Christmas? Nothing actually. On one hand, Santa Claus was on the most part popularized by the Coca Cola company as an advertisement to push their unhealthy drink. On the other hand, he has everything to do with the representation of real spirit of Christmas, which is nothing more than commerce pushing its materialism on people to make billions of dollars for big business.",
      "json_metadata": "{\"tags\":[\"christmas\",\"santa\",\"forgeries\",\"jesus\",\"cocacola\"],\"image\":[\"https://steemitimages.com/DQmWSa34ZJp3gfLrJb3s4qTvmytF1NEbaW1BF7z2VJbGaeU/SantaClaus2.jpg\"],\"app\":\"steemit/0.1\",\"format\":\"markdown\"}"
    }
  ]
}

{
  "trx_id": "2edd91b6156d30c4088cdcb8cdc4eeb42847e305",
  "block": 18210258,
  "trx_in_block": 29,
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "virtual_op": 0,
  "timestamp": "2017-12-19T02:25:54",
  "op": [
    "custom_json",
    {
      "required_auths": [],
      "required_posting_auths": [
        "dpdoug"
      ],
      "id": "follow",
      "json": "[\"follow\",{\"follower\":\"dpdoug\",\"following\":\"hermansanchezg\",\"what\":[\"blog\"]}]"
    }
  ]
}

{
  "trx_id": "427ff9bf7126f1ff4d2ffad866df47165febb45b",
  "block": 18158465,
  "trx_in_block": 13,
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "virtual_op": 0,
  "timestamp": "2017-12-17T07:16:03",
  "op": [
    "custom_json",
    {
      "required_auths": [],
      "required_posting_auths": [
        "dpdoug"
      ],
      "id": "follow",
      "json": "[\"reblog\",{\"account\":\"dpdoug\",\"author\":\"sawdah\",\"permlink\":\"3frvqy-amazing-photography\"}]"
    }
  ]
}

{
  "trx_id": "4f3f914ca278166094d28298a13d4b3dbee7e54b",
  "block": 18157964,
  "trx_in_block": 13,
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "virtual_op": 0,
  "timestamp": "2017-12-17T06:51:00",
  "op": [
    "comment",
    {
      "parent_author": "lasseehlers",
      "parent_permlink": "how-to-get-more-votes-on-steemit-tips-and-tricks",
      "author": "dpdoug",
      "permlink": "re-lasseehlers-how-to-get-more-votes-on-steemit-tips-and-tricks-20171217t064544293z",
      "title": "",
      "body": "@@ -134,16 +134,28 @@\n ike so: \n+%3Cp%3E%3Ca href=%22\n https://\n@@ -179,10 +179,35 @@\n ug/posts\n+%22 %3EDavid Douglass%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E\n  ?\n",
      "json_metadata": "{\"tags\":[\"steemit\"],\"users\":[\"lasseehlers\"],\"app\":\"steemit/0.1\",\"links\":[\"https://steemit.com/@dpdoug/posts\"]}"
    }
  ]
}

{
  "trx_id": "c6e056d737c68ee785e202b73403a67a7779fbbd",
  "block": 18157929,
  "trx_in_block": 35,
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "virtual_op": 0,
  "timestamp": "2017-12-17T06:49:15",
  "op": [
    "comment",
    {
      "parent_author": "lasseehlers",
      "parent_permlink": "how-to-get-more-votes-on-steemit-tips-and-tricks",
      "author": "dpdoug",
      "permlink": "re-lasseehlers-how-to-get-more-votes-on-steemit-tips-and-tricks-20171217t064544293z",
      "title": "",
      "body": "@@ -158,53 +158,19 @@\n com/\n-introduceyourself/@dpdoug/welcome-me-to-steemit\n+@dpdoug/posts\n  ?\n",
      "json_metadata": "{\"tags\":[\"steemit\"],\"users\":[\"lasseehlers\"],\"app\":\"steemit/0.1\",\"links\":[\"https://steemit.com/@dpdoug/posts\"]}"
    }
  ]
}

{
  "trx_id": "8b763dee7c6ca3a62d9c8591b33cae80e22d5d1b",
  "block": 18157907,
  "trx_in_block": 8,
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "virtual_op": 0,
  "timestamp": "2017-12-17T06:48:09",
  "op": [
    "comment",
    {
      "parent_author": "lasseehlers",
      "parent_permlink": "how-to-get-more-votes-on-steemit-tips-and-tricks",
      "author": "dpdoug",
      "permlink": "re-lasseehlers-how-to-get-more-votes-on-steemit-tips-and-tricks-20171217t064544293z",
      "title": "",
      "body": "@@ -197,12 +197,14 @@\n e-to-steemit\n+ ?\n",
      "json_metadata": "{\"tags\":[\"steemit\"],\"users\":[\"lasseehlers\"],\"app\":\"steemit/0.1\",\"links\":[\"https://steemit.com/introduceyourself/@dpdoug/welcome-me-to-steemit\"]}"
    }
  ]
}

{
  "trx_id": "7b127361bbae8f002bb2585c360f0fd6429860aa",
  "block": 18157898,
  "trx_in_block": 11,
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "virtual_op": 0,
  "timestamp": "2017-12-17T06:47:42",
  "op": [
    "comment",
    {
      "parent_author": "lasseehlers",
      "parent_permlink": "how-to-get-more-votes-on-steemit-tips-and-tricks",
      "author": "dpdoug",
      "permlink": "re-lasseehlers-how-to-get-more-votes-on-steemit-tips-and-tricks-20171217t064544293z",
      "title": "",
      "body": "@@ -83,8 +83,126 @@\n t it is?\n+ Is it the username with a '@' before it? Like so: https://steemit.com/introduceyourself/@dpdoug/welcome-me-to-steemit\n",
      "json_metadata": "{\"tags\":[\"steemit\"],\"users\":[\"lasseehlers\"],\"app\":\"steemit/0.1\",\"links\":[\"https://steemit.com/introduceyourself/@dpdoug/welcome-me-to-steemit\"]}"
    }
  ]
}

{
  "trx_id": "79c3bcacadc54f980c087fd54a6e0fca5db3ca54",
  "block": 18157859,
  "trx_in_block": 0,
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "virtual_op": 0,
  "timestamp": "2017-12-17T06:45:45",
  "op": [
    "comment",
    {
      "parent_author": "lasseehlers",
      "parent_permlink": "how-to-get-more-votes-on-steemit-tips-and-tricks",
      "author": "dpdoug",
      "permlink": "re-lasseehlers-how-to-get-more-votes-on-steemit-tips-and-tricks-20171217t064544293z",
      "title": "",
      "body": "How do you know what to substitute for the @lasseehlers -- how do you discover what it is?",
      "json_metadata": "{\"tags\":[\"steemit\"],\"users\":[\"lasseehlers\"],\"app\":\"steemit/0.1\"}"
    }
  ]
}

{
  "trx_id": "c62e2a7cd1c810ca8aeeb2d0f098e77f49c7bcfa",
  "block": 18157718,
  "trx_in_block": 10,
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "virtual_op": 0,
  "timestamp": "2017-12-17T06:38:42",
  "op": [
    "custom_json",
    {
      "required_auths": [],
      "required_posting_auths": [
        "dpdoug"
      ],
      "id": "follow",
      "json": "[\"follow\",{\"follower\":\"dpdoug\",\"following\":\"ormus\",\"what\":[\"blog\"]}]"
    }
  ]
}

{
  "trx_id": "e38a2d8607cfadd071105eddea8538f1a6b0f7ca",
  "block": 17634456,
  "trx_in_block": 0,
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "virtual_op": 0,
  "timestamp": "2017-11-29T02:24:27",
  "op": [
    "vote",
    {
      "voter": "zapper",
      "author": "dpdoug",
      "permlink": "turnabout-is-fair-play-bitcoin",
      "weight": 1500
    }
  ]
}

{
  "trx_id": "38b389c773978182ea44438a8625f87749decfb6",
  "block": 17634455,
  "trx_in_block": 16,
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "virtual_op": 0,
  "timestamp": "2017-11-29T02:24:24",
  "op": [
    "vote",
    {
      "voter": "primetimesports",
      "author": "dpdoug",
      "permlink": "turnabout-is-fair-play-bitcoin",
      "weight": 2
    }
  ]
}

{
  "trx_id": "a13dce7ddf2676c14dbff4d77d43bd8ab10cc03d",
  "block": 17634454,
  "trx_in_block": 4,
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "virtual_op": 0,
  "timestamp": "2017-11-29T02:24:21",
  "op": [
    "vote",
    {
      "voter": "fivestargroup",
      "author": "dpdoug",
      "permlink": "turnabout-is-fair-play-bitcoin",
      "weight": 2
    }
  ]
}

