Netral party to sway?

Question

looking in this section I think that it is fair to say that there is a good mix of hardcore christian fanatics, atheists and all the factors between. I am a reasonable man and though I do slightly lean towards not believing in christianity I feel that I am fairly neutral in the matter. So the question is can you come up with an argument strong enough to put me either side of the fence. I will objectify the arguments as best as I can without any external factors influencing how I react to the messages

Answer 1

I don't know if this answers your question or not, but one of the main reasons that I believe in Christianity is that the people who knew Jesus were willing to be tortured to death rather than change their story that they saw Jesus return from the dead.

If the apostles were lying about seeing the resurrected Christ, then why didn't they take back their story when they were individually being tortured to death? Every one of the apostles (Except John, who died a natural death in exile on Patmos), were killed for their faith. Wouldn't a liar recant this story to save his own life?

What did the apostles have to gain by making it all up? What good does fame do for a dead person?

I accept the apostles' story because the witnesses were creditable.

PS: With respect for the guy below me, suicide bombers are not eye-witnesses to anything, and they are killing innocent people (others) for their faith, not suffering & dying for it.

Answer 2

I'm not sure there is any compelling argument to sway someone to a belief in God, and Christ, and the Bible. Christians don't throw wild, fun paries often, they don't sanction extramarrital sex, and they frown on drinking. But, at the same time, they seem a little happier than most people, willing to accept life, and they enjoy a serenity born of a personal relationship with God. Don't let the fanatics throw you, they come with every cause and movement that's ever come down the pike.

The atheists and agnostics must have some kind of literature promoting their positions, but I've never seen any of it. My suggestion to you would be to read the Bible, the New Testament anyway, as objectively as you like, give it some thought, and make an informed decision.

Answer 3

Well my friend, in terms of Christianity and believing in a God I would say any writings pertaining to a religion is simply another form of a written history of any particular religion. I look at the birth of a child or a tree, or the vast reaches of oceans and mountains and the wide expanse of outer space and I believe in a God. I think most religions are used to control masses of people and for the sheer gluttony of making money.

Answer 4

In the following I am not trying to change your beliefs (or non beliefs), I'm just trying to answer your question.

I'm an atheist. People say that in order to prove that god doesn't exist, someone would have to search every single area of the entire universe. This isn't true. Would the whole universe have to be searched to find a circle with corners? No, it's impossible for there to be a circle with corners, you don't have to search anywhere in order to know that such a shape doesn't exist. This is the same with the god that many Christians say exist. They say that their god is omniscient (all knowing) and allows free will. This is impossible because the two cannot both be true, they are mutually exclusive, just like a circle that has corners, the same shape cannot have the properties of a perfect circle and corners at the same time. Either god knows everything and humans don't have free will, or humans have free will and god doesn't know everything, both cannot be true.

In the following argument, which explains this better than I can, the author doesn't assign god a gender, therefore god is referred to as "it" instead of "he" or "she".

"The problem here is that God knows everything that has happened and everything that will happen. Its knowledge cannot be wrong. There is not a single event that it has not foresaw. Given that it created the Universe the way it did, do we have free will? Consider that when God made the Universe it could see every possible result of what it was doing. Which means: it could not create something without knowing what the results would be, and without knowing how it would be affected (and effect) the things around it.

Let's say that Fred has a choice that will save his life, to accept God or not to accept God and the final choice is to be made tomorrow. God knows already what choice he will make - God cannot be wrong therefore Fred cannot choose otherwise to what God has predicted. When God created the chain of events that made Fred it also knew that it was making Fred's choice for him, and knew how the various circumstances and character would make him choose either right or wrong. Fred would go forth and make that very decision that God knew he would make, and by virtue that God knowingly set up all the factors that affected his decision, it was not up to Fred but to God to decide how Fred would fare.

This argument does not imply that God does not exist. It leaves us with three results, two of which have to be wrong.

1. God created everything with full knowledge and we have no free will to change it
2. God does not have full knowledge
3. God did not make the Universe or there is no God"

This alone proves that the god that so many Christians believe in cannot exist.
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The Bible is evidence of a supposedly perfect god's imperfection:

"The Bible is supposedly God's perfect Word. It contains instructions to humankind for avoiding the eternal fires of hell. How wonderful and kind of this God to provide us with this means of overcoming the problems for which he is ultimately responsible! The all-powerful God could have, by a mere act of will, eliminated all of the problems we humans must endure, but instead, in his infinite wisdom, he has opted to offer this indecipherable amalgam of books which is the Bible as a means for avoiding the hell which he has prepared for us. The perfect God has decided to reveal his wishes in this imperfect work, written in the imperfect language of imperfect man, translated, copied, interpreted, voted on, and related by imperfect man. No two men will ever agree what this perfect word of God is supposed to mean, since much of it is either self- contradictory, or obscured by enigmatic symbols. And yet the perfect God expects us imperfect humans to understand this paradoxical riddle using the imperfect minds with which he has equipped us. Surely the all-wise and all-powerful God would have known that it would have been better to reveal his perfect will directly to each of us, rather than to allow it to be debased and perverted by the imperfect language and botched interpretations of man."

If you're interested, you can read more at these websites:
http://www.vexen.co.uk/religion/rm.html
http://www.positiveatheism.org/writ/imposs.htm

Answer 5

I don't even know where to start. Go atheist. Look at religion, and how ridiculous it is. Over how many thousands of years has religion existed, and there is not a shred of proof. Look at science, and you have lots of proof. If you are a "reasonable man" then you will see how ridiculous religion is. There is soo much proof, and soo many reasons not to go religious, that you must do research on your own. The answers can not give you enough variety of evidence.

Answer 6

shocking your a whore touting for business ,You don't obviously have a connection to the divine, because if you did you would have a solid sense of our creators love and guidance around us all the time , and wouldn't need to tout for business at the doors of any religion but you'd be the one trying to tell people how much you love and trust your maker. To see the beauty in the world and in everyone and to do what you can do using your instincts and wit to make the world a better place. so good luck with your quest and Jesus is my saviour.

Answer 7

Are you asking me to disprove god? I have to say... that's just not my job. I mean can you imagine what life would be like if you really believed everything you were told, regardless of any lack of evidence to support it? That would just be crazy. I'd have to believe in thought-stealing government satellites, mind-controlling lesbian electrical outlet users, and the flying spaghetti monster, just to name a few. Unless I wanted to be a complete hypocrite. I mean how can I pick one thing with no supporting evidence, and deny all the other infinite things I can't "disprove"? No, complete lack of evidence is more than enough proof of non-existence for me. It's not my job to DISprove it, nor should it be.

Answer 8

You're looking for an answer to a major life decision here?

And, as an aside, the argument of the guy above me indicates that Islam is currently the right religion (if one is simply going to tally up the number of idiots willing to die for theology. Think suicide bombers...)

Answer 9

I have to agree with Randy's answer.
I have an addition of my own to make as well.
In "religion" we see man reaching out for God.
In Christ alone, we see God reaching down to man.
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God bless you

Answer 10

The old testament is the only correct bible - it was written by the word of god.