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Lost Tomb Response
I post some of my blogs on myspace as well. I posted the same blog on “The Lost Tomb of Jesus” and had a friend respond, which I encourage. This is what he wrote:
I totally agree with your general thesis that the ‘Jesus’ industry is large and exploitative, and how if said archaeologist might have fucked up, then they would more likely try to make an esoteric connection, than admit that they are wrong. But…as an atheist, I must draw attention to this:’…RELIED MORE ON “WHAT IFS” THAN “HERE’S HOW.”‘
Sure, a documentary might do this every now and again, but religion is based on this idea. The ‘Here’s how’ must be based upon truth, which is the child of logic, reason, and most importantly…proof. No religion anywhere can offer any solid proof that their tenets of faith are correct, that is why it is called faith. The only thing that can offer solid proof of anything is what has been accepted as scientific law. Religion is based, unequivocally, on the ‘what if’s’
As said before, I feel this documentary was an exploitative pile of shit, and it should in no way challenge anyone’s faith…much like the Da Vinci code. But I find that the primary implication of this particular blog provides a false dilemma.Of course, as an atheist, I can’t entirely prove my disbelief in God or Jesus as a diving being. I can only base it upon what I feel to be overwhelming scientific evidence.
Regardless, I do enjoy reading your blog becaue it makes me think about beliefs contrary to mine, and that presents a challenge, which is a beautiful thing. You present your ideas in a mature and well thought out way, when you could just as well tell people like me that we’re going to hell, and be supported by others.Thus brings me to the end of my rather long ‘devil’s advocate’ commentary.
It honestly is always refreshing to hear other people’s points of view. If I only subscribe to my own viewpoints without giving regard to others I will never fully understand why I believe. With that being said, let me disagree with a part of my buddies statement.
To say religion is based upon a “what if” idea, is almost true. In fact, I do believe it to be true of many religions. But to say that “No religion anywhere can offer any solid proof that their tenets of faith are correct” is wrong and doesn’t have any support. In fact, of all the religions in this world, only Christianity has historical and archeological evidence to back it up.
Ask any apologetic professor and they’d be happy to show you the evidence. Ask the number of people who have set out to disprove Christianity, only to become Christians. C.S. Lewis is perhaps the most famous, but there are many more. Josh McDowell has a large book called Evidence of Christianity that is presented in an outline form not to convince anyone, but merely to state the facts. If proper research is done on the evidence of Christianity, you’ll see that Christianity is historical. To list the evidential proof would take forever, but I invite anyone to do a quick google search on apologetics or Evidence of Christianity and you’ll find it. Check out the website http://www.thetruthaboutreligion.org for information on all religions, and you’ll see only Christianity has historical evidence to back up its claims. To be honest, we know more about the life and death of Jesus Christ than we do any other human being ever.
A lot of people say that Christians only have “blind faith.” That’s not true. To become a Christian you don’t park your brains at the door. My heart could never rejoice in what my mind rejects. Christianity is not a blind leap into the dark; it is a bold step into the light. The tenets of faith of Christianity is that Christ died and ressurected three days later. If Jesus Christ died and never rose to life, then Christianity is a myth or a fraud, even I will admit that. In 1 Corinthians 15:14, Paul tells everyone to grab hold of this central truth, that “if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.” The evidence for the resurrection is the key to establishing that Jesus is indeed who He claims to be. It is the historical validity of this central fact that gives Christians genuine and eternal hope amidst a hurting world.
If we refuse to accept the evidence, that’s when we demonstrate blind faith. And that goes both ways.
