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Lies do not like to be challenged. |
The Bible of the Christian religion raises a lot of questions. I think it raises more questions than it answers.
I guess my first question (if you and I sat down to talk about the Bible) is this: Which version do you use? And no, I'm not talking about which translation. Does your Bible have 66 books, or is it the original one with 81 books? When the King James Bible was first published in 1611, it had 81 books (including Judith, Tobit, and II Maccabees). It was revised several times over the centuries; the "KJV" that you buy this afternoon at Lofgren's Bookstore is actually a revision that was first published in 1769 (158 years after King James published his translation).
Revisions and corrections were made at various times between 1611 and 1769. Spellings were changed ("sayeth" became "saith"); a few translation errors were fixed; and 15 of the original 81 books were dropped.
I have read the writings of several of the "big dog" Christian apologists, people who say they can explain the tricky parts of the Bible and the Christian religion.
[Quick: What's the difference between a Christian and an atheist when they're arguing about the Bible? The atheist isn't apologetic.]
Lee Strobel is an "atheist turned Christian" who founded the "Lee Strobel Center for Evangelism and Applied Apologetics." If you read any of his books (he has written about 20 of them ... hey, how much explaining does the Bible need?), he seems to spend a lot more time talking about himself than he does talking about God.
When Strobel finally gets around to addressing an actual question about Biblegod or Christianity, he does one of two things:
1. He picks a "softball question" and gives an answer that could have come from a second-year seminary student.
2. He "answers" the question by simply not answering it. I guess he thinks he can get away with that. The question asks about something specific and definite, and Strobel answers with generalities about the wonderfulness of God and his majesty and his glory ...
It's like the situation where a 17-year-old boy sits down with his father and says, "Dad, Cindy and I want to get married. Do you think I'm too young to get married?"
Dad responds by saying, "You know, marriage is a natural part of life. Some little girls start planning their weddings when they're five years old. I remember when your mother and I were addressing the invitations, 21 years ago, and wondering if we should invite your crazy Uncle Ed ..."
If I ask you a question, and you speak some words in response, it doesn't necessarily mean that you've answered my question. In a courtroom, an objection would be made: "Your honor, that was a non-responsive answer."
I would love it if Mr. Strobel would come visit my questions page.
Josh McDowell has been doing the apologetics thing since 1972. He rolls out all the standard bullshit — "The apostles wouldn't have died for a lie!!!" — and makes bald assertions such as "The resurrection of Jesus is the most historically verified incident in history."
His attitude seems to be, "There, I said it, so it's true."
Hank Hanegraaff calls himself "The Bible Answer Man." He broadcasts (radio) under that name and has written a couple of "Bible Answer" books. He joined the Greek Orthodox Church in 2017.
His tactic is to take only easy questions. I have read his books, and was not impressed.
The best place to learn about apologetics is Matt Dillahunty on YouTube - past episodes of "The Atheist Experience."
P.S. Kent Hovind calls himself "doctor." He's a fucking liar. He does not have a doctorate degree. I myself happen to have a legitimate doctorate degree, and I don't go around calling myself "doctor."
Hovind made a video; transcribed it; sent the transcript (without a bibliography) to "Patriot University," a diploma mill (it has no accreditation); and they sent him a "doctorate degree." My dog could get a "doctorate degree" that way.
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