Truth with a capital T 10.16.2011

It's interesting that many theistic people claim that the things they believe in are real. The things they believe in are, they say, truth. They don't just feel it's true, they know it's truth. Not just truth, but Truth, with a capital T.

The sad part here is that the truth of their "Truth" claims, isn't really truth, or even knowledge, at all.

I think it's very important for any theist to realize what it is they're doing. How can you honestly claim that what you think is true, when it's based on the exact same scriptures and outdated ideas that has spawned at least 30.000 splinter sects? How can your truth claim, be true, when 29.999 other sects say it isn't true? They use the exact same standards of evidence as you do. Can you really say "No, I'm right, they're wrong!" 29.999 times in a row and still mean it, still believe it? Not to mention the countless of other religions that we have on this planet.

The problem with theism is that it's not something that can be proven, ever. At all. It's always something one must believe in without evidence or proof. Why? Why would you believe anything without reasonable evidence? Are you going to have your appendix removed by a guy I know because "Well, just have faith he'll do a good job"? Actually consciously consider this, why on earth do you believe that what you believe is more true than the millions of other theistic people out there?

Do you as a believer even know the history of your religion? Do you understand where your holy book came from? Do you even know who wrote it?

Let's take the Christian Bible for example.

• Did you know that the bible you're reading was actually composed by a council of people deciding which book to put in and which to keep out (and obviously how to tweak certain texts)? (Hardly a divine book when it's so heavily edited by men)
  
  
• Did you know that the start of canonizing the bible was a reaction to one man trying to make his own bible?
  
  
• Have you ever wondered how it can be that Jesus' last words are different in all 4 gospels?
  
  
• Did you know that it's widely accepted among scholars that Mark was written first and that Matthew, Luke and John are all based on, and basically copied chunks from, this gospel?
  
  
• Did you know that Mark originally only had 8 verses in it's last chapter 16? It stopped right before all of the Jesus-is-back-from-the-dead-and-will-interact-with-people-for-proof action! (Yes, many of the early bibles were written like this)
  
  
• Did you know there are some very, very, strong parallels between the gospel of Mark and Homer's Iliad? Yes, The Iliad. Which was written over 700 years before Mark was penned down?

Hmm, ok recap, so we have the old testament (which is full of plagiarized theologies and texts from the ancient middle east). Separate from that we have the new testament, which was supposed to supplement and improve on the OT, which has a prime gospel in it which draws way too much "inspiration" from an other ancient text. From that "inspired" gospel, three other gospels are written to account for the "truth". Isn't that... odd?

I'd also like to state that besides all of this, there still has not been any real evidence of Jesus' existance outside of the bible. None. The list of sources I've heard up till now included, for example: Josephus, Tacitus, Seutonius, Thallus and Pliny the Younger (to name a few). But all these texts talk about the Christians of their day, not about Jesus himself. So you can't call that evidence of Jesus' existence at all! To be clear, I'm not saying Jesus never existed, (I honestly don't care if he did or didn't) I'm just saying it's absolutely insane to believe so heavily in a guy when it hasn't even been proven that he actually even existed at all. Never mind believing that this man performed miracles and rose from the dead.

If you are serious about your faith and what's at it's root, you might want to check out this playlist. If what you believe in is Truth, you don't have to worry about being informed, it should still be true no matter what. That's why it's called truth.

Remember, the truth has nothing to fear from scrutiny.