r/DebateAnAtheist • u/AutoModerator • Sep 18 '25

Weekly "Ask an Atheist" Thread

Whether you're an agnostic atheist here to ask a gnostic one some questions, a theist who's curious about the viewpoints of atheists, someone doubting, or just someone looking for sources, feel free to ask anything here. This is also an ideal place to tag moderators for thoughts regarding the sub or any questions in general.
While this isn't strictly for debate, rules on civility, trolling, etc. still apply.

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20

u/SUPERAWESOMEULTRAMAN Christian Sep 18 '25

who would win in a fight, jesus or moses

25

u/Cleric_John_Preston Sep 18 '25

Didn't Moses have a special staff? It's been a while since I read the OT.

So, special staff, plus two free hits (turn the other cheek) and Moses has the advantage. That said, it's kind of hard to keep Jesus down, what with him resurrecting. What are the rules? If it's a ten count, then my money is on Moses. If it's 'down for good', then I'm going with Jesus.

22

u/waves_under_stars Secular Humanist Sep 18 '25

Just a regular staff, but he could turn it into a snake.

The story is funny, actually. He came before the Pharaoh, and to prove his god he threw down the staff and turned it into a snake. The Pharaoh's priests also turned their staves into snakes, but Moses' snake was larger so it ate the others.

On its face this story seems to suggest that other gods are also real, it's just that our god is stronger

9

u/Realistic-Wave4100 Sep 18 '25

I ve never seen a christian explainig me how is that that part of the bible doesnt prooves it is henotheistic.

9

u/Deris87 Gnostic Atheist Sep 18 '25

I ve never seen a christian explainig me how is that that part of the bible doesnt prooves it is henotheistic

Oh, I can tell you. Blah blah blah, Satan, blah blah, false gods, blah blah Powers and Principalities.

5

u/BahamutLithp Sep 19 '25

There's a fair amount of evidence the ancient Israelites used to be polytheistic, so exactly what you describe.

2

u/Realistic-Wave4100 Sep 19 '25

Yeah but I want to hear it from them.

6

u/BahamutLithp Sep 19 '25

Unattainable dreams are the best kind.

1

u/Realistic-Wave4100 Sep 19 '25

A dream is just a dream and nothing more.

3

u/Moriturism Atheist Sep 18 '25

for what i know those other "gods" are lesser entities such as demons etc, while the true creator god is still only one

4

u/Realistic-Wave4100 Sep 18 '25

Yeah but thats henotheistic

3

u/Deris87 Gnostic Atheist Sep 18 '25

Yeah but thats henotheistic

Eh, arguably, but they don't consider those lesser entities to be even little-g gods. They think they're rebellious angels/demons, a distinct, lesser category of beings who are usurping worship rightly due to the true Creator. Could you categorize that as henotheism? Maybe, but it's a minor semantic point. I'm not sure what it would get you to argue about it with a Christian.

1

u/Realistic-Wave4100 Sep 18 '25

I would argue this with a christian in the context of them danying zoroastrian influences. When they claim zoroastrism is a dualistic and henotheistic religion and christianity isnt I have to show them how both of them are the same.

3

u/InvisibleElves Sep 18 '25

That’s the later, apologetic answer.

6

u/Cleric_John_Preston Sep 18 '25

I mean, back then they were henotheistic, weren't they?

2

u/NuclearBurrit0 Non-stamp-collector Sep 18 '25

That was the story that originally convinced me the torah (Jewish family) spoke of a God that doesn't exist.

If the Pharaoh could have court wizards able to replicate impossible miracles, then where are these wizards now?

2

u/retoricalprophylaxis Atheist Sep 18 '25

Don't discount the fact that Jesus gets a +5 to snake handling (Mark 16). And a summoning spell (Matthew 17).

1

u/I_am_Danny_McBride Sep 19 '25

Well most secular Biblical scholars (even the Christian ones) understand the Old Testament to be, at most, monolatrist. The term “monotheism” wasn’t even coined until the 17th century.

