Challenge to atheists: I find your lack of faith disturbing!

[Aractus]

I am unclear as to why you felt it necessary to write so much about Peter, but it is interesting. Thank you for taking the time to share that. When I was in Rome, I visited the Vatican and took a tour of St. Peter’s Basilica. Fascinating stuff really, except the dead popes incased in glass. That was a bit morbid. But, I digress…

Simply using it as a great example of double-standards for historical accuracy/proof etc. Glad that you enjoyed learning about it in any case!

I will grant this as a horrible tragedy. Times were quite barbaric. I must say that I’m happy we no longer use such primitive forms of death penalty, and I long for a world that finds a way to achieve justice while avoiding it all together.

Barbaric, yes, but primitive? To the Romans, they saw the other cultures around them as being "primitive". They also did not use crucifixion for their own citizens - they would simply be beheaded.

It sounds like your saying that it was either a hoax, or it was true. Do you believe that somebody cannot truly believe something and yet still be mistaken?

If you go down this path, then it leads you to the problem of - where did his body go? Breaking the Roman seal was an offence punishable by death (ie crucifixion for Jews)! Would the disciples really have that much ambition to steal the body? How does Paul become a Christian? According to Luke he meets the risen Christ on the road to Damascus and is blinded by him. According to Paul himself he met the risen Christ.

Now surely you don't believe that Paul could sincerely believe that he'd met the risen Christ if he had not, correct?

I think I have the same question here. Do you believe it possible for a person to truly believe something with every fiber of their being, and yet still be mistaken?

Of course somebody could believe something that is untrue.

If it is your belief is that one could not mistake something as true if they are willing to die for it; I am curious as to whether or not you are swayed into believing in Allah, since everyday suicide bombers do that very thing in support of their cause. You did say that you do not think it makes sense for somebody to let themselves be killed for a hoax. It is my guess that you do not find their deaths convincing as proofs for their incompatible God, and if I may extend my guess further, I would guess that you believe those Muslims to also be gravely mistaken. Did I understand your proof correctly, or shall we attempt to narrow down this evidence into terms that may be easier for one such as my self to grasp?

The Muslim faith is based on a demonstrable lie - multiple lies in fact. Muslims accept the Bible as holy scripture, but are taught that it has been modified beyond repair. Well, the qumran scrolls put that theory to bed completely. They would have to come up with a whole new explanation as to why God would allow "completely corrupted" scriptures to exist for 800 straight years, etc.

But let's not forget that these suicide bombers are completely indoctrinated, and not just that, but they are actually a good example of the point I originally made about cults - and cult leaders wanting others to die for them. Did you ever see Osama Bin Laden himself strap a dynamite-laden vest to himself and go blow something up, or did he have others do it for him?