On 04/09/15 04:05,
woodb...@gmail.com wrote:
> On Thursday, September 3, 2015 at 2:51:45 PM UTC-5, Mr Flibble
> wrote:
>> On 03/09/2015 18:57, Daniel wrote:
>>> On Thursday, September 3, 2015 at 12:16:34 PM UTC-4, Mr Flibble
>>> wrote:
>>>> On 03/09/2015 14:47, Daniel wrote:
>>>
>>>> it is well understood that both David and Jesus never existed
>>>> or it is at least to those with an ounce of common sense.
>>>>
>>> It's the evidence that counts, there is some recently discovered
>>> archaeological evidence for the existence of David, not totally
>>> conclusive. The consensus seems to be that it is probable a king
>>> called David existed sometime in 10th century BCE, and that some
>>> of the material in the Books of Samuel is historical rather than
>>> all legend.
>>
>> There is absolutely no evidence whatsoever that David existed,
>> none.
Proof by repeated assertion does not work when given by Christians - it
does not work when given by Mr Flibble either.
There /is/ archaeological evidence for the existence of both King David
and Jesus. Obviously there is no evidence for anything divine or
supernatural being involved, but people who actually /know/ something
about history and archaeology are mostly agreed that these people were
real, and at least some of the events mentioned in the Bible are likely
to have a basis in fact.
The evidence for King David is not strong - it is certainly not "proof",
and for most of what is written in the OT, there are no other sources.
But there is enough to say it is likely that the character in the OT is
not entirely fictional even though many of the details and the deeds
attributed to him may be fictional, mistaken, or wrongly attributed.
<
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David#Archaeology>
For most of the "historical" events described in the Bible, OT and NT,
there is very little evidence for or against the Biblical story. But
"very little" is significantly different from "absolutely none".
Regarding the historical Jesus, there is a little more information:
<
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_Jesus>
(The Wikipedia articles are, of course, not an authority of some kind -
but they give a good starting point for further research.)
Most Biblical historians agree that Jesus existed, with a few events in
his life having at least some evidence - but there is good reason to
suspect that he was not particularly important, but merely one of the
great many preachers, teachers, "holy people", and "prophets" that were
common in that time and area.
>
> If you want proof of G-d's existence, consider the C++ Middleware
> Writer. As G-d helped David to defeat Goliath, He helps us to build
> the best software in existence.
That is not "proof", it is faith or belief. If you are happy to believe
in God, that's fine - but please do not call it "proof".
>
> Brian Ebenezer Enterprises - "America didn't create religious
> liberty. Religious liberty created America." Bobby Jindal
>
The story of the "pilgrim fathers" on the Mayflower escaping religious
persecution in England, and forming America based on freedom and
religious liberty, is part of the USA's own creation myth written
shortly after American independence. In fact, the pilgrim fathers were
running /from/ religious freedom - back home in England, they had been
doing their best to persecute other Christian groups and force their
particular brand onto everyone else. They set out for America to find a
place where they could control and enforce their own version of
Christianity on everyone else.
(You can either accept that argument, or deny it, or do some research on
the subject - I don't have any references at hand, and don't have the
time to find them myself, so I will not blame anyone for disagreeing
with me here. But perhaps it will make you think a little about what
you think you know.)