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Well......
I took my faith in a creator and applied it to what is said in scripture, and it made a lot of sense to me to apply it there as well. I figure that if God actually exists and created the universe, then there is a purpose, along with explanations for why things are now the way they are.
CoolYou're tired and I will leave one question for you after you are rested.
Personally ... generally speaking, it's a major world religion that typically has the person and nature of Jesus Christ as a focus. Beyond that, it's an umbrella term for a wide variety of systems and groups and businesses that claim either to be part of it either in name or heritage, etc.Can you define Christianity, for me ?
Perhaps, but my question wasn't in regards to the truthfulness or otherwise of a claim; it was in regards to the basis for acceptance of a claim.I suppose it depends upon the truth claim being made. There are some claims for which there is no evidence, nor should we expect any. This doesn't make the claim any less true though.
Do you believe God withholds information in such as way from mankind?Having said that, I could see instances where with-holding evidence of such things would seem reasonable in certain contexts, as with anything really. Knowledge has an impact on us in various ways, for various reasons, and there are often and arguably times and places to learn things, understand them, etc. Consider a child ... we withhold evidence of things from children all the time. We do the same with adults in certain contexts, depending on what we want to protect, reveal, the way we want events to unfold, etc. Context plays a key.
What is the "other" then?True faith is based upon something other than wanting to believe it. But the way you've worded this question seems to make it a quid pro quo--i.e. give me the proof and THEN I will agree. That's a bit different and I wouldn't be sympathetic to that approach to faith.
What kind of "good enough" viable evidence do you have for your faith?It is not only right, but is necessary.
However, I would change the verifiable to viable. One usually can not verify any evidence easily, if all possible. To faith, evidence is good enough.
What is the witnesses are liars?Christianity does not require faith without evidence. In fact, it requires Christians to be witnesses to what they've personally seen, heard, and experienced that causes them to believe.
To be sure, a lot of modern-day Christians conflate "witness" with "evangelist" and fail to understand that if they're talking about something they did not personally experience, it's not "giving witness" in the biblical sense.
Now, as is the case with any personal witness to an event, the audience of that witness can take it or leave it. People go to prison every day on the testimony of witnesses without "personally verifiable evidence," whatever that actually is.
Since orthodox Christianity places such a huge emphasis on "believing the correct things about Jesus", then it stands to reason that great importance is placed on the alleged claims regarding the important events in Christianity. Are any of those claims personally verifiable, or must they be accepted blindly?Christianity at least does not demand "blind obedience" or "blind trust". At least that's not how I would describe it. What do you mean by these terms?
I would define "personally verifiable" as things like direct experiences with God or Jesus. Why were such direct experiences given to people 2,000 years ago, but we are denied the same?What is personally verifiable mean?
I cannot go back in time and see Christ Crucified, let alone verify a resurrection. If for some reason everything is shifted 2000 years and Christ were alive today and just a teenager I in 4015 still could not go back and I would know videos can be faked and it would be strange indeed If I were allowed to test some pieces of the True Cross for age. (Very strange as if others before me were given the chance it should have long ago been used up).
So does personally verifiable evidence mean God appearing specifically to me? I'd rather not as almost all who are said to be granted such a boon end up suffering a painful death.
Now if we are talking about claims made by some who claim to speak for the Christian God, yes I'd want to verify those. So far those making the most remarkable claims seem to produce the least evidence.
The problem is that some people are NOT making wild claims for their God. I'm not promised riches, safety or health. Nothing for today that is testable.
So is it reasonable to expect personally verifiable evidence for the creeds that do not make wild claims? I don't think so. But I do think expecting more evidence from sources outside the Church that support the historical claims before believing to be quite reasonable.
What is the witnesses are liars?
Why were such direct experiences given to people 2,000 years ago, but we are denied the same?
Do you believe God withholds information in such as way from mankind?
Yes you did.Did I not say: Now, as is the case with any personal witness to an event, the audience of that witness can take it or leave it.
Yes you did.
I guess my question is more oriented towards this: how can the audience tell if he's lying?
So Jesus couldn't be trusted with all the information the Father knew?Scripture records that not even Jesus knew all that the Father knows. Jesus apparently did not have idle curiosity and only wanted to know what He needed to know to perform His mission.
Same thing goes for a soldier. I had access to the information I needed to do my job, but I did not have access to, say, the launch codes for ballistic missile submarines because I was not even in the Navy, much less responsible for launching missiles.
So Jesus couldn't be trusted with all the information the Father knew?
Whether Jesus is God and knew all that the Father knew is a topic for another thread, but ......
It appears to me that God works the same way. We simply don't need to know what might be happening on some planet orbiting a distant star. For what Jesus needed to do, He did not need to know all that the Father knew.
And that's presuming that the finite human mind--only five pounds of wet meat, after all--can even contain all that the Father knows.
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