RE: OK Christians. your chance. Convince me of God.
September 27, 2012 at 8:49 am
(This post was last modified: September 27, 2012 at 9:10 am by treshbond.)
This thread is about being convinced. Perhaps my posts have no place here because I am interested in finding out to what degree the Bible / faith in Jesus is unconvincing.
I find most atheists accuse the Bible as having absolutely no credibility at all and yet in my studies thus far I find that although faith in the Bible as inerrant is certainly blind, I can't agree that it is totally without basis and that I have a degree of respect for even some fundamentalist christians I meet who can demonstrate that they have given the facts serious, although misdirected consideration.
One of the main reasons I think this way is based upon how amazingly well the Bible has been preserved in comparison to other ancient texts. I am impressed by it, without being convinced by it.
So if anyone has any facts rather than opinions to establish that the Bible has not been well preserved I am interested to know them.
I think it is unwise to say anything is absolutely impossible. Just not reasonable or probable. I can't think of any way in which that could happen, but that which is possible is not limited by my mind.
If it did happen in front of witnesses who were able to examine it, as extra ordinary as it would seem at first, as we understand it, it would no longer be so incredible. History is full of such developments (perhaps not quite so incredible, but you get my meaning) who are we to place a limit upon how predictable the unknown is.
Stimbo,
If it is so unethical, then why do so many scholars do this all the time? It is simply a way of sifting out the crap and keeping what has value. Don't throw out the baby with the bathwater.
I have no personal agenda in promoting certain parts of the Bible over others. I am simply stating that to my knowledge it is not entirely devoid of merit.
Stimbo,
You are correct about faith. At least as far as its dictionary definition goes. I was thinking of faith in terms of the way it is defined in the Bible, which is also an expectation, which is what Christians are employing.
So to clarify, it is ok to have a reasonable expectation. The question is, how reasonable is the expectation that the Bible is a reliable book. I say it is more reasonable to think so than most atheists would say it has. And the main reason for thinking that, is on the basis of how well it has been preserved.
So if it is so unreasonable, please provide facts to establish this.
I find most atheists accuse the Bible as having absolutely no credibility at all and yet in my studies thus far I find that although faith in the Bible as inerrant is certainly blind, I can't agree that it is totally without basis and that I have a degree of respect for even some fundamentalist christians I meet who can demonstrate that they have given the facts serious, although misdirected consideration.
One of the main reasons I think this way is based upon how amazingly well the Bible has been preserved in comparison to other ancient texts. I am impressed by it, without being convinced by it.
So if anyone has any facts rather than opinions to establish that the Bible has not been well preserved I am interested to know them.
(September 26, 2012 at 6:01 pm)System of Solace Wrote: You can honestly say it will be possible for a rotting body to suddenly rise up out of a tomb with no wounds and then levitate into the sky?
I think it is unwise to say anything is absolutely impossible. Just not reasonable or probable. I can't think of any way in which that could happen, but that which is possible is not limited by my mind.
If it did happen in front of witnesses who were able to examine it, as extra ordinary as it would seem at first, as we understand it, it would no longer be so incredible. History is full of such developments (perhaps not quite so incredible, but you get my meaning) who are we to place a limit upon how predictable the unknown is.
Stimbo,
If it is so unethical, then why do so many scholars do this all the time? It is simply a way of sifting out the crap and keeping what has value. Don't throw out the baby with the bathwater.
I have no personal agenda in promoting certain parts of the Bible over others. I am simply stating that to my knowledge it is not entirely devoid of merit.
Stimbo,
You are correct about faith. At least as far as its dictionary definition goes. I was thinking of faith in terms of the way it is defined in the Bible, which is also an expectation, which is what Christians are employing.
So to clarify, it is ok to have a reasonable expectation. The question is, how reasonable is the expectation that the Bible is a reliable book. I say it is more reasonable to think so than most atheists would say it has. And the main reason for thinking that, is on the basis of how well it has been preserved.
So if it is so unreasonable, please provide facts to establish this.
