(May 23, 2015 at 12:42 pm)robvalue Wrote: I don't care if they are reliable. I already told you, I would concede they are the most reliable people ever. It makes no difference.
I gave you exactly the same scenario, with your 10 most reliable people in the world, and you take the same position as me. Scepticism. The only difference is you already believe certain claims, and you're trying to make a special case why they should just be taken at face value.
All religions claims are equal: they make supernatural claims, and they provide no credible evidence.
I don't know how many more times I can say this, but even if they think they are writing the truth, it doesn't mean they are interpreting the events accurately. So no, if the most reliable men on the planet got up in court and said Jesus just visited them and told them to kill someone, so they did, they would not believe them. No matter how much they thought it was true, believed it was true, the court would not accept it. Would you? Clearly this "reliable" property only matters if the claims are ones that you have already decided are true. Otherwise, people are simply mistaken, according to you. Can you see there is a problem here? These 4 reliable men, from your own scenario, could stand up in court and say say Islam is true. Yet you don't believe them. Now we should be sceptical.
Rob-
If 10 men told a court that Jesus told them to kill, then we would dismiss them for a number of reasons not the least of which is the fact that murder is a crime. Period.
However, if they testified that Jesus had told them to become Muslims, then I would be skeptical on the basis of what I know OF JESUS. IOW, because what they are claiming contradicts Jesus himself, I would be doubtful.
How do the claims of Christianity contradict what you already know of God?
As a weak atheist, I'm guessing that you have no personal experience of God, so what exactly is the basis for your position? Lack of evidence? And when evidence is presented, you say, "Oh, that doesn't count" and you go on your merry way thinking that there is no evidence.
Seems to me that maybe you don't WANT to hear any evidence?
