Preacher at corner of GPO today.

newmug

Hey all. I saw a fella preaching at the corner of the GPO and Henry St. in Dublin today. Anyone know who he was? It seemed he had a few people handing out leaflets too. I didnt take one as it would be a waste, preaching to the converted, literally! Better for someone else to get it. I hope he didn't feel like his efforts weren't bearing fruit because of my rejection!!!

Siuin

He's always there. There's often also a stand for converting people to Islam around the corner. Each to their own, although I go out of my way to avoid them both.

Manach

Usually I try to extol the Church to them and point out the nearest place of Catholic worship. I'm helpful that way.

uberalles

Not 8 but a 9 bladed sword.

Loved those speakers in the life of brian

im invisible

Had a great chat with one of them once, then he brought me away to do a personality test...

i failed =o(

philologos

im invisible wrote: »

Had a great chat with one of them once, then he brought me away to do a personality test...

i failed =o(

That's Scientology, not Christianity.

newmug: Here's a thread on street preaching from about a year ago:
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=75940547

I'm of the mind that if Jesus did it and if Paul and the other Apostles did it it's a good practice for those who are able to do this.

SebBerkovich

Not sure how effective it could be, peoples amplified shouting on a street corning it bloody annoying, even if i agree with what they're shouting about.

newmug

philologos wrote: »

That's Scientology, not Christianity.

newmug: Here's a thread on street preaching from about a year ago:
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=75940547

I'm of the mind that if Jesus did it and if Paul and the other Apostles did it it's a good practice for those who are able to do this.

Same here. If you can do anything to help people get into Heaven, you should IMO. Its like first aid for the soul. If you spent your whole life making an eejit out of yourself preaching, and only got through to one person, it would have been worth every bit of it.

That said, I sometimes take issue with what they are saying, and how they are saying it. eg. If someone from the westboro baptish "Church" came here to preach that Jesus hates homosexuals, I would probably go over and try to stop them. Thats just wrong information, even if they believe it to be true. Also, if someone tried to draw attention to Jesus's message by doing ridiculous stunts ala Fr.Dancing Priest, thats a no-no in my books too. IMO thats doing more harm than good.

Benny_Cake

I've found that street preachers in this country tend to be very much of the fundamentalist, fire and brimstone variety who angrily hurl bible verses like missiles. I'd suspect that they tend to repel more people than they attract, and either confirm the preexisting bias that people had or put them off investigating Christianity altogether.

That said, it does have a proud history in the church, just one which seems to be dying off. The Methodists have had a strong history of it going right back to John Wesley, and more recently the famous preacher Donald Soper who spoke at Speaker's Corner well into his 90s even though he had to be lifted onto his box towards the end.

philologos

Benny_Cake wrote: »

I've found that street preachers in this country tend to be very much of the fundamentalist, fire and brimstone variety who angrily hurl bible verses like missiles. I'd suspect that they tend to repel more people than they attract, and either confirm the preexisting bias that people had or put them off investigating Christianity altogether.

That said, it does have a proud history in the church, just one which seems to be dying off. The Methodists have had a strong history of it going right back to John Wesley, and more recently the famous preacher Donald Soper who spoke at Speaker's Corner well into his 90s even though he had to be lifted onto his box towards the end.

Why do you think Jesus and the subsequent apostles used it?

And by fire and brimstone are you referring to the Biblical doctrine that Jesus stood in our place on the cross and rose from the dead to bring us to new life in His name if we repent and believe in the Gospel?

Gumbi

philologos wrote: »

Why do you think Jesus and the subsequent apostles used it?

And by fire and brimstone are you referring to the Biblical doctrine that Jesus stood in our place on the cross and rose from the dead to bring us to new life in His name if we repent and believe in the Gospel?

The threat of eternal torture for starters.

efb

Crazy preachers be crazy always tend to be loons that found god after a bad trip - they're down there with chuggers

Benny_Cake

philologos wrote: »

Why do you think Jesus and the subsequent apostles used it?

And by fire and brimstone are you referring to the Biblical doctrine that Jesus stood in our place on the cross and rose from the dead to bring us to new life in His name if we repent and believe in the Gospel?

I was referring to a small but extreme corner of Irish Christianity consisting of the likes of the Free Presbyterian Church and a handful of unaffiliated churches which seem to be where the majority of these street preachers come from. One group took it upon themselves to picket the Eucharistic Congress where they preached at the presumably insufficiently Christian attendees (it was less preaching, and more shouting actually). It doesn't present a positive picture of the Gospel.

Pretty obvious why Jesus and the apostles practised it, it was the only way to spread the word at the time. Would they do the same now? Probably not.

This is just my personal experience, I'm sure there are exceptions. I'm glad to live in a country where the freedom to speak openly in public is protected, whether or not I agree with the person speaking.

Zombrex

im invisible wrote: »

Had a great chat with one of them once, then he brought me away to do a personality test...

I did one of those. The test results came back saying I didn't have one.

*Bad-bum-tssh*

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LekUKeFijxc

Onesimus

Zombrex wrote: »

I did one of those. The test results came back saying I didn't have one.

*Bad-bum-tssh*

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LekUKeFijxc

But for a small fee of 3 million dollars we could give you one like we did with Tom Cruise. :pac:

IRWolfie-

Siuin wrote: »

He's always there. There's often also a stand for converting people to Islam around the corner. Each to their own, although I go out of my way to avoid them both.

I think it was that preacher I saw arguing angrily and loudly with the Islam stand, although it could have been someone else. It was funny to observe (from a distance).

keano_afc

philologos wrote: »

That's Scientology, not Christianity.

newmug: Here's a thread on street preaching from about a year ago:
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=75940547

I'm of the mind that if Jesus did it and if Paul and the other Apostles did it it's a good practice for those who are able to do this.

Phil, now that you're in London, have you heard Jay Smith at Hyde Park corner?

dar926

I saw him being intimidated by a gang of men dressed in Where's Wally suites a few weeks back... They were trying to get him to pose for a photo... He wasn't too impressed.

philologos

keano_afc wrote: »

Phil, now that you're in London, have you heard Jay Smith at Hyde Park corner?

No, funnily enough I went to Speakers Corner a few times when I first came over but after seeing the plethora of Islamic, racist, and Christian-with-a-twist speakers I decided to give it a miss.

However, I've heard there are some very sound Christians who do speak there, but it's just about staying around long enough to filter out the rubbish first

keano_afc

philologos wrote: »

No, funnily enough I went to Speakers Corner a few times when I first came over but after seeing the plethora of Islamic, racist, and Christian-with-a-twist speakers I decided to give it a miss.

However, I've heard there are some very sound Christians who do speak there, but it's just about staying around long enough to filter out the rubbish first

Yeah, I've seen some Youtube vids from there and it seems a bit of a free for all. I've caught a couple of his debates with Adan Rashid here in Dublin. He's a great champion for the gospel.