[Gunslingr3]

Show me your EVIDENCE that Mark wrote his gospel with that motivation

As though you were basing your faith on evidence. Please.

[Taliesan]

EXACTLY. Your disdain for belief not supported by evidence is all the more reason you should be LEAPING to show how your opinion about the motives of those wrote the Gospels is based on specific evidence. Unlike us irrationalists who wear pointy hats.

[CommerceComet]

The gap between hard science and religious faith may not be big as some think.

A couple of years ago, public TV ran a show on the possibility of time travel. Some theoretical physicists (all from Ivy League or comparable schools) discussed whether modern theories in physics allow for time travel. Some said no and some said yes citing a particular theory (string theory, maybe?) which holds that reality consists of an infinite number of parallel universes which in some cases may interact with one another. As they were talking about this, I keep thinking that this doesn't sound far removed from alternative universes called Heaven and Hell by Christians.