An open mind is not suitable if it leads you to assume honesty in all of the texts. Instead, realize that these texts were written by men and many of them. For example one story in the OT has GOD commanding Abraham to kill Isaac, but how could anyone make sense of GOD commanding the torture of a child? Strangely, this story is used to
suggest an analogy to the alleged sacrifice of Jesus, but I believe there is no reason to think that Jesus did not resist his capture! In any case I am not going to follow the fake apostle Paul because his teaching is not the one that Jesus gave. In my opinion, the explanation of these events in Phoenix Journal #2 seems far more plausible than any account of blood sacrifice demanded by GOD.
As your God to post here so that we can discuss this with him (or her).
By observation of phenomena you can infer the existence of a thing or being without further confirmation. The content-source problem is a very important concept in evaluating such evidence.
Knowledge only requires a source that is trusted, it does not require firsthand verification. For example, Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes, claims that he has received definitive firsthand proof of after-death communications from dead relatives. Other famous skeptics like Anthony Flew became convinced of a creator by the evidence of biology and physics.
What evidence of biology and physics? Until now, what I've seen and heard from religious people that try to use science as a helping tool for their cult is this: they take laws, theories, facts from science and they say that those could not happen without a God. Basically, they are not proving anything and they are also asking for arguments from people who contradict them.
I have posted the link called "eminent researchers" many times to this thread, please follow up on the opinions of all of these scholars, including famous (former) atheist Anthony Flew.
Below is a list of Nobel prize winning scientists and others among the greatest minds in the world who believed in some type of paranormal phenomenon. They held these beliefs not out of religious faith but because of their own research, the research of others, or their own experiences. Their beliefs, and in many cases, the reasons for their beliefs, are provided and links are included for additional information.
Some atheists and pseudoskeptics will say that science has removed the need for God as an explanation for the existence of the natural world. The quotes here demonstrate that many of the greatest scientific minds believe just the opposite, that the scientific evidence is best explained by the existence of an intelligent designer of the universe.
Some of the Nobel prize winners in the list include: Max Planck the founder of quantum mechanics who believed that matter is derived from consciousness and therefore the mind cannot be produced by the brain. Erwin Schrödinger also held this belief. Wolfgang Pauli believed he had psychokinetic powers that he could not control. Otto Stern banned Pauli from entering his lab to prevent Pauli's powers from damaging his experimental apparatus. Pierre Curie and Marie Curie are also included in the list. Marie Curie was the first woman awarded a Nobel prize and was the first person awarded two Nobel prizes. Arno Penzias believed his research in astronomy showed the the universe was the result of a supernatural plan. Charles Townes believed the fact that science could not explain the origin of the universe implied the existence of God. Albert Einstein believed that natural laws were designed by an intelligence. Charles Darwin (not a Nobel prize winner) also held this belief. Many other great minds although not Nobel prize winners are also on the list including: Kurt Gödel who believed that a human is non-physical spirit connected to a physical body. Alan Turing believed in ESP. Karl Popper believed in dualism the philosophy that the mind is non-material. Robert Boyle the father of modern chemistry and founder of the Royal Society of London believed in spiritual healing based on his own investigations into the phenomenon.
Information on more Nobel prize winning scientists and other great minds can be found below...
https://sites.google.com/site/chs4o8pt/eminent_researchers.
But let's give it a try with Jesus. If Jesus is God, why did he not prove he was God?
That is not his teaching, Jesus said "they say as much", that idea comes from Paul like I mentioned.