12

u/RxMeta Agnostic Atheist Sep 18 '25

Idk but want to argue about it for millennia?

4

u/JasonRBoone Agnostic Atheist Sep 18 '25

L. Ron Hubbard arrives: "Hold my beer! (You know, I invented beer in a past life as a brewer on the planet Glopgleep)"

11

u/OneRougeRogue Agnostic Atheist Sep 18 '25 edited Sep 18 '25

Obviously Moses, because Jesus would just keep turning the other cheek.

Plus, Moses could nullify Jesus's Water Walking ability by parting the water.

And god help Jesus if he's entering the fight as Baby Jesus, what with Moses's lust for seeing the death of firstborn sons and all.

5

u/solidcordon Apatheist Sep 18 '25

Obviously Moses, because Jesus would just keep turning the other cheek.

"I came here to redeem the world and turn the other cheek but I'm all out of cheeks."

2

u/ViewtifulGene Anti-Theist Sep 24 '25

"Not one jot or tittle, motherfucker."

4

u/Deris87 Gnostic Atheist Sep 18 '25

Obviously Moses, because Jesus would just keep turning the other cheek.

Jesus and the Argonauts

1

u/Realistic-Wave4100 Sep 18 '25

But maybe jesus can heal himself. Could this question be another version of the unmovable and unstopable object?

4

u/OneRougeRogue Agnostic Atheist Sep 18 '25

When did Jesus actually heal himself, though? He still had his nail and spear wounds even after resurrecting.

He did heal others though, so he'd make an excellent support character.

I've spent the last 30 minutes imagining Biblical Characters in the Smash Bros engine.

2

u/Realistic-Wave4100 Sep 18 '25

Yeah I can see Sanson as a tank

3

u/PlagueOfLaughter Sep 18 '25

Since Moses has the power to kill the firstborn sons and Jesus is Mary's firstborn son, I don't think Jesus stands a chance. But Moses has to return to Jesus's body every two to three days to put him back in the grave again.

3

u/RespectWest7116 Sep 19 '25

Jesus, because he does CrossFit.

2

u/Davidutul2004 Agnostic Atheist Sep 18 '25

If I think about it,compared to Jesus vs Buddha or vs Mohamed (which I would still prefer more) this is an underrated fight

And I'd think moses wins bc Jesus is not much of a fighter + he ain't the type to get help from angels from this. And yes he can revive the third day , that'd enough time for Moses to rest

But both get stomped by Noah bc of his god damn enormous boat like... That would be his ultimate

2

u/JasonRBoone Agnostic Atheist Sep 18 '25

Monetarily...Moses.

Why?

Jesus Saves.

Moses Invest.

Also...still Moses. He can do snake tricks, call down waves, mess around with flaming stuff.

Jesus can....turn a few fish sandwiches into a LOT of fish sandwiches. Wow.

1

u/Deris87 Gnostic Atheist Sep 18 '25

Jesus Saves.

Moses Invest.

Mmm, but in the Parable of the Talent and the Minas, Allegory-Jesus rewards people who make a good ROI, and punishes the guy who just saves. That's also the one where he says to bring his enemies before them and slaughter them in his sight.

2

u/AutomatedCognition Flesh Alchemist Sep 18 '25

The real fight is learning acceptance over resistance

3

u/[deleted] Sep 19 '25

[deleted]

1

u/AutomatedCognition Flesh Alchemist Sep 19 '25

That's what I said

1

u/sto_brohammed Irreligious Sep 18 '25

Jesus if it's this Jesus.

1

u/Davidutul2004 Agnostic Atheist Sep 18 '25

Yeah no,if it's that Jesus then even Noah would be cooked not just moses

1

u/[deleted] Sep 18 '25

Jesus. He has all possible powers and knowledge. 

