@ Jeffro,
You made the following claims on this thread:
1."No one raised Jesus from the Dead
2. the 'gospels' are widely regarded by scholars as historical, are simply false
3. None of that has any basis in reality whatsoever. (conscious soul)
4. Beliefs about consciousness independent of a functioning physical body are just made up nonsense
experiences that are no more ‘real’ than a dream
5. This is a plain old argument from ignorance.
6. I don’t need to offer any speculative alternatives to your superstitions.
7. claims...that the 'gospels' are widely regarded by scholars as historical, are simply false.
Many of these claims are demonstratably false. On the consciousness issue - when offfered strong circumstantial evidence of consciousness existing outside the body you refuse to even consider it. I am not attacking you here, just describing in a nutshell your position.
You seem to mock and hold in disdain anything that is not material or physical. I think that is a fair assessment of your position.
A prominent atheist evolutionary biologist describes the position of materialists:
“We take the side of science in spite of the patent absurdity of some of its constructs, in spite of its failure to fulfill many of its extravagant promises of health and life, in spite of the tolerance of the scientific community for unsubstantiated just-so stories, because we have a prior commitment, a commitment to materialism.
It is not that the methods and institutions of science somehow compel us to accept a material explanation of the phenomenal world, but, on the contrary, that we are forced by our a priori adherence to material causes to create an apparatus of investigation and a set of concepts that produce material explanations, no matter how counter-intuitive, no matter how mystifying to the uninitiated. Moreover, that materialism is an absolute, for we cannot allow a Divine Foot in the door.”1
– Richard Lewontin
When talking to committed atheists, it is obvious that this is the template their mind works within. Again, I'm not being derogatory, just stating an observation. Many atheists have no trouble openly stating their philosophical position.
We all have the same evidence. However it is apparent that atheists have somehow attempted to restrict their brains from reasoning on things that might lead to a supernatural conclusion.
Is this where you are at Jeffro? You cannot consider evidence that might leads to a supernatural conclusion because it violates your ideology or belief system? I think so.
I have some questions for you: If you are nothing more that a sack of chemicals and copying mistakes as atheists claim:
1.. How can you be sure that you are reasoning correctly?
2. Since brain chemistry is different for each person, how can you be sure that logic is the same for you as well as someone from China who lives on a different diet?
The certitude that your logic is a reliable guide has no basis in happenstance materialism (your worldview) as far as I can tell. Maybe you could tell me why you have so much faith in your reasoning?
Christians have reasoning rooted in the God of Truth. Truth is what reasoning is. And, truth is important and does exist. Becuse God is true, reasonable and "changeth not" , I can be certain that my logic would be the same in the United States as it would in other countries, palnets, solar systems etc.
But if your logic is a product of accidents, explosions and and copying mistakes, how can you be sure of anyting?
Again, this is not an attack on your person. Christians have been debating with unbelievers for 2000 years. It has a very long and historical tradition. We conquored the greatest empire in the world with noting more than reason and the power of our testimony.
You should consider the atheist / christian book club I mentioned earlier. There, Christians and Atheists get along great and try to refute each others' position. They have a lot of fun and truly like each other.
Recently they completed a segment called "Christianity on Trial". They just completed a segment called "Atheism on Trial".
In this segment, Mark Lanier is a Trial Lawyer who speaks on the topic of the nature of evidence. To avoid the lenghty introduction, go to time stamp 32:30 on the video below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dj6LNDlFUz8