How Christianity Stands out When looking at evidences ect.
A lot of sceptics push aside the phenomena of Christianity by claiming that there are tons of religions. Here are some reasons why Christianity sticks out.
First of all if you were creating a god based on observing the world around you would you create a god who is perfect, loving, and all knowing? NO you would create an imperfect god based on human characteristics based on the observable world. This is what all other gods accept for the God of Judaism and Christianity. Than you look at any way that a Holy book could be tested to see if it is from God. This is also done with prophecy. 500 + prophecies prophesy of future events in history, of Jesus death, His exact date of death, and many other things such as Israel becoming a nation and never disbanding into obscurity (Israel became a nation in 1948) Many of these prophecies are coming true now (such as people in the last days will not worship God, will love only pleasure, and that there will be more earthquakes and wars than ever before.) Also the bible tells in Job that the earth hangs on nothing. (This was the time when it was thought that the earth was on the back of a turtle.) The bible also tells about how the earth is a sphere and that space is expanding. Also every single archaeological find that has to do with the bible has complimented the historicity of it. Every single discovery! They have found the high priest who crucified Jesus' grave! They have found the well that the lame man sat at! There are 29 non-Christian sources that tell about Jesus and says that He was crucified and that the disciples belief He is the Christ.
Christianity without miracles would not exist. Its hard to deny all these miracles so what usually sceptics do is to point out televangelists like the farting preacher and say that see he didn't perform one. My grandma was healed from third stage cancer. She was supposed to die with no hope. People blind have now been able to see. People who have been paraplegics have been miraculously healed. No other religion can claim this.
I went to a youth convention this weekend and miracles and healings did happen. Sceptics dismiss this as just emotional experiences but it is not just emotional. It comes from above; you can feel yourself being healed. There is nothing better than to here high schoolers speak in tongues!
The last evidence Ill put is that my and thousands of peoples life’s have been changed. In order to discount personal experiences you must ask, did this experience orchestrate a change? If so has it happened to anybody else? You'll find both answers fulfilled within a relationship with Jesus.
Actually a lot of other
Actually a lot of other religions have claimed to have healed people and performed miracles.
[url=http://www.islamcan.com/miracles/index.shtml]Muslim miracles[/url]
[url=http://www.miraclesofislam.com/]Miracles of Islam[/url]
[url=http://www.hinduismtoday.com/archives/1995/12/15_miracles.shtml]Hindu miracle[/url]
Not to mention countless tribal religions that have claimed to have miraculously healed people.
Miracles are basically a "god of the gaps" - "Wow, this is so rare and wonderful, therefore God did it."
And there have been atheists like Lance Armstrong who have been through tough times and recovered without any praying.
This was mentioned a while
This was mentioned a while back at RRS:
[quote]If you're God, why not
1. Write the holy book yourself.
2. Fully formed.
3. In all languages that will ever exist.
4. In the simplest form possible.
5. In the shortest length possible.
6. Emblazoned in perfect multiple copies everywhere, like the Gideon Bibles.
Why
1. Have hundreds of numbskulls write your book.
2. In fragments throughout thousands of years.
3. In ancient languages that are susceptible to translation errors.
4. That is difficult to understand and interpret.
5. That is impossibly longer than necessary.
6. In only a few original copies that are bound to destruction or mistranslation[/quote]
Did you check out the Muslim
Did you check out the Muslim miracles? A tree in a praying position, allahs name on a persons hand or in their soup? I find it hard to compare that to someone whose body is contorted having their spine straightened out. Yes people do have religious experiences by fasting or sticking spears through their ears but do you know when you fast sugar drips from your brain and it causes you to hallucinate? Some Christians fast but not for the hallucinagenic properties of it. Picture this noor, a group of a hundred or so people are praying, a preacher named Christopher Alam is praying at the pulpit and somebody who has their legs basically contorted to their head has their spine completely straightened out. Than another blind person sees. A person is healed from cancer. A lame man walks. All because people are praying. Atheists can throw these out and say they are naturally accuring but I find that very illogical. Too many "coicidences" Noor. Because this guy is so filled with the Holy Spirit that wherever he goes these occurences happen.
When looking at Holy books
When looking at Holy books you'll find that usually only one person authored it. But thats the uniquness of the bible noor because picture this, say 100 philosophers were taken from history and were asked to write on the most delicate issues of life (sex, God, homesexuality, ect.) do you honestly think they will come to the same conclusions all the time? No, obviously not! Most writers in the bible lived at different times, different countries, had different occupations but all agreed on these huge issues in life! OVer something like 1500 yers!
Also the RSS author of this article obviously thinks small is better. I personally disagree. If God were to reveal to humanity how they should live and how their gowing to be judged I would hope it would be longer than say a Koran or a novel. But He chose to show how in every aspect of life we should react and live. If it were shorter He couldn't have done that.
God moves through people I don't understand why people think that He should personally come down here and write it with HIs own hands or something like that.
Also archaelogy has revealed the Dead Sea Scrolls, confirming our translation of the OT to be accurate with the account of before AD. Also the Septuagint is a Greek translation of the OT written around the same time as the Dead Sea Scrolls (or maybe before) so this clears up discrepiences amoung languages.
There are about 2400 finds of NT fragments and whole NTs. we can be sure that they have not been changed as they all match (except on gramtical differences through languages and reversing of words sometimes) Compare that with the second most archaeological sound book from the Ancients, The Iliad which only has 630 finds to its name.
Also the OT is all about prophesying and fortelling about a Saviour and the history of a nation that God would make that Saviour come out of.
Its not difficult to understand if you have Jesus.
There have been cases in
There have been cases in which Muslims prayed and they were cured. Muslims are always saying that Allah saved them from danger, harm, death, etc.
And show me one scene where a guy has his legs straightened out to normal, etc. immediately after praying. Show me one instance where a blind man was prayed for and he regained his eyesight without undergoing through surgery or some medicinal procedure.
Plus, even if that was true, you're just using, "Wow, this is so wonderful, therefore God did it."
[url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12082681/]Power of prayer flunks an unusual test[/url]
I've seen other studies that show prayer to be a failure, but I can't find them right now.
That's not my point. Those
That's not my point. Those few lines about the bible were to show that God, not the writers, fucked up with the bible. The point was that an omnipotent, omniscient god would have made it easier for us to understand the bible instead of writing/transmitting a book full of problems. I wasn't talking about the writers or anything.
And the idea of a god who wants people to be saved but wrote/transmitted a book as the bible is pretty fucked up. If god wanted us to be saved, wouldn't he make his message clearer?
Now picture three weeks
Now picture three weeks later, when the lame man is worse off, having thought he was better, but once the adrenaline wore off, having realized he has only made his condition worse off.
Firstly, there is no evidence for those claims. Secondly, just because we don't understand it doesn't make it God. Thirdly, people also miraculously heal without prayer. Or the other way around, perfectly 'healthy' people, who suddenly drop dead, despite praying every day of their lives.