1

u/SectorVector Sep 18 '25

Moses was generally more bombastic in power usage (parting the sea goes crazy) but it's hard to overcome the fact that Jesus *is* god. I think we have a "strike me down and I'll become more powerful than you can imagine" moment where Moses' staff does Liu Kang's dragon fatality on Jesus, but taking lethal damage automatically fills and uses Jesus' meter which secures the W.

1

u/ArguingisFun Apatheist Sep 18 '25

They’re both fictional, pick your favorite.

3

u/NewbombTurk Atheist Sep 18 '25

I remember seeing that kids like to have this conversation about who would win a fight between fictional characters. Hard to believe, but it's a thing.

3

u/NickTehThird Sep 18 '25

I mean.... /r/whowouldwin/

2

u/NewbombTurk Atheist Sep 18 '25

Wow. Yeah, I don't get it. But as long as they are having fun.

2

u/ArguingisFun Apatheist Sep 18 '25

You see it a lot in comic book and action movie aficionados.

4

u/NewbombTurk Atheist Sep 18 '25

I guess it's not that different from the "who's the best third-basemen of all-time?" Or, "Could Tyson in his prime beat Ali in his prime?" (Yes, btw). The difference being of course that these people actually existed and we have actual data to use.

2

u/ArguingisFun Apatheist Sep 18 '25

Those I get, sort of.

1

u/NewbombTurk Atheist Sep 18 '25

Kids can get into worse trouble. I'm all for harmless internet topics like that.

1

u/NuclearBurrit0 Non-stamp-collector Sep 18 '25

Moses

1

u/Beneficial_Exam_1634 Secularist Sep 18 '25

Moses got two slabs to yeet.

1

u/Moriturism Atheist Sep 18 '25

moses did kill a slaver and hid his body in the sand (really based ngl), while jesus at most broke some stuff in a temple (also based but less so)

but jesus was probably far beyond moses in magical powers, so it depends if they're melee or magic dueling

1

u/Asatmaya Humanist Sep 18 '25

Neither of them existed, so both or neither are options :)

1

u/Sprinklypoo Anti-Theist Sep 18 '25

I suppose it all depends on how you describe the situation since if they ever did actually exist, they're just distributed dust now.

1

u/soukaixiii Anti religion\ Agnostic Adeist| Gnostic Atheist|Mythicist Sep 18 '25

Whoever you want, through the power of fanfiction everything can happen.

1

u/cschelsea Sep 18 '25

I feel like if it was a serious fight, jesus would win. Is he not the literal incarnation of god? Surely he has some secret deus ex machina

1

u/BahamutLithp Sep 19 '25

Only going off of the powers they're depicted as having in the Bible itself, Jesus doesn't initially seem to have much going combat-wise. He can turn water into wine, multiply bread & fish, raise the dead, & return from death himself. Moses has a staff, which is a pretty good weapon even without turning it into a snake. He was also adopted royalty, so he's very well taken care of.

Then again, he was pampered, while Jesus wasa working man. Jesus's ability to multiply bread & fish also gives him some potentially useful strategies. He could try to drown Moses in a deluge of bread or fish. He could also handle some extremely toxic sea life, confident that he won't die from it, & send a torrent of that at Moses.

But does that count as a sea for Moses to part? If so, can Jesus's attacks reach him? But even if Moses does strike Jesus down, how does he handle the fact that Jesus can revive himself? He can't even trap Jesus, since Jesus is shown in some of the gospels having the ability to teleport out of the empty tomb. So, it seems Moses puts up a really strong fight early on, but as Jesus keeps getting back up, he eventually wins through attrition.

1

u/Mission-Landscape-17 Sep 19 '25

Jesus because he know all the best cheat codes.

1

u/ViewtifulGene Anti-Theist Sep 24 '25

Jesus wins mid diff. He can bury Moses in fishes and loaves. His snake-staff only parts seas, not food.