"And did those feet in ancient time" is a short poem by William Blake from the preface to his epic Milton a Poem, one of a collection of writings known as the Prophetic Books. The date of 1804 on the title page is probably when the plates were begun, but the poem was printed c. 1808. Today it is best known as the anthem "Jerusalem", with music written by Sir Hubert Parry in 1916. It is not to be confused with another poem, much longer and larger in scope, but also by Blake, called "Jerusalem The Emanation of the Giant Albion".
The poem was inspired by the apocryphal story that a young Jesus, accompanied by Joseph of Arimathea, a tin merchant, travelled to what is now England and visited Glastonbury during his unknown years. The poem's theme is linked to the Book of Revelation (3:12 and 21:2) describing a Second Coming, wherein Jesus establishes a New Jerusalem. The Christian church in general, and the English Church in particular, has long used Jerusalem as a metaphor for Heaven, a place of universal love and peace.
In the most common interpretation of the poem, Blake implies that a visit by Jesus would briefly create heaven in England, in contrast to the "dark Satanic Mills" of the Industrial Revolution. Blake's poem asks four questions rather than asserting the historical truth of Christ's visit. Thus the poem merely implies that there may, or may not, have been a divine visit, when there was briefly heaven in England.

No, actually God does not!, expect you can do these 10 things. These reveal Gods righteous requirements, from his creation. This is why he sent his Son, to fulfill these for us. And to take the punishment we were due, so we could attain his righteousness by faith in his sacrifice.

On the cross he was made to pay for, and bear all of our Sin, and impute his righteousness to those who believe.

So much more than just being forgiven our sin by the shedding of his blood, we are saved by his life. :thumbup:

Steve, I respect your zealousness. It would, however, in posting such a comment that your greeting would be I believe.... I believe you implied that when you posted. It should be obvious to readers but it comes off as an arrogant statement which might not be the case. This applies to all of us. To come off as knowing something that is not possible to know is, well, silly. Rac and Rix have the same approach. Televangelist's claims that they know make them incredible, to me anyway.

I don't believe in the Christian/Judeo concept of what god is, what happens after we die, etc. but I never claim emphatically that their (your) beliefs are untrue although I believe them to be with some certainty. I don't know, you don't know. I never claim there is no god (supreme being) but that I believe there is not. If theists and non-theists alike admitted that what they believe is just that then much of the ridicule on both sides of the argument could be avoided.

Steve, I respect your zealousness. It would, however, in posting such a comment that your greeting would be I believe.... I believe you implied that when you posted. It should be obvious to readers but it comes off as an arrogant statement which might not be the case. This applies to all of us. To come off as knowing something that is not possible to know is, well, silly. Rac and Rix have the same approach. Televangelist's claims that they know make them incredible, to me anyway.

I don't believe in the Christian/Judeo concept of what god is, what happens after we die, etc. but I never claim emphatically that their (your) beliefs are untrue although I believe them to be with some certainty. I don't know, you don't know. I never claim there is no god (supreme being) but that I believe there is not. If theists and non-theists alike admitted that what they believe is just that then much of the ridicule on both sides of the argument could be avoided.

steve40 wrote:
No, actually God does not!, expect you can do these 10 things. These reveal Gods righteous requirements, from his creation. This is why he sent his Son, to fulfill these for us. And to take the punishment we were due, so we could attain his righteousness by faith in his sacrifice.

On the cross he was made to pay for, and bear all of our Sin, and impute his righteousness to those who believe.

So much more than just being forgiven our sin by the shedding of his blood, we are saved by his life.

Steve, I respect your zealousness. It would, however, in posting such a comment that your greeting would be I believe.... I believe you implied that when you posted. It should be obvious to readers but it comes off as an arrogant statement which might not be the case. This applies to all of us. To come off as knowing something that is not possible to know is, well, silly. Rac and Rix have the same approach. Televangelist's claims that they know make them incredible, to me anyway.

I don't believe in the Christian/Judeo concept of what god is, what happens after we die, etc. but I never claim emphatically that their (your) beliefs are untrue although I believe them to be with some certainty. I don't know, you don't know. I never claim there is no god (supreme being) but that I believe there is not. If theists and non-theists alike admitted that what they believe is just that then much of the ridicule on both sides of the argument could be avoided.

