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Why would some point of existence or meaning lead specifically to Christianity?

by cma 6y ago

isaachier 6y ago
It doesn't. But trying to convince them to abandon Christian literalism would require an alternative that satisfies this need for purpose.
dsr_ 6y ago
Because they come to the discussion wearing a filter that tells them that some things are Truth and other things are Heresy: notably, that stories from their culture are True and cannot even be compared to stories from other cultures, because that is Heresy.
lisper 6y ago
That is a very good question, and the answer is very long, much too long for an HN comment. But there IS an answer. (There is of course an answer for all other religions as well.)
- rhn_mk1 6y ago
  Don't leave us hanging! Where can we learn the answer?
  - lisper 6y ago
    Any Christian apologetics web site. Or your local church.
    - rhn_mk1 6y ago
      I was hoping for something more precise tbh. Christian apologetics web sites and local churches also offer answers to lots of questions I don't care about, so if you already sifted through them, I was hoping you could share that advantage with the broader public.
      - lisper 6y ago
        Try searching for "why Christianity".
        rhn_mk1 6y ago
        I broke my rule of ignoring people who bait and don't deliver and did a quick search. All 4 results from the 1st search page: - https://www.livingwaters.com/why-christianity/ https://www.livingwaters.com/why-christianity/ seems to short-circuit back into "god-given rule" - https://carm.org/atheism/why-believe-christianity-over-all-other-religions https://carm.org/atheism/why-believe-christianity-over-all-o... assumes the Bible as a historical source of truth - http://www.gospeloutreach.net/whychristianity.html http://www.gospeloutreach.net/whychristianity.html - quotes beauty not present in atheism, otherwise Bible as a historical source - https://creation.com/why-christianity https://creation.com/why-christianity says Christianity correctly diagnoses a humanity's fault (moral inconsistency), and then declares it superior because of which solution it chooses They don't seem to answer "why is Christianity the source of meaning", but rather "why choose Christianity as religion", which is a different question, so I might have misrepresented them. Either way, none of them seem very logically conclusive to me.
        lisper 6y ago
        > They don't seem to answer "why is Christianity the source of meaning", but rather "why choose Christianity as religion" That's right. The original question was: > Why would some point of existence or meaning lead specifically to Christianity? If you want to know "why is Christianity the source of meaning" that's an easier question to answer: it's because the omniscient, omnipotent and omnibenevolent Creator of the Universe loves you, and will give you everlasting life in paradise conditioned only on your acceptance of His sacrifice on the cross. Or something like that.
        rhn_mk1 6y ago
        I think that's not actually the point that was made by cma (and my paraphrased question was imprecise). "Why would some point of existence or meaning lead specifically to Christianity?" presumes starting with no preferred solution: "existence has a meaning. Who discovered it?". It's much more interesting than "Christianity says existence has a meaning. What makes it right?"
Brendinooo 6y ago
It doesn't, necessarily. But it's a part of that overall argument.
gwd 6y ago
I'm not a YE but I am a thinking Christian. You can imagine this sort of thinking as a game of 20 questions, where you ask a series of questions to try to "home in" on what kind of worldview you think is likely. So the first question is, "Is there something besides the physical world -- besides atoms and energy and time?" If you say "yes", then you've ruled out materialism (which some people confuse with science). There are a number of things in our human experience which (in my opinion) are inconsistent with a materialistic worldview. The sense of meaning and purpose is one. Morality is another. (Not trying to argue this here, just trying to answer the question.) Then you can say, OK, but that could be Buddhism or Shintoism or Islam or anything. So the next set of questions might filter out reincarnation-style religions and get you down to the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam); and then you might look specifically at evidence about Jesus' resurrection. Not all Christians are Young Earthers; and Young Earthers are certainly not Flat Earthers. But there is this similarity: Christianity gives people something that atheism and materialism do not. And so when modern atheists say, "Belief in evolution is incompatible with belief in God -- you have to choose one or the other", then a lot of people will say, "Well if I have to choose, I'm going with God."

