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Honestly...the apostles willing CHOSE to be martyred over what they saw---not just for a belief system about a guy that supposedly lived hundreds of years prior.
All I know is that school is for learning factual information. God may have created the world in seven days, I don't know, but since it is not able to be proven, it has no place being taught in school.
Very few atheists I know have any idea how Christianity started or developed. If they did, they'd probably be Christians.
LOL... you'd be stunned at how many atheists started as Christians but became atheists at least in part because they learned about how Christianity actually started and developed.
I have the utmost confidence that the text I read was translated from a text that is more accurate than you could believe. We have manuscripts from about 125 AD. Thousands of manuscripts. No other work in antiquity compares to it.
That is certainly the orthodox Christian myth. But one need only try to reconcile the Masoretic and Septuagint versions of the OT to discover that the differences can be profound. Toss in the evidence of the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the variations only multiply.
Ultimately, of course, the argument regarding the "reliability" of the technical Biblical text is a complete red herring. The motivations for ordinary human copyists to "get it right" are both obvious and prosaic. The fact that any variations exist at all are solid evidence against any particular divine intervention in that preservation.
What actually matters is whether the content of the text is reliably true. And for that, the verdict is far more damning.
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Originally Posted by Calvinist
You would do well to do a bit of study on how we determine the textual dependability of the Bible before you embarass yourself on this one. There is no contest.
Who wants to contest something as ultimately meaningless as "textual dependability?" The issue is textual truth.
Honestly...the apostles willing CHOSE to be martyred over what they saw---not just for a belief system about a guy that supposedly lived hundreds of years prior.
If you consider that the primary indicator of truth, then you should be a Muslim.
They choose to kill themselves and others because of what someone tells them. Not what they actually see a Messiah die and rise again.
Quote:
Originally Posted by HistorianDude
That is certainly the orthodox Christian myth. But one need only try to reconcile the Masoretic and Septuagint versions of the OT to discover that the differences can be profound. Toss in the evidence of the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the variations only multiply.
Ultimately, of course, the argument regarding the "reliability" of the technical Biblical text is a complete red herring. The motivations for ordinary human copyists to "get it right" are both obvious and prosaic. The fact that any variations exist at all are solid evidence against any particular divine intervention in that preservation.
What actually matters is whether the content of the text is reliably true. And for that, the verdict is far more damning.
Who wants to contest something as ultimately meaningless as "textual dependability?" The issue is textual truth.
I can see you're completely unwilling to actually consider the truth. Come back to me when you're willing. No amount of argument will make you believe if you want to be deluded.
They choose to kill themselves and others because of what someone tells them. Not what they actually see a Messiah die and rise again.
Plenty of Muslims claim to see visions, or to receive directives from a holy source, same as Christians. There is nothing unique here.
Quote:
I can see you're completely unwilling to actually consider the truth. Come back to me when you're willing. No amount of argument will make you believe if you want to be deluded.
You're not speaking of truth, you're speaking of belief. You "believe" in Christianity for your own reasons, not reasons related to anything practical or truthful, per se.
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