[diamondgeezer]

Originally posted by Goober5000
...try Lee Strobel's The Case for Christ or The Case for Faith...

I've seen a copy of The case for God. It's huge, and I'm scared to even try and lift it

If you want a good read, try some von Daniken - paleoSETI all the way! w00+!

[Goober5000]

Originally posted by diamondgeezer
I've seen a copy of The case for God. It's huge, and I'm scared to even try and lift it

Didn't know there was a third.  But TCFC and TCFF aren't all that big, and you can easily read a few pages without needing to refer to the rest of the book.

If you want a good read, try some von Daniken - paleoSETI all the way! w00+!

How's that...has the guy (or gal) found evidence for ET from SETI logs?

[ZylonBane]

Originally posted by diamondgeezer
I've seen a copy of The case for God. It's huge, and I'm scared to even try and lift it

This is a much better read.

[Stryke 9]

Meh, if you can't work out your own fairly rational case you probably can't grasp anyone elses' enough to wield it. Is you already HAVE heard both sides and formed an opinion, and want to take another look at it, I suppose this'd be handy, but...

[Top Gun]

This is a much better read.

Au contraire

[Goober5000]

Originally posted by ZylonBane
This is a much better read.

I'll keep it in mind next time I'm in a bookstore.  Knowing your opposition is A-1 SUPAR.

This review is pretty much along my lines of thinking...

I was a Christian before I read this book....
...and I still am. But read on, this is a review. I believe in a God who allows us to honestly and openly search and question truth. Why? Well, if, as I believe, he's the embodiment of truth and of honesty, then what does he have to fear? Anyway, the book, the book...Smith writes well and his arguments flow sensibly. His points are clear and he does not tend to hang on a point too long once he's made it. It was a good mental workout to read because he raises issues that I'd never considered before. However, I only give it 3 stars because I'm 19 and am not wise with age, yet I could easily defeat every anti-god and anti-God argument Smith brought to the table (foundationally and at each point) with quotes directly from the Bible and occasionally from the worldview I derive directly from it. I recommend reading this book, critically as anyone thinking person should, and I would also recommend C.S. Lewis's shorter books, Mere Christianity and The Problem of Pain. The books are written on about the same level as The Case Against God and will give you two sides of a debate so you can do something many Christians and atheists seem to fail at: weigh evidence and truly make your own decision. We all owe it to ourselves to make the best decision we can. Did you meet every "Christian" and "atheist" alive and learn their motives? Have you read every book written? Did you stand by as the galaxies began their spins? No, so do not judge before you discover at least a little. Don't count God out yet. Neither count him in. This book puts up a well-written fight against him, so read it if you haven't already.

I should also say that although some atheistic positions can be argued effectively using reasoning on a secular basis, others can't be argued unless you accept certain theistic positions.

[ZylonBane]

Just for the record, I've never read this book. Just found it as a counterpoint to the already-mentioned book.

I did quite like a bit from that review you quoted--

I could easily defeat every anti-god and anti-God argument Smith brought to the table (foundationally and at each point) with quotes directly from the Bible

Yup, my favorite argument. "The Bible is true because the Bible says it's true."

[Goober5000]

Originally posted by ZylonBane
I did quite like a bit from that review you quoted--
Yup, my favorite argument. "The Bible is true because the Bible says it's true."

No, that's not quite it.  The Bible says certain things about God, and I accept them because I have already accepted the authority of the Bible.  As far as accepting the authority of the Bible, that is based on other things.  I don't believe the Bible is true just because it says so.  I believe the Bible is true because of its internal consistency, its correlation with archaeology, and its phophetic record.

[diamondgeezer]

Originally posted by Goober5000
How's that...has the guy (or gal) found evidence for ET from SETI logs?

Not exactly. He reckons that God (and not just God, but all the world's ancient gods) was an alien, who visited Earth and wowed the locals with some flash technology, meddled with our genetics a bit and then buggered off having promised to return.

Interestingly, he uses a lot of the same Biblical stuff you would probably quote, but for a very different purpose to yourself. All about interpretaion, I guess, but Chariots of the Gods (his first book) was far more entertaining than anything the Church ever came up with...

[Top Gun]

Originally posted by Goober5000
I believe the Bible is true because of its internal consistency, its correlation with archaeology, and its phophetic record.

You've got to be joking the bible is less coherent and has more contradictions per page than The Sun (aggessive right wing UK tabliod) on a bad day. What exactly is the Bible though. The Bible has been derived from approved scripts put together for Emperor Constuntine by the Bishop of Caesaria. Lots of Material was left out. You can't seriously belive it's the sole infallable word of god.

[wEvil]

how did it get from bosnai kittens to religion(again) ????

[Stryke 9]

The guy who invented bonsai kittens is God. Or something. Maybe because they both deal with things of specious existence, though one is a fad and the other a deity...

[wEvil]

Originally posted by Stryke 9
though one is a fad and the other a deity...

but which one?  

[Vertigo1]

Originally posted by Knight Templar
aw not this again. can't we go back to talking about how coo-- er bad it is to stuff kittin's in jars and stick tubes up their anus's ?

Thats not as much fun as tying a string to a rag, then tying the string to a piece of bread, throwing it up to a seagul and watching the results.

Then of course, there's the ever popular alka-seltzer trick.

[Stryke 9]

Bottle rockets are better if you've got seagulls. It's like a little AA rig in your own backyard!

[Vertigo1]

Originally posted by Stryke 9
Bottle rockets are better if you've got seagulls. It's like a little AA rig in your own backyard!

hahahah

I'd hate to see what they 'd do when they see a roman candle come flying their way.

[CP5670]

Alright, if I had the time, I would really go on one of my nihilist crusades yet again. (and I have enough supporting arguments to go on raving about this for my entire life )

internal consistency

eh?

[Goober5000]

Yes, internally consistent.  Not carbon copies (which would actually make it suspect), but many perspectives speaking about the same thing.

[Stryke 9]

[knows where this is going]

[ducks behind a bush]

[diamondgeezer]

Originally posted by Stryke 9
Bottle rockets are better if you've got seagulls. It's like a little AA rig in your own backyard!

The guys in the house two doors down from the one behind us were launching fireworks t'other day, and several of them came too close to our gaff for my liking. I now have a carrier bag full of barrages and airbombs, plus a very large cluster rocket, which I intend to aim right at their windows