The principles of the rules of evidence and precedent have not. You’re using the worn-out, “if it’s old it must be deficient” argument. Do you feel the same way about the U.S. Constitution???
***”You may make the point that the law could hold that witnesses in the Bible is “evidence”. But they would also hold as equivalent evidence ancient writings about Zeus, Apollo, Ra, Thor, and innumerable others.”
Wrong. Those documents would be subject to the rules of evidence. They would be set aside.
***”There are far too many ancient writings with supernatural claims and I have no way to judge which are true, and which are false, so the prudent thing is to reject them all.”
There are many political positions in this world also - all claiming to be worthy of acceptance. Yet I would imagine you have not applied the above stated principle to your politics and reject ALL political positions!
You HAVE a way to determine what the truth is about God. You have a proposition in the Bible that you can test. In the Bible, God states, “You will find me when you seek for me with all your heart.” Can you honestly say you have done that?
It sounds to me like you would rather not know and that’s why you’ve brushed it all aside. If that’s the case, at least be honest with yourself about it.
Only recognizing that most people think that old ideas are in fact deficient. Sometimes they are, sometimes they are not.
Do you feel the same way about the U.S. Constitution???
The history behind the US Constitution is orders of magnitude more secure than Christianity. Yes, there are two milenia of history of Christianity, but it is the history of the followers of Christ and the evolution of their belief, not a direct history of Christ himself. There is *some* valid history of Christ. All I'm saying is that there is dramatically more history behind the countries founding.
As to the Constitution, it is secular law pertaining to how we run the country, while Christianity is a personal faith that can be accepted or rejected at will.
Those documents [about other old faiths] would be subject to the rules of evidence. They would be set aside.
You would set them aside because your belief system. I don't follow your belief system, and see them equally as old documents with supernatural claims with zero physical evidence. They are equal in my judgement.
In the Bible, God states, “You will find me when you seek for me with all your heart.” Can you honestly say you have done that?
People tend to find what they're looking for. That's why genuine science requires double blind tests, so that the researcher will not read into the evidence that which he wants to be true. You want your faith to be true, therefore your mind makes it so.
As for myself, I was once intending to be a Southern Baptist Missionary, and attended a religious university for a time. I've sought Jesus with all my heart, and eventually discovered my mistake.