"Everything is a belief. I believe that gravity will continue to work tomorrow. Even though the fact that gravity has operated every day of my life tells me nothing about whether gravity will work tomorrow. An omnipotent supernatural being that is not susceptible to evidentiary inquiry could negate the laws of gravity tomorrow. From a purely philosophical standpoint, it requires "faith" to believe that gravity will continue to work tomorrow. But we live in the real world. A world where it is far more sensible to assume that gravity will continue to work tomorrow than it is to start bolting our furniture to the floor.
Similarly, in a world where no scientific principle requires a creator, or indeed shows evidence of a creator. Where the specific aspects ascribed to such a Creator by many religions have been disproven, disbelief is the more sensible position. In the absence of evidence, it is not more sensible to be agnostic on a subject. I am not agnostic about the existence of leprechauns or unicorns. Belief and disbelief are not equally credible. And in any other conversation where we evaluate competing truth claims, we'd acknowledge that fact."
^ that was from a local pastor here in boston.
I'm specifically interested in discussing the evidence for/against the existence of the Christian God and Jesus Christ. I think the evidence FOR is limited to the accounts in the Christian Bible, but maybe there is other evidence out there?
I, myself, am an atheist and have the following beliefs. Feel free to discuss any/all of them here. I just wanted a little refresher on some of the facts, particularly the argument against the historical accuracy of the Christian Bible.
1. I've never seen any evidence in my lifetime of the existence of any god.
2. How many organized religions are there? They can't all be right, so what makes you think any one of them has it right, and all of the rest of them are wrong? It seems man created God/gods, not the other way around. I totally understand the human need to explain the unexplainable, so I can see why man would want to create gods.
3. So, where did we come from, if there is no god? I'm pretty comfortable explaining the evolution of mankind on Earth, going all the way back to the creation of the Universe after the Big Bang, using only scientific explanation. Prior to the Big Bang, I have no idea, but if some cosmic being snapped his fingers and created the Universe, it sure seems to me like he then walked away and left it alone.
4. The Christian Bible that I was taught as a child, particularly the Old Testament, is pretty obviously not factual. Science can pretty much prove that. But what about Jesus Christ? Who was he? A real person? The son of God? Or, just a famous religious figure that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John turned into a deity hundreds of years after his life & death?
Similarly, in a world where no scientific principle requires a creator, or indeed shows evidence of a creator. Where the specific aspects ascribed to such a Creator by many religions have been disproven, disbelief is the more sensible position. In the absence of evidence, it is not more sensible to be agnostic on a subject. I am not agnostic about the existence of leprechauns or unicorns. Belief and disbelief are not equally credible. And in any other conversation where we evaluate competing truth claims, we'd acknowledge that fact."
^ that was from a local pastor here in boston.
I'm specifically interested in discussing the evidence for/against the existence of the Christian God and Jesus Christ. I think the evidence FOR is limited to the accounts in the Christian Bible, but maybe there is other evidence out there?
I, myself, am an atheist and have the following beliefs. Feel free to discuss any/all of them here. I just wanted a little refresher on some of the facts, particularly the argument against the historical accuracy of the Christian Bible.
1. I've never seen any evidence in my lifetime of the existence of any god.
2. How many organized religions are there? They can't all be right, so what makes you think any one of them has it right, and all of the rest of them are wrong? It seems man created God/gods, not the other way around. I totally understand the human need to explain the unexplainable, so I can see why man would want to create gods.
3. So, where did we come from, if there is no god? I'm pretty comfortable explaining the evolution of mankind on Earth, going all the way back to the creation of the Universe after the Big Bang, using only scientific explanation. Prior to the Big Bang, I have no idea, but if some cosmic being snapped his fingers and created the Universe, it sure seems to me like he then walked away and left it alone.
4. The Christian Bible that I was taught as a child, particularly the Old Testament, is pretty obviously not factual. Science can pretty much prove that. But what about Jesus Christ? Who was he? A real person? The son of God? Or, just a famous religious figure that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John turned into a deity hundreds of years after his life & death?