Bravo, Brian!
I don't think you're an idiot. I think you are prime professor material. You are arrogant, condescending, and love to hear yourself speak. I don't have a problem with that. You have some very interesting things to say when you don't have your dander up.
Like all of us, you have a world view and you look for the "facts" that support your world view. You have displayed some of those "facts." Thanks.
I've read a bit of the Gospel of Thomas and it reads like it was written by someone smoking dope. I haven't found the rock solid sources you have that show it is THE source of what we know about Jesus. I'll look into it more.
There are arguments about the death of Herod, how it is reckoned, and how that relates to the birth of Christ. You have taken one position. Others use the history of Josephus and numismatic evidence to show that Herod lived until after Jesus was born.
What is relevant about Jesus having brothers and sisters? His brother James is mentioned in the Gospel.
We all have a hole to fill in our lives. Some of us choose to fill it with God. Forgive the mindreading, but you appear to want to fill it with your own greatness. I wish you all the best. We believe in an unlimited God and limited man. You appear to believe in limited god and unlimited Man.
In all of your contentions, you remove the aspect of divinity from the equation before making the decision. How could a simple carpenter know anything about other religions? He couldn't. If He were God in the flesh, He might just have the ability to see what religions would come. How could a bunch of ignorant shepherds and fisherman relate what Jesus had to say some 50-70 years after His death? It would be tough without the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Now, obviously, you don't believe in the Holy Spirit, so that is an answer that will not work for you. I accept that and I don't expect to change your mind.
You probably believe that we exist today thanks to a giant cosmic fart that brought something from nothingness. You probably believe that this incredibly complex computer system of DNA and RNA was the result of billions of years of combinatory play by a brainless universe. If that's what I believed, I would want to believe in my own ability to attain God-hood too. To me, it looks far too amazing to have been generated by anything other than a Creator.
Clearly, my world view was developed from a point of naivete and ignorance. I believe that every day the universe shows signs of a Creator. I believe that the Old Testament is an amazing book of prophecy/history that foretells the coming of Christ accurately. I believe that it foretold the return of Israel to its land in 1948, something that NO other people have accomplished once they have been spread across the globe. All other groups have disappeared as they were absorbed into other nations. You can take this as meaningless. To me it shows the hand of God. I believe that the New Testament then shows the rest of the story and shows what happens when God becomes flesh to save the people He created.
I'm sure that sounds like pure nonsense to a man of your intellectual capacity. So be it. This is not an argument in which any of us is going to change our stance. We can go on arguing until the activity icon for this topic goes thermonuclear and our positions will remain the same.
Do we have a brick wall? I don't think so. I think we have the ultimate opportunity to serve the Creator of the universe. That sounds much less limiting than stilling my thoughts as I listen to the one hand clapping.
I'll look forward to hearing about how you contribute real good to the world on a mass scale. Keep us posted. I just hope that section of the paper finds its way into my birdcage...
Having said all that, I still don't think Satan invented Photoreading.
