Replies

Seattle has some of the nations lowest church attendance.

Kentucky some of the highest

Faith is faith not empiricism

If Christianity were simply empirical the entire world would likely follow and easily

But it’s faith more than anything

All that historical explanation stuff is interesting and folks can argue all they wish but it’s almost beside the point.... that

Resolute faith and dogmatic are again two different things

I’ve learned to look at Christianity as unique because to my knowledge it’s the only religion of note whereby the creator sends his duly created son as an extension of himself to earth to live and suffer and die horribly in order to prove or show that he can live and die as you and for you to have faith in accepting that for your everlasting future after death with him and as proof that he loves those which he created and living as us demonstrates the old adage he’s not asking you to do something he has not experienced

Nobody else really does that and it logically makes the most impression on me as understandable and believable.

I’m sure Kentucky has less socially conservative churches like Lutheran or united Methodist if the fundies irritate you

Seattle has some of the nations lowest church attendance.

Kentucky some of the highest

Yep. And I observed something kinda funny about that:
In Seattle, if you go to church you are going against the grain. It generally means you take it seriously for what it is.

In rural KY, you go to church because that is what everyone does. You go to potlucks, listen to poorly prepared or unprepared sermons (and some good ones), and do social events.

This is an overgeneralization, but it makes the point: For people in rural KY, church is very much a cultural thing and also religious for many of them. In Seattle church is a religious thing and also a cultural thing for many of them.

FWIW, I get this from talking with people about their beliefs and getting to know them and what they have to say about their relationship with God. There are some quite devout believers here in KY, but many of them can’t really back up their beliefs. Christianity is very much a cultural thing here, though there are those who can very much defend their viewpoint.

Resolute faith and dogmatic are again two different things. --------------------------------------------- Yes. For me it is dogmatism when you absolutely firmly believe your position on an issue and disagree with mine, yet you can't support your position. dog·ma·tism. . [ˈdôɡməˌtizəm] NOUN the tendency to lay down principles as incontrovertibly true, without consideration of evidence or the opinions of others.

I’ve learned to look at Christianity as unique because to my knowledge it’s the only religion of note whereby the creator sends his duly created son as an extension of himself to earth to live and suffer and die horribly in order to prove or show that he can live and die as you and for you to have faith in accepting that for your everlasting future after death with him and as proof that he loves those which he created and living as us demonstrates the old adage he’s not asking you to do something he has not experienced

I agree.

But it’s faith more than anything

Though I agree with that, I don’t see Christianity as a “blind” faith belief. Once one applies their faith, it brings great benefit, even in this age.

You should check out John Warwick Montgomery’s evidential apologetics. Something for those who can’t abide shallow explanations and thin dogma. There’s various schools of apologetics, evidential being based on the rules of evidence that we routinely use in daily life, in law, in weighing historical evidence.

F.F. Bruce is another of my favorite writers. Don’t know that he’d be considered an apologist exactly. Certainly a major scholar.