There is no evidence for God, so why do you believe?

[ElishaElijah]

The bible is clearly not reliable, as has been explained, or else there would not be 45k varyingly different Christian sects and denominations. You can repeat this claim all you want, but it is demonstrably untrue.

Whether you think it’s reliable or not isn’t the issue, but you are beating the same drum beat. Find out what the Bible says and we can talk. I already explained the criteria for a Christian according to the Bible and the people on this forum didn’t meet that criteria by what they said.
People walk away from God, backslide, maybe they were born again maybe not but a person is/were a Christian just because they say so. Is a female a male because she says so? Or a man a female because she says so? No

 

[Sheldon]

A person is not a Christian just because they said they were or are.

Obviously if they say they were a Christian, this axiomatically implies they no longer are, but since the beliefs are subjective and there are 45k varyingly different sects and denominations, and they all claim to be interpreting the bible correctly, your claim is meaningless to an objective reader.

 

[Sheldon]

Whether you think it’s reliable or not isn’t the issue,

I am not expressing a subjective opinion, as I and others have explained to you exhaustively, if it were reliable it would not have produced 45k different sects or denominations, that's not just an opinion, it is simple mathematics.

 

[Sheldon]

You can dispute all you want but the issue is “What does the Bible say and teach”.

No it isn't, again this has been explained innumerable times, a reliable bible would not have produced 45k different sects and denominations, and what's more the contents were included based on the subjective beliefs of the early Christians, over 3 centuries after the alleged events they purport to describe, the earliest written record is decades after the alleged events, and of unknown authorship, no contemporary or eyewitness accounts exist, it's all pure hearsay. Not of that suggests it is reliable.

 

[ElishaElijah]

No it isn't, again this has been explained innumerable times, a reliable bible would not have produced 45k different sects and denominations, and what's more the contents were included based on the subjective beliefs of the early Christians, over 3 centuries after the alleged events they purport to describe, the earliest written record is decades after the alleged events, and of unknown authorship, no contemporary or eyewitness accounts exist, it's all pure hearsay. Not of that suggests it is reliable.

So, if you don’t know what the Bible says about who is or is not a Christian then you have nothing to say. Just a sounding gong.

 

[SkepticThinker]

Whether you think it’s reliable or not isn’t the issue, but you are beating the same drum beat. Find out what the Bible says and we can talk. I already explained the criteria for a Christian according to the Bible and the people on this forum didn’t meet that criteria by what they said.
People walk away from God, backslide, maybe they were born again maybe not but a person is/were a Christian just because they say so. Is a female a male because she says so? Or a man a female because she says so? No

All the other 45,000 different denominations of Christianity think they're going with what the Bible says too. None of them agree with each other or with you.
Take it up with them.

To the rest of us looking in from the outside ... if you guys can't figure it out amongst yourselves, how do you expect us to?

 

[ElishaElijah]

I am not expressing a subjective opinion, as I and others have explained to you exhaustively, if it were reliable it would not have produced 45k different sects or denominations, that's not just an opinion, it is simple mathematics.

Yes you are, you’re taking someone’s word they were a Christian without knowing what that means and without evidence, just someone’s word.

 

[Sheldon]

I haven’t found a skeptic or atheist yet who knows, there may be some but I haven’t seen anything but false ideas about the Bible presented so far from this group of unbelievers.

You're still missing the point, and lets not forget you were entirely unaware that names of Mathew Mark Luke and John were fictional names assigned the gospels centuries later by the first council of Nicaea in 325, they didn't even appear until the second century. So you lecturing theirs on biblical knowledge is pretty funny.

However the point, one more time then, is that there are 45k different Christian sects and denominations, and they all claim their interpretation of the hearsay claims in the gospels and the bible i general, are right, just as you are doing. I neither need nor am inclined to argue over the minutiae of the bible with you, as it won't change that fact, a fact you seem happy to ignore.

 

[Sheldon]

A person is not a Christian just because they said they were or are.

Well all we have is your claim you are a Christian? So you may want to think that through.

