I asked Leah about participating in her test. I think I will find it challenging the emulate a Christian’s viewpoint, instead of mocking it.
That is, normally when I’ve examined Christian thought, I’ve approached it from the pretense “let me see where this fails.”
I’m interested to see if I can construct an argument that I myself as an atheist would find at least superficially compelling—that is, I want to avoid doing what pretty much every popular Christianity book does.
If you try to present radically better arguments for Christianity than you think most Christians present, you will sound out of step with the rest of the panel to an audience of Christian judges.
I think this is correct. If you want to successfully pose as a Christian, you might be well advised to read a bunch of C. S. Lewis, and then imitate his arguments and style. I say this because I think his books constitute the most accessible body of reasonable-but-still-wrong arguments in favour of Christian orthodoxy. If you can quote him, all the better, because being able to quote C. S. Lewis is a high-status marker among people who have both a self-identity as Christians, and a self-identity as intellectuals.
I asked Leah about participating in her test. I think I will find it challenging the emulate a Christian’s viewpoint, instead of mocking it.
That is, normally when I’ve examined Christian thought, I’ve approached it from the pretense “let me see where this fails.”
I’m interested to see if I can construct an argument that I myself as an atheist would find at least superficially compelling—that is, I want to avoid doing what pretty much every popular Christianity book does.
If you try to present radically better arguments for Christianity than you think most Christians present, you will sound out of step with the rest of the panel to an audience of Christian judges.
I think this is correct. If you want to successfully pose as a Christian, you might be well advised to read a bunch of C. S. Lewis, and then imitate his arguments and style. I say this because I think his books constitute the most accessible body of reasonable-but-still-wrong arguments in favour of Christian orthodoxy. If you can quote him, all the better, because being able to quote C. S. Lewis is a high-status marker among people who have both a self-identity as Christians, and a self-identity as intellectuals.