# Why do you believe in Jesus Christ and not Allah or Buddha? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 2, 2003, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-believe-in-jesus-christ-and-not-allah-or-buddha/210969 "2003-11-02T07:49:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Siege](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dbc845/32.png) [@Siege](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siege)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2003, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-believe-in-jesus-christ-and-not-allah-or-buddha/210969/41 "2003-11-03T10:55:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by aasna \* > \*\*Well, by that logic, Hinduism would suit your purposes quite well too. Hindu Gods have not only lived and died on earth as human, but they’ve led thoroughly exciting lives as well. > > Lord Krishna, for instance, was a scamp as a kid, stealing butter from milkmaids and carrying out all sorts of pranks. As an adult, he was almost a philanderer. He participated in the rise and fall of dynasties and was able to perform miracles. He suffered all the pangs that being human brings, yet managed to be divine (refer, for example, to [_Gitopadesha_](http://www.iskcon.org/sastra/f_bg.html)). \*\* I don’t know enough about Hinduism to answer this properly, but you may have a point. If my grandmother had remained in India, perhaps I would have been a Hindu. On the other hand, if she’d done so, I suspect I would have wound up with a very different set of genes and life experiences, so while the person typing this might have been my grandmother’s granddaughter, she may well not have been me in any recognizable form. I’ve been an active Christian for about 30 years now. Who I am is shaped by that faith and the studying I’ve done as part of it. It would take a lot of hard work and study for my knowledge of and experience with Hinduism to approach that which I have of Christianity. Meanwhile, Christianity does a very good job of supplying my spiritual and emotional needs. I’ve even been helped out financially by churches once in a while. What I believe I am obligated to do as a person and what I am obligated not to do have been shaped by Christianity to the point where, while the form it takes may differ from that it takes for others, it fits me perfectly. Yes, I think there are environmental factors in what religion one chooses and I acknowledge that influence in my choice. Who’s to say that in an alternate universe I’m not defending Islam somewher just as ardently as I defend Christianity here? On the other hand, this is what I am, and it suits me. It need suit no one else except God. CJ ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2003, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-believe-in-jesus-christ-and-not-allah-or-buddha/210969/42 "2003-11-03T12:47:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by JThunder \* > \*\*Which arguably makes the accounts of Jesus’ deeds _more_ reliable, rather than less. If a man wrote about his own miraculous deeds, I’d be less likely to ascribe any measure of credibility to them. With Jesus, these accounts are attested by multiple sources, rather than one man’s writings. > > Besides, do you truly claim that only a first-person account can be considered historically reliable? Heavens! Better alert the worldwide community of historians, then. They’ve been doing it wrong all these centuries! \*\* There is nothing in Jesus’ life that is attested by any eyewitness account. Not one word of the New Testament is written by anyone who ever met Jesus. In addition, the “multiple” sources you refer to are interdependant in some cases (which means they aren’t really “multiple”) and they contradict each other in other cases. Also, some of what is alleged in the gospels can be flatly refuted by more legitimate evidence which serves to further discredit them as historically reliable. Of course, claims about miraculous events put a serious strain on their credibility anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2003, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-believe-in-jesus-christ-and-not-allah-or-buddha/210969/43 "2003-11-03T18:10:49Z")
> [@](#): > > There is nothing in Jesus’ life that is attested by any eyewitness account. Not one word of the New Testament is written by anyone who ever met Jesus. Cite? > [@](#): > > Also, some of what is alleged in the gospels can be flatly refuted by more legitimate evidence which serves to further discredit them as historically reliable. Again, cite? And what do you construe as being more ‘legitimate’ or ‘historically reliable’? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2003, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-believe-in-jesus-christ-and-not-allah-or-buddha/210969/44 "2003-11-03T21:01:42Z")
[QUOTE] \*Originally posted by dwalin \* \*\*Cite? Well, why don’t you cite something that you think was written by an eyewitness and I’ll tell you why it couldn’t have been. I’m not going to go book by book it would take too long and it would be boring. Suffice it to say that I’m expressing a majority historical opinion on this and that it’s largely based on the late authorship of the books as well as the language they were written in. None of the gospels could have been written by contemporaries. The earliest letters of Paul are closer to the date of the crucifixion but Paul never actually met Jesus. > [@](#): > > \*\*Again, cite? And what do you construe as being more ‘legitimate’ or ‘historically reliable’? \*\* Josephus, for one, as well as any other writers or historians without a religious or mythological agenda. Some examples of history refuting the NT are Luke’s “census of the world” (never happened), Herod’s slaughter of the innocents (never happened) and the trial before the Sanhedrin (which is riddled with factual and procedural errors). The “miracles” also cannot be taken seriously without some very persuasive evidence. ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2003, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-believe-in-jesus-christ-and-not-allah-or-buddha/210969/45 "2003-11-03T21:10:57Z")
Ahh, Sven. If I weren’t already happily married, I’d marry you. What an eloquent post. > [@](#): > > Just because it’s kind of pleasant doesn’t make it the truth. I have to keep that in mind for future discussions … ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2003, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-believe-in-jesus-christ-and-not-allah-or-buddha/210969/46 "2003-11-04T01:46:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Rashak Mani \* > \*\*Your getting your mythology mixed up beleiver… Jesus was a jewish wiseman and/or “son of god”, Allah is “god” in arabic and Buddha was a asian wise man. > > ``` > Just a little cruel remark... I see too many new protestant religions overhere shouting over and over again "Jesus"... but somehow "God" gets less attention. So is its become some sort of personal Cult ? Or its just easier to venerate someone who existed as opposed to a all knowing... all existing diety ? > > ``` > > Continue please… \*\* I did NOT know that!! But, someone beat you to it, and I had my ignorance on that subject fixed already. I do apologize to any Budhists in this forum though for “assuming” that it was the same. As to your second statement/question? Doesn’t bother me. I’m not a “protestant religion”. As a former baptist, I get extremely annoyed at the antics of some people who are “fellow” believers. At any rate, I don’t know what the deal is with the “Jaaaysus” weird babytalking televangelist thing. When I pray, it’s to God. Not sure if that answers your question, but then, I’m not a fundie, or your “typical” christian. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-believe-in-jesus-christ-and-not-allah-or-buddha/210969.md?page=2)