Getting back to the original point of this thread. . . .
We've spent some time discussing problems with The Bible. The problems are not new. Google makes them easily accessible now. But most of the questions apologists address, were not originally put by atheists, but by fellow Christians. There are many, many more to discuss, should anyone care to. I can think of at least four more with the birth story, and another dozen or so with the crucifixion and resurrection.
But I suspect that any such discussion will go just the way this one has. An atheist will point out a problem and a theist will find an apologist to say that if you look at in this highly convoluted way that requires scholarship, it's not a problem. Sometimes there are competing apologists who explain the problem in mutually exclusive ways.
The question I have to ask is would you ever turn yourself in such mental knots to defend the truth of any other book? And if the Bible is so very special and inspired by god, why is it in such need of defense?
Muslims tie themselves in similar knots for the Koran. Mormons seem to simply excommunicate persons who ask the thorny questions. But Christians don't excuse the contradictions in the Koran or the Book of Mormon. Why not?
We've spent some time discussing problems with The Bible. The problems are not new. Google makes them easily accessible now. But most of the questions apologists address, were not originally put by atheists, but by fellow Christians. There are many, many more to discuss, should anyone care to. I can think of at least four more with the birth story, and another dozen or so with the crucifixion and resurrection.
But I suspect that any such discussion will go just the way this one has. An atheist will point out a problem and a theist will find an apologist to say that if you look at in this highly convoluted way that requires scholarship, it's not a problem. Sometimes there are competing apologists who explain the problem in mutually exclusive ways.
The question I have to ask is would you ever turn yourself in such mental knots to defend the truth of any other book? And if the Bible is so very special and inspired by god, why is it in such need of defense?
Muslims tie themselves in similar knots for the Koran. Mormons seem to simply excommunicate persons who ask the thorny questions. But Christians don't excuse the contradictions in the Koran or the Book of Mormon. Why not?
If there is a god, I want to believe that there is a god. If there is not a god, I want to believe that there is no god.
