Christians: What do you think of my standard-- "Prove it or SHUT UP"?

Question

You always act suprised when non-beleivers refuse to believe upon your insistence. You seem to think that quoting the Bible at us will have some magic power, but if we don't believe in the Bible to begin with, why should this approach work?

Has it ever occured to you that you might possibly be WRONG?

JOYCE: Jesus did nto rise from the dead. He never existed! If you deny that, prove it!

City Slicker: Any correlation between the Bible and world events is purely imaginary.

Chef Bob-- There you go, spewing Scriptures. You're wasting your time!

Nazoul-- Hey, where's the love?
We do NOT count the years from Jesus's birth. If you believe that he was born during the reign of Herod, who died in 4 "BC", then it's now at least 2010 years since the ALLEGED birth of Jesus!

Answer 1

They can't and never will. It's a simple case of, "Don't confuse me with the facts. My mind is made up."

Answer 2

What do I think of your standard? Not much. I think you need to prove atheism or shut up in order to not be a hypocrite. But the demand "prove Christianity" is much too broad, why don't you put a more focused question about Christianity and I will do my best to answer it.

Has it occured to me that I might possibly be wrong? I made sure to investigate the Christian faith fully before I signed on, so I have no doubts. Has it ever occured to you that the vast majority of people in all cultures throughout history have believed in some sort of god, and the denial of God might be some serious intellectual snobbery, that YOU, the great GOP=Fascism, know more about the existence or non-existence of God than the great theologians, philosophers, and logicians throughout history.

I could present plausible evidence that Christianity is true, but frankly I wonder if it would be worth my time.

EDIT- Scratch that... I read the additional comments that you put after your question and now I know it would be a waste of my time. You, sir, are an ignoramus. What's worse, you are an arrogant ignoramus. If you believe that Jesus did not exist, the burden of proof is on you, not us. Even most atheists have abandoned that argument by now, realizing that it is documented historically that there was a man named Jesus, and as early as the first century AD, there were people who claimed he was risen from the dead. As for any correlation between the Bible and world events, that's not a vital part of my apologetic. I think there are better defenses for the trustworthiness of the Bible.

Not that I'm withdrawing my previous offer of an answer to a more specific question; on the contrary, I could use the target practice.

Answer 3

Here's a question for the atheists. You are, of course, entitled to your opinion... your non-belief. More power to ya. However, have you ever wondered what possesses you ... and I mean the broader "you" ... to come into this area? It is clearly labelled "religion and spirituality". It seems to me that with a rare exception the atheists come in merely to mock or outright insult those that do have a belief in something greater than themselves. I ask this sincerely: Does it make you all feel better? Smarter? Cooler?

By the way, to answer your question: I personally do not simply use the bible to answer questions. I appeal to common sense. I will give you an illustration I use often. Or rather an experiment I ask people to take. Grab a watch... break it down to it's tiniest of components and throw that all in a plastic bag or maybe into a balloon. Blow that up real good and then pop it. I tell you what try that a couple hundred times. Let me know how many watches you get, ok? The big bang "theory" makes about as much sense.

Answer 4

Your standard? I think it is faulty. You say it works? Prove it...or shut up! =)

I say it is faulty because "proving" something depends on the open-mindedness of the recipient. A person could give evidence for hours and a closed-minded person will assume that they have not proven anything. An open-minded person would look at the evidence given and make a judgement. I do not know whether you are open or closed minded...I'll not judge that issue...but because that is a variable, the standard is faulty. It can not be applied consistently to everyone.

That said, I agree with your note on if you don't believe in the Bible to begin with, then why would telling you what the Bible says have any impact? A lot of Christians think that everyone knows the Bible is true, they are just rebeling against it. But in fact, not everyone believes the Bible is true. I wish Christians would understand that.

Answer 5

Really that is a great idea!!! I'm not a Christian but I accept Jesus as the Christ and would be a Christian if He had not instructed us to find Him on His return. Thats a head scratcher isn't it?

Why not have a forum of committed researchers who don't have a dog in the fight, no committed atheist, Christian, etc who really are committed to getting to the truth of the matter no matter what that truth might turn out to be? In other words these people would be pure of heart, not inclined toward one answer or the other, but instead, dedicated only to discovering the actual reality. Is there anyone out there who can commit to such a venture? Every idea of merit should be given this kind of treatment. The habit of settling everything by force was on its way out with the stone wheel. It just takes along time for humanity to get the message. The Spirit of God moves like the wind but the progress of humanity makes its way on a donkey (if you have seen Shrek you know what Donkey is like).