{
  "trx_id": "7c7dba159378c5d8e562f6e47f32a97e6d88adf4",
  "block": 17634436,
  "trx_in_block": 18,
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "virtual_op": 0,
  "timestamp": "2017-11-29T02:23:27",
  "op": [
    "comment",
    {
      "parent_author": "",
      "parent_permlink": "bitcoin",
      "author": "dpdoug",
      "permlink": "turnabout-is-fair-play-bitcoin",
      "title": "Turnabout Is Fair Play: Bitcoin",
      "body": "@@ -5407,16 +5407,17 @@\n ockchain\n+,\n  the mid\n",
      "json_metadata": "{\"tags\":[\"bitcoin\",\"entitlements\",\"disruption\",\"economy\"],\"app\":\"steemit/0.1\",\"format\":\"markdown\",\"image\":[\"http://truthorheresy.com/Images/fdr.jpg\"]}"
    }
  ]
}

{
  "trx_id": "023667864e5301e3d820627dcd19375296018ef4",
  "block": 17551506,
  "trx_in_block": 19,
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "virtual_op": 0,
  "timestamp": "2017-11-26T05:14:24",
  "op": [
    "comment",
    {
      "parent_author": "",
      "parent_permlink": "bitcoin",
      "author": "dpdoug",
      "permlink": "turnabout-is-fair-play-bitcoin",
      "title": "Turnabout Is Fair Play: Bitcoin",
      "body": "@@ -4583,16 +4583,83 @@\n id of it\n+ -- there is a serious chance that the Blockchain will replace them\n . Bitcoi\n@@ -5193,16 +5193,39 @@\n %E2%80%99s worth\n+ and not the government\n .%0A%0AWe ar\n@@ -5502,20 +5502,25 @@\n d cash. \n-They\n+Middlemen\n  will si\n@@ -5695,28 +5695,34 @@\n  of \n-what they have to do\n+being slaves in order just\n  to \n",
      "json_metadata": "{\"tags\":[\"bitcoin\",\"entitlements\",\"disruption\",\"economy\"],\"app\":\"steemit/0.1\",\"format\":\"markdown\",\"image\":[\"http://truthorheresy.com/Images/fdr.jpg\"]}"
    }
  ]
}

{
  "trx_id": "0000000000000000000000000000000000000000",
  "block": 17549494,
  "trx_in_block": 4294967295,
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "virtual_op": 3,
  "timestamp": "2017-11-26T03:33:51",
  "op": [
    "author_reward",
    {
      "author": "dpdoug",
      "permlink": "i-am-an-ex-christian",
      "sbd_payout": "0.017 SBD",
      "steem_payout": "0.000 STEEM",
      "vesting_payout": "39.004767 VESTS"
    }
  ]
}

{
  "trx_id": "443fcbcf3070027ccc8b374b2763e0b90c09866a",
  "block": 17538871,
  "trx_in_block": 11,
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "virtual_op": 0,
  "timestamp": "2017-11-25T18:42:39",
  "op": [
    "comment",
    {
      "parent_author": "",
      "parent_permlink": "forgery",
      "author": "dpdoug",
      "permlink": "matthew-severely-corrupted",
      "title": "Matthew: Severely Corrupted",
      "body": "@@ -2848,17 +2848,16 @@\n urrence.\n- \n ** Even \n",
      "json_metadata": "{\"tags\":[\"forgery\",\"messiah\",\"contradictions\",\"bible\",\"trinity\"],\"image\":[\"http://truthorheresy.com/Images/JesusBaptised.jpg\"],\"app\":\"steemit/0.1\",\"format\":\"markdown\"}"
    }
  ]
}

{
  "trx_id": "9b5c044133183c25c63c09a5f9ad0f3cf2f1ac79",
  "block": 17538687,
  "trx_in_block": 12,
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "virtual_op": 0,
  "timestamp": "2017-11-25T18:33:27",
  "op": [
    "vote",
    {
      "voter": "dpdoug",
      "author": "dpdoug",
      "permlink": "matthew-severely-corrupted",
      "weight": 10000
    }
  ]
}

{
  "trx_id": "9b5c044133183c25c63c09a5f9ad0f3cf2f1ac79",
  "block": 17538687,
  "trx_in_block": 12,
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "virtual_op": 0,
  "timestamp": "2017-11-25T18:33:27",
  "op": [
    "comment",
    {
      "parent_author": "",
      "parent_permlink": "forgery",
      "author": "dpdoug",
      "permlink": "matthew-severely-corrupted",
      "title": "Matthew: Severely Corrupted",
      "body": "The gospel of Matthew has been severely corrupted in the bible if it was the same one originally written by the disciple Matthew. Matthew's gospel, originally known as the gospel of the Hebrews, began with the baptism of Jesus. St Matthew in the bible begins with a chapter devoted to the birth of Jesus. Whoever the correctors were, or the ones who added the first three chapters to the original, had basically two motives in mind: to prove that Jesus was the Messiah and to prove that Jesus was God incarnate. \n\n### Chapter One: the greatest contradiction in the bible taught as truth ###\n\nHowever, what most readers don't realize is that these two ideas contradict each other: by inserting Jesus' genealogy they are trying to prove that he was a direct descendant of David and Solomon as a fulfillment of the Messianic prophecy and at the same time showing that Mary was a virgin at his birth in an attempt to prove that Jesus was God incarnate. \n\nAnd why else would the writer have inserted the whole genealogy from king David to Joseph if it weren't for the purpose of showing that Jesus was qualified to be the Messiah being a flesh and blood son of Joseph? Then to say that Mary was a virgin when Jesus was born is a **glaring contradiction**.\n\nMat 1:22, 23 Is a quote from Isaiah 7:14 \"Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.\" However, it turns out (Isaiah 8) that the son in the prophesy is about **Isaiah's son, and his wife was NOT a virgin**. The word *\"virgin\"* was incorrectly translated, it should have been a *\"young woman\"*. This was not even a prophecy but a sign to king Ahaz **years before Jesus' birth**. So Mat 1:18-25 could only be forgery and falsehood.\n\nFor Jesus to legitimately qualify to be the Messiah, king of Israel, he had to be a **flesh and blood descendant** of king David according to Messianic prophecy. For him to qualify as God incarnate, according to Christology, he could not have a flesh and blood father, but his mother had to be a virgin. It is likely that Joseph's genealogy is genuine, but for Jesus to qualify as the legitimate king of the Jews, Joseph had to be his biological father. These two concepts are **diametrically contradictory**. \n\n### Chapter Two: Jesus as Messiah King of the Jews ###\n\nIn this chapter the author tries to use passages from the Old Testament to reinforce the concept presented in chapter one, that Jesus was the Messiah.\n\nMat 2:1-6 The author claims there that Jesus fulfills the prophecy of Mic 5:2, by saying Jesus was born in Bethlehem. However, Bethlehem Ephratah was **not a city but a person**. This is corruption and falsehood.\n\nMat 2:16 Herod kills all the children in and around Bethlehem under 2 years old trying to kill Jesus. However, **none of the historians of this time, outside the bible, even mentions this occurrence. ** Even the great historian, Josephus, who lived during the first century and wrote about all the horrible deeds of Herod, ever said a word about the famous, so-called \"slaughter of the innocents\". What's more, **Herod was already dead before Jesus was even born**. More corruption and falsehood.\n\nMat 2:17, 18 Supposedly fulfillment of Jer 31:15: \"A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping\". However, this verse in Jeremiah was **not even a prophecy**. It was about **the children being taken captive into a foreign country, NOT killed**. This becomes obvious in the very next verse where God says, **\"and they shall come again from the land of the enemy\"**, and even more obvious in Jer 31:17 where it says, \"And there is hope in thine end, saith the LORD, that **thy children shall come again to their own border**.\" Again more corruption and falsehood.\n\nMat 2:15 Supposedly fulfilling the prophecy of Hos 11:1 which says *\"and called my son out of Egypt\"*. However that very verse starts out *\"When Israel was a child\"*. In the Old Testament Israel is frequently called *\"my son\"* -- so **my son is Israel, not Jesus**. What's more, the very next verse says that *\"**they** sacrificed unto Baalim, and burned incense to graven images\"*. This is definitely about Israel coming out of Egypt, not Jesus. **Jesus was not an idolater**. Still more corruption and falsehood.\n\nMat 2:23 Supposed to be fulfilling some prophecy spoken by the prophets: *\"He shall be called a Nazarene\"*. However, there is **not a verse in the entire Old Testament** like this to be found. It's hard to believe that how that people would fall for this. \n\nIn Chapter two there are at least **five lies** that the author inserts to back his story with the intention of convincing the reader that Jesus was the Messiah. But in fact, these are not even the things that the Messiah had to do in order to fulfill Messiahship.\n\n### The following are prophecies the Messiah were supposed to fulfill: ###\n\n1) Build the **third temple** in Jerusalem.\n2) Usher in an era of **world peace**.\n3) **Bring all the Jews back** to the land of Israel.\n4) Be a **flesh and blood descendant** of King David.\n5) **Spread the universal knowledge** of the God of Israel.\n6) Put an **end to all idolatry**.\n\nAccording to these biblical requirements **Jesus did NOT qualify as the Messiah**. What's more is that there is **nowhere** in the Messianic prophecies that Messiah would be murdered and **return a second time** and fulfill the prophecies that he didn't fulfill in his first coming.\n\n### Chapter Three: Jesus as God incarnate ###\n\nChapter three starts out with the baptism of Jesus and is only 17 verses long, however it has one of the most serious corruptions of the gospel of St Matthew. The author takes a different angle and tries to prove that Jesus is God incarnate by **removing the original text of the gospel**. This is corruption and falsehood in its worst form. It is wicked and deceptive.\n\nVerse 17 says *\"This is my son in whom I am well pleased\"*. In the most ancient manuscripts are God's words to Jesus at his baptism: *\"Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee\"*. **This very important statement has been removed**, since when **Jesus BECAME a son when he was already an adult**, this could only have been God using a metaphor. \n\nhttp://truthorheresy.com/Images/JesusBaptised.jpg\n\n**Jesus was NOT a literal son. He was NOT born The Son of God** -- in other words, God incarnate. The words *\"Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee\"* were most certainly in the original manuscript since this passage is quoted in Hebrews 1:5; 5:5, Psa 2:7 and Act 13:33. The redactors neglected to remove this passage from Hebrews and Acts. Plus many church fathers quoted this verse from ancient manuscripts. More corruption.\n\nHe was also referred to in Heb 5:6 as the *\"**first begotten**\" into the world*. Since this would not be literal and Jesus is a first begotten, that means there is a second begotten, a third begotten, etc. **He is not an ONLY begotten**. Where it says only begotten anywhere in the New Testament, this can only be either a purposeful mistranslation or a forgery. \n\nIn fact, the original gospel written by the actual disciple Matthew, says, *\"You are **My first begotten Son** that prevails forever\"*. It also says, *\"Today I have begotten You\"*.\n\nAccording to messianic prophecy Messiah would be a flesh and blood descendant of King David, therefore he could not be God, since according to Christology Jesus was supposed to have been born of a virgin. What's more, God is not a man and could not sire a son according to Jewish teaching. \n\n### Chapter 28: The Unscriptural Trinity ###\n\n> *Mat 28:19  Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:* (it was changed from \"in my name\" to give credence to the false doctrine of the Trinity)\n\nThis is probably a later forgery, later than the previous ones since it is an attempt to prove the validity of the \"Holy Trinity\", which is not even biblical. This passage is recognized by many scholars as forgery. Several church fathers quote this verse from earlier documents that do not have the part \"Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost\", but only *\"**in my name**\"*. \n\nIn this last chapter of St Matthew, the correctors or the Trinitarians, corrupt the very words of Jesus in and effort to try to prove that the Jesus and God are one in the same god. But then they throw in the Holy Ghost to make them into a triune god that would make it easy for the pagans to swallow.\n\n### Conclusion: ###\n\nProbably the first gospel written, the gospel of Matthew was corrupted to make Jesus a god-man and at the same time turning him into a messiah that did not, in fact, meet the qualifications. It is basically on these two false, contradictory assumptions that almost everything in the other gospels are based. \n\nHaving so many falsehoods and lies, there is no way that the four gospels can be trusted as the 100% truth, inerrant, *word of God*, let alone a good part of the rest of the New Testament that is supposed to be based on those gospels. It is not to say that there is no truth in the New Testament, but with so many lies and contradictions how is one to know the difference between what is false and what is true?\n\n**Introduction to the New Testament:** *\"The Christian can only mitigate the disrespect he feels for plagiarists and impostors by the reflection that the conscience of the second century had practically no recognition for those literary crimes, rampant as they then were in the Church\" (p. 168). Yet it is the product of these \"literary crimes\" that believers put their faith in when they read their Bibles today!* -- B.W. Bacon",
      "json_metadata": "{\"tags\":[\"forgery\",\"messiah\",\"contradictions\",\"bible\",\"trinity\"],\"image\":[\"http://truthorheresy.com/Images/JesusBaptised.jpg\"],\"app\":\"steemit/0.1\",\"format\":\"markdown\"}"
    }
  ]
}

