I was speaking generally about people who hold religious beliefs.
You’re free to do whatever you want. I am free to judge you for it. I can’t stop you from prostelyzing, but I can point out that you might not be as extreme as a Taliban member, but at the end of the day you share some core values.
To clarify: prostelyzing is motivated by the very same ideas that lead the Taliban to kill everyone who disagrees with them.
Jesus had 11 disciples who witnessed him resurrected. Two of those disciples (Matthew and John) wrote biographies about Jesus’ life. The rest travelled around teaching. They in turn had followers, many of which wrote things themselves.
Mark was a disciple of Peter and wrote the Gospel of Mark.
Polycarp and Ignatius of Antioch were disciples of John.
These aren’t just names. They are witnesses and witnesses of witnesses who wrote things down.
This is the appropriate forum for witnessing. Please do not appear to junior mod.
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Apologies – I meant that in the sense that prostelyzing is morally wrong, and you shouldn’t do it because it’s a terrible thing to do. I wasn’t trying to imply he shouldn’t do it on the Dope or in Great Debates – it’s not against the rules here nor should it be. I’m just going to think you’re a bad person.
IMHO, YMMV.
Can you explain to me why it should?
So the only evidence for Jesus comes from his disciples. Got it. If you want to take their word for it, you’re welcome to. I’m gonna wait for 3rd party verification.
The Taliban are motivated by the salvation of souls other than their own?
So all of your evidence for the existence of Jesus and God comes from the bible. But you choose to believe in a god different from the one described in the bible. So where does your evidence for the “basic definition of God” and his existence come from? Note: you can’t use any part of the bible, because you admitted that the God described there is nothing like your god.
“Witnesses of witnesses”?!?
There aren’t enough :rolleyes: on the whole internet for that type of silliness.
If that is how low your standards are for evidence, then your next post should be congratulating me for my swim across the Pacific.
The Taliban are motivated by the belief that there is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is his prophet. Since Allah just means God in Arabic, you’re talkiing about the same guy – you just don’t buy what this Muhammed guy had to say about him.
Why not, by the way? There’s lots of evidence for the existence of Muhammad. He was definitely a real person.
You did swim across the Pacific, I saw it! Good job by the way. You can read all about Czarcasm’s journey in my new book, The Babale Gospel
Hey: you’re the expert here. You tell me.
Unless you are now arguing that people are gods, this question has no place in this discussion.
I never said that. sbunny8 did.
I don’t think you understand how the Bible works, or even what it is…
Wait: you didn’t get your picture of God from the Bible? Where did you get it?
Really? Because you confirmed that you don’t get your idea of God from the bible, and recognize that there is a difference (or your “can you explain to me why [my conception of God] should [come from the bible]” comment was very disingenuous).
Babale. Don’t junior mod.
You’re completely wrong, anyway. This is specifically the forum for witnessing.
Primarily from the Catholic Church.
I apologized earlier, but I will do so again – that was bad phrasing on my part. EscAlaMike is obviously allowed to witness in this forum, and I didn’t mean to imply he shouldn’t do so in order to comply with board rules. I just meant to express my personal disapproval for him or anyone else doing so.
Did they make theirs up without using the Bible? 
The Bible is a product of the Catholic Church.
The Church gets its knowledge of God from Hebrew tradition (of which the OT scriptures are a part), from the life and teachings of Jesus which were preserved and passed on by the Apostles and their successors, and from philosophical reasoning.