I believe that the God of the Jews exist. I believe that He exist so strongly that I put my trust in Him and I worship Him as I would my father. I believe in His Son Jesus Christ, That He not only lived but is God incarnated in the flesh, that He came and dwelled among us for a short time to offer His own body as a sacrifice for the redemption of my soul and that he was resurrected and in doing so, I to shall be with him as well. This I believe as a fact, nothing less and that by saying I believe does not make it any less so.

How do I know? Because I am a witness to the fact. God is true to His Word. It does not matter what you believe Ray. Why do you think so many people through the ages BELIEVE in Jesus? And why so many are willing to die than to deny Him. It is because we receive something in the inner man that you can not possibly know or understand unless - until that day when you truly seek God and confront Him with who you truly are, a lost soul seeking redemption.

But your intent is to cast doubt. Where there is faith there can be no doubt. When I say I believe - I mean just that... I believe without a doubt.

Bangee, it matters to ME what I believe or don't believe. More people do not believe in Jesus than believe (Worldwide Christian population is 32%).

When is the last time someone chose to die rather than deny Jesus? The martyr story is as ancient as the bible and not relevant in today's world. More people have died throughout history for NOT being Christian. Christians aren't being killed for not denying Jesus, they are being killed by fellow religious zealots because they are considered infidels . If you thought Jesus wanted you to kill non-believers you would do it. The only difference between you and radical Islam is that you haven't been directed by your higher power to kill those who believe otherwise....yet.

My intent is not to cast doubt but to seek the truth. I don't believe that the Bible is the word of any god and you believe it is. Muslims don't believe in the Bible and Jews don't believe in the NT or that Jesus was divine. Christians that threaten non-believers with eternal damnation should take a hard look as to how they express that concept. It is arrogant and sophomoric. We are all familiar with the dogma but you can continue to relentlessly parrot it. If you are trying to show us how pious you are and that you've been saved we get it.


Also, unlike you, I've never worshiped my father or anyone or anything for that matter.

magicray wrote:
Bangee, it matters to ME what I believe or don't believe. More people do not believe in Jesus than believe (Worldwide Christian population is 32%).

When is the last time someone chose to die rather than deny Jesus? The martyr story is as ancient as the bible and not relevant in today's world. More people have died throughout history for NOT being Christian. Christians aren't being killed for not denying Jesus, they are being killed by fellow religious zealots because they are considered infidels . If you thought Jesus wanted you to kill non-believers you would do it. The only difference between you and radical Islam is that you haven't been directed by your higher power to kill those who believe otherwise....yet.

My intent is not to cast doubt but to seek the truth. I don't believe that the Bible is the word of any god and you believe it is. Muslims don't believe in the Bible and Jews don't believe in the NT or that Jesus was divine. Christians that threaten non-believers with eternal damnation should take a hard look as to how they express that concept. It is arrogant and sophomoric. We are all familiar with the dogma but you can continue to relentlessly parrot it. If you are trying to show us how pious you are and that you've been saved we get it.


Also, unlike you, I've never worshiped my father or anyone or anything for that matter.

Ray, you don't know what you are talking about. Christians are being killed daily for their belief and faith in Jesus Christ. They don't deny Jesus in the face of death.

Jesus would never ask me to take the life of another. Here is proof that Christians are being killed. BTW; God determines the number of Christians in the world - not you.

http://heavy.com/news/2015/04/isis-ethiopian-christians-beheading-full-video-uncensored-youtube/

http://time.com/3718470/isis-copts-egypt/

http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/15/middleeast/isis-video-beheadings-christians/index.html

http://www.christianpost.com/news/mother-of-coptic-christian-beheaded-by-isis-i-thank-god-he-kept-faith-died-for-cross-136281/

http://www.newsweek.com/new-isis-video-purports-show-30-ethiopian-christians-beheaded-and-shot-323389

http://www.catholic.org/news/international/middle_east/story.php?id=56339

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/i-watched-isis-beheading-christians-eritrean-teen-migrant-forced-witness-libya-massacre-1497874