{
  "trx_id": "689377cab25d3fe241b8771f6831fabca1564941",
  "block": 17523799,
  "trx_in_block": 5,
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "virtual_op": 0,
  "timestamp": "2017-11-25T06:08:54",
  "op": [
    "comment",
    {
      "parent_author": "",
      "parent_permlink": "christianity",
      "author": "dpdoug",
      "permlink": "i-am-an-ex-christian",
      "title": "I AM an Ex-Christian",
      "body": "@@ -855,16 +855,81 @@\n t is. %0A%0A\n+http://truthorheresy.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/har_cf2.jpg%0A%0A\n **I'm NO\n",
      "json_metadata": "{\"tags\":[\"christianity\",\"ex-christian\",\"truth\"],\"links\":[\"http://truthorheresy.com/ex-christian\"],\"app\":\"steemit/0.1\",\"format\":\"markdown\",\"image\":[\"http://truthorheresy.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/har_cf2.jpg\"]}"
    }
  ]
}

{
  "trx_id": "3e46ad5213b355a0900362d895ff4dae3e48eb57",
  "block": 17523632,
  "trx_in_block": 27,
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "virtual_op": 0,
  "timestamp": "2017-11-25T06:00:33",
  "op": [
    "comment",
    {
      "parent_author": "",
      "parent_permlink": "bitcoin",
      "author": "dpdoug",
      "permlink": "turnabout-is-fair-play-bitcoin",
      "title": "Turnabout Is Fair Play: Bitcoin",
      "body": "@@ -5734,14 +5734,8 @@\n  to \n-doing \n what\n@@ -5753,24 +5753,33 @@\n supposed to \n+be doing \n all along %E2%80%93 \n",
      "json_metadata": "{\"tags\":[\"bitcoin\",\"entitlements\",\"disruption\",\"economy\"],\"app\":\"steemit/0.1\",\"format\":\"markdown\",\"image\":[\"http://truthorheresy.com/Images/fdr.jpg\"]}"
    }
  ]
}

{
  "trx_id": "c035f8e989afd59501b3e9c8df0e4592160ee4fb",
  "block": 17523487,
  "trx_in_block": 16,
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "virtual_op": 0,
  "timestamp": "2017-11-25T05:53:18",
  "op": [
    "vote",
    {
      "voter": "hotrix",
      "author": "dpdoug",
      "permlink": "turnabout-is-fair-play-bitcoin",
      "weight": 3000
    }
  ]
}

{
  "trx_id": "3456f6a63575de3b7967a7bf70538860734986ae",
  "block": 17523486,
  "trx_in_block": 28,
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "virtual_op": 0,
  "timestamp": "2017-11-25T05:53:15",
  "op": [
    "comment",
    {
      "parent_author": "",
      "parent_permlink": "bitcoin",
      "author": "dpdoug",
      "permlink": "turnabout-is-fair-play-bitcoin",
      "title": "Turnabout Is Fair Play: Bitcoin",
      "body": "@@ -1615,16 +1615,55 @@\n orth. %0A%0A\n+http://truthorheresy.com/Images/fdr.jpg\n %0A%0ABut th\n",
      "json_metadata": "{\"tags\":[\"bitcoin\",\"entitlements\",\"disruption\",\"economy\"],\"app\":\"steemit/0.1\",\"format\":\"markdown\",\"image\":[\"http://truthorheresy.com/Images/fdr.jpg\"]}"
    }
  ]
}

