Or that it was written well after the fact by people who didn't witness it firsthand, but assumed it to be truth. Admittedly, the original viewers are still either lying, right, or wrong, but with how much stories can change over the course of decades and centuries, especially when they are exposed to the preconceptions and myths of the age and mixed with them, I find it hard to see how anyone can put too much confidence in the veracity of the Bible. You have people writing it whose knowledge of the universe is dwarfed by our own, yet we're ready to call it infallible?
In any case, that's rather tangential to my original points about the article posted on the last page, and shakya added to it well.
Thanks, I just thought I'd throw something in there a large number of people on these forums are atheists and I'm a born again Christian. I feel a little intimidated by some very ardent arguments, so I'd thought I'd throw something in here to compliment my outlook
That's an interesting point regarding C.S Lewis' conversion. He goes into a lot more detail in his book, Mere Christianity on that matter, especially relating to his attitudes to moral relativism....
Most of the interesting arguments don't actually have much beef behind them. Only previous Christians (like digi here) actually bring up points that are genuinely challenging.
Heh. Didn't realize it was Lewis. I've read some of his philosophical stuff, but it was always a bit too preachy for my tastes, as most apologetics (for any religion) tend to be.
Maybe I'll look into some more at some point, because it wouldn't hurt to see what he wrote in many cases....I've heard most of the arguments for theism that exist, but I have a couple friends that swear by his stuff, so it'll be good for discussion.
Coolio, your friends have good taste in apologetic writers. Considering he used to be an atheist himself, he is a reasonably respectful and methodical writer to various beliefs and attitudes, even if he can be a tad preachy
Well, he's just a well-known Christian apologist, and while eloquent I can't say I agree with him (at least what little I've read and what you posted). Theistic arguments follow familiar conventions regardless of who is doing the writing, but he at least set the standard for modern apologists.
Thing is, the same arguments are elsewhere in different forms. And he's far from having a stranglehold on the "Christian Argument." I was Christian for most of life as well, so I'm pretty well-versed on the theology of it all. Like I said, I've heard pretty much all the theistic arguments, just like I've seen variations on the Moral Law excerpt he posted. If I get around it, I'm sure he'd be more entertaining than most of the apologists I worked through in order to become versed with both sides of the theism argument. But it's not necessarily high on my priority list...just something I may get around to when my reading list dwindles a bit.
Because with some topics, I reach a point where I realize I have a fairly comprehensive knowledge of it...not complete, mind you, but enough that no one author or idea is going to revolutionize my thinking, mainly because I've heard most of it but even if I haven't because it will be one point among hundreds of others that preceded it. And I certainly don't read Christian apologetics for pleasure (I break my reading into, roughly speaking, "pleasure" and "cognitive improvement" ...sometimes they overlap. Sometimes they don't) so if I don't feel like it's worth the investment for the increase in knowledge, it gets pushed back on my mental catalogue.
And Narnia's just heavy-handed Christian allegorical schlock. Allegory's fine, but it shouldn't beat the reader over the head with it. I realize that isn't his philosophy, but it kinda turned me off from him as a writer.
Oh don't worry, I wasn't trying to convert you. It had nothing to do with your comprehension of the situation. It's just as you said, he's simply a better writer than other apologists.
And Narnia isn't what made C.S. Lewis famous, ya know.
KMC Community Forums
Mar 21st, 2008 08:38 PM
