The Bible as Proof

Theia
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The Bible as Proof

Why, oh, why is it that theists cannot grasp the idea that the bible is not proof to an atheist? Time after time we ask theists to present proof of biblical claims and they "prove" it to us by quoting yet more of the bible. I'm not even asking why they think it's proof. That, I don't think, I'll ever be able to fully understand. What I mean is, why do they continue to think it will work as proof to an atheist? Why can they not "get it" that, to an atheist, it's just any old book? If I quoted from the Iliad would the theist accept it as proof of the existence of the goddess Athena? I seriously doubt it so why can't they understand the analogy there?

"The Bible looks like it started out as a game of Mad Libs" - Bill Maher


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For some reason their minds

For some reason their minds can't grasp that it is NOT sacred/the word of god/whatever to us. They don't even have to be idiots - Ray Comfort doesn't seem stupid except when he uses the Bible as proof. It's rather like using Spiderman comics to prove Spiderman exists.

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thingy
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If all your evidence for

If all your evidence for something you were claiming only came from one book or source, you'd get caught in the same trap.  This would especially be the case if you had been misinformed all your life that this source was legitimate and accurate.

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Theia
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I used to believe but

I used to believe but reasoning and logic got me over it. When I did believe, though, i was never fanatical. It was just sort of a non-issue and I'd never really given it a lot of thought. So when I did start thinking about it the transition was not difficult. I guess that's why I can't understand believers who say they have given it a lot of thought and still believe it's proof and that I should too. I can only conclude that they have not actually given it much thought and are lying about having done so simply to support their argument.

"The Bible looks like it started out as a game of Mad Libs" - Bill Maher


aiia
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Theia wrote:Why, oh, why is

Theia wrote:

Why, oh, why is it that theists cannot grasp the idea that the bible is not proof to an atheist?

Its not proof to a theist either.

All they can do is believe in their fantasies based on the holely books

People who think there is something they refer to as god don't ask enough questions.


latincanuck
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The thing is

The holy bible is the truth for them, it is for them the word and message of god. They do believe this whole heartedly as such this is the only proof they need, and believe that if they tell enough people that this is proof that they will believe it to. It is really sad at times.


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I a kind of way it is. It

In a kind of way it is. It looks like one because a lot of people believe it. For example i suggest to make an experiment:

Lets gather a group of random people. Lets say 80 random people and 20 already chosen from the fellow atheists.

They go to some sort of woods. Those who are random chosen thinks that this is a sort of party and actually it is for some of the time. Suddenly one of the atheists pretends to see UFO (or virgin Mary, choose whatever you like) in the sky, the other atheists pretend to agree with him.

I bet that at least one of the non-atheists will see it too. Laughing out loud

And if theres enough time given then more believers will appear, outside of that group, we just need to spread the word (or the others will do that, given the success of this experiment).


Theia
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Fanas wrote:In a kind of way

Fanas wrote:

In a kind of way it is. It looks like one because a lot of people believe it. For example i suggest to make an experiment:

Lets gather a group of random people. Lets say 80 random people and 20 already chosen from the fellow atheists.

They go to some sort of woods. Those who are random chosen thinks that this is a sort of party and actually it is for some of the time. Suddenly one of the atheists pretends to see UFO (or virgin Mary, choose whatever you like) in the sky, the other atheists pretend to agree with him.

I bet that at least one of the non-atheists will see it too. Laughing out loud

And if theres enough time given then more believers will appear, outside of that group, we just need to spread the word (or the others will do that, given the success of this experiment).

But, you see, here's the difference I have trouble with. Anyone who claims to have seen a UFO (or Bigfoot or Nessy) may believe 100% in what he thinks he saw. But he doesn't expect others to take his verbal account of it as definitive proof. He knows he's going to have to cough up a good photo, a piece of alien metal from the spacecraft, implants, or something tangible. He doesn't expect the whole world to suddenly now agree that alien spacecraft really exist just be he said so. Yet, the theists expect just that about God. It would be so much easier to deal with them if they'd just say something like, "The Bible is all I need to believe but I can agree it's not proof to you" and therefore quit quoting the Bible to me with the expectation that I'm suddenly going to say, "You're right! That proves it!"

"The Bible looks like it started out as a game of Mad Libs" - Bill Maher


latincanuck
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The thing is Theia

is that people don't base their lives on UFO's or Bigfoot or the loch ness monster. However people do base their lives, their views, and the moral characters on the bible, as such, if this bible is correct for them, then it should be correct and true for others. It encompasses all things in their lives. UFO's not so much.


Fanas
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latincanuck wrote:is that

latincanuck wrote:

is that people don't base their lives on UFO's or Bigfoot or the loch ness monster. However people do base their lives, their views, and the moral characters on the bible, as such, if this bible is correct for them, then it should be correct and true for others. It encompasses all things in their lives. UFO's not so much.

Well to love god, is sort of conditional love. I love you and i live forever. UFO's won't save you, if you believe them Smiling

I just wanted to point out that humans are vulnerable to manipulation.