{
  "trx_id": "d4d6d81bfce972cd6407ab20052f504d148b7b54",
  "block": 17511901,
  "trx_in_block": 14,
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "virtual_op": 0,
  "timestamp": "2017-11-24T20:14:00",
  "op": [
    "comment",
    {
      "parent_author": "",
      "parent_permlink": "bitcoin",
      "author": "dpdoug",
      "permlink": "turnabout-is-fair-play-bitcoin",
      "title": "Turnabout Is Fair Play: Bitcoin",
      "body": "They replaced us with machines; paid us much less than our worth; shipped our jobs off to other countries; forced to pay with hard-earned money what was not owed, then they squandered it -- and on top of it all workers were treated like slaves. Isn’t it only fair that *we the people* finally have the means in which to replace them? \n\nSince the beginning of the industrial revolution workers have been replaced by machines and technology. It seems that these benefits should have “trickled down” to all workers to make it possible to suffer less, work less, have more left over, and earn more. But on the most part the benefits of technology have gone to the ultra-rich. The benefits have only trickled down when the poor and middle classes have bled and died to get things to change. \n\nThe Great Depression of the late twenties, which was engineered by the bankers and the ultra-rich, caused untold suffering to the common people – including women, children, the elderly and poor. The rich company owners made slaves out of people by forcing them to do hard labor for less and less pay until finally unions were created and the people rebelled and fought back. \n\nThe rebellion was bloody and many died for fair pay and working conditions. All this led to the creation of laws that made the 40 hour work week and minimum wage compulsory, programs like social security, unemployment benefits, Medicare, Medicaid, disability, and so on. And this has all been created with the hard-earned money that workers have gotten by trading hours of their lives for pieces of paper that are only worth what we are told it is worth. \n\n\n\nBut these benefits are not welfare, all this is mostly made possible by the money that is extracted from hard-earned paychecks. And even though these are benefits that rightfully belong to the working man, there are all of these stipulations that are attached to be able to qualify for what is rightfully theirs. The worker is **entitled** to these programs since these programs are created with their money, that’s why they are called **entitlements**. \n\nHowever, it seems that the word entitlement has mostly been replaced by benefits. Having benefits almost sounds more like being “privileged” to receive them instead of being entitled to them, instead of having them as a right. Nowadays, the money that is taken out of paychecks and placed into special accounts for the protection of our futures, is borrowed with interest and the interest is paid back with income tax!\n\nUnfair control and manipulation over peoples’ hard-earned money has been wielded by centralized banks, the Federal Reserve and the government for many years. Because of the greed of the rich, and the mismanagement of the nation’s money the Dollar is almost worth nothing, the middle class is disappearing and the poor class is growing. Basically because of the ultra-rich, the bankers and the government the Dollar is headed for an inevitable crash. Many of those who insist on holding onto faith in the almighty Dollar will in the very near future become nearly broke almost overnight. \n\nBecause of the mismanagement of funds and the all printing of valueless currency anytime they need money for whatever they need it for, the value of the Dollar is sharply declining and the cost of living is going up. But the wages of the poor worker stay the same and almost none of the economic benefits have trickled down from the top. What about jobs in the sectors of new technologies? Those jobs are mostly now in other countries... and the US? Most workers of those workers are still stuck in jobs related to coal and petroleum.\n\nIs history beginning to repeat itself? Are we seeing the fall of the Dollar and the rise of Bitcoin and the Blockchain? Countries all over the globe are tired of being bullied by the US and the almighty Petrodollar which has made the US enjoy super low gas prices. But once petroleum prices are replaced by a currency other than the Petrodollar, gas and diesel prices will skyrocket. When gas and diesel prices go up in the US so do food prices and everything else. But do you think wages will go up? Nope.\n\nWhat has happened recently in other countries where there is economic unrest? People start losing faith in their governments’ fiat currencies and start investing in other things such as gold, silver, real estate and yes, Cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin just a few years ago was thought of as just a new fad, then it was a bubble that would soon pop, then it was a big scam. Well now centralized banks are really afraid of it. Bitcoin is worldwide and countries are beginning to really take it seriously. Important people of the world are now saying that Bitcoin is here to stay and not going away. \n\nIn some countries the price of Bitcoin has gone way up because people are afraid of rampant, runaway inflation that would destroy their meager savings. And more and more people buying Bitcoin is what has driven up its value, contrary to the way the Dollar has been controlled and manipulated by the Feds. With Bitcoin it is the people who are deciding what it’s worth.\n\nWe are seeing economic power returning to the hands of the common people. The problem has always been the middleman who is always there to make money off of others. But with the Blockchain the middleman will go away and no longer be able to explore people of their hard-earned cash. They will simply become unneeded. The great disrupter, Bitcoin, will return the wealth to the people where it belongs, people will slowly be able to do what they want to do instead of what they have to do to survive. Hopefully the rich will no longer be able to enslave and abuse workers and government will return to doing what they were supposed to all along – serving the people.",
      "json_metadata": "{\"tags\":[\"bitcoin\",\"entitlements\",\"disruption\",\"economy\"],\"app\":\"steemit/0.1\",\"format\":\"markdown\"}"
    }
  ]
}

{
  "trx_id": "a8c1c8bed8b073b6f275d81c648c2db856c45bd0",
  "block": 17511841,
  "trx_in_block": 38,
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "virtual_op": 0,
  "timestamp": "2017-11-24T20:11:00",
  "op": [
    "comment",
    {
      "parent_author": "",
      "parent_permlink": "bitcoin",
      "author": "dpdoug",
      "permlink": "turnabout-is-fair-play-bitcoin",
      "title": "Turnabout Is Fair Play: Bitcoin",
      "body": "@@ -1615,16 +1615,18 @@\n orth. %0A%0A\n+%0A%0A\n But thes\n",
      "json_metadata": "{\"tags\":[\"bitcoin\",\"entitlements\",\"disruption\",\"economy\"],\"app\":\"steemit/0.1\",\"format\":\"markdown\"}"
    }
  ]
}

{
  "trx_id": "6e264ebeb95ed00b9dfb91fb7f17f21bef765085",
  "block": 17511592,
  "trx_in_block": 10,
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "virtual_op": 0,
  "timestamp": "2017-11-24T19:58:33",
  "op": [
    "vote",
    {
      "voter": "dpdoug",
      "author": "dpdoug",
      "permlink": "turnabout-is-fair-play-bitcoin",
      "weight": 10000
    }
  ]
}

{
  "trx_id": "6e264ebeb95ed00b9dfb91fb7f17f21bef765085",
  "block": 17511592,
  "trx_in_block": 10,
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "virtual_op": 0,
  "timestamp": "2017-11-24T19:58:33",
  "op": [
    "comment",
    {
      "parent_author": "",
      "parent_permlink": "bitcoin",
      "author": "dpdoug",
      "permlink": "turnabout-is-fair-play-bitcoin",
      "title": "Turnabout Is Fair Play: Bitcoin",
      "body": "They replaced us with machines; paid us much less than our worth; shipped our jobs off to other countries; forced to pay with hard-earned money what was not owed, then they squandered it -- and on top of it all workers were treated like slaves. Isn’t it only fair that *we the people* finally have the means in which to replace them? \n\nSince the beginning of the industrial revolution workers have been replaced by machines and technology. It seems that these benefits should have “trickled down” to all workers to make it possible to suffer less, work less, have more left over, and earn more. But on the most part the benefits of technology have gone to the ultra-rich. The benefits have only trickled down when the poor and middle classes have bled and died to get things to change. \n\nThe Great Depression of the late twenties, which was engineered by the bankers and the ultra-rich, caused untold suffering to the common people – including women, children, the elderly and poor. The rich company owners made slaves out of people by forcing them to do hard labor for less and less pay until finally unions were created and the people rebelled and fought back. \n\nThe rebellion was bloody and many died for fair pay and working conditions. All this led to the creation of laws that made the 40 hour work week and minimum wage compulsory, programs like social security, unemployment benefits, Medicare, Medicaid, disability, and so on. And this has all been created with the hard-earned money that workers have gotten by trading hours of their lives for pieces of paper that are only worth what we are told it is worth. \n\nBut these benefits are not welfare, all this is mostly made possible by the money that is extracted from hard-earned paychecks. And even though these are benefits that rightfully belong to the working man, there are all of these stipulations that are attached to be able to qualify for what is rightfully theirs. The worker is **entitled** to these programs since these programs are created with their money, that’s why they are called **entitlements**. \n\nHowever, it seems that the word entitlement has mostly been replaced by benefits. Having benefits almost sounds more like being “privileged” to receive them instead of being entitled to them, instead of having them as a right. Nowadays, the money that is taken out of paychecks and placed into special accounts for the protection of our futures, is borrowed with interest and the interest is paid back with income tax!\n\nUnfair control and manipulation over peoples’ hard-earned money has been wielded by centralized banks, the Federal Reserve and the government for many years. Because of the greed of the rich, and the mismanagement of the nation’s money the Dollar is almost worth nothing, the middle class is disappearing and the poor class is growing. Basically because of the ultra-rich, the bankers and the government the Dollar is headed for an inevitable crash. Many of those who insist on holding onto faith in the almighty Dollar will in the very near future become nearly broke almost overnight. \n\nBecause of the mismanagement of funds and the all printing of valueless currency anytime they need money for whatever they need it for, the value of the Dollar is sharply declining and the cost of living is going up. But the wages of the poor worker stay the same and almost none of the economic benefits have trickled down from the top. What about jobs in the sectors of new technologies? Those jobs are mostly now in other countries... and the US? Most workers of those workers are still stuck in jobs related to coal and petroleum.\n\nIs history beginning to repeat itself? Are we seeing the fall of the Dollar and the rise of Bitcoin and the Blockchain? Countries all over the globe are tired of being bullied by the US and the almighty Petrodollar which has made the US enjoy super low gas prices. But once petroleum prices are replaced by a currency other than the Petrodollar, gas and diesel prices will skyrocket. When gas and diesel prices go up in the US so do food prices and everything else. But do you think wages will go up? Nope.\n\nWhat has happened recently in other countries where there is economic unrest? People start losing faith in their governments’ fiat currencies and start investing in other things such as gold, silver, real estate and yes, Cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin just a few years ago was thought of as just a new fad, then it was a bubble that would soon pop, then it was a big scam. Well now centralized banks are really afraid of it. Bitcoin is worldwide and countries are beginning to really take it seriously. Important people of the world are now saying that Bitcoin is here to stay and not going away. \n\nIn some countries the price of Bitcoin has gone way up because people are afraid of rampant, runaway inflation that would destroy their meager savings. And more and more people buying Bitcoin is what has driven up its value, contrary to the way the Dollar has been controlled and manipulated by the Feds. With Bitcoin it is the people who are deciding what it’s worth.\n\nWe are seeing economic power returning to the hands of the common people. The problem has always been the middleman who is always there to make money off of others. But with the Blockchain the middleman will go away and no longer be able to explore people of their hard-earned cash. They will simply become unneeded. The great disrupter, Bitcoin, will return the wealth to the people where it belongs, people will slowly be able to do what they want to do instead of what they have to do to survive. Hopefully the rich will no longer be able to enslave and abuse workers and government will return to doing what they were supposed to all along – serving the people.",
      "json_metadata": "{\"tags\":[\"bitcoin\",\"entitlements\",\"disruption\",\"economy\"],\"app\":\"steemit/0.1\",\"format\":\"markdown\"}"
    }
  ]
}