Why would some point of existence or meaning lead specifically to Christianity?

by cma 6y ago

Why would some point of existence or meaning lead specifically to Christianity?

It doesn't. But trying to convince them to abandon Christian literalism would require an alternative that satisfies this need for purpose.

dsr_ 6y ago

Because they come to the discussion wearing a filter that tells them that some things are Truth and other things are Heresy: notably, that stories from their culture are True and cannot even be compared to stories from other cultures, because that is Heresy.

lisper 6y ago

That is a very good question, and the answer is very long, much too long for an HN comment. But there IS an answer. (There is of course an answer for all other religions as well.)

rhn_mk1 6y ago
Don't leave us hanging! Where can we learn the answer?
- lisper 6y ago
  Any Christian apologetics web site. Or your local church.
  - rhn_mk1 6y ago
    I was hoping for something more precise tbh. Christian apologetics web sites and local churches also offer answers to lots of questions I don't care about, so if you already sifted through them, I was hoping you could share that advantage with the broader public.
    - lisper 6y ago
      Try searching for "why Christianity".
      - rhn_mk1 6y ago
        I broke my rule of ignoring people who bait and don't deliver and did a quick search. All 4 results from the 1st search page: - https://www.livingwaters.com/why-christianity/ https://www.livingwaters.com/why-christianity/ seems to short-circuit back into "god-given rule" - https://carm.org/atheism/why-believe-christianity-over-all-other-religions https://carm.org/atheism/why-believe-christianity-over-all-o... assumes the Bible as a historical source of truth - http://www.gospeloutreach.net/whychristianity.html http://www.gospeloutreach.net/whychristianity.html - quotes beauty not present in atheism, otherwise Bible as a historical source - https://creation.com/why-christianity https://creation.com/why-christianity says Christianity correctly diagnoses a humanity's fault (moral inconsistency), and then declares it superior because of which solution it chooses They don't seem to answer "why is Christianity the source of meaning", but rather "why choose Christianity as religion", which is a different question, so I might have misrepresented them. Either way, none of them seem very logically conclusive to me.
        lisper 6y ago
        > They don't seem to answer "why is Christianity the source of meaning", but rather "why choose Christianity as religion" That's right. The original question was: > Why would some point of existence or meaning lead specifically to Christianity? If you want to know "why is Christianity the source of meaning" that's an easier question to answer: it's because the omniscient, omnipotent and omnibenevolent Creator of the Universe loves you, and will give you everlasting life in paradise conditioned only on your acceptance of His sacrifice on the cross. Or something like that.
        rhn_mk1 6y ago
        I think that's not actually the point that was made by cma (and my paraphrased question was imprecise). "Why would some point of existence or meaning lead specifically to Christianity?" presumes starting with no preferred solution: "existence has a meaning. Who discovered it?". It's much more interesting than "Christianity says existence has a meaning. What makes it right?"

Brendinooo 6y ago

It doesn't, necessarily. But it's a part of that overall argument.

gwd 6y ago

I'm not a YE but I am a thinking Christian. You can imagine this sort of thinking as a game of 20 questions, where you ask a series of questions to try to "home in" on what kind of worldview you think is likely. So the first question is, "Is there something besides the physical world -- besides atoms and energy and time?" If you say "yes", then you've ruled out materialism (which some people confuse with science). There are a number of things in our human experience which (in my opinion) are inconsistent with a materialistic worldview. The sense of meaning and purpose is one. Morality is another. (Not trying to argue this here, just trying to answer the question.) Then you can say, OK, but that could be Buddhism or Shintoism or Islam or anything. So the next set of questions might filter out reincarnation-style religions and get you down to the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam); and then you might look specifically at evidence about Jesus' resurrection. Not all Christians are Young Earthers; and Young Earthers are certainly not Flat Earthers. But there is this similarity: Christianity gives people something that atheism and materialism do not. And so when modern atheists say, "Belief in evolution is incompatible with belief in God -- you have to choose one or the other", then a lot of people will say, "Well if I have to choose, I'm going with God."