Say you are agnostic and that you are talking with your christan friend. You say to him"How do we know that jesus was the messaiah?" And he says"Well roman soldiers came to the doors of the followers of christ and exicuted christan followers for proclaming their faith, so why would somebody die for something that they aren't 100% sure is true?" How would you reply to this statement?
2007-04-15 11:27:27 · 12 answers · asked by Anonymous in Arts & Humanities ➔ Philosophy
Doesn't seem too difficult to counter this argument. Hundreds of thousands of Jews were killed by Hitler for procaliming their faith. Does that make Moses the messiah? Or Abraham? ( Can there be more than one Messiah? )
2007-04-15 13:00:58 · answer #1 · answered by jpturboprop 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Does it matter that they are 100% sure they are right? Because that doesn't change the fact of the matter. It is possible to be 100% sure (or claim you are) when you are wrong. What if your memories of the past are faulty? You were on drugs at the time and couldn't tell dream from reality? The nature of metaphysical reality doesn't allow for absolute surety. Also, this misplaces the surety. The question is shifted from Is Jesus the Messiah? to how can you know they are 100% sure and what specifically does that mean? Is that enough?
2007-04-15 19:21:41 · answer #2 · answered by davittfox 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
That argument does not follow logically, those Christians could have died for a false belief. Just because they believed to the point of death doesnt make it so. They died sure of their belief, but their belief could be wrong. Its sometimes called a logical fallacy, a bandwagon arguement, Just because everyone does or believes something doesn't make it right. You could turn the argument around and say if all those Romans believed it wasnt to the point of killing why would they do something like that if they were not sure it was true.
2007-04-15 19:06:04 · answer #3 · answered by fancyname 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Those people may have believed it was true, but just because they belived it was, does that MAKE it true? Should you just believe what other people believe then? What if they were mistaken? It happens often. People can believe something to be 100% true, but they are wrong.
Give exmaples of any of the present day cult deaths. For exmaple. Peoples Temple lead by Jim Jones. His followers thought he was the incarnation of Christ and God. Did your friend? Probably not. Yet those who believed him believe him so much that they commited mass suicide together by drinking posioned Kool-Aid.
There is a parellel exmaple of what your friend is saying and that is the best argument.
2007-04-15 18:36:44 · answer #4 · answered by KD 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
How would you answer this? When they crucified Jesus, the disciples all went into hiding. Peter even decided to go back to fishing. They were all afraid that they would be next. Then, after the resurrection, suddenly they were vocal, excited preachers. What could possibly motivate them if not seeing their risen savior?
Here, I'll go a step further. Paul suffered unbelievable hardship for Jesus. But before he was Paul, he was Saul, a pharisee who hunted down christians and had them put to death. He said that he met Jesus on the Damascus road. What else but Jesus could so change and motivate a man in one instant on a dusty road?
2007-04-15 18:38:58 · answer #5 · answered by Sharon M 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm not agnostic. I don't think there are any gods looking down on us as if we were their little personal flea circus. I do, however, think that Jesus was here on earth at one time. So was Buddha, so was Ghandi, so was Mohammed, so was Confusius, so was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, so was Mother Teresa, so were a lot of people who had visions of how to conduct a civilization that would serve everyone. I just don't think a god had anything to do with what they said.
Jesus did not die for anyone's sins - he died because a bunch of guys grabbed him and nailed his hide to a tree and left him there.
2007-04-15 19:29:50 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Easily. By applying the Reductio ad Absurdum argument (Taking the argument of your opponent to its most extreme and absurd conclusion)
According to this statement, the followers of Jim Jones had to be right about their beliefs and so did the 9/11 terrorists and Japanese Kamikaze.
Just because somebody is willing to die for something, doesn't make it right.
2007-04-15 18:32:10 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Are you kidding? People die for things that they aren't 100% sure is true all the time...hell, look at suicide bombers, thinking they are going to go to heaven and get their 72 virgins, or whatever it is. Just because someone is indoctrinated to believe that something is true, doesn't make it so.
2007-04-15 18:42:21 · answer #8 · answered by LindaLou 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Confederate soldiers sacrificed their lives in the belief that slavery should be allowed.
Hitler's troops died in their quest to make "Nazi-ism" a way of life.
A passionate belief that may result in loss of life, does not make the belief true.
2007-04-15 18:48:25 · answer #9 · answered by cc 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
in the beginning there was Wicca, the worshipping of nature.
Then there were the gods of Greece and Rome
And there were gods of the Native indians and the East indians, and the gods of Africa and South America.
Why are these considered Mythology and your religion Not.?
2007-04-15 22:55:45 · answer #10 · answered by bob shark 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