{
  "trx_id": "154d9e8bffd5226d46e09cd8e64a7887852d51b4",
  "block": 17384384,
  "trx_in_block": 7,
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "virtual_op": 0,
  "timestamp": "2017-11-20T09:54:18",
  "op": [
    "vote",
    {
      "voter": "zeninassaha",
      "author": "dpdoug",
      "permlink": "why-christianity-is-a-myth",
      "weight": 10000
    }
  ]
}

{
  "trx_id": "2d984ccfb6a4f245c3cf012d026abd666f87ac84",
  "block": 17384384,
  "trx_in_block": 1,
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "virtual_op": 0,
  "timestamp": "2017-11-20T09:54:18",
  "op": [
    "vote",
    {
      "voter": "lushn",
      "author": "dpdoug",
      "permlink": "why-christianity-is-a-myth",
      "weight": 10000
    }
  ]
}

{
  "trx_id": "8427b3a5e3f7e654965af192a8e7a5a150e3bbd7",
  "block": 17384383,
  "trx_in_block": 1,
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "virtual_op": 0,
  "timestamp": "2017-11-20T09:54:15",
  "op": [
    "vote",
    {
      "voter": "serchenna",
      "author": "dpdoug",
      "permlink": "why-christianity-is-a-myth",
      "weight": 10000
    }
  ]
}

{
  "trx_id": "02cd08dc5ed8feada6c5c519f44097f6f35b1360",
  "block": 17384382,
  "trx_in_block": 21,
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "virtual_op": 0,
  "timestamp": "2017-11-20T09:54:12",
  "op": [
    "vote",
    {
      "voter": "vladimmirrpe",
      "author": "dpdoug",
      "permlink": "why-christianity-is-a-myth",
      "weight": 10000
    }
  ]
}

{
  "trx_id": "4184268f3131335f95862e4de203009aa1939887",
  "block": 17384382,
  "trx_in_block": 15,
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "virtual_op": 0,
  "timestamp": "2017-11-20T09:54:12",
  "op": [
    "vote",
    {
      "voter": "neklo",
      "author": "dpdoug",
      "permlink": "why-christianity-is-a-myth",
      "weight": 10000
    }
  ]
}

{
  "trx_id": "284e061d3b53001ceb77e652fd7ecfa063703532",
  "block": 17384382,
  "trx_in_block": 6,
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "virtual_op": 0,
  "timestamp": "2017-11-20T09:54:12",
  "op": [
    "vote",
    {
      "voter": "shmarinof",
      "author": "dpdoug",
      "permlink": "why-christianity-is-a-myth",
      "weight": 10000
    }
  ]
}

{
  "trx_id": "796dc86815b8b242c5a39d775246e79ab10a4ba1",
  "block": 17384368,
  "trx_in_block": 9,
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "virtual_op": 0,
  "timestamp": "2017-11-20T09:53:30",
  "op": [
    "vote",
    {
      "voter": "shevshunov1ar",
      "author": "dpdoug",
      "permlink": "why-christianity-is-a-myth",
      "weight": 10000
    }
  ]
}

{
  "trx_id": "f2cd50b77c14d52a25e9f957fdf3fa43a6322496",
  "block": 17381466,
  "trx_in_block": 9,
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "virtual_op": 0,
  "timestamp": "2017-11-20T07:28:15",
  "op": [
    "vote",
    {
      "voter": "fivestargroup",
      "author": "dpdoug",
      "permlink": "why-christianity-is-a-myth",
      "weight": 2
    }
  ]
}

{
  "trx_id": "820b4d11149017be273cdfdb54f25ac3466b73a6",
  "block": 17381137,
  "trx_in_block": 5,
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "virtual_op": 0,
  "timestamp": "2017-11-20T07:11:48",
  "op": [
    "comment",
    {
      "parent_author": "barncat",
      "parent_permlink": "re-dpdoug-i-am-an-ex-christian-20171119t230813715z",
      "author": "dpdoug",
      "permlink": "re-barncat-re-dpdoug-i-am-an-ex-christian-20171120t055246656z",
      "title": "",
      "body": "@@ -320,16 +320,44 @@\n nclusion\n+ https://steemit.com/@dpdoug\n . %0A%0AI re\n",
      "json_metadata": "{\"tags\":[\"christianity\"],\"app\":\"steemit/0.1\",\"links\":[\"https://steemit.com/@dpdoug\"]}"
    }
  ]
}

{
  "trx_id": "901c51cee0bed7d30687501e3bf88543279668a0",
  "block": 17381116,
  "trx_in_block": 0,
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "virtual_op": 0,
  "timestamp": "2017-11-20T07:10:45",
  "op": [
    "comment",
    {
      "parent_author": "barncat",
      "parent_permlink": "re-dpdoug-i-am-an-ex-christian-20171119t230813715z",
      "author": "dpdoug",
      "permlink": "re-barncat-re-dpdoug-i-am-an-ex-christian-20171120t055246656z",
      "title": "",
      "body": "@@ -453,16 +453,27 @@\n ry, and \n+then later \n found ou\n",
      "json_metadata": "{\"tags\":[\"christianity\"],\"app\":\"steemit/0.1\"}"
    }
  ]
}