 

[Sheldon]

Sheldon said: ↑
I am not expressing a subjective opinion, as I and others have explained to you exhaustively, if it were reliable it would not have produced 45k different sects or denominations, that's not just an opinion, it is simple mathematics.

Yes you are, you’re taking someone’s word they were a Christian without knowing what that means and without evidence, just someone’s word.

Yours for example... dear oh dear, wooooosh, you seem hell bent on missing the point...

 

[ElishaElijah]

Sheldon said: ↑
I am not expressing a subjective opinion, as I and others have explained to you exhaustively, if it were reliable it would not have produced 45k different sects or denominations, that's not just an opinion, it is simple mathematics.


Yours for example... dear oh dear, wooooosh, you seem hell bent on missing the point...

You are talking about your opinion on the Bible and I am talking about what a Christian is according to the Bible.
So you say Ehrman was a born again Christian and now atheist, are you sure it wasn’t confirmation bias? If it was then he was never a Christian

 

[ElishaElijah]

Yours for example.

Well if you’re taking people at their word then you must take my testimony as truth too, if you’re going to be consistent.

 

[Sheldon]

You are talking about your opinion on the Bible

No I'm not, how many times do you need this explained? There are 45k different opinions among the sects and denominations of the Christian religion, NOT ONE OF THEM IS MINE!!!

How can you still not understand that simple point, is it deliberate obfuscation?

 

[ElishaElijah]

All the other 45,000 different denominations of Christianity think they're going with what the Bible says too. None of them agree with each other or with you.
Take it up with them.

To the rest of us looking in from the outside ... if you guys can't figure it out amongst yourselves, how do you expect us to?

Really? That’s what is holding you back? How about reading and understanding the Bible for yourself instead of relying on someone else? That’s Bible commends these people:
“The people here were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, since they received the word with eagerness and examined the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.”
‭‭Acts‬ ‭17:11‬ ‭CSB‬‬

 

[Sheldon]

Well if you’re taking people at their word then you must take my testimony as truth too, if you’re going to be consistent.

Why are you telling me? You're the one who wants me to accept your claim that you're a Christian, but ignore the identical claims the other 44999 sects make as false. Is it possible you still don't understand the point being made??

 

[ElishaElijah]

No I'm not, how many times do you need this explained? There are 45k different opinions among the sects and denominations of the Christian religions, NOT ONE OF THEM IS MINE!!!

So…
What does this have to do with what the Bible teaches? You can’t read and understand for yourself? Maybe not

 

[SkepticThinker]

Really? That’s what is holding you back? How about reading and understanding the Bible for yourself instead of relying on someone else? That’s Bible commends these people:
“The people here were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, since they received the word with eagerness and examined the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.”
‭‭Acts‬ ‭17:11‬ ‭CSB‬‬

As I've told you countless times, I have read the Bible many times. That's not the point.
The point is exactly what I just said to you. A point for which you have no answer.

 

[Sheldon]

Sheldon said: ↑
No I'm not, how many times do you need this explained? There are 45k different opinions among the sects and denominations of the Christian religions, NOT ONE OF THEM IS MINE!!!

So…
What does this have to do with what the Bible teaches? You can’t read and understand for yourself? Maybe not

It means that 45k different conclusions all claiming to be Christians, does not suggest the bible is a reliable source, as you claimed.

What I think about the bible is irrelevant to that, I really don't know why you have continually failed to understand this simple point.

 

[ElishaElijah]

As I've told you countless times, I have read the Bible many times. That's not the point.
The point is exactly what I just said to you. A point for which you have no answer.

What point? That there are divisions because people follow men instead of Jesus Christ? That there are false teachers and prophets that people follow instead of Jesus? That people read the Bible but don’t understand it still?

 

[ElishaElijah]

It means that 45k different conclusions all claiming to be Christians, does not suggest the bible is a reliable source, as you claimed.

What are those different conclusions? Name what they are test them against what the Bible teaches. What you will find is that men are unreliable not the Bible.