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So your only source of proof (proof to me as you shouldn't need any seeing as how you have faith) is in the antiquated writings of people that used to drill holes in the backs of crazy peoples heads (I think this procedure is still practiced in some parts of the world) in order to release the demons contained therein? Just keep in mind that the same people that wrote your "proof" are the ancestors of the people flying airplanes into our buildings.

EBUCK

virtually everything we think we know, we've gotten from some authority or another.

Think about everything you know about the past before your own lifetime. Think about everything you know about things that are too small for you to examine yourself--the microscopic world, for example--or too big, too distant for you to examine, like distant stars. Think about every place you think you have accurate information about that you've never personally visited. Think about everything you think you know about disciplines in which you didn't personally do the primary research.

This probably amounts to about 99.9 percent of all of the things we think we know. We don't know them through testing of our own, but through the testimony of others we think we have reason to trust. So, rather than being odd that we would take certain things on authority, it's actually the foundational way we know things. We trust the words of other people who are reliable. The reliability and credibility of the authority is the key issue.

This teaches us an important lesson. It's very natural for us to function on the principle that if the authority is credible, then we're justified in believing the information he gives us.

I think a good case can be make that Jesus was that kind of authority. First He made certain claims about the nature of the universe, about Himself, and about God. He then worked miracles, cast out demons, raised the dead, predicted his own crucifixion, death and resurrection, and then self-consciously raised himself from the dead.

Now if Jesus, in fact, did those things, I think He's earned the right to speak authoritatively about spiritual things. He's got my vote.

So first we might be able to verify the truth of a religious claim, at least in principle, based on the authority of the one who made it. If he's a credible authority-- if he's trustworthy-- then we can trust what he says.