In Taking Religion Seriously Charles Murray presents reasons for believing that there is a Divine Intelligence behind the Universe. He presents reasons for believing that this Divine Intelligence is the God Christians worship in church every Sunday. He presents reasons for believing in the soul.
In 1927 George Lemaitre proposed the Big Bang Theory of the universe. Lemaitre was a physicist, an astronomer, and a Roman Catholic priest. By the late 1960s the Big Bang Theory was the scholarly consensus.
According to the Big Bang Theory about fourteen and a half billion years ago the universe was a point of infinite density. This expanded, becoming the universe.
If I remember my junior high school mathematics, a point lacks dimensions. If you can believe that the entire universe can fit into one of those things you should have no trouble believing in the virgin birth and the Resurrection of Jesus.
The Big Bang theory claims that if gravity was slightly stronger the stars would burn out in about ten thousand years. If gravity was slightly weaker there would not be enough gravity to hold the stars together.
Murray agrees with John Robinson and other scholars in pointing out that the lack of mention in the New Testament of the Jewish Uprising that took place between A.D. 66 to A.D. 73 indicates that all the New Testament was written before the beginning of the uprising.
Most contemporary Bible scholars believe that the Gospel According to St. Mark was written about A.D. 70 by John Mark, a traveling companion of St. Peter. They believe that the Gospel According to St. Luke and Acts were written by St. Luke, who was a traveling companion of St. Paul. They believe that the author of the Gospel of Matthew as it comes down to us and St. Luke used as sources the Gospel of St. Mark, and a more primitive gospel that is called “Q” Q consists of passages Matthew and Luke share that are not found in Mark.
I have read two restorations of Q. They read like the Analects of Confucious, saying, “Jesus did this,” “Jesus said that,” and so on. Q reads as though it was written by one of Jesus’ disciples, either during the ministry of Jesus, or after the Crucifixion.
The Book of Acts is largely the story of St. Paul. In the four gospels we are often told that Jesus will die on the cross, and He does. There is nothing like this in the Book of Acts. Acts ends with St. Paul experiencing a comfortable house arrest in Rome. The readers have been told that St. Paul has not violated the laws of the Jews or of Rome.
St. Paul is visited by Jews living in Rome. He convinces some that Jesus is the Messiah. Other remain unconvinced. Nevertheless, the conversations are cordial.
Eusebius was born about A.D. 260. In The History of the Church from Christ to Constantine he writes that St. Paul was martyred shortly before the beginning of the Jewish Uprising.
If the Book of Acts was written when St. Paul was alive, that pushes its writing and that of the Gospel of Luke earlier, and Mark and Q earlier still. It means that eyewitnesses to the ministry of Jesue still lived and were consulted.
New Testament scholars agree that most of the epistles attributed to St. Paul were written by him. In several of these epistles St. Paul mentions visits by St. Peter and St. James, who was one of Jesus’ brothers and the first Bishop of Jerusalem.
For evidence of the soul Murray uses near death experiences, Terminal Lucidity, and reincarnation.
In a near death experience the subject’s heart stops beating, and the brain is clinically dead. If the subject is revives, The subject remembers events that the subject could not have experienced with a clinically dead brain. Often the subject will remember passing through a tunnel to meet loved ones who have died. Sometimes the subject will remember out of the body experiences when the subject learned thing the subject could not otherwise know.
Terminal lucidity will happen when a subject with a severe neurological disorder returns temporarily to self awareness.
Some children will remember events from past lives that are later verified.
In Taking Religion Seriously Charles Murray does not prove the Apostles’ Creed or the Nicene Creed. He does indicate that the broad outlines of Christianity are plausible.
In 1927 George Lemaitre proposed the Big Bang Theory of the universe. Lemaitre was a physicist, an astronomer, and a Roman Catholic priest. By the late 1960s the Big Bang Theory was the scholarly consensus.
According to the Big Bang Theory about fourteen and a half billion years ago the universe was a point of infinite density. This expanded, becoming the universe.
If I remember my junior high school mathematics, a point lacks dimensions. If you can believe that the entire universe can fit into one of those things you should have no trouble believing in the virgin birth and the Resurrection of Jesus.
The Big Bang theory claims that if gravity was slightly stronger the stars would burn out in about ten thousand years. If gravity was slightly weaker there would not be enough gravity to hold the stars together.
Murray agrees with John Robinson and other scholars in pointing out that the lack of mention in the New Testament of the Jewish Uprising that took place between A.D. 66 to A.D. 73 indicates that all the New Testament was written before the beginning of the uprising.
Most contemporary Bible scholars believe that the Gospel According to St. Mark was written about A.D. 70 by John Mark, a traveling companion of St. Peter. They believe that the Gospel According to St. Luke and Acts were written by St. Luke, who was a traveling companion of St. Paul. They believe that the author of the Gospel of Matthew as it comes down to us and St. Luke used as sources the Gospel of St. Mark, and a more primitive gospel that is called “Q” Q consists of passages Matthew and Luke share that are not found in Mark.
I have read two restorations of Q. They read like the Analects of Confucious, saying, “Jesus did this,” “Jesus said that,” and so on. Q reads as though it was written by one of Jesus’ disciples, either during the ministry of Jesus, or after the Crucifixion.
The Book of Acts is largely the story of St. Paul. In the four gospels we are often told that Jesus will die on the cross, and He does. There is nothing like this in the Book of Acts. Acts ends with St. Paul experiencing a comfortable house arrest in Rome. The readers have been told that St. Paul has not violated the laws of the Jews or of Rome.
St. Paul is visited by Jews living in Rome. He convinces some that Jesus is the Messiah. Other remain unconvinced. Nevertheless, the conversations are cordial.
Eusebius was born about A.D. 260. In The History of the Church from Christ to Constantine he writes that St. Paul was martyred shortly before the beginning of the Jewish Uprising.
If the Book of Acts was written when St. Paul was alive, that pushes its writing and that of the Gospel of Luke earlier, and Mark and Q earlier still. It means that eyewitnesses to the ministry of Jesue still lived and were consulted.
New Testament scholars agree that most of the epistles attributed to St. Paul were written by him. In several of these epistles St. Paul mentions visits by St. Peter and St. James, who was one of Jesus’ brothers and the first Bishop of Jerusalem.
For evidence of the soul Murray uses near death experiences, Terminal Lucidity, and reincarnation.
In a near death experience the subject’s heart stops beating, and the brain is clinically dead. If the subject is revives, The subject remembers events that the subject could not have experienced with a clinically dead brain. Often the subject will remember passing through a tunnel to meet loved ones who have died. Sometimes the subject will remember out of the body experiences when the subject learned thing the subject could not otherwise know.
Terminal lucidity will happen when a subject with a severe neurological disorder returns temporarily to self awareness.
Some children will remember events from past lives that are later verified.
In Taking Religion Seriously Charles Murray does not prove the Apostles’ Creed or the Nicene Creed. He does indicate that the broad outlines of Christianity are plausible.
