“To apply the same reasoning the other way, if you aren’t a Christian, what would be a situation which would convince you of the truth of Christianity?”
-And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. - Matthew 17:20
If mountains moved when Christians told them to, every time, and no one else could effectively command mountains to move, I think most of us non-believers would start going to church.
Alternatively, if the world looked like it was designed and regulated by a loving being, it would help. That might not promote Christianity specifically, but it would be a much better start than what we actually see.
Having seen that verse in several translations, it reads to me as a primitive admonition against belief in belief. (Which matches up with his criticism of praying or fasting as a publicity stunt instead of because you actually hope to accomplish something.)
Consider: If it were a point of Christian faith that a particular mountain should be torn down and cast into the sea, and people really believed in their religion instead of just believing that they believed… well… Even with just picks and shovels there aren’t many mountains that would survive the wrath of 2.3 billion people for very long. And without careful study of the circumstances, it would seem like something of a miracle that some massive army of workers just spontaneously organized and did such a mighty task without there being a king or some other authority figure forcing them to do it.
Basically, lots of the things that ancient religions attributed to “God” or “The power of Faith” are very real phenomena that they simply couldn’t explain, and the fact that we can now explain them (at least a little better) doesn’t necessarily render the old practical advice on how to make use of them worthless. There are often better sources for it that are more clearly stated for the modern mind, but there can also be some value to knowing that the thing you are studying has been known about since the dawn of recorded history and that your ancestors were not, in fact, total fools.
“To apply the same reasoning the other way, if you aren’t a Christian, what would be a situation which would convince you of the truth of Christianity?”
-And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. - Matthew 17:20
If mountains moved when Christians told them to, every time, and no one else could effectively command mountains to move, I think most of us non-believers would start going to church.
Alternatively, if the world looked like it was designed and regulated by a loving being, it would help. That might not promote Christianity specifically, but it would be a much better start than what we actually see.
Having seen that verse in several translations, it reads to me as a primitive admonition against belief in belief. (Which matches up with his criticism of praying or fasting as a publicity stunt instead of because you actually hope to accomplish something.)
Consider: If it were a point of Christian faith that a particular mountain should be torn down and cast into the sea, and people really believed in their religion instead of just believing that they believed… well… Even with just picks and shovels there aren’t many mountains that would survive the wrath of 2.3 billion people for very long. And without careful study of the circumstances, it would seem like something of a miracle that some massive army of workers just spontaneously organized and did such a mighty task without there being a king or some other authority figure forcing them to do it.
Basically, lots of the things that ancient religions attributed to “God” or “The power of Faith” are very real phenomena that they simply couldn’t explain, and the fact that we can now explain them (at least a little better) doesn’t necessarily render the old practical advice on how to make use of them worthless. There are often better sources for it that are more clearly stated for the modern mind, but there can also be some value to knowing that the thing you are studying has been known about since the dawn of recorded history and that your ancestors were not, in fact, total fools.