Cold-Case Christianity

[Fake Messiah]

That's great Macoleco but it has nothing to do with this topic.

[Pat Mustard]

Has anyone read this book by J. Warner Wallace?  I have a former HS friend turned religious fundie who is hell bent on converting me, and in the interest of a fair debate I told him I’d read it. I’m expecting the usual apologetics rundown of lowering the standards for evidence so we can include alleged eyewitness testimony, but I was just curious if anyone here had suffered through it so I can prepare myself for the pain. Thanks, loves! ❤️

Yeah, I read about 2/3 of it a while back on the request of a relative.

Same old arguments and fallacies we've all heard a thousand times. Since it was written by a former police homicide officer, theists think it has some added credibility, I guess.

Steve Shives does a pretty thorough refutation of it on 9 videos.

**It looks like wyzas beat me to it on post #15 above.


 

Twas me Simon, me!

---

Peter was executed but we have no transcripts from that.  Tradition holds that he was fleeing and then Jesus appeared to him and told him to turn himself in. But even then, how do we know how the interrogation went?  Instead of the ol' Christian wet dream, "Deny Christ and go free, or you will die," it very well could've been more like, "You are guilty of sedition and we will torture you until you admit it." And then if Peter proclaims his Christianity and is executed, that looks great for Christians. Or who knows, maybe he denied Christ. Wouldn't be the first time Peter did that anyway.  We simply don't know, and apologists disguise their speculation as fact.

The reality is that Peter was most likely executed by Nero as a token gesture to appease the people because he blamed Christians for the fire of Rome.

Did Peter even exist? Also, Nero killed no christians during his reign, mainly because the groupings which eventually became christian were still fringe jewish cults.

[vulcanlogician]

Ugh, this is going to be painful, lol

Why don't you make a thread where you list all of the annoying things you read in the book so we heathens can laugh at it and/or critique his claims. That way you won't have to suffer alone.

If this guy is called the "evidence whisperer" I'm semi-intrigued. But I'm guessing that he is going to have one primary source of "evidence"... that favorite piece of "evidence" that all apologists like to use... you know the one...

[Cepheus Ace]

the book can be summed up in the following video and lets get real here this video deserves a place in or responses to religious apologetics

[EgoDeath]

I've given up on debating this topic with Christians in real life. Some lady from work invited me to her church and even though I said yes as she sort of put me on the spot, I have zero plans of attending her church or talking any further with her about the subject. I've read the Bible, and while I haven't studied it as in-depth as I could've, I know there is simply nothing there for me. I've thought about these issues for well over a decade. I've considered whether or not I'm wrong. I've weighed the options. I simply do not believe in god.

This isn't some spontaneous decision I've come to, as no Christian ever seems to be able to grasp. They act as if I haven't thought these things through over and over and over, as if I'm missing some key point or have simply dismissed god without considering its existence.

That's the part that drives me the most crazy, to be honest.

[Fireball]

I've given up on debating this topic with Christians in real life. Some lady from work invited me to her church and even though I said yes as she sort of put me on the spot, I have zero plans of attending her church or talking any further with her about the subject. I've read the Bible, and while I haven't studied it as in-depth as I could've, I know there is simply nothing there for me. I've thought about these issues for well over a decade. I've considered whether or not I'm wrong. I've weighed the options. I simply do not believe in god.

This isn't some spontaneous decision I've come to, as no Christian ever seems to be able to grasp. They act as if I haven't thought these things through over and over and over, as if I'm missing some key point or have simply dismissed god without considering its existence.

That's the part that drives me the most crazy, to be honest.

I'm where you are, but I'm older, so that decision not to argue with the religious came about 14 years ago. It isn't worth the candle to me, though sometimes I see something that sets me off.

[Simon Moon]

I've given up on debating this topic with Christians in real life.

I'm getting close to being there with you.

But something keeps dragging me back in!

I mean, how many times can we continue pointing out the flaws in theist's arguments? Sorry Christians, but cosmological, teleological, ontological, and transcendental arguments for the existence of god, are ALL fallacious.

[Fireball]

I've given up on debating this topic with Christians in real life.

I'm getting close to being there with you.

But something keeps dragging me back in!

I mean, how many times can we continue pointing out the flaws in theist's arguments? Sorry Christians, but cosmological, teleological, ontological, and transcendental arguments for the existence of god, are ALL fallacious.  

I consider arguing with them beneath my effort, but someone has to do it or they'll declare a pigeon chess victory. I'll leave it to the newly-realized atheists. If they flag in their efforts, maybe I'll pick up the torch again. Thing is, they're mostly ineducable, anyway. 

[madog]

Has anyone read this book by J. Warner Wallace?  I have a former HS friend turned religious fundie who is hell bent on converting me, and in the interest of a fair debate I told him I’d read it. I’m expecting the usual apologetics rundown of lowering the standards for evidence so we can include alleged eyewitness testimony, but I was just curious if anyone here had suffered through it so I can prepare myself for the pain. Thanks, loves! ❤️

I actually agree with him that its a "cold case" ...

Definition : an unsolved investigation that has stopped being actively pursued because of a lack of evidence.

Hope he puts it back in the archives when his apparent NEW EVIDENCE fails to prove the the case 

[Fake Messiah]

I mean, how many times can we continue pointing out the flaws in theist's arguments? Sorry Christians, but cosmological, teleological, ontological, and transcendental arguments for the existence of god, are ALL fallacious.  

That is faith: when you believe in God no matter what. So when you prove God is illogical then the "answer" is that God is beyond logic, that god is invisible, immaterial being living in another dimension - but then the question remains: what's the difference between an invisible, incorporeal, outer dimension God and no God at all? If there's no way to prove God, what does it mean to say that God exists?