From: ptfarre@afterlife.ncsc.mil (Peter Farrell)
Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian
Subject: Re: Question for fundamentalists
Date: 15 Sep 92 08:11:59 GMT
Organization: The Great Beyond

In article <Sep.12.23.57.38.1992.13105@athos.rutgers.edu> boe@cadsun2.slac.stanford.edu (Robert Boeninger) writes:
>As a serious sceptic, I have a fundamental question for so-called Christian 
>fundamentalists.
>
>Concerning the claimed inerrancy of the Bible, how is it possible to 
>accept as true, facts about the nature of the Bible, such as its inerrancy,
>its being inspired by God, and so on, based on the Bible making such claims
>for itself?  That would appear to be a a case of circular reasoning.  Any 
>supposed corroboration of such claims by independent evidence all appears to 
>me to be cases of wishful thinking, arguing after the fact.  You like to think 
>of the Bible as being God-inspired, and therefore you go to great pains to 
>bring up supporting evidence from within the Bible itself.  From a purely 
>logical standpoint, it seems to me that no amount of claims in the Bible about 
>the Bible itself can ever be taken as a validation of those claims. 
>Predictions
>of supposed miracles are again always referred to after the fact, when it's 
>easy to interpret the original statements however best suits the events that 
>supposedly fulfill the prediction.  Look at the difficulty fundamentalists are 
>having predicting the end of the world based on statements in the Bible.
>Do any of you have a sensible response to these issues, one that does NOT
>consist of simply quoting the Bible some more?
>
>Bob Boeninger

I hate to sound indifferent, Bob, but my first response is a question in
turn. Is your motive for these questions:
	a) Indifferent curiosity
	b) Contempt for Christianity and Christians 
	c) Genuine seeking for the Truth with a capital T
	d) Just for the hell of it (meant more literally than you might think)

The moderator occasionally (more often than I would like) lets enemies post
to the newsgroup who clearly (from their tone and words) could not care less
whether anyone answers them. If you really are not interested in whether
the Bible is valid, God exists, Christ was who we say He is, or in anything
spiritually speaking that Christianity is concerned with, would you mind
or misunderstand very much if you get little response?

I mean, supposing (to take the other side's viewpoint for a moment) that we
are all just silly followers of a dead Jewish carpenter who believe an
ancient anthology of literure, poetry and legend that is patently false
as a foundation of reality about man, life, death, morals and eternity,
I would enjoy being permitted to continue socializing with fellow
believers without redundant interruptions of the "so tell me how come...if"
variety.

On the other hand, if we are right about all this and if you are genuinely
searching for the answers not only to why we believe in the Bible and in
this Jesus of Nazareth as we do but also for an absolute morality, believe
me: I and many others of us will be happy to talk with you. Honestly.

I am formerly an atheist and have definite reasons for believing the
Bible - some of them are within the Bible, some of them are outside it.
But quite frankly, what difference does it make telling you if you really
don't want to know? I don't think mere curiosity counts. When I was an
atheist, I browsed the Bible one time in 19 years and never bothered with
it again (until I became a believer). I thought it quaint, somewhat
interesting, probably false in many places. I was then barely curious. After
I became seriously and passionately involved in a search for what REALLY IS
TRUE (Truth with a capital T), I devoured all I could about the Bible, from
enemies and supporters alike.

Hope this isn't offensive; I just want to make sure we are in earnest. :-)

(ps: Mr moderator, do you suppose you could find it plausible to let this
mild challenge for sincerity be posted - even if it has the world "hell"
in the text? I once counterattacked an atheist who was posting here to
bait Christians and you did NOT let it through.)


-- 
Peter Farrell			| "Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, 
ptfarre@afterlife.ncsc.mil 	| shall enter the kingdom of heaven; but he
				| who does the will of my Father in heaven."