Quote:
Originally Posted by Makarov
So your test is something like this: you dismiss the statements of a person hearing voices on the train if they do not accord with the statements of a loose collection of people hearing voices ~2000 years ago? But accept them if they do accord?
That doesn't make very much sense to me.
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not quite. if you don't believe Jesus ever existed then sure. I would first test it against what Jesus said, that is the best one (and a guy saying when the world would end is an example you gave, which Jesus talked about, as I mentioned in my prior post)
as for the rest of the bible, what people said in the old testament is preserved because there is truth or things that can be learned from them (whether they are myths are actual). likely these societies would have dismissed what the prophets said if they were known crazies (like the randoms that show up on transit). and many of the writings in the bible aren't people saying God told them whatever, aside from a few books like Isaiah. some of these books include prophecies regarding things that would happen 600 years later, so I guess they were written or passed down (oral tradition in ancient jewish culture) and when these things actually happened it gave credence to what they said.
today if someone says they heard from God about something, I can't jump forward and see if it came true etc, so if they don't have a history of saying nonsensical things, I guess the only test is the bible. what else would you test what they say against? I would be inclined to believe them if it wasn't something that appeared entirely self-serving (like starting a cult etc)
do you trust people when they tell you something? do you test everything someone says? how do you base whether to trust anyone? I would imagine similar tests (minus the bible likely) would come into play right?
I would be alot more likely to believe someone who I knew was walking with God and not crazy then some random person I didn't know on the bus, whether they were telling me the news, what they heard from God, or the dreams they had the night before.