Because if there’s no reason to believe something exists, there’s no reason to state that it does. If you heard that every day I went out expecting to find a dragon guarding my driveway, and you asked why I expected a dragon and I said “Because I know it’s there”…
Wouldn’t you ask WHY I know it’s there, considering I’ve never seen the dragon and neither has anyone else?
Lots of things don’t exist. Lots of things are not happening. Is it suddenly necessary to provide proof to you every hour that my shoes are still not on fire? Should I demand proof that you don’t have a macaque in your pocket?
In the context you’re describing, “not rational” equals “not valid”. It is not valid to believe that something exists when there is absolutely no indication that it might. There is not the slightest indication anywhere that a god might exist, other than a collection of stories fabricated just for the purpose of convincing you. Using your “whole mind” entails rejecting false reports. You cannot be using your “whole mind” and at the same time believe that a god exists.
I’m an atheist Christian and I believe God is a positive and good figment of my imagination.
Well, for one thing, it’s presented as a prediction, a prophecy. For another, it contains obvious references to the current day, just in somewhat coded form.
What it doesn’t read like is a bunch of traditional stories from the past explaining how the world works.
The gospels, on the other hand, do somewhat read like a mythology, since Jesus was in the past by the time all of them were written–albeit, no the long past. Especially when one looks at the early history of Jesus before his ministry. Those sound like myths.
You appear to confusing mythic with epic. There is nothing about myth that requires a specific form of presentation. Myths are stories that express and reinforce the the beliefs of a people as True. Poetic presentation or descriptions of past events are not in any way required of myth. Epics may be used to express myth, but they are only one method of presenting myth.
