These stories also are an example of how the very Gospels were written in the first place. Christians sometimes like to fantasize that there were commando fact-checkers who would efficiently review and expose any lies or falsehoods. The story, they reason, must be true else critics of the time would have cried "false".
In reality, even with the capacity for debunking and fact-checking being just a Google search away, viral glurge stories are routinely circulated and believed. What would we expect of a less literate, more superstitious primitive time?
Such stories need not even be deliberate falsehoods. Some may start out as identified works of fiction, later retold as true stories. Allegory was, after all, very popular at that time, particularly in religious circles. Other stories may be misheard, changed slightly and retold as a more fanciful version of itself.
I remember once when I posted briefly on ChristianForums (before being banned as an annoying skeptic that asked too many questions), I once asked why God needs missionaries. If God really wrote a book, we might expect this book to be found in all cultures long before they had any contact with one another. For example, if missionaries had arrived in Japan when they first opened their ports to the outside world only to discover they already had their own Bibles, it would confound any worldly explanation and be proof of a divine hand at work. That Yahweh only spoke to a small region of the world and his word was only transported by human hands is an indication of human origins.
I kid you not, when I'd posted this very argument, a Christian responded "Wow, missionaries found that the Japanese already had the Bible long before they opened up to the outside world!" I can only assume he either skimmed my post or his own mind played a trick on him.
It wouldn't surprise me if a glurge story soon followed.
In reality, even with the capacity for debunking and fact-checking being just a Google search away, viral glurge stories are routinely circulated and believed. What would we expect of a less literate, more superstitious primitive time?
Such stories need not even be deliberate falsehoods. Some may start out as identified works of fiction, later retold as true stories. Allegory was, after all, very popular at that time, particularly in religious circles. Other stories may be misheard, changed slightly and retold as a more fanciful version of itself.
I remember once when I posted briefly on ChristianForums (before being banned as an annoying skeptic that asked too many questions), I once asked why God needs missionaries. If God really wrote a book, we might expect this book to be found in all cultures long before they had any contact with one another. For example, if missionaries had arrived in Japan when they first opened their ports to the outside world only to discover they already had their own Bibles, it would confound any worldly explanation and be proof of a divine hand at work. That Yahweh only spoke to a small region of the world and his word was only transported by human hands is an indication of human origins.
I kid you not, when I'd posted this very argument, a Christian responded "Wow, missionaries found that the Japanese already had the Bible long before they opened up to the outside world!" I can only assume he either skimmed my post or his own mind played a trick on him.
It wouldn't surprise me if a glurge story soon followed.
Atheist Forums Hall of Shame:
"The trinity can be equated to having your cake and eating it too."
... -Lucent, trying to defend the Trinity concept
"(Yahweh's) actions are good because (Yahweh) is the ultimate standard of goodness. That’s not begging the question"
... -Statler Waldorf, Christian apologist
"The trinity can be equated to having your cake and eating it too."
... -Lucent, trying to defend the Trinity concept
"(Yahweh's) actions are good because (Yahweh) is the ultimate standard of goodness. That’s not begging the question"
... -Statler Waldorf, Christian apologist