{
  "trx_id": "8a7c5f9769b29aeecd8c96dd283f1eea3b4070dd",
  "block": 17381029,
  "trx_in_block": 4,
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "virtual_op": 0,
  "timestamp": "2017-11-20T07:06:24",
  "op": [
    "comment",
    {
      "parent_author": "",
      "parent_permlink": "christianity",
      "author": "dpdoug",
      "permlink": "why-christianity-is-a-myth",
      "title": "Why Christianity is a Myth",
      "body": "The bible is the basis of Christianity, without it Christianity would have never existed. But for a book that is supposed to be the most famous and widely read books in the world, it is a suspicious thing that no one even knows when or where it was written or who published it. It's central, most famous person of all time, Jesus Christ, had nothing written about him by any of the historians or writers that were his contemporaries. It's almost as though, outside the bible, he never existed at all. \n\nWhat is stranger yet is that though it is generally assumed that the gospels were written between 70 and 120 CE (at least 40 years after Jesus' death), the church fathers themselves never even mentioned the gospels in their writings until the last quarter of the second century. These are some extremely shocking facts about a book that's supposed to be the most important book with the most important man in the entire history of humanity.\n\n![second-coming.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmXfW9CXS46dJLCdCUU9iYkHsYk2WzVbQFiryBkxDTQ9nn/second-coming.jpg)\n\nA lot has been written about the bible, both in favor and against. In my opinion, the best test of the bible is to compare it by itself. Two statements that are opposites cannot both be true. Either one or the other can be true, or neither -- but two opposite statements can never be true. You can't make the bible mean what you want it to just so that it will fit your doctrines or what you want it to mean. It is what it is. \n\nIt's not really important to me how Judas committed suicide, whether he hanged himself or fell headlong onto his sword. The bible is full of all kinds of contradictions that, while they **DO** prove the bible not inerrant, most don't prove much that is extremely profound. What is much more important to me is whether Jesus was God or the Messiah, or neither; or whether Christianity is the \"true\" religion, etc. \n\nThe following are some what I consider some of the hugest problems with the bible, that are not issues that you can just explain away or interpret to make them fit the dogmas of Christology. These are the some of most important foundational issues that prove that much of Christianity is based on fraud, forgery and falsehood, and places Christianity in the same class with all the other mythologies. \n\n### Genealogies that reveal forgery ###\n\nWho was Mary's father? We can already rule out Eli, in the genealogy in Luke, since Luke says that Joseph was the son of Eli. If Eli were the the father of Mary that would make Joseph and Mary, brother and sister. They were devout Jews so insest would be out of the question. \n\n>*\"Joseph which was the son of Heli\" (Luk 3:23)*\n\nWas Mary the daughter of Jacob, in the genealogy in the Matthew? This also is not possible since it says, \n\n>*\"Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary\" (Mat 1:16).* \n\nBut that would give Joseph two fathers. This is actually not a contradiction. The explanation for this is that Eli wasn't Joseph's biological father, but it was still his genealogy. The reason? Since Eli died childless, and Jacob and Eli were brothers, Jacob married Eli's widow according to Jewish law, so that she would bear children to him, and Joseph was born as a result of this union. Joseph was actually the son of Eli's widow -- according to church history.  \n\nAt any rate, since Eli died childless, he couldn't have been Mary's father, and neither was Jacob her father. In other words, neither genealogy, in Matthew nor in Luke was Mary's. There is no evidence whatsoever in the bible that Mary was of the tribe of Judah. However there is plenty of strong evidence that **Mary was of the house of Levi.** \n\n![eli-died-childless.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmTrsiTqxuieRF4nwRo6QRxVaF77pVz3jLiY2ngBFZi5M5/eli-died-childless.jpg)\n\nSo if Mary wasn't a descendant of David, then Jesus didn't qualify as the Messiah -- unless he had a flesh and blood father who was a descendant of King David -- and Joseph was. But if Joseph was Jesus's biological father, then Mary wasn't a virgin. And for Jesus to be God the savior, Mary had to be a virgin, according to Christology. If Mary wasn't a virgin then all the scripture about the virgin birth is all forgery. This is the most serious contradiction in the bible. Let's consider that later.\n\n### The Disqualified Messiah ###\n\nBut let's suppose just for argument's sake that Mary was a virgin when Jesus was born as the bible says and as most Christians believe; and somehow Jesus was actually a descendant of David in order for him to qualify as the Messiah. The very most important thing to the Jews was that the Messiah deliver them from their oppressors, the romans. The Jews were expecting this from the Messiah. There were several men claiming to be the Messiah who were descendants of king David, but did not qualify since they were unsuccessful in overthrowing the Romans. Many Jews rejected Jesus for this very reason, and rightly so. The following verses plainly show that the Jews were expecting Jesus to fulfill this messianic prophecy:\n\n>*Luk 1:69  And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David...* \n\n>*Luk 1:71  That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us;*\n\n>*Luk 1:72  To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant...* \n\n>*Luk 1:74  ...that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear,*\n\n>*Luk 24:21  But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel...* \n\n>*Act 1:6  ...they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?*\n\nJesus did not qualify as the Messiah as he didn't deliver the Jews from their enemies, as many of his followers expected. \n\n>*Zec 12:8  In that day shall the LORD defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of the LORD before them.*\n\n>*Zec 12:9  And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.* \n\n>*Jer 33:15-16 In those days and at that time, I will cause an offshoot of righteousness to spring forth for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In those days, Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will dwell safely, and this is the name by which it will be called: \"The Lord is our righteousness.\"*\n\nDid Jesus *\"defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem\"* and *\"destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem\"*? Was Judah saved and did *\"Jerusalem dwell safely\"*? If Jesus were their deliverer sent from God he would have. According to the gospels (supposedly), he did not even try, and he just freely gave himself over to the Romans to be executed. What's more after the death of Jesus the Jews were persecuted, slaughtered and scattered over the Earth. Obviously Jesus was not God the Savior, nor did he qualify to be the Messiah who was supposed to deliver the Jews from their enemies.\n\n### The False Prophecies of the Second Coming ###\n\nHowever, one might say that he hasn't fulfilled all the prophecies yet, and that this is one of the things that he will do when he returns. But according to Jesus's own predictions (he supposedly said these things) he was to return within that first century. Here's ample proof:\n\n>*Mat 16:28 There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.*\n\n>*Mat 10:23 **Ye** shall not have gone over the **cities of Israel**, till the Son of man be come.*\n\n>*Rev 1:7  Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and **they also which pierced him**.*\n\n>*Mat 24:30  **...they** shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.*\n\n>*Mat 24:34  Verily I say unto **you**, **This generation** shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.*\n\n>*Mat 24:44  Therefore be **ye** also ready: for in such an hour as **ye** think not the Son of man cometh.*\n\nThose men *\"standing here\"*, died in the first century. He was supposed to have come before they had gone over all the cities of Israel -- that would be in their lifetimes -- the first century. Those who *\"pierced him\"* died in the first century. \n*\"This generation\"* passed in the **first century**. If he had meant a future generation he would have used the words \"**That** generation\". He said for them to whom he was speaking to be ready, and they died in the first century. **Either that or those standing there at the time are now over 2000 years old!**\n\nNo one saw Jesus coming in the clouds in the first century, unless he came in secret or they just forgot to write it down for history and everyone forgot about it -- very unlikely. \n\nJesus' \"second coming\" had to happen in the first century, and obviously it did not. According to the old testament, if a man's prophecy did not come to pass he was to be considered as a false prophet and he was not to be listened to. It's not a wonder that the Jews rejected him. \n\nThe Jews actually did what their holy book said to do. I'm not saying that Jesus was a false prophet, I just don't believe that Jesus actually said those things -- they were forgeries. Jesus did not deliver the Jews from their enemies and neither did he return in the time frame that he predicted -- within the first century. \n\n### The Reason Christianity Could Only be a Myth ###\n\nThe main reason that the writer of Matthew included the genealogy in the gospel with that name was to show that Joseph (not Mary) was a flesh and blood descendant of King David and with this, convince his readers that Jesus qualified to be the Messiah. But for other (valid) reasons he was disqualified.  \n\nSince Joseph actually was the biological father of Jesus, then Mary wasn't a virgin and the whole virgin birth story was a forgery. Jesus could not be both the Messiah and God both. The reality is that he was neither. I don't believe that even Jesus himself claimed these things; I believe that there were men years after Jesus' execution that attributed these things to him.\n\nIf Jesus didn't fulfill the messianic prophecies, then he wasn't the promised Messiah. If Mary wasn't a virgin, then Jesus wasn't God. If Jesus wasn't God, then he wasn't the savior either since the Old Testament says the God is the only savior and there isn't another besides him. So if Jesus wasn't the savior, it really doesn't matter if he died on the cross or not; he couldn't save anyone from their sins or take anyone's sins away -- much less the sins of the whole world, past and future. \n\nIt doesn't really matter if he raised from the dead, and it doesn't matter if he ascended into heaven. He wasn't God and he wasn't the savior, neither was he the Messiah. What's more is since Hell is actually only a mistranslation and a deliberate misinterpretation, and not even a Jewish concept, there was nothing for Jesus to save the world from anyway. \n\nThis means that many stories in the bible were invented, such as the virgin birth, the infancy story of Jesus, the stories surrounding the judgement of Jesus, his crucifixion, resurrection and ascension. Most Christians believe that he could heal because he was God, but if he wasn't God then he didn't heal all those people and do the miracles that the gospels say he did. He most likely didn't even teach his disciples that the messianic prophecies of the Old Testament were about him or that he even claimed to be God, unless he actually believed that about himself.  \n\nWhat this shows then is that probably more than 80% of what was written about Jesus was merely a man-made invention; was forged and most of those stories were enhanced and embellished. This being the case, Christianity is nothing more than a myth.\n\n_Of all the tyrannies that afflict mankind, tyranny in religion is the worst. - Thomas Paine_",
      "json_metadata": "{\"tags\":[\"christianity\",\"myth\",\"second-coming\",\"messiah\",\"forgery\"],\"image\":[\"https://steemitimages.com/DQmXfW9CXS46dJLCdCUU9iYkHsYk2WzVbQFiryBkxDTQ9nn/second-coming.jpg\",\"https://steemitimages.com/DQmTrsiTqxuieRF4nwRo6QRxVaF77pVz3jLiY2ngBFZi5M5/eli-died-childless.jpg\"],\"app\":\"steemit/0.1\",\"format\":\"markdown\"}"
    }
  ]
}

{
  "trx_id": "33580e608069eb5d9d8927d33827bd09072318f1",
  "block": 17380964,
  "trx_in_block": 6,
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "virtual_op": 0,
  "timestamp": "2017-11-20T07:03:09",
  "op": [
    "vote",
    {
      "voter": "rezal92",
      "author": "dpdoug",
      "permlink": "why-christianity-is-a-myth",
      "weight": 10000
    }
  ]
}

{
  "trx_id": "b0b163277ab7f42e3f2b5f90d044f68faa870ca0",
  "block": 17380904,
  "trx_in_block": 18,
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "virtual_op": 0,
  "timestamp": "2017-11-20T07:00:09",
  "op": [
    "vote",
    {
      "voter": "dpdoug",
      "author": "dpdoug",
      "permlink": "why-christianity-is-a-myth",
      "weight": 10000
    }
  ]
}

