I might be able to join a couple of things together that Jesus said to try to end up close to that, but the joining together, the theology, is more plain in the epistles.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but...
Yes I suppose some people have a very strong faith and/or have experienced things that make them certain.
That might be different than having an intellectual certainty before you are willing to say that you believe however.
No, not all religions can be correct.
You would, but you would also...
Yes I guess the early Jewish Christians saw themselves as Jews and under the law of Moses but some of those early Christians seem to have seen the law of Moses as obligatory for themselves and for the Gentiles who wanted to be under the New Covenant.
What they did not realise is that both Jews...
If you need proof then faith is not for you. Then again you are willing to believe many things that have not been proven when there is no God involved.
How are claims about the past tested to show that what is claimed actually happened?
I suppose we all follow the evidence we see and end up by taking leaps of faith in different directions.
That a God is not needed is where skeptics end up after taking their leap of faith.
Have you got "proper" evidence to support the idea that a God is not needed?
No, some things, like what...
There are 3 times in the synoptics when the story of the transfiguration is told. Each time, just before it, there is a statement about some people seeing something. The statements are at the end of the same When we look at the statements we see this:
Mark 8:38 If anyone is ashamed of me and my...
Acts 15:5 Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, “The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to keep the law of Moses.” 6 The apostles and elders met to consider this question. 7 After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them...
Yes skepticism does take a leap of faith beyond what science can tell us.
There is evidence for God but just not the sort that science can use. Science does not attempt to show that God was not needed and science cannot show that.
Why? Why is science always right in what is, at times just...
Acts 9:7 and Gal 1:16 are not about the same thing.
Apostleship came directly from Jesus but recognised by also by those in Jerusalem. No contradiction there.
Obeying the law was decided to not be a requirement for being a Christian.
The Council gave guidelines however (not a law) so that...
Yes if you want certainty then religious faith is not the place you should be seeking it. Even science does not say that it offers certainty.
However the demand is for more certainty to be given or people will not and cannot and should not believe.
I cannot make up evidence. I can point to what is already there, and yes it is what justifies my beliefs as it also justifies the beliefs of billions of people.
The claims of miracles and the supernatural are there in the Bible, I am not making them, I am pointing to them.
The demands are...
All I said is that I do not need verification. I do not need scientific testing before I believe. If science shows that my beliefs cannot be true then I can adjust my beliefs then. You otoh want verification before you believe.
It is not that I have no evidence, it is just that I do not demand...
That is where you want to stop, and that is fine.
You see evidence in history and you say it is all lies.
You see evidence in nature and you prefer to "believe" that it could and did all just happen.
That's fine, you can believe that. It is however a bit different to saying that you don't know...
The experiences of people are just evidence. Some people accept that evidence as true and others do not. Interpretations either way are not evidence that those interpretations are correct.
What I reject from others is the assertion that their ideas are more speculation.
Yes.
I have...
Acts has "we" passages, showing that the writer was with Paul. To no avail it seems. These passages are just dismissed by people who are critical. They say that this is a common literary tool used to trick people into thinking that a person was actually there.
IOW nothing wins against true...
Billions of people are Christians. Maybe you have it wrong.
There are people who claim that Jesus did not exist and others who claim that the gospels were made up. There are modern historians who reject the supernatural claims in historical records and from that standpoint of scholarly...
It does not matter if I cannot prove my "belief" in the supernatural. I am not making a scientific hypothesis that needs proving. All I can do is lay out the evidence as I see it and point out the errors in the attacks that people bring against that evidence.
One error is that many people, and...
I have done it. Which passage are you talking about?
It is easy to show that this passage is talking about the generation that saw all the things that Jesus had just mentioned.
Matt 24:32 “From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you...