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Concerto, why do believe the Bible to be the truth ? Concerto, why do believe the Bible to be the truth ?

01-11-2011 , 09:32 PM
concerto,

given that your reason for believing the bible is true is available only to you. Do you think people that have not had a similar experience should believe the bible is true?
Concerto, why do believe the Bible to be the truth ? Quote
01-11-2011 , 09:55 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by thirddan
concerto,

given that your reason for believing the bible is true is available only to you. Do you think people that have not had a similar experience should believe the bible is true?
What? I never said that. It's available to everybody, just not in exclusively descriptive terms from me. Please try to read more carefully.
Concerto, why do believe the Bible to be the truth ? Quote
01-11-2011 , 10:04 PM
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What? I never said that. It's available to everybody, just not in exclusively descriptive terms from me. Please try to read more carefully.
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Let's just say there are two types of understanding: what can be described, and what you have to experience personally. The reason for my belief in the Bible is in the second category, as are most human concepts. I probably could reproduce the experience in someone else under the right circumstances, including a non-hostile open minded listener, though the words are more like philosophy than science.
my wording previously was poor...for those that have not had the undescribable personal experience that you have had, do you think there is reason for them to believe the bible is true?
Concerto, why do believe the Bible to be the truth ? Quote
01-11-2011 , 10:16 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Goodie
I won't spend too much time on it but I don't think your analogy works as 2 +2 = 4 is a mathamatical fact. It's a fact because of the fundamentals of Math which man invented.
The analogy is fine, it's not an analogy between maths and religion. It's an analogy between people who believe maths statements without being able to explain why and people who believe religious statements without being able to provide a justification. You're just not someone who believes it to be true without knowing why - you have a reason (FWIW, I don't think your explanation is correct, but that's not relevant either). Some people can't explain why but they still know it's true - they are the people analogous to Concerto and when they tell you they can't explain why they believe it, they have answered the question. Repeatedly asking them to explain their reasons is silly.
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I just don't understand how someone that believes in the bible with such vigor cannot communicate some sort of story about how he first found the bible and how he first decided it was the truth.

The truth is (and I'm nearly 100% certain of this) is that Concerto doesn't want to open himself up to any holes in the religion he holds dear or the beliefs he conforms to so he won't give us the true story. What I don't understand is why he posts here when he doesn't post any of his "true" beliefs. That seems ridiculous to me.
It seems ridiculous to me too - perhaps you shouldn't be so certain. I would suggest applying the principle of charity. You don't understand his position, fine. Why leap to the conclusion that the apparently rational and intelligent Concerto is lying about his motivations? Perhaps you just don't understand.
Concerto, why do believe the Bible to be the truth ? Quote
01-11-2011 , 11:14 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by thirddan
my wording previously was poor...for those that have not had the undescribable personal experience that you have had, do you think there is reason for them to believe the bible is true?
Maybe I was a bit jumpy about your wording there. Sorry about that.

To answer your question: there does not seem to be a reason why my specific experiences would have to be the only viable ones. There is probably a whole family of experiences, inspired by God, to achieve equivalent results.
Concerto, why do believe the Bible to be the truth ? Quote
01-11-2011 , 11:22 PM
Concerto,

You never addressed my questions (not that you have to, just am honestly curious what your stance is):

So what is your stance on people who's subjective experiences and faith led them to a different belief, Judaism or Islam, for example?

Do you believe their subjective experiences are less meaningful than yours or that there is less inherent truth to their experiences?

---

Basically, if your belief is grounded in the Bible, then you must, at some level, believe that followers of other religions whom base their faith on personal, subjective experiences, are wrong and delusional.

So I guess, why is their subjective, personal experience that led them to a unmoving belief in Islam (for example) different than your subjective, personal experience that led you to Christianity?
Concerto, why do believe the Bible to be the truth ? Quote
01-11-2011 , 11:40 PM
Is it okay to not believe until we have these experiences u have been blessed to have?
Concerto, why do believe the Bible to be the truth ? Quote
01-12-2011 , 12:16 AM
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Originally Posted by dknightx
You never addressed my questions (not that you have to, just am honestly curious what your stance is):

So what is your stance on people who's subjective experiences and faith led them to a different belief, Judaism or Islam, for example?

Do you believe their subjective experiences are less meaningful than yours or that there is less inherent truth to their experiences?
Well, I'm of course going to consider as incorrect anyone's belief of any nature, whether subjective or objective, that is inconsistent with my beliefs of whatever nature. This follows logically from the nature of beliefs.

Quote:
Basically, if your belief is grounded in the Bible, then you must, at some level, believe that followers of other religions whom base their faith on personal, subjective experiences, are wrong and delusional.

So I guess, why is their subjective, personal experience that led them to a unmoving belief in Islam (for example) different than your subjective, personal experience that led you to Christianity?
I can't give an objective reason why their subjective belief would be inconsistent with my subjective belief. It seems like subjective beliefs can't be accounted for like that.