{
  "trx_id": "b0b163277ab7f42e3f2b5f90d044f68faa870ca0",
  "block": 17380904,
  "trx_in_block": 18,
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "virtual_op": 0,
  "timestamp": "2017-11-20T07:00:09",
  "op": [
    "comment",
    {
      "parent_author": "",
      "parent_permlink": "christianity",
      "author": "dpdoug",
      "permlink": "why-christianity-is-a-myth",
      "title": "Why Christianity is a Myth",
      "body": "The bible is the basis of Christianity, without it Christianity would have never existed. But for a book that is supposed to be the most famous and widely read books in the world, it is a suspicious thing that no one even knows when or where it was written or who published it. It's central, most famous person of all time, Jesus Christ, had nothing written about him by any of the historians or writers that were his contemporaries. It's almost as though, outside the bible, he never existed at all. \n\nWhat is stranger yet is that though it is generally assumed that the gospels were written between 70 and 120 CE (at least 40 years after Jesus' death), the church fathers themselves never even mentioned the gospels in their writings until the last quarter of the second century. These are some extremely shocking facts about a book that's supposed to be the most important book with the most important man in the entire history of humanity.\n\n![second-coming.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmXfW9CXS46dJLCdCUU9iYkHsYk2WzVbQFiryBkxDTQ9nn/second-coming.jpg)\n\nA lot has been written about the bible, both in favor and against. In my opinion, the best test of the bible is to compare it by itself. Two statements that are opposites cannot both be true. Either one or the other can be true, or neither -- but two opposite statements can never be true. You can't make the bible mean what you want it to just so that it will fit your doctrines or what you want it to mean. It is what it is. \n\nIt's not really important to me how Judas committed suicide, whether he hanged himself or fell headlong onto his sword. The bible is full of all kinds of contradictions that, while they **DO** prove the bible not inerrant, most don't prove much that is extremely profound. What is much more important to me is whether Jesus was God or the Messiah, or neither; or whether Christianity is the \"true\" religion, etc. \n\nThe following are some what I consider some of the hugest problems with the bible, that are not issues that you can just explain away or interpret to make them fit the dogmas of Christology. These are the some of most important foundational issues that prove that much of Christianity is based on fraud, forgery and falsehood, and places Christianity in the same class with all the other mythologies. \n\n### Genealogies that reveal forgery ###\n\nWho was Mary's father? We can already rule out Eli, in the genealogy in Luke, since Luke says that Joseph was the son of Eli. If Eli were the the father of Mary that would make Joseph and Mary, brother and sister. They were devout Jews so insest would be out of the question. \n\n>*\"Joseph which was the son of Heli\" (Luk 3:23)*\n\nWas Mary the daughter of Jacob, in the genealogy in the Matthew? This also is not possible since it says, \n\n>*\"Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary\" (Mat 1:16).* \n\nBut that would give Joseph two fathers. This is actually not a contradiction. The explanation for this is that Eli wasn't Joseph's biological father, but it was still his genealogy. The reason? Since Eli died childless, and Jacob and Eli were brothers, Jacob married Eli's widow according to Jewish law, so that she would bear children to him, and Joseph was born as a result of this union. Joseph was actually the son of Eli's widow -- according to church history.  \n\nAt any rate, since Eli died childless, he couldn't have been Mary's father, and neither was Jacob her father. In other words, neither genealogy, in Matthew nor in Luke was Mary's. There is no evidence whatsoever in the bible that Mary was of the tribe of Judah. However there is plenty of strong evidence that **Mary was of the house of Levi.** \n\n![eli-died-childless.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmTrsiTqxuieRF4nwRo6QRxVaF77pVz3jLiY2ngBFZi5M5/eli-died-childless.jpg)\n\nSo if Mary wasn't a descendant of David, then Jesus didn't qualify as the Messiah -- unless he had a flesh and blood father who was a descendant of King David -- and Joseph was. But if Joseph was Jesus's biological father, then Mary wasn't a virgin. And for Jesus to be God the savior, Mary had to be a virgin, according to Christology. If Mary wasn't a virgin then all the scripture about the virgin birth is all forgery. This is the most serious contradiction in the bible. Let's consider that later.\n\n### The Disqualified Messiah ###\n\nBut let's suppose just for argument's sake that Mary was a virgin when Jesus was born as the bible says and as most Christians believe; and somehow Jesus was actually a descendant of David in order for him to qualify as the Messiah. The very most important thing to the Jews was that the Messiah deliver them from their oppressors, the romans. The Jews were expecting this from the Messiah. There were several men claiming to be the Messiah who were descendants of king David, but did not qualify since they were unsuccessful in overthrowing the Romans. Many Jews rejected Jesus for this very reason, and rightly so. The following verses plainly show that the Jews were expecting Jesus to fulfill this messianic prophecy:\n\n>*Luk 1:69  And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David...* \n\n>*Luk 1:71  That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us;*\n\n>*Luk 1:72  To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant...* \n\n>*Luk 1:74  ...that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear,*\n\n>*Luk 24:21  But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel...* \n\n>*Act 1:6  ...they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?*\n\nJesus did not qualify as the Messiah as he didn't deliver the Jews from their enemies, as many of his followers expected. \n\n>*Zec 12:8  In that day shall the LORD defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of the LORD before them.*\n\n>*Zec 12:9  And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.* \n\n>*Jer 33:15-16 In those days and at that time, I will cause an offshoot of righteousness to spring forth for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In those days, Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will dwell safely, and this is the name by which it will be called: \"The Lord is our righteousness.\"*\n\nDid Jesus *\"defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem\"* and *\"destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem\"*? Was Judah saved and did *\"Jerusalem dwell safely\"*? If Jesus were their deliverer sent from God he would have. According to the gospels (supposedly), he did not even try, and he just freely gave himself over to the Romans to be executed. What's more after the death of Jesus the Jews were persecuted, slaughtered and scattered over the Earth. Obviously Jesus was not God the Savior, nor did he qualify to be the Messiah who was supposed to deliver the Jews from their enemies.\n\n### The False Prophecies of the Second Coming ###\n\nHowever, one might say that he hasn't fulfilled all the prophecies yet, and that this is one of the things that he will do when he returns. But according to Jesus's own predictions (he supposedly said these things) he was to return within that first century. Here's ample proof:\n\n>*Mat 16:28 There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.*\n\n>*Mat 10:23 **Ye** shall not have gone over the **cities of Israel**, till the Son of man be come.*\n\n>*Rev 1:7  Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and **they also which pierced him**.*\n\n>*Mat 24:30  **...they** shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.*\n\n>*Mat 24:34  Verily I say unto **you**, **This generation** shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.*\n\n>*Mat 24:44  Therefore be **ye** also ready: for in such an hour as **ye** think not the Son of man cometh.*\n\nThose men *\"standing here\"*, died in the first century. He was supposed to have come before they had gone over all the cities of Israel -- that would be in their lifetimes -- the first century. Those who *\"pierced him\"* died in the first century. \n*\"This generation\"* passed in the **first century**. If he had meant a future generation he would have used the words \"**That** generation\". He said for them to whom he was speaking to be ready, and they died in the first century. **Either that or those standing there at the time are now over 2000 years old!**\n\nNo one saw Jesus coming in the clouds in the first century, unless he came in secret or they just forgot to write it down for history and everyone forgot about it -- very unlikely. \n\nJesus' \"second coming\" had to happen in the first century, and obviously it did not. According to the old testament, if a man's prophecy did not come to pass he was to be considered as a false prophet and he was not to be listened to. It's not a wonder that the Jews rejected him. \n\nThe Jews actually did what their holy book said to do. I'm not saying that Jesus was a false prophet, I just don't believe that Jesus actually said those things -- they were forgeries. Jesus did not deliver the Jews from their enemies and neither did he return in the time frame that he predicted -- within the first century. \n\n### The Reason Christianity Could Only be a Myth ###\n\nThe main reason that the writer of Matthew included the genealogy in the gospel with that name was to show that Joseph (not Mary) was a flesh and blood descendant of King David and with this, convince his readers that Jesus qualified to be the Messiah. But for other (valid) reasons he was disqualified.  \n\nSince Joseph actually was the biological father of Jesus, then Mary wasn't a virgin and the whole virgin birth story was a forgery. Jesus could not be both the Messiah and God both. The reality is that he was neither. I don't believe that even Jesus himself claimed these things; I believe that there were men years after Jesus' execution that attributed these things to him.\n\nIf Jesus didn't fulfill the messianic prophecies, then he wasn't the promised Messiah. If Mary wasn't a virgin, then Jesus wasn't God. If Jesus wasn't God, then he wasn't the savior either since the Old Testament says the God is the only savior and there isn't another besides him. So if Jesus wasn't the savior, it really doesn't matter if he died on the cross or not; he couldn't save anyone from their sins or take anyone's sins away -- much less the sins of the whole world, past and future. \n\nIt doesn't really matter if he raised from the dead, and it doesn't matter if he ascended into heaven. He wasn't God and he wasn't the savior, neither was he the Messiah. What's more is since Hell is actually only a mistranslation and a deliberate misinterpretation, and not even a Jewish concept, there was nothing for Jesus to save the world from anyway. \n\nThis means that many stories in the bible were invented, such as the virgin birth, the infancy story of Jesus, the stories surrounding the judgement of Jesus, his crucifixion, resurrection and ascension. Most Christians believe that he could heal because he was God, but if he wasn't God then he didn't heal all those people and do the miracles that the gospels say he did. He most likely didn't even teach his disciples that the messianic prophecies of the Old Testament were about him or that he even claimed to be God, unless he actually believed that about himself.  \n\nWhat this shows then is that probably more than 80% of what was written about Jesus was merely a man-made invention; was forged and most of those stories were enhanced and embellished. This being the case, Christianity is nothing more than a myth.\n\n_Of all the tyrannies that afflict mankind, tyranny in religion is the worst. - Thomas Paine_",
      "json_metadata": "{\"tags\":[\"christianity\",\"myth\",\"second-coming\",\"messiah\",\"forgery\"],\"image\":[\"https://steemitimages.com/DQmXfW9CXS46dJLCdCUU9iYkHsYk2WzVbQFiryBkxDTQ9nn/second-coming.jpg\",\"https://steemitimages.com/DQmTrsiTqxuieRF4nwRo6QRxVaF77pVz3jLiY2ngBFZi5M5/eli-died-childless.jpg\"],\"app\":\"steemit/0.1\",\"format\":\"markdown\"}"
    }
  ]
}

