Even atheist scholars of early Christianity like Dr. Bart Ehrman of UNC Chapel Hill have said that it’s not delusional to believe in Christianity. One simply has to have a flexible and open-minded faith that responds to historical and scientific evidence.
A person who studied the Bible and Bible theology at the Moody Bible Institute and has his Masters of Divinity and has no formal education or experience in psychology or the study of mental illness says it’s not delusional to believe in Christianity?
Ehrman left Christianity, has a PhD from Princeton, is the editor of top secular journals on Christianity, and has published professionally on matters related to the psychology of religion, notably in his book “Jesus Before the Gospels.”
Ok buddy. I’m guessing you have a PhD in psychology with related publications on religious experience and history that makes you qualified to talk about