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As you may guess I come at this from the point of view of an atheist.

Suppose all traces of Christianity were wiped out in some sort of disaster (any other religion can be substituted here). I'd like to ask: given enough time do you think that a surviving population's belief system would align with your own?

The reason I ask this is because it seems to me that any system of religion is completely arbitrary. It seems to me that given enough time, any surviving religions would come across the same (or similar) results to scientific experiments and have a broadly similar view of the physical world as we do today, as those results come from empirical tests.

However I find it hard to believe that these people would believe in the same gods as those of modern religions. Do you disagree? How do you square this with your faith?

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Mods: cold you explain why you feel this is not constructive. I ask from a POV of wanting to understand, not start an argument. – Groky Sep 3 '11 at 3:19
Well, you're looking through a pair of glasses at religion that prevents you from understanding it. Religion is complete with valid inference, it's when we look at the science that's being done that we see weak inference. Keep in mind that Christianity came from no singular person, the experiences between christian people and God have been recorded in the books that we consider to be our canon. These books and everything that they discuss are completely contrary to human behavior and reason. When you look at religions that are based primarily off of a single person you'll notice that they are – Jonathon Byrd Sep 3 '11 at 5:41
...for man and not against man. The Bible is contrary to everything that society suggests. If all traces of the Bible were to disappear tomorrow, God would still reserve for Himself a people that would not bow down to society. We are not the driving force behind this religion, God is. We are only following the testimony of multitudes of faithful people that have been instructed to write down their experiences with God. The understanding of the scripture is a battle for people that don't want to hear what the scripture has to say about them. But for those that are willing to submit to God, – Jonathon Byrd Sep 3 '11 at 5:44
...He makes the truth known to them. What we strive to do here is to study God through logic. When our Inference becomes weak or invalid, then we are corrected by our brothers. We study the semantics of every word and strive to reason them. We don't see such open minds in science. Any questioning of the sacred theories are immediately shut down. Scientists refuse to question the theory itself. It's not hard to see that Dawkins goal is to crush religion, he is completely against it and he confesses that. He sees intelligent design and admits it, but doesn't want to accept it and admits that too – Jonathon Byrd Sep 3 '11 at 5:46
Thanks Jonathan! It's a shame the question was closed because that's the kind of insight I was interested in hearing. – Groky Sep 3 '11 at 7:56

closed as not constructive by a_hardin, Andrew, Dori Sep 3 '11 at 2:56

As it currently stands, this question is not a good fit for our Q&A format. We expect answers to be supported by facts, references, or specific expertise, but this question will likely solicit debate, arguments, polling, or extended discussion. If you feel that this question can be improved and possibly reopened, see the FAQ for guidance.

1 Answer

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You seem to be missing a fundamental part of the premise of Christianity: it's not a discovered or invented religion, but a revealed religion. The precepts and doctrines exist because God actively taught them to people. And should the knowledge of the truth be lost, hypothetically speaking, he would reveal the truth to new people whose hearts were open to receive it.

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I knew you were going to say that ;) So how do you explain the plethora of religions that exist today? Surely any Muslim's heart is open to receive Christ, but he hasn't revealed the truth to them. – Groky Sep 3 '11 at 2:36
@Groky: You're asking two very different questions there. One of them has already been asked and is currently on the front page, and the other would take more than one comment box worth of words to explain. – Mason Wheeler♦ Sep 3 '11 at 2:44
Thanks Mason. Could you point this question out to me? I can't see it. It is on similar lines to the question I'm asking. – Groky Sep 3 '11 at 3:20
Thanks. I had seen that, and indeed it is a different question. Seems this question is deemed not suitable for this site so I will stop here. – Groky Sep 3 '11 at 3:28

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