The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus Christ (Part Deux)

[vorlon13]

This is useful too:


1 Corinthians 14:33 King James Version (KJV)

33 For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.




And when I use that verse, I usually append: "Confusion is Joseph Smith's job"

[YahwehIsTheWay]

Would you divulge your other identity? Or did you already and I missed it?

It's the link in my sig, in the interest of being completely transparent that this is a parody and not a sock puppet.

[Thumpalumpacus]

[YahwehIsTheWay]

I found this amazing book that will turn you into an atheist.

The key to avoid that is you must believe all the Bible, every bit.

This includes the parts that contradict one another. If Jesus is born before 4 BCE (Matthew) and after 6 CE (Luke) and yet was almost 50 years old at the time he started his ministry in 27 CE (John), well, that's just a miracle that shows you how powerful our Lord is. He's just all over the time stream, able to be different places at once and able to be contradictory things at once. Most apologists try to explain away the contradictions. I embrace them. They show off what an awesome god we serve.

This also includes the parts that make no sense. Ours is not to question the mind of the Lord. If the Lord needs to come down to earth to make himself his own human sacrifice as the only means to convince himself to forgive us all for a fact that an ancestor of ours had eaten a magic fruit, well, that's how it's done then.

This also includes the morally bankrupt parts of the Bible. If we're supposed to stone disobedient little children in the public square, then that's what we're supposed to do.

Unless this book is wrong.

[Minimalist]

Unless this book is wrong.

Uh-oh. Is that an admission?

[vorlon13]

Christian apologetics being merely a warmup exercise for Mormon apologetics. Dems the big leagues sonny, boy !!!

[robvalue]

The book is certainly not suitable for children, it contains graphic descriptions of some of the atrocities committed in the name of Christianity.

It's called "Because I Believe- Let's Evaluate." Some later editions use an abbreviated title. Most Christians have likely seen the book already and assumed what it says, without checking it out properly for themselves.

Yes the book puts forward many obvious contradictions, you really would have to completely ignore them if you wanted to still believe. It highlights it by sometimes switching from one version of a story to another, and even shows how some important people die twice and in different ways.

I don't think a book could ever be written to be more convincing for the atheist position.

[Minimalist]

Indeed. One of the themes emerging in Carrier's book on the godboy is that it is the fuckups in the story which most undermine the historicity claims. For an actual person the proponents of the story seem to have only a foggy idea of basic facts.

1. They don't know when he was born.

2. They don't know when he died.

3. They don't know how old he was at death.

You'd expect believers to take better care of their godboy's story.

[YahwehIsTheWay]

I don't think a book could ever be written to be more convincing for the atheist position.

That's because you're reading it was all those facts and logic and stuff. A True Christian ™ remains convinced because, as Pastor Deacon Fred has said, "We don't need facts when we got Jesus; an open mind is the Devil's playground."

Lest you think that ridiculous, just listen to what mainstream Christian apologist W.L. Craig had to say about the "witness of the Holy Spirit" and how this allows him to believe no matter what the facts say:



According to Craig, the Holy Spirit offers Christians like him a "...self authenticating means of knowing Christianity is true wholly apart from the evidence."

Amen brother Craig!

Now some may translate the above quote as a "circular and contrived thought process to believe in a pre-conceived notion independent of what reality shows to be true" but those people are Satanists, you have to understand.

Oh Glory!

[robvalue]

You're right, logic is just not holy, I'll stop using it and believe everything I am told. I'll have to make sure I'm only told Christian stuff though, or I'll be a real confused theist.

And don't tell me two contradictory unfalsifiable statements, as I'll have to believe they're both true...