I wrote
>
Glenn asked me, some time ago, "Would you beleive Christianity if the
>entire OT was false?"
I replied: "Probably. Good question though."
Glenn then wrote: "Then what would falsify Christianity in your mind? If the
only thing is the discrediting of the resurrection, I would say that is
equal to nothing as we can't historically prove or disprove that."
Another good question, and one I have been thinking about. I agree that the
resurrection cannot be proven or disproven. For that matter, the existence
of Julius Caesar cannot be, either. Both can, of course, be SUPPORTED to a
more or less extent.
But to the question you ask. Christianity is not a scientific model. In my
case, I perceive my faith in Christ as coming from God to me, not from me to
God. IOW, I can think of no falsification situation.
Perhaps that is one reason I do not get as upset as you do over the book of
Mormon, or even the strange (to me) practices and apparent beliefs of
Christian Scientists, JWs, etc. It is, after all, a relationship with God
that is important. Presbyterians see this relationship in a particular way
-- Lutherans in a way very close to that of Presbyterians, yet with
differences, Baptists still differently, Pentecostals even more differently.
Some fellowships appear to say "Christ plus" and some say "Christ minus." I
see a gradation of belief stuctures, and I am really reluctant to draw a
circle, as the folks at Moody Bible Institute do, and say "in this circle --
Christian -- outside that -- heretic and not Christian." The last time I
looked at their stuff, BTW, my Catholic friends were as much outside the
circle as the Mormons, not to mention the Muslims, Hindus, etc.
So -- take all away -- show me that the best scholarship indicates that the
whole Bible was written by a crazed monk in 500 AD, what remains is that God
HAS revealed himself to me and what faith I have comes from Him, not from
me. In that sense, falsification is a non-possibility.
John
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Mon May 20 2002 - 17:15:41 EDT