Quote:
Originally Posted by BakedGoods
Is it okay to not believe until we have these experiences u have been blessed to have?
Only if my experience-based reasons to believe are the only reasons to believe, which I doubt.
Concerto, why do believe the Bible to be the truth ? Quote
01-12-2011 , 12:22 AM
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Originally Posted by Concerto
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Originally Posted by BakedGoods
Is it okay to not believe until we have these experiences u have been blessed to have?
Only if my experience-based reasons to believe are the only reasons to believe, which I doubt.
But it's true that you aren't aware of any other specific reasons to believe the Bible is true? Or do you have additional reasons beyond subjective experience?
Concerto, why do believe the Bible to be the truth ? Quote
01-12-2011 , 04:00 AM
This should be an ask Concerto thread. How the hell did you get so good at Christian apologetics? Are you biblical beliefs all self taught or did you learn some of your beliefs growing up in one of the Christian denominations?
Concerto, why do believe the Bible to be the truth ? Quote
01-12-2011 , 06:45 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Concerto
Thanks to Bunny for the clarification.



Okay, so you don't understand. My telling "some sort of (cool) story" is exactly what is not going to happen here. I said that I can't reduce the process by which I came to know the truth of the Bible to descriptive terms, rather it requires direct experience to understand. The end, unless you resort to evidence-free accusations of my being a liar or demands for an ad hoc metanarrative which I already explained cannot do justice to the actual process and is therefore pointless to the question of this thread. Have fun.
Is it just in the written word that you are not able to convey how you obtained your beliefs? Do you have children? Are you able to convey your beliefs to them? How are you able to spread the word?

This is all just a cop out. I'm not trying to insult and I realize you don't want to hear it but you know, deep down, that this is a cop out and you're just trying not to be judged. There is no possible way that you cannot explain how you came to know the Christian religion. It happened in your life on earth. You had experiences that we can all relate to and understand.

Have you ever tried to convey how you got your beliefs? What was the result?
Concerto, why do believe the Bible to be the truth ? Quote
01-12-2011 , 05:16 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by bunny
But it's true that you aren't aware of any other specific reasons to believe the Bible is true? Or do you have additional reasons beyond subjective experience?
There are also reasons I can describe, e.g. the testimony of the authors of the Bible, which do not in themselves make for a conclusive basis without a personal experience of revelation, imo.

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Originally Posted by batair
This should be an ask Concerto thread.
I don't think so, and I've already said about all that is worth saying on the actual topic of the thread.

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Originally Posted by Goodie
Is it just in the written word that you are not able to convey how you obtained your beliefs?
No, I also can't describe why I believe several of the axioms of mathematics.

(Save yourself the embarrassment of responding to this point, as your reply to someone else's "2+2=4" point was ridiculously naive.)

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This is all just a cop out. I'm not trying to insult and I realize you don't want to hear it but you know, deep down, that this is a cop out and you're just trying not to be judged. There is no possible way that you cannot explain how you came to know the Christian religion. It happened in your life on earth. You had experiences that we can all relate to and understand.
Another evidence-free accusation of lying (not surprising, since you have little else to work with). Trolls gonna troll.
Concerto, why do believe the Bible to be the truth ? Quote
01-12-2011 , 09:45 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Concerto
There are also reasons I can describe, e.g. the testimony of the authors of the Bible, which do not in themselves make for a conclusive basis without a personal experience of revelation, imo.



I don't think so, and I've already said about all that is worth saying on the actual topic of the thread.



No, I also can't describe why I believe several of the axioms of mathematics.

(Save yourself the embarrassment of responding to this point, as your reply to someone else's "2+2=4" point was ridiculously naive.)



Another evidence-free accusation of lying (not surprising, since you have little else to work with). Trolls gonna troll.
So, if you have never conveyed the experiences of how you came to your conclusions about religion, how are you certain that they don't do proper justice to what you believe? Maybe if you described the experiences, people would accept them and believe what you do. How do you know?
Concerto, why do believe the Bible to be the truth ? Quote
01-13-2011 , 12:27 AM
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Originally Posted by Concerto
I don't think so, and I've already said about all that is worth saying on the actual topic of the thread.
Right so an ask me thread seems like the way to go.
Concerto, why do believe the Bible to be the truth ? Quote
01-13-2011 , 03:26 AM
Concerto,

I'm unsure why you are unwilling to share with us a somewhat detailed description of how you became a Christian. I was under the impression that most Christians felt compelled and were happy to share their testimony with others, so I find your dodging honest inquiries to be a bit odd. I'm sure many others, including myself, would find your story to be very interesting since you seem to have a pretty unique stance towards Christianity.

Anyways, if the reason is that you don't think it will make a difference, then why even post on this board in the first place? Do you get some thrill out of pointing out people's logical inconsistencies and accusing people of being shill's for the New Atheist propaganda machine?
Concerto, why do believe the Bible to be the truth ? Quote

      
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