Genesis 1:1 , John 1:1

In reference to the authority discussion, I never put all my trust in any authority. I tend to judge all claims, even scientific ones and decide for myself whether it stands up to scrutiny and also whether the person claiming it stands up to scrutiny. The science I tend to really trust is either what I can fully understand myself and it ties in to other things I believe I know, or what has been verified and battle tested by many scientists. One could say I put my trust in the 'authority' of the scientific method and scientific process, but even that I have thought long and hard about before accepting too readily and I am well aware of many flaws in it.
In addition, very few decisions I actually make day to day rely on that kind of trust in authority. Rather most of my decisions rely on observation. I trust aeroplanes not because some authority tells me they are safe, but because I know the accident statistics.

Originally posted by divegeester
Welcome to the forum; it can be quite combative in here at times. Enjoy.

This one phrase alone (from your post), will keep you occupied for a few weeks if you get the right posters engaged.

Thank you. All I wanted is to share my interpretations of the word of God. Sonship has helped me in explaining what I started in this forum. I can't imagine succeeding in any of my missions in this life without Jesus on my side. I understand my critics and will also look at the opinions with interest. One thing no one can convince me that we are just living on this earth without protection against the various unfortunate situations in our lives. Many Bible FACTS indicate that we need to be protected "Ephesians 6:10- ".

Originally posted by sonship
Welcome to the forum. We've been playing chess too. Good games.

Keep in mind that one of the quickest ways to gather a room full of atheists is to start a Bible Study. There are lots of atheists in this room, you know ? You just met one - twhitehead.

I certainly have learned to respect the words of the Bible. They do not have to prove something bey ...[text shortened]... into eternity - the glorified and uplifted man as Lord of all.

Does this make sense to you ?

Yes, it does. Thanks a lot. I will challenge you soon. I like your thread that you started. Very enlightning.

Originally posted by Tshotsho Khalapa
Thank you. All I wanted is to share my interpretations of the word of God. Sonship has helped me in explaining what I started in this forum. I can't imagine succeeding in any of my missions in this life without Jesus on my side. I understand my critics and will also look at the opinions with interest. One thing no one can convince me that we are jus ...[text shortened]... uations in our lives. Many Bible FACTS indicate that we need to be protected "Ephesians 6:10- ".

Welcome to the forums.

As an atheist, i don't expect to convince you that there is no God, but i will challenge the idea that the bible is a 'factual' document. (Especially when 'facts' is capitalised).

Originally posted by Ghost of a Duke
Apologies for replying to just one part of your post.

It's true that an atheist (myself included) put our trust in the authority of others. I think this is very different however from a theist putting their trust in the authority of the bible. An atheist doesn't have all his eggs in one unyielding and rigid basket and is at liberty to seek alternative authority if so required.

It depends on the basket.

Some Christians don't think that the Bible is inerrant. Others that do often think that the way it's being interpreted may be wrong, etc.

So no, it is not a rigid basket. How can an infinite God be put in a rigid basket?

Originally posted by divegeester
And to think I have accused you of not having a sense of humour.😵

He has one, he just never uses it.

Originally posted by whodey
It depends on the basket.

Some Christians don't think that the Bible is inerrant. Others that do often think that the way it's being interpreted may be wrong, etc.

So no, it is not a rigid basket. How can an infinite God be put in a rigid basket?

Hey, that almost sounds Buddhist.

The infinite is like the wind. How can the wind be held in a book.

Rather most of my decisions rely on observation. I trust aeroplanes not because some authority tells me they are safe, but because I know the accident statistics.

But you probably did not take the accident statistics for yourself. So you do trust some authoritative statistician to be accurately informing you.

Hey, that almost sounds Buddhist.

Its the other way around. Buddhism sometimes sounds like the Holy Bible.

Originally posted by Tshotsho Khalapa
All I wanted is to share my interpretations of the word of God. .

Well announcing that your interpretations are facts which can be proved beyond reasonable doubt is not the best way to start a discussion.

Originally posted by Tshotsho Khalapa
One thing no one can convince me that we are just living on this earth without protection against the various unfortunate situations in our lives.

Well could I at least convince you that you are living on this earth with various unfortunate situations? It is a small step from recognizing that to realizing that you can't possibly have protection from something if it has still managed to get you.

Originally posted by sonship

Rather most of my decisions rely on observation. I trust aeroplanes not because some authority tells me they are safe, but because I know the accident statistics.

But you probably did not take the accident statistics for yourself. So you do trust some authoritative statistician to be accurately informing you.

No, I do not. I do not trust statisticians at all. But I do live near an airport and I don't see too many aircraft falling out of the sky, so I can at least verify the statistics to some extent. I have also worked in the airline industry. I have also flown and know people who fly regularly. It all adds up to a certain amount of confidence in flight. My point is that I didn't just believe a scientist who said 'aircraft work'. There is practically nothing in my life that I rely on based on authority. I rely on things through experience and observation and double checking and verifying.

Originally posted by twhitehead
No, I do not. I do not trust statisticians at all. But I do live near an airport and I don't see too many aircraft falling out of the sky, so I can at least verify the statistics to some extent. I have also worked in the airline industry. I have also flown and know people who fly regularly. It all adds up to a certain amount of confidence in flight. My po ...[text shortened]... uthority. I rely on things through experience and observation and double checking and verifying.

I see. You live near an airport. Okay.

A year or so ago you seemed to be touting about the concepts of respected New Testament textural critic Dr. Bart Erhman. Did you have a kind of high regard for his authority when arguing about the historicity of Jesus ?

Anyway, there are those with equivalent training who have involved him in some interesting debates if you ever get interested:

IE.

Bart Erhman verses Craig Evans on Does the New Testament Misquote Jesus ?

YouTube

Bart Erhman verses Simon Gathercole on How Jesus Became God

YouTube

Erhman vs James White on Does the NT Misquote Jesus?

YouTube

Bart Erhman verses Derroll Bock on Was the New Testament Forged ?

YouTube

Bart Erhman verses William Lane Craig on Historical Evidence for Risen Jesus


YouTube

Originally posted by twhitehead
You may find it funny, but it was in all seriousness.

Oh well. It was funny to me.

Originally posted by sonship
A year or so ago you seemed to be touting about the concepts of respected New Testament textural critic Dr. Bart Erhman. Did you have a kind of high regard for his authority when arguing about the historicity of Jesus ?

No, I did not. And I suspect you have got the wrong name (or the wrong poster) anyway as I do not recall the name 'Bart Erhman'.

And you appear to have forgotten what I am saying. I am saying that in my day to day life I do not rely on authority all that much. If you think my comments on the historicity of Jesus affect my daily life then you have another think coming.

Anyway, there are those with equivalent training who have involved him in some interesting debates if you ever get interested:
I know you love the whole 'authority' argument and will deliberately misquote scientists in attempts to steal their perceived authority for your own purposes. I can see that what you are trying to do here is say 'my authorities are bigger than yours'.
If you ever want to discuss the historicity of Jesus directly, I would be interested. If all you can do is say 'well this guy with a doctorate disagrees' then I am not interested.
My conditions for watching videos remain the same as ever:
a) you must be willing to either stand by what is in the video, or state in advance what you agree with or don't agree with.
b) you must be willing to discuss the contents of the video and not just do hit and runs where you ignore any responses and post 50 more videos.
c) you must be willing to admit when something in the video is demonstrated to be clearly false.