[Antonello]

If it was on good authority you were who you said you were, you would certainly have a belief system worth looking into.

So it isn't so much the actual existence of a deity you respect, but rather what other men think of that deity?

[Vive ut Vivas]

So it isn't so much the actual existence of a deity you respect, but rather what other men think of that deity?

So my divinity is based on what men think of me? Ok, ok, we can work with this...

[harbinger of doom]

So it isn't so much the actual existence of a deity you respect, but rather what other men think of that deity?

If something/someone is trustworthy then it would seem reasonable to trust what they say. As one would continue to look into the claims, that authority would either be validated or invalidated.

To be clear, I'm not referring to the church. I make the authority claim based on the authority Jesus claimed to possess. What He has spoken of regarding man and Himself is reasonable.

BTW, how did arrive at most of what you know? Did you happen to trust the statements of other men initially and then investigate the claims, subsequently affirming or negating what you believed?

I could be wrong but it seems much of what we do know and believe comes by 'standing on the shoulders of giants' (i.e.-trusting what other men say about a certain thing without fully going to the end of it ourselves).

I do enjoy reading these posts. I find them challenging and thought provoking.