So basically, the bible explains it all away by saying "and if none of it makes sense, that's because it's not supposed to." I don't see how that means it's rational to believe in the God of Jesus Christ, if anything it sounds more like an excuse for being irrational. Even then, your arguments there are on the basis that Christianity is true, which is a pretty big "if." Biblical errancy aside, using the bible to justify the contents of the bible is rather redundant if you're trying to be convincing (unless of course you're going to try to use the fear of Hell.)
I imagine you're referring to the Testimonium Flavianum as evidence for the existence of the historical Jesus. I could go on about how this may have been a forgery, but the main reason I discount much (and there is very little to begin with) of what Josephus had to say about Jesus is because he was born after Jesus' alleged death. He is not a primary source, and so chances are all of his references to Jesus are based on hearsay.
27 to 47 years may be short by the standards of history itself, but for an individual (and that's what we're talking about here; the lifetime of a man) that's plenty of time to more or less have their way with otherwise undocumented history. Of course, that's assuming the bible is a reliable historical record.
You ask how I could know that people could not have experienced God. To that, I will respond similarly; how can you know that they have? Many people in the world may very well claim experiences of this god, but how do we know for certain that it is indeed a divine experience and not something else? The church encourages the belief that these are in fact experiences of God, so naturally that's what adherents would believe. My assumption that these experiences are not divine is not an unjustified assumption, but a default position. I will assume a lack of existence or effect unless I have evidence to the contrary. A personal experience without any way to substantiate it cannot be submitted as evidence.
As for the conceptual size of God, I will explain.
Let's think for a moment about the size of religion compared to the populace. Judaism has been around for about 5,000 years. For the most part they don't take any converts, so it's mostly who's been born into the faith. Christianity has existed for just under 2,000 years. Even if we combine these Abrahamic faiths, it's still not a very large amount of people, given how many people it is we're talking about. As of 2012, Christians make up between 31-35% of the current world population of an estimated 7 billion, less than half of the world. If we consider the age of these religions compared to the age of the human race, about 100,000 years (using scientific data, not religious text), we find that this god has only existed for about 5% of mankind's existence. If we compare all of this to the total number of people estimated to ever have been born, we find that only about 1.75% (barring fluctuations in demographics; this number isn't perfectly accurate but it's a basic estimation, the real number is perhaps smaller) of people who have ever lived (estimated in 2011 to be 107,602,707,791) believe or believed in the God of Jesus Christ.
This, however, is not even the full picture. We must also take into consideration the other religions which have existed throughout human history. The classical faiths of the ancient Greeks, Romans, and Egyptians were polytheistic, and quite materialistic in comparison to other faiths; their beliefs in no way match up with the monotheistic religions we have today, and they are largely rejected as "pagan." In antiquity, however, they were quite widespread. Human civilization was in a constant state of flux, with every conquering or change of dynasty bringing with it a new faith to which all in the land were expected to convert. The sheer number of the gods created by man (estimated to be around 4000, but we can't account for those of which there is no surviving documentation) testifies to one thing: the Abrahamic god is not special. The only thing that separates him from Zeus, Thor, Shiva, Amun-Ra et al. is the fact that he currently has the most followers. But this, as history has taught us, means mostly nothing. The Roman religion was spread throughout the empire, which was between 30-40% of the world population at that time, larger than Christianity's hold on the world today. But then, where is Zeus now?
The point I'm making is that the God of Jesus Christ, or really any god for that matter, is small, and that is only compared to the human race, let alone the planet. In comparison to this grand and complex universe, he is miniscule. If this god is the one true god, it really doesn't make sense that documentation and worship of this god would make up such an incredibly minute piece of the universal puzzle. Earlier you asked how I could be right and so many others be wrong, now I've got to ask you the same. So with that in mind, why would it be rational to think this god is more real and worthy of worship than any other?
I imagine you're referring to the Testimonium Flavianum as evidence for the existence of the historical Jesus. I could go on about how this may have been a forgery, but the main reason I discount much (and there is very little to begin with) of what Josephus had to say about Jesus is because he was born after Jesus' alleged death. He is not a primary source, and so chances are all of his references to Jesus are based on hearsay.
27 to 47 years may be short by the standards of history itself, but for an individual (and that's what we're talking about here; the lifetime of a man) that's plenty of time to more or less have their way with otherwise undocumented history. Of course, that's assuming the bible is a reliable historical record.
You ask how I could know that people could not have experienced God. To that, I will respond similarly; how can you know that they have? Many people in the world may very well claim experiences of this god, but how do we know for certain that it is indeed a divine experience and not something else? The church encourages the belief that these are in fact experiences of God, so naturally that's what adherents would believe. My assumption that these experiences are not divine is not an unjustified assumption, but a default position. I will assume a lack of existence or effect unless I have evidence to the contrary. A personal experience without any way to substantiate it cannot be submitted as evidence.
As for the conceptual size of God, I will explain.
Let's think for a moment about the size of religion compared to the populace. Judaism has been around for about 5,000 years. For the most part they don't take any converts, so it's mostly who's been born into the faith. Christianity has existed for just under 2,000 years. Even if we combine these Abrahamic faiths, it's still not a very large amount of people, given how many people it is we're talking about. As of 2012, Christians make up between 31-35% of the current world population of an estimated 7 billion, less than half of the world. If we consider the age of these religions compared to the age of the human race, about 100,000 years (using scientific data, not religious text), we find that this god has only existed for about 5% of mankind's existence. If we compare all of this to the total number of people estimated to ever have been born, we find that only about 1.75% (barring fluctuations in demographics; this number isn't perfectly accurate but it's a basic estimation, the real number is perhaps smaller) of people who have ever lived (estimated in 2011 to be 107,602,707,791) believe or believed in the God of Jesus Christ.
This, however, is not even the full picture. We must also take into consideration the other religions which have existed throughout human history. The classical faiths of the ancient Greeks, Romans, and Egyptians were polytheistic, and quite materialistic in comparison to other faiths; their beliefs in no way match up with the monotheistic religions we have today, and they are largely rejected as "pagan." In antiquity, however, they were quite widespread. Human civilization was in a constant state of flux, with every conquering or change of dynasty bringing with it a new faith to which all in the land were expected to convert. The sheer number of the gods created by man (estimated to be around 4000, but we can't account for those of which there is no surviving documentation) testifies to one thing: the Abrahamic god is not special. The only thing that separates him from Zeus, Thor, Shiva, Amun-Ra et al. is the fact that he currently has the most followers. But this, as history has taught us, means mostly nothing. The Roman religion was spread throughout the empire, which was between 30-40% of the world population at that time, larger than Christianity's hold on the world today. But then, where is Zeus now?
The point I'm making is that the God of Jesus Christ, or really any god for that matter, is small, and that is only compared to the human race, let alone the planet. In comparison to this grand and complex universe, he is miniscule. If this god is the one true god, it really doesn't make sense that documentation and worship of this god would make up such an incredibly minute piece of the universal puzzle. Earlier you asked how I could be right and so many others be wrong, now I've got to ask you the same. So with that in mind, why would it be rational to think this god is more real and worthy of worship than any other?
You really believe in a man who has helped to save the world twice, with the power to change his physical appearance? An alien who travels though time and space--in a police box?!? ![[Image: TARDIS.gif]](https://images.weserv.nl/?url=www.smileyvault.com%2Falbums%2Fuserpics%2F11195%2FTARDIS.gif)
