Give me one good reason to believe that Aristotle existed. All you have are written records and maybe circumstantial evidence. Who knows if they were telling the truth? I think that his writings were corrupted throughout history. You don't have his original writings anymore! There might be translation errors. Scholars can only make wild guesses about some parts of his life! The telephone game! I think people ascribed stuff to him and made up stuff. Prove me wrong. Prove that he existed! Prove, prove, prove, prove, prove!!!
Now do you understand the frailty of anti-Biblical arguments, or should I choose another historical figure?
2006-09-12 11:37:11 · 6 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
By the way, this is meant to be tongue-in-cheek. I am attempting to point out the obvious with humor.
2006-09-12 11:43:31 · update #1
Hah! I knew that it was the message and the source that people were having issues with, not because of qualms regarding historical validity. Thank you for proving my point.
2006-09-12 11:58:36 · update #2
nhbaritone:
I did a quick check on your "nobody who wrote the Bible knew Jesus personally" statement.
5 points:
1. Who converted Paul?
2. Who wrote I and II Peter?
3. Who wrote I John?
4. Whose testimonies are given regarding Christ?
5. Why did all of the links that I briefly looked up regarding this statement say "some scholars disagree", or "Some aren't so sure"? There seems to be a tremendous amount of waffling regarding this, what makes you so sure about the accuracy of your statement? Feel free to answer any of these questions.
2006-09-12 12:27:10 · update #3
Here is a good link discussing details regarding Biblical authorship.
http://www.markdroberts.com/htmfiles/resources/gospelsreliable.htm#oct305
2006-09-12 12:31:37 · update #4
Nice try Alfkowitz. I believe aristotle existed and I believe jesus existed. What I don't believe are wild claims like "Mary was a virgin", or "jesus walked on water" or "god created the earth". I don't believe things that defy logic or basic laws of physics.
I can logically deduce that Aristotle existed. YOU, my friend cannot logically deduce that jesus turned water into wine.
BTW: I saw Penn & Teller turn water into wine, should I worship them or was this a cheap trick?
2006-09-12 15:39:31 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Treating things a little black-or-white, aren't we? Calm down a bit.
First, I believe the historical Jesus existed. There are a couple of references to him outside the religious texts (historical writings), chief among them by Flavius Josephus.
However, the issue of Jesus existence is not so cut and dried. There is no testimony written by anyone who knew him directly. This means that the early tales of his life were passed on by oral tradition, which has a way of losing details.
The same is true of much of the Old Testament (at least the Torah) and practically all of the Buddhist scriptures. (There's probably even more controversy over the actual existence of the Buddha.)
Second, most of the texts about him have a religious purpose, i.e., they have an agenda to recruit followers. There were a lot of people in that era that supposedly taught revisions to the old faiths, performed miracles, and even rose from the dead. Just because Ford's pamphlet on the Edsel sang it's praises didn't make it a great car. The gospels are frequently seen as the equivalent of an infomercial.
Realize, too, that for non-Christians, this is an academic exercise, similar to figuring out the meaning of hieroglyphics or how the ancients managed their septic problems. In most academic endeavors, there will be controversies.
2006-09-12 19:06:03 · answer #2 · answered by NHBaritone 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Scholars now believe that only about 1/5 of Aristotle's works have survived, and none of his original manuscripts. All that we have are the literary notes of his pupils, which are often difficult to read. But no one is insisting that these notes are the inerrant Word of Aristotle. We acknowledge them for what they are, imperfections, limitations, and all. Would that more Bible-believers were as honest about the literature they revere.
2006-09-12 18:52:53 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Big deal. Aristotle never claimed he was going save your soul or was divine in any way. Of course your point is moot because Jesus wasn't real. Haha.
2006-09-12 18:41:27 · answer #4 · answered by Nerdly Stud 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Silly point. Aristotle is not claiming to be sent from god.
You are truely not thinking
2006-09-12 18:53:37 · answer #5 · answered by theagitator@sbcglobal.net 2 · 2⤊ 1⤋
actually ur argument makes a strange sort of sense like a conspiracy theory or something. But yes i agree that anti-bible arguements lack evidence and even contradict themselves at times
2006-09-12 18:40:12 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