Re: The Gospels

Yeah, ok, whatever. You're a believer, I'm not. I think the facts support
me, you think the opposite. Whatever. You win, ok, I'll go take communion
and do a few hail marys and our fathers.
tina

>This is a pretty naive version of the "facts," Tina, and how they can be
>read -- not just about the Bible in particular, but about any ancient text,
>really. Or any modern one, for that matter. Real facts (as opposed to the
>pretend facts you've been offering) are few and far between, and when we do
>find them, we find they can be understood in more than one way. The
>farther back in time the texts are located, the more and more this becomes
>true.
>
>To me, the facts are ambiguous, so to adhere to any one position as "the
>truth" is to make a faith statement of some sort -- either for or against.
>I think it'd be interesting to examine the real sources you used, and the
>criteria by which you evaluated them. Somehow I think if you were really
>being honest you'd admit you evaluated those sources that reinforced what
>you really wanted to hear as "objective" while those who spoke what you
>didn't want to hear were "fanatical."
>
>The fact is, Tina, many of the facts I've been giving you to refute your
>thesis would be supported by many non-Christian scholars as well as
>Christian.
>
>You gotta wonder what that means, and why you think you have any reason at
>all to assume those who question your assertions are religious fanatics of
>some sort.
>
>I honestly think the fanaticism in this conversation lies elsewhere.
>
>Jim
>
>tina carson wrote:
>
>>You want honesty? All right, here it is: Years ago, as a child, my
>>mother took me to see a movie at church. It was Ephram Zimbalist Jr
>>talking about why he has faith. It seems that in his youth, he took
>>umbrage against Christianity and began doing research to disprove Christ.
>>The opposite happened. As he dredged on, he found more and more reason to
>>believe, giving him a faith that he had never had before.
>>Years later, when I lost my faith, I remembered this film and how it moved
>>me, so I decided to follow in his steps and find the faith as he had. I
>>was looking, as the song goes, for "something to believe in". Only I had
>>the opposite result. The more I looked, the less real the Christian
>>teachings became, the more fanciful, the more bizarre. As I tried, year
>>after year to refute attacks against Christianity, I found it to be an
>>argument of faith vs facts. No one could have been more disappointed than
>>I.
>>We can argue until our fingers are blue, and I will be glad to unpack my
>>library and quote sources if you like, but the fact is, as far as I'm
>>concerned, the facts speak for themselves, just as, I know, you can quote
>>from countless of the devoted who believe as you do.
>>"agreeing to disagree" tina
>
>
>-
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Received on Thu Aug 7 21:14:35 2003