Answer 6

Here's my standard: "Prove it ISN'T or SHUT UP!" :-P

I agree with you that there are many Christians out there who push their beliefs onto other people. No doubt they suck. I also agree with you that it is stupid for Christians to whip out the Bible as proof to someone who doesn't believe in the Bible. When someone asks me about my beliefs, I give them my personal experiences as proof. Believing the Bible comes AFTER believing in Christ.

That said, you are totally stereotyping all Christians as if they are all the same. All Christians do not push their beliefs on others, and it is not fair to act like they all do. If you've been around this Answer forum for any length of time, you know that there are many atheists that do the same thing, coming on here and tell us how stupid we are and insulting and offending us all the time. Two wrongs do not make a right. Until both sides of the issue learn to tolerate one another and keep their opinions to themselves (unless otherwise requested), we can sit around and have these dumb arguments until Christ comes or the earth blows up in a fiery explosion with the sun, whichever comes first.

Besides, has it ever occurred to you that YOU might be possibly WRONG? :-P

That's a joke. Have a good one!

P.S. Since I wrote this you added that Jesus didn't even exist. Actually, there is a lot of historical evidence of his existence, including many references to him by non-Christian writers at the time. If you want to argue his signficance or divinity, there are some interesting points you can make. If you want to argue his existence as a person, you're fighting against a lot of historical evidence. May as well argue that Homer or Socrates didn't exist. The evidence to the contrary is about the same.

Answer 7

Atheists: Why don't YOU "prove it or shut up?"
To let you know the question mark goes IN the quotes like this "?"

Now, I don't care what you think of me. I don't care if you refuse to believe my insistence. I really don't care!!

Others quote the bible to try and prove to you that it's true. That's going at it wrong!!! You don't care what we have to say! so I say gigive it a break. Once you say I'm a Christian and you say something smart to us it's NOT anything out of the normal!!!! I quote the bible when absoutly nessasary.

I support you with your religion well non-religion. You have your and I have mine!!!!

Has it ever occured to YOU that you might possibly be WRONG?

Answer 8

lol You're funny this morning. =)

I'm not sure if it was you or not, but someone (you, perhaps) said that Christians have yet to challenge you because they "spew out Bible verses" that you don't believe in anyway. That totally makes sense to me, because I think that you've got to have an open mind when approaching religion, because if you don't, you're just going to deny everything that you hear.

I've been in your shoes, I've asked the question: "WHY SHOULD I BELIEVE IN SOMETHING [referring to the Bible] THAT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE TO ME, AND THEREFORE, I SIMPLY DON'T BELIEVE IT??!!"

I've been there, done that. But I think that one day, when you feel like you're at your end, when life's kicked you in the rear one too many times and you say, "I think that I might want to try something different, something new. I need a change in my life," then you might not be so bitter towards other people's beliefs, and you might open your mind and heart up for something new, then you might not have these kinds of questions anymore.

Just hear me out on this next part. I'm not bashing you, or trying to tell you what to do or anything like that.

My suggestion: (of course you dont have to do it, but it might help you find your answer, whether it's religion or not)

CHALLENGE GOD. Even if in your heart you don't believe in him, and you think that you're talking to air, and nothing more, say "God, prove to me that you're real. Show me. I dont believe in you and I dont think that I should." Bring out your sword and get ready to fight, even if you dont think that you're fighting anything. Bring with you your best knowledge of anything and everything that you know or disbelieve about the Bible.

Go ahead and try it, I dare you. Even if you think it's stupid and if you don't even believe in God, then you should have nothing to fear or be scared of. But also, if you really want a challenge, I think that God will meet you right where you are, and he'll accept that challenge. But don't take my word for it, try it for yourself.

Perhaps after you do this, or if you do this, you'll be able to really prove us (Christians) wrong. But who knows, until you've tried it.

If you want to email me about this, or anything else, I dont mind. I'm not meaning to insult you or anyone else on here by leaving this comment.

Answer 9

Actually we count the years from "when" Jesus' birth was recorded and yes, you are correct. The year really is 2010 but we are behind because Jesus' birth was recorded 4 years late.
I remember watching a documentary about that. Interesting.

Answer 10

At the location, and the time frame that Jesus was suppose to be alive, their was enough secular history written to fill a large library. Most of those writing exist today. Barely a mention of the word Jesus. And with no connotations of him being any kind of savior. I find this interesting. I have a strong desire to believe in a God, but anyone, on either side of the fence that believes they know, either way, with any certainty, are obviously full of it.

Answer 11

One day you will find out if the Bible is fact or fiction. This is an open forum so Christians have every right to voice their opinion just the same as you do. If you do not want to discuss religion don't come to this category then you do not have to listen it. Have a great day & God bless you.