9/27/99Hi,
...I don't mean to offend, but I guess my comment is that your reasons for not being Christian don't seem like they would be the real reason. For example, the very first reason you gave: "1. If Constantine hadn't of used Christianity it would have died in the catacombs." I would have given that as a reason to believe Christianity. In the Bible, the Hebrew nation and later the Christians always seem to be coming to a point where they are almost wiped out. In Ester, for example, the King of Persian issues an edict to kill all Jews but just before the order is carried out, the Queen, Ester, reveals that she is Jewish. Now I know that atheists would call the stories in the Bible mere fables, but here are the Christians in the catacombs facing extinction and here comes Constantine and he's in the history books and the same thing happens, i.e. by a miracle Christianity is saved.
Cheers,
Lynn9/27/99 Hello,
The reasons I give for not being Christian are very real reasons, though I have not actually thought about them until recently. Looking at one reason by itself may not be sufficient enough to discredit Christianity, but when they're all put together, it's difficult to understand just why the religion maintains the credibility it does.
Referring to my comment about Constantine, I can see how you might think that his "saving" Christianity might be a miracle and therefore another reason to believe. To reinforce the "truth" of many religions, the holy books traditionally present various stories of how the religion overcame hardships to triumph.
I don't believe that the bible only contains fables; there are historical people, places and events that are written about. Many of the facts about the historical parts are distorted because of contradictions and various forgeries the church made over the years. What the bible says is true has to be cross-referenced with accounts of the same people, places and events outside the bible to verify any accuracy.
So yes, Constantine is in the bible and outside the bible. However, his involvement with Christianity varies in different accounts. The church would have you believe that he saw visions that made him suddenly see the light and convert. But in reality, he converted the empire for control and power. Not to mention the pagans would not accept him after he murdered various family and friends, including his wife and son. The Christians did take him in however, for what reason I don't know. Constantine was not even baptised until he was on his deathbed.
Even if you were to accept that Constantine used Christianity for personal gain, you could still contest that it was a miracle - after all, Christianity was saved. The problem the atheist has debating religion is that the theist can always resort to "it's a miracle" or "god works in mysterious ways".
So what this comes down to is point of view. You can say that the point is that Christianity was saved. My problem is with how it was saved. In the story of Constantine, I find that there is nothing to suggest that Christianity is the one true religion, only that it got lucky.
I hope that this makes some sense and I didn't misinterpret your letter.
Sincerely,
Meretricula
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