{
  "trx_id": "3560da3bb52cd3aec1aba83caccaaffac80bbe85",
  "block": 17379556,
  "trx_in_block": 13,
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "virtual_op": 0,
  "timestamp": "2017-11-20T05:52:45",
  "op": [
    "comment",
    {
      "parent_author": "barncat",
      "parent_permlink": "re-dpdoug-i-am-an-ex-christian-20171119t230813715z",
      "author": "dpdoug",
      "permlink": "re-barncat-re-dpdoug-i-am-an-ex-christian-20171120t055246656z",
      "title": "",
      "body": "I'm glad you have found your truth on your own personal journey. I believed in Christianity for around 60 years and have studied the Bible intensely for hours a day over several years and  discovered that Christianity is not the truth. Please follow my writings that are to come which will explain how I came to this conclusion. \n\nI received Christ as my Lord and Saviour at the age of 8, was raised in Christianity, spent nearly 20 years as a missionary, and found out how deceived I had been for most of my life.\n\nI left the \"faith\" yes, but I did not lose my faith in God. And yes I had been believing all those years a false gospel, but not the kind that you think. But no, I'm not angry at God or how he runs his universe. (more to come)",
      "json_metadata": "{\"tags\":[\"christianity\"],\"app\":\"steemit/0.1\"}"
    }
  ]
}

{
  "trx_id": "72a683c3ba5476dd2a3b90ca3ef15d93adff3663",
  "block": 17371466,
  "trx_in_block": 1,
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "virtual_op": 0,
  "timestamp": "2017-11-19T23:08:15",
  "op": [
    "comment",
    {
      "parent_author": "dpdoug",
      "parent_permlink": "i-am-an-ex-christian",
      "author": "barncat",
      "permlink": "re-dpdoug-i-am-an-ex-christian-20171119t230813715z",
      "title": "",
      "body": "I've found the truth. The truth is in the Bible. God is real and God is good. Jesus died for those who would have faith in Him. Evangelical Christianity is the truth. Of course, some people refuse to believe the truth but that's their decision.\n\nRead the Bible in a translation you can understand. The modern NIV is good but the version from the 1980s is better.\n\nI became a Christian in 1980 at the age of 21. I accepted what Jesus did on the cross as payment for my sins. I accepted Jesus as Savior and Lord. Over time the Holy Spirit convicted me of my sins and I repented of them. I'll never be perfect while I'm human but I'm a lot better than I used to be.\n\nPeople who leave the faith are typically people who never believed in the first place. Or they believed a false gospel. Or they're angry at God because of how He runs his universe.",
      "json_metadata": "{\"tags\":[\"christianity\"],\"app\":\"steemit/0.1\"}"
    }
  ]
}

{
  "trx_id": "7f17817ecde80b08c77da665d0ec61f5f0f20fdf",
  "block": 17352252,
  "trx_in_block": 23,
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "virtual_op": 0,
  "timestamp": "2017-11-19T07:06:48",
  "op": [
    "vote",
    {
      "voter": "wanow",
      "author": "dpdoug",
      "permlink": "how-i-became-an-ex-christian",
      "weight": 10000
    }
  ]
}

{
  "trx_id": "3e79d4152784e9a6da4825bef9ae32d6d2e1e64b",
  "block": 17352252,
  "trx_in_block": 13,
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "virtual_op": 0,
  "timestamp": "2017-11-19T07:06:48",
  "op": [
    "vote",
    {
      "voter": "yackitov",
      "author": "dpdoug",
      "permlink": "how-i-became-an-ex-christian",
      "weight": 10000
    }
  ]
}

{
  "trx_id": "6bfc08e949be0199073e3cb8bb97ef2514577327",
  "block": 17352240,
  "trx_in_block": 1,
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "virtual_op": 0,
  "timestamp": "2017-11-19T07:06:12",
  "op": [
    "vote",
    {
      "voter": "dimenisto",
      "author": "dpdoug",
      "permlink": "how-i-became-an-ex-christian",
      "weight": 10000
    }
  ]
}

{
  "trx_id": "3d3caa26594ed64b6b57164ba422aae0b26d0358",
  "block": 17352239,
  "trx_in_block": 18,
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "virtual_op": 0,
  "timestamp": "2017-11-19T07:06:09",
  "op": [
    "vote",
    {
      "voter": "krivotol",
      "author": "dpdoug",
      "permlink": "how-i-became-an-ex-christian",
      "weight": 10000
    }
  ]
}

{
  "trx_id": "8d5548b238485cece74204c2440af9a5ae2dcfd6",
  "block": 17352238,
  "trx_in_block": 10,
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "virtual_op": 0,
  "timestamp": "2017-11-19T07:06:06",
  "op": [
    "vote",
    {
      "voter": "enzheneri",
      "author": "dpdoug",
      "permlink": "how-i-became-an-ex-christian",
      "weight": 10000
    }
  ]
}

{
  "trx_id": "000981ac0c87038f9ced43234608b649f19971ad",
  "block": 17352238,
  "trx_in_block": 6,
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "virtual_op": 0,
  "timestamp": "2017-11-19T07:06:06",
  "op": [
    "vote",
    {
      "voter": "ninatemri",
      "author": "dpdoug",
      "permlink": "how-i-became-an-ex-christian",
      "weight": 10000
    }
  ]
}

{
  "trx_id": "e2fd843625cc4f4c4e4acedc1cc838839b208ff7",
  "block": 17351292,
  "trx_in_block": 0,
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "virtual_op": 0,
  "timestamp": "2017-11-19T06:18:45",
  "op": [
    "vote",
    {
      "voter": "ster",
      "author": "dpdoug",
      "permlink": "i-am-an-ex-christian",
      "weight": 10000
    }
  ]
}

{
  "trx_id": "08235a23cb50cd278a4a2dbcdea7086b8ff1aa8e",
  "block": 17351290,
  "trx_in_block": 13,
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "virtual_op": 0,
  "timestamp": "2017-11-19T06:18:39",
  "op": [
    "vote",
    {
      "voter": "catyuma",
      "author": "dpdoug",
      "permlink": "i-am-an-ex-christian",
      "weight": 10000
    }
  ]
}

{
  "trx_id": "cae8ddceb546eef96a3e68a5b394dfd76589ccaf",
  "block": 17351290,
  "trx_in_block": 9,
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "virtual_op": 0,
  "timestamp": "2017-11-19T06:18:39",
  "op": [
    "vote",
    {
      "voter": "sechka",
      "author": "dpdoug",
      "permlink": "i-am-an-ex-christian",
      "weight": 10000
    }
  ]
}

{
  "trx_id": "afc275dee408b66928899d95de17be518ae75f85",
  "block": 17351290,
  "trx_in_block": 6,
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "virtual_op": 0,
  "timestamp": "2017-11-19T06:18:39",
  "op": [
    "vote",
    {
      "voter": "verba",
      "author": "dpdoug",
      "permlink": "i-am-an-ex-christian",
      "weight": 10000
    }
  ]
}

{
  "trx_id": "00e943537dfcc9af0ad06b84eeb42e33f0a8bec5",
  "block": 17351289,
  "trx_in_block": 3,
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "virtual_op": 0,
  "timestamp": "2017-11-19T06:18:36",
  "op": [
    "vote",
    {
      "voter": "dyurb",
      "author": "dpdoug",
      "permlink": "i-am-an-ex-christian",
      "weight": 10000
    }
  ]
}

{
  "trx_id": "13a8f2daef58bf6638abfeec76e2e2224212f71d",
  "block": 17351288,
  "trx_in_block": 6,
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "virtual_op": 0,
  "timestamp": "2017-11-19T06:18:33",
  "op": [
    "vote",
    {
      "voter": "lurazov",
      "author": "dpdoug",
      "permlink": "i-am-an-ex-christian",
      "weight": 10000
    }
  ]
}

{
  "trx_id": "4d947ad5c544607b39adbb80bf653c7ab50e6164",
  "block": 17351288,
  "trx_in_block": 0,
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "virtual_op": 0,
  "timestamp": "2017-11-19T06:18:33",
  "op": [
    "vote",
    {
      "voter": "bekzent",
      "author": "dpdoug",
      "permlink": "i-am-an-ex-christian",
      "weight": 10000
    }
  ]
}

{
  "trx_id": "5263fb36ef985d2bf333d10864537d9416e0e28e",
  "block": 17351287,
  "trx_in_block": 16,
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "virtual_op": 0,
  "timestamp": "2017-11-19T06:18:30",
  "op": [
    "vote",
    {
      "voter": "prianhin",
      "author": "dpdoug",
      "permlink": "i-am-an-ex-christian",
      "weight": 10000
    }
  ]
}

{
  "trx_id": "4829c0600acdf82c8c5d0cb57cc466e3fcdd5e77",
  "block": 17351287,
  "trx_in_block": 12,
  "op_in_trx": 0,
  "virtual_op": 0,
  "timestamp": "2017-11-19T06:18:30",
  "op": [
    "vote",
    {
      "voter": "clochkoff1v",
      "author": "dpdoug",
      "permlink": "i-am-an-ex-christian",
      "weight": 10000
    }
  ]
}