Hacker Cinema
The Case for Christ
2017 · Film · 112 min
Directed by Jon Gunn
Based on the true story of an award-winning investigative journalist -- and avowed atheist -- who applies his well-honed journalistic and legal skills to disprove the newfound Christian faith of his wife... with unexpected, life-altering results.
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2 comments on Hacker News
Q being their lived experience is not out of the question. Finding a written Q would for some detract from the quality of the gospels as a primary source.
Lee Strobel has a good take on the authenticity of the Gospel account in his book The Case For Christ [0] and as always the book is better than the movie
[0] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/73186.The_Case_for_Christ
> I simply rephrased the parent post’s definition of faith, nothing more.
Oh, I know, I know, and both of you are only rehearsing what is common knowledge in the culture. It's just, that culture consists of people who don't have faith, and among people who do, it's something quite different. Ask a Catholic, a Jew, a Muslim, heck even a Buddhist - it won't be exactly what I said, but it'll be a lot more like what I said than what you said. I'm not trying to be hostile - just executing a cultural exchange.
What is the evidence for God existing?
This will no doubt annoy you, but I'll frame the answer to that by talking about faith a little more. See, the way I've described things, faith is a very rational process, something an intellectually healthy person does all the time. You have some notion of "sufficient" evidence that lets you believe something, trust something, act on something. I presume you have a lot of faith in the scientific process, such that when it tells you something you believe it! That is an example of healthy faith - I have strong and healthy faith in God. When you ask for evidence that God exists, you are coming from a position of zero faith, of distrust, you want evidence of a distant and theoretical idea, like you might ask for evidence of the existence of electrons. For me, I have spent a lifetime trusting, relating, seeing it work out. Miracles happen on an average Tuesday. I don't believe in God the way I believe in electrons, but more like the way I believe in my car. Asking how I know it exists is a question from a different reality - I drive it to work every day. Of course it exists. I interact with it, constantly. But by the same token, my evidence wouldn't be yours, much the same as a science skeptic might ask about why you believe in electrons and - after moment sputtering and hardly knowing where to begin - you say well, all right, there's this paper, and they guffaw at the scientific establishment. And you say, well okay, there's this one experiment that's actually accessible enough I did it myself, personally, on college. And they poke holes in that. And on and on.
The skeptic in that story is coming from a position of zero faith, of hostility to faith, and is committing a very similar intellectual sin to the the pandemic fearer who won't come out in my previous example. This individual won't have faith when he really ought to, when he really should, and it's clear something is messed up.
I've heard it said that the opposite of faith is fear, and I think it can be. I would say it's emotional dysregulation towards belief. Sometimes you refuse a conclusion out of fear. Sometimes shame. Sometimes pride. I have found with atheists it's often anger.
It's a phenomenon we're all familiar with in politics, right? That dang left-wing/right-wing guy cannot see the obvious because there's something emotionally wrong with him.
If you want specifics, I hardly know where to start. For me, I was always astonished by the out-of-its-time wisdom and excellence of the Bible. Whoever wrote that is someone I want to follow. I think the facts surrounding the laws of physics, the origin of the universe, and the origin of life are particularly strong - the case that convinced Anthony Flew. Miracles are surprisingly, shockingly well documented, if you look. So routine you wonder how people manage not to believe in them. And of course, I've spent a lifetime in the church, seeing faith accomplish astonishing things. And very personally, none of this matters - I am like Gideon, who put out the fleece, once, twice, it was enough, and I've been betting my life on it ever since. That is sufficient for me, but hardly accessible for you.
For a tour of rational research leading to faith, Lee Strobel's Case For Christ is excellent, and is even available in movie format. There's another one about C.S Lewis that came out recently. Both depictions of hardened, rational skeptics who did the research and came away convinced.
But it sort of doesn't matter, in your case - what convinces one person doesn't convince another. Zero faith is a wall that can't be gotten over with evidence, no matter how much. I would much rather convince one person to follow Jesus than pick up a Nobel prize, but the truth is that neither one is really in my power.
But there is a test to look for the real issue. You can pray - something along the lines of, "God, if you're there, I'd like to know - show me." It's the sort of thing I'd expect him to take you up on, maybe eventually, which makes it a threat. If you don't want to do that, if there's an emotional reaction to the possibility of being shown something convincing... that emotion is the dysregulation at the root of your hostility to faith. And probably the reason God won't reveal himself to you - he knows you're scared/angry/proud/whatever and doesn't choose to push it.