tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6789188.post697630146595179500..comments2024-03-27T17:15:37.606-04:00Comments on Triablogue: Success RatesRyanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17809283662428917799noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6789188.post-74351044532599170142008-11-01T22:36:00.000-04:002008-11-01T22:36:00.000-04:00"then he should at least be as passionate"This "pa..."then he should at least be as passionate"<BR/><BR/>This "passionate" is already engulfed with the most magnificent mercy of Christ our God and Saviour. God's mercy is infinite and beyond our meager minds to comprehend, and yet we can touch it, and feel it, and trust it, and love it.<BR/><BR/>"Behold Him there the risen Lamb,<BR/>My perfect spotless righteousness,<BR/>The great unchangeable I AM,<BR/>The King of glory and of grace,<BR/>One in Himself I cannot die.<BR/>My soul is purchased by His blood,<BR/>My life is hid with Christ on high,<BR/>With Christ my Savior and my God!"<BR/><BR/>A year (12 months) sabbatical could be a cool thing to do.donsandshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03665794015011057098noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6789188.post-32537454664132540382008-11-01T10:35:00.000-04:002008-11-01T10:35:00.000-04:00A lot can be said about this subject, and Gene has...A lot can be said about this subject, and Gene has already made some of the relevant points. There are some related threads in our archives as well. I want to comment on some of the issues involved. <BR/><BR/>God doesn't need to use something like scientific research or an archeological discovery to convert people. Though such evidence isn't needed, there's enough of it to motivate John Loftus and other critics of Christianity to expend much time and effort in an attempt to dismiss the evidence. There are reasons why they have to give so much more attention to Christianity than they do to Buddhism, Islam, or Hinduism. Some of those reasons aren't related to the quality of evidence for each belief system, but the difference in quality of evidence is a factor.<BR/><BR/>We've discussed many of the relevant issues with John in the past, and I would recommend that people consult our archives and observe how John responded to the evidence discussed. See, for example, our archives on <A HREF="http://www.triablogue.blogspot.com/search/label/Prophecy?max-results=1000" REL="nofollow">prophecy</A> and <A HREF="http://www.triablogue.blogspot.com/search/label/Resurrection?max-results=1000" REL="nofollow">the resurrection of Christ</A>. For instance, note how John responds to the evidence in threads like <A HREF="http://triablogue.blogspot.com/2006/07/evidence-of-prophecy.html" REL="nofollow">this one</A>, <A HREF="http://triablogue.blogspot.com/2007/07/significance-of-eyewitness-testimony.html" REL="nofollow">this one</A>, and <A HREF="http://triablogue.blogspot.com/2007/12/shallow-skepticism.html" REL="nofollow">this one</A>. There are dozens more such threads in the archives. John has repeatedly failed, when asked, to demonstrate his claim that the evidence is insufficient for him in particular or for everybody. Instead, his claims are frequently refuted, and he often leaves discussions without even attempting to interact with significant arguments against his position.<BR/><BR/>In the thread that Gene links above, Bryce comments:<BR/><BR/>"The harder you force yourself to believe this Jesus story does not make it any more true than Santa claus or a pink unicorn or any of the other pagan deities that preceded the Jesus era, and people, non Xian and Xian alike, all except the pagan gods to be myth."<BR/><BR/>I don't think Santa Claus or the gods of ancient pagan mythology have motivated critics like Antony Flew to make <A HREF="http://www.biola.edu/antonyflew/page5.cfm" REL="nofollow">comments</A> such as:<BR/><BR/>"The evidence for the resurrection [of Jesus] is better than for claimed miracles in any other religion. It’s outstandingly different in quality and quantity, I think, from the evidence offered for the occurrence of most other supposedly miraculous events."<BR/><BR/>When dismissing Santa Claus or Zeus, do critics like Bryce resort to proposing widespread hallucinations? Do they appeal to unusual losses of memory or unusual apathy among the relevant sources, in an attempt to explain why the historical record is so contrary to the critic's position?<BR/><BR/>Bryce objects to "mental gymnastics", but I doubt that he disapproves of the gymnastics of skeptics who try to dismiss the authorship attributions of most of the New Testament, in the teeth of both ancient Christian and ancient non-Christian testimony on the subject. I doubt that he objects to the gymnastics of skeptics who appeal to widespread hallucinations, widespread faulty memories, widespread apathy among Christianity's enemies, or other such highly unlikely scenarios in an attempt to dismiss the evidence for Christianity. It's not as though dismissing the resurrection appearance to Paul as a hallucination or rejecting the authorship attributions of 18 of the 27 New Testament books is the most obvious conclusion that comes to mind when examining the evidence. Bryce should explain what he thinks of such gymnastics and explain to us how the evidence for Thor compares to the evidence for Jesus.Jason Engwerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17031011335190895123noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6789188.post-7536498483452855642008-11-01T10:11:00.000-04:002008-11-01T10:11:00.000-04:00John, you said in that post:As I’ve already admitt...John, you said in that post:<BR/><I>As I’ve already admitted, I dismiss such a Calvinistic conception of God.</I><BR/><BR/>That's just...really impressive. My boat is rocked, man, simply rocked.Rhologyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14245825667079220242noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6789188.post-26065798556622277202008-11-01T09:59:00.000-04:002008-11-01T09:59:00.000-04:00A year-long break from blogging?Wow...well, you wi...A year-long break from blogging?<BR/><BR/>Wow...well, you will be greatly missed. Enjoy it.Rhologyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14245825667079220242noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6789188.post-74311742163752180652008-11-01T05:07:00.000-04:002008-11-01T05:07:00.000-04:00In the hopes that I am no longer banned, at least ...In the hopes that I am no longer banned, at least from your posts, I have thought further on the distinction you make between internal and external critiques when it comes to the <A HREF="http://debunkingchristianity.blogspot.com/2008/10/background-beliefs-and-internal.html" REL="nofollow">problem of suffering</A>. If I'm still banned then sorry. I never heard you say I was banned forever.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com