From: I3150101@DBSTU1.RZ.TU-BS.DE (Benedikt Rosenau)
Newsgroups: alt.atheism
Subject: Historical proof?
Date: 7 Nov 92 15:00:35 GMT
X-Received: by usenet.pa.dec.com; id AA28438; Sat, 7 Nov 92 06:42:39 -0800
X-Received: by inet-gw-1.pa.dec.com; id AA25784; Sat, 7 Nov 92 06:41:39 -0800
X-Received: from DBSTU1 by DBSTU1.RZ.TU-BS.DE (IBM VM SMTP V2R2)   with BSMTP id 0021; Sat, 07 Nov 92 15:41:11 MEZ
X-To: alt.atheism.usenet

Rex typed:
>(source of quotes - "Evidence that demands a Verdict", by Josh McDowell.)

>Professor Ambrose Fleming, emeritus professor of Electrical Engineering
>in the University of London,....one of England's outsanding scientists...
>says of the New Testament documents:

"We must take this evidence of experts as to the age and authenticity of this wr
just as we take the facts of astronomy on the evidence of astronomers who do not
contradict each other. This being so, we can ask ourselves whether it is probabl
that such book, describing events that occurred about thirty or forty years prev
could have been accepted and cherished if the stories of abnormal events in it w
false or mythical. It is impossible, because the memory of all elderly persons
regarding events of thirty or forty years before is perfectly clear.
>

The last sentence is wrong. So wrong in fact, that I doubt the sincerity of
Ambrose Fleming whom this quote is attributed to. To give him the benefit of
the doubt, he deludes himself into another rationalization of blind faith.

I have heard many reports about the time when my grandparents were young,
including the Nazi rule, from people of their generation. And many of them
contradicted each other. Further, I have seen people giving different reports
from events I have been at. Not just slight differences in what happened, but
reports that make you think that they must have been somewhere else.

There is still a discussion about if Nazi annihilation camps existed. How does
this fit into 'it is impossible, the memory of elderly persons regarding events
of thirty years before is perfectly clear'. What if some people do not care
about the opinions of people who have been there, because they consider this
claim to be a lie itself?

'Just as we take the facts of astronomy on the evidence who do not contradict
each other'. Silly bait. Astronomy is a science, authority is important in
science as well, but apart from observations (sic) allegations can be verified
by others. The 'reports' of the four cannot be verified anymore. And they
were not meant for those who were there. Another thing that leaves me wondering
is how jesus could have so few followers with the amount of miracles he is
supposed to have done. That means what have those who didn't follow him seen?
Propaganda is an old ploy. Cristianity spread under the hand of a professional
propagandist who was seeking for a new cause. Paulus corrupted a lot of the
original teachings of jesus, in case they have ever existed, and noone seemed
to mind.

And there are apocryph works that contradict the 'canonic gospels'. The just
have been cut out. How is that for dissenting views?

And what use is a god who plays silly games as try to find the truth in these
biased and contradictory reports? It tells a lot about people when they say
that they believe in it anyway. The god view is generally that of a super
parent. Looks as if they need it.
   Benedikt