Now an "if"
apology? Passive aggressive much? Relax. I got the gist the first time.
You wish to stress that Christianity should be rooted in the words of Jesus alone. So if not bibles, what sources do you recommend others use to find "who he says he is" or "what did he teach"?
The 4 gospels, that's it. The letters from Paul and the other apostles are historical narratives of the early church and missionary journeys and not meant to cause much of the troubles that we see today.
Do we honestly think that Paul's letter to Romans was meant to create theology and the divide between Arminianism and Reformed/Predestined theology. Nope. But why did it happen? Because Christians have made the Bible "The Infallible Word of God". Therefore inside that book must be the mysteries of God, Science, Creation, etc., that's hogwash.
And what's this have to do with "Mandelbrot Sets -- Proof of God?" or with Dan Barker explaining why he's no longer religious?
Again, many of Dan's points and the Mandelbrot Sets, if I was a first Century Christian, don't matter. Christ's theology was simple. Love your neighbor, love your God. All the things that came afterward were postulated because man's need to have a "Word of God" and then try and cram god into this canonized library of letters.
Creation vs Big Bang - Doesn't Matter
Characteristics of God - Doesn't Matter
Problem of Evil - Doesn't Matter
Variance between Stories in the Gospels - Doesn't Matter because they don't disprove who Christ said he was
Mandelbrot Set - Doesn't matter
Sola Scriptura - Doesn't Matter
All the above were never required to believe in Jesus. That's the point i'm trying to make.
Either Jesus is who he said he is, or he isn't. That's all anyone, IMO, needs to prove.