Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I watched the video. They are chatting about stories from 2,000 years ago with no physical evidence to back up any of it. People have trouble accurately describing events that just happened. People are horrible at recalling events. One needs to just accept with these guys are saying and what is written in the bible without any way to prove any of it happened. No thanks.
Quote:
Originally Posted by The Dark Enlightenment
And we know that the stories in the gospels are not first hand accounts, as these books were not written by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, but by others decades after the events described. The most reasonable explanation of the resurrection is not mass hallucination or real event, but rather that it was, and is, a myth.
We could say the same thing about our history books, written 100s of years after the fact. The Bible is that of oral history, where as our history books today are supposedly written based on factual documents. And yet, you can't get two historians to agree on the events that happened. How do we know what to believe; what is the truth? Was any of us there at the times of the events?
The story of Christ being an actual person with events surrounding Him, is not so much about the Man (imo) as it is about what happened to Him. An innocence man who had not broken one law, yet hung to death, by the powers of that time, because He scared them with His words? While the people He had tried to reach during His time on earth chose Him over another that was proven to break the law to be hung. What was it in what He said exactly to cause all of that?
Human behavior --- timeless; we chose what we want to believe, regardless of anything else and politics will be our own undoing, just as it was then for Him. We (imo) were warned 4000 years ago what would happen if we continue down the same path and yet, we can't break away from it. Life after death --- should we be so lucky?
This, incidentally, is why it baffles me that there even is such a thing as an "Atheist Society". What do they do? (Sleep in on Sundays, obviously, but apart from that..)
1) Socialize with a group of people where the question "which church do you go to?" never arises.
2) Advance their legal rights to BE an atheist in public.
We could say the same thing about our history books, written 100s of years after the fact. The Bible is that of oral history, where as our history books today are supposedly written based on factual documents. And yet, you can't get two historians to agree on the events that happened. How do we know what to believe; what is the truth? Was any of us there at the times of the events?
Big difference is that with historical religious leaders people devote their lives, go to war etc over their religious devotion. What Alexander the Great did or said really is of no importance. Especially when people say with conviction that everything is factual and they believe it all.
No, you are wrong. Flat out wrong when it comes to the study of history. There is enough secular historical evidence for the person of Jesus and for that fact that He did things which astonished crowds and were regarded as miracles. There is also enough secular historical evidence for His crucifixion under Pontius Pilate and for the fact that His followers had experiences they believed were of the risen Jesus. There is enough secular historical evidence for these things. It is also contrary to the (again, secular) historical consensus to claim that the person of Jesus is either a composite or made up of earlier myths.
All this is covered in the following video. But, again, I posted the shorter video, because this one is longer, and someone who doesn't want to believe will not watch it.
There is a lot of literary evidence to back up the writings of the New Testament. First and foremost is how close they have come by date of copies of original writings, like within 70 years. No one doubts the writings of ancient Greek philosophers, yet the closest copy by date is like 1000 years. With the Bible it is within 70 years and we have hundreds of copies to compare with each other...far far more than any other text.
You are missing an important point. Nobody doubts some of the writings of some of the ancient Greek philosophers, but we also do not take every word as factual, no matter how unlikely. We also accept that they are writing metaphorically, they have inherent bias, and there are a number of interpolations.
Or, are you seriously advancing the argument that nobody doubts the Odyssey and the Iliad? Do you believe in the actual existence of Aphrodite, Hera, Zeus and Poseidon? Do you believe that centaurs and cyclops once walked the earth? That Achilles was literally invulnerable other than his heal, and the medusa could turn men into stone?
For the Bible, nobody doubts that the majority of the book dates back 1900 years or more. That does not mean that those writings are literally true.
Quote:
In the end, it comes down to faith. The atheist in this story was called by God and found Him. He now has a relationship with Jesus. Only those who have that relationship understand. Everyone comes to Jesus in their own way. Look up Lee Strobel's book "The Case for Christ" if you want another interesting story of finding Jesus (or Jesus finding him). An atheist reporter who digs for evidence expecting to be able to refute and he finds a ton of supporting evidence instead.
Strobel's book is terrible. I doubt he was ever an atheist, and the book contains some of the most pathetic, easily refuted arguments I have seen.
No, it is a certitude that there is nothing beyond the physical realm.
Why would someone insist such a thing, just be non-religious.
You are misinformed. Atheism is a limited statement, and you are making claims for atheism that most atheists would not agree with.
On your statement that atheism is certitude that materialism is true, that is misguided. Atheists can still believe in non-material things, they simply do not believe in a god. I know atheists that believe in ghosts.
I am an atheist, I do not believe that there is a god. I do not insist on that, and I am not certain that there is no god. However, I am unconvinced by every god claim that I have encountered.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
