Street Epistemology - Practice

[RoadRunner79]

Yes... as I had said before.  They are not going to give you specifics or tell you things other than what they point to.

1)  generic philosophical arguments such as cosmological, ontological, and moral arguments.
2)  Scientific arguments a such as strong anthromorphic principle, and intelligent design
3)  Anecdotal evidence, that of miracles, found all around the world.
4)  Testimony of personal experiences, as well a must my own experiences.
5)  You've heard and believed in the Gospels.

So you've mentioned that number five is the best reason that you have such a high confidence that your God exists. Can you tell me what about it gives you so much confidence?

I would say that all the evidence contributes to the high confidence.  However it is because of the historical accounts, that I am a Christian rather than just a deist.  I see a difference in the Judeo/Christian tradition, that I don't see in other religions.  It is a part of and dependent on history more than others.  Written by forty authors, in multiple geographies over many centuries.  It's events are often in public and frequently encourages it's immediate readers to remember back to their experiences.  It often encourages it's audience to test it. 

For the Gospel, we have 4 people who wrote accounts of Jesus ministry.  We have the letters from other apostles and disciples who wrote to the early Church, and tradition where a number of Churches where started by those who knew Jesus.  These all support the history of the Gospel.  I have read a number of the anti-Nicene Fathers of the church.  They both speak of and quote the apostles and the writings that proceed them.  Which continues further down the chain of history through each generation.  And especially in the early history, you will see a focus on that historical connection to Jesus and the apostles.  To hold on to what they where taught and in some cases seen. 

You can get into more detail, J. Warner Wallace (LA cold case homicide detective) was a self described aggressive atheist for 35 years of his life.   He talks quite a bit of his training and experience with witnesses, and why he now believes the Gospel accounts are true.  I'm currently reading a book on "undesigned coincidences" where there may be a subtle question  raised in one writing, and it is unintentionally answered in another.  Some of these would have meant little to the immediate audience or wouldn't have been questioned at all, so it seems unlikely to be by designed and would be remarkable to be by accident. 

Now different details may carry different weight.  Some evidence may only provide a slight strength.  However when I look at all the evidence, then my confidence level is fairly strong.