Totally NOT a debate about the veracity of the gospels

[*Deidre*]

The Quran claims that Jesus never actually died from His crucifixion. This is flat out incorrect. Not only that, but the Quran claims to be the word for word dictation of God to Muhammad in Arabic. Since God cannot lie, it follows that therefore, the Quran is not the word of God.

So one reason ( I have several ) is that the Quran cannot be the Word of God because it got that (Jesus' death) wrong.

The problem with what you're saying here, is that if we you were a Muslim, you'd be saying the exact opposite. And yet, think YOU have found the one true faith. The one path of enlightenment to God. This is the problem with religion.

It might be more genuine for you to say that everyone sees God in different ways. Even though that is a crock, it has more merit than insisting you have found the one true path, and everyone who follows another religion, is 'wrong.' The truth is, you don't know the truth anymore than me. Anymore than an atheist. Anymore than a muslim. Anymore than anyone. That's the truth of it, discipulus.

And to be charitable, I can grant what you say is true.

But what follows?

That the above necessitates being historical skeptics?

No.

It means we need to endeavor to sift through the propaganda to come to the truth.

No, it means we stop believing everything we read. It means we have standards for truth, and not everything can possibly reach those standards. I'm not saying you don't have standards for truth, I think you do. But, you make an exception for your faith beliefs. You want so badly for your faith beliefs to be based on some type of historical evidence, that you will believe any historian who throws some half-assed 'evidence' your way. :/

Your qualm is with miracles.

If God exists, then He can also do miraculous things.

The question is, does God exist?

*If* ...ah grasshopper. At last you are seeing the light.

What reason do we have to dismiss miracles as impossible?

What reason do you have to accept them, or assume them possible? It's ok to say, 'I don't know how that happened,' if something out of the ordinary takes place. It doesn't mean that a miracle is responsible for it. When people are pronounced dead, and 15 minutes later they come 'back to life,' religious people declare it a miracle. Why? Modern medicine can do a lot these days. And the brain goes through a lot of neuriological transitions when the body starts to shut down. It is only a miracle to people who don't seek answers that are actually out there to answer some of their questions. Instead, they ignore the other possibilities, and leap to 'it must be a miracle.'

And on a spiritual level...does God favor one person over another? Only certain people get to have miracles in their lives? That's kind of sad.

If this is preaching to you then so be it.

I lost a good friend recently, who is Christian, over my choice to leave the faith. My journey if you will, has been underway for some time, but recently, this friend decided we were no longer friends. This is a typical Christian's life. To judge. To preach. To shun ''sinners'', because that's what the Bible teaches...yes?

That is the Christian 'way.' As if you think you are better than Muslims, atheists, agnostics, etc...simply because you believe the stories of the Bible, and we don't.