Why "mysterious ways" don't matter.

[Esquilax]

The bible does hold hundreds of facts that can be seen and proven and tested through science, prophecies and archeology.

So I just got through saying facts are demonstrated and not asserted, and your very next response to that is an even larger assertion.

Sorry, your guess was not correct. If you have a honest opinion about God you must first believe Him.

Oh, so only people who agree with you can have legitimate opinions about god? How profoundly convenient for you! Not to mention dishonest. Can I only have opinions about Darth Vader if I believe in him too, or is this special pleading?

It feels false to you because God might be waiting for the right time to revealed you the truth or you are ignoring Him by your own free will.

I notice that instead of simply demonstrating that it is true, which you can do for any other thing in reality, you instead opt to speculate about why I think it's false. That doesn't exactly bode well, does it? Could it be that you can't demonstrate that your religion is true?

I can do that for a pack of playing cards, but you can't do that for the architect of the universe? Pretty weaksauce belief you've got there.

You may, but it just sounds like you are angry with God. And if you are not angry with God, what is the purpose of it? Hurt and disappoint other people who believes in God?

Yawn. No, I'm not angry with god. I just get irritated with poor argumentation and logical fallacies, and I feel the need to correct them. All you have to do is argue better, you know.

Hard to reply to this one because I was never implied how great I am. Your response did not have any connection with my quote.

I wasn't talking about you, I was talking about god.

My opinion is only a jump start for better investigation by others. No one should put their trust on someone's opinion. Our trust should be only in God's word.

And if my investigation led me to believe that there's no good reason to think that god exists?

The bible does has the answer to everything. "All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work." (2 Timothy 3:16-17). It does NOT silence any dissent only warns us about it.

It tells you not to listen to anyone who disagrees with the bible. That is silencing dissent. In fact, it tells you to kill anyone who tries to dissuade you away from god, in parts.

Let's not forget that these "semi-literate bronze age mystics" were separated by thousands of years apart, language, distance, culture, no technology or easy means of communication. Yet they were still able to compile the worlds best seller . Hum... could it be that they were very intelectual or could it be a higher power working behind them?

Thank you for your reply. I enjoyed reading your point of view. :-)

It could also be that they had a long tradition of indoctrinating children into the same belief system and violently opposing those that believed differently. That might help them raise a bunch of fearful sycophants who can't even fathom the idea of not believing, don't you think?