Re: Socrates and Jesus

sschaff@MAILBOX.SLAC.Stanford.EDU
Tue, 19 Mar 1996 23:48:20 -0800 (PST)

Mike Jaqua wrote:
[...]
> I have a problem with this basis for belief Stephen. Mormons,
> Hindus and many other religious folk base their faith on a personal,
> subjective experience too. They too would claim that God revealed Himself
> to them. That's is why it is important that we Christians have something
> more to offer than feelings or opinions.
> The historicity of Christ; the reliability of the manuscripts; the
> confirmation of Biblical events, places and persons by scientific
> investigation is one of the things that set Christianity apart from all
> other religions.
[...]

It's clear that participants in this discussion have very different
views on the kinds of evidence for Christianity that are available to
us. Speaking only for myself. . . if I attempted to base my faith on
the unique historical reliability of the NT and the scientific
confirmation of Biblical accounts, I'd very quickly cease to be a
Christian. This is clearly not true for others. While I think
discussion of these issues is fine, perhaps it would be wise if we
didn't press each other too far in advocating our own bases for faith:
there is some potential for harming others here. (This isn't directed
at anyone in particular, by the way; it's just a general suggestion.
And since I tend to worry too much about most things, feel free to
ignore it.)

Steve Schaffner sschaff@slac.stanford.edu
Opinions expressed may be mine, and may not be those of SLAC, Stanford
University, or the DOE.
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'Conseille me, Kynde,' quod I, 'what craft be best to lerne?'
'Lerne to love,' quod Kynde, 'and leef alle othere.'
_Piers Plowman_
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