Marriage Class - Part 2 - Faith

We've now completed episode 2 of our 4 part marriage class. A different teacher this time. Today's topic: Faith.

Here are my thoughts on the matter... (I know that thinking is highly discouraged, and I'm sorry) Most of the lecture was about Jesus and the apostles, the last supper, and whatnot. If you accept that...

• God exists
• Jesus was (is?) the son of God
• Any of the people that wrote the Bible were actually eye-witnesses to Jesus' life, and therefore could give a reasonable testimony
• Jesus, being the son of God, actually had any idea about the devine nature of things
• Only the parts of the Bible that they ever mention in church should be followed

...then the Christian tale is truly beautiful and incredibly seductive (hence it's domination as a religious meme). God made us in his image, God is love, God loves us, etc. How incredibly comforting!

Unfortunately...

• The evidence of God existing is purely philosophical, and can quickly be dismissed with reason and logic.
• There were many other people in Jesus' time that claimed to be the son of God
• Evidence shows the Gospels to be written at least 20 to 50 years after Jesus' alleged death1
• It's completely unreasonable to assume some chapters of a book to be holy and others to be "outdated myths". Either it's all the word of God or none of it is.
• There's crap like Leviticus 20 that make the Bible a ridiculous joke of a moral standard

The problem is that none of the reasons in the latter list are obvious unless you've been given a good education, actually read the Bible, and been taught to think critically, and the items in the former list, when told to you by a kind, gentle authority figure, seem perfectly acceptable.

As do Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy...

After 50 minutes, I actually had a little respect for the teacher. He seemed like a genuinely nice guy, as most Christian speakers do. But then, at the very end, he came out with a recommendation to see the Passion of the Christ, because it's true, and to remember that books like The Da Vinci Code are made for commercial reasons only, not because they're true. Whatever, dude.

1Give me 12 young men that actually believe I am the son of God, record what I say to them, have them go off telling people how great I am for 20 years without writing anything down, and then have them write down my conversations with them. Will their writings be anything like the recording of the actual words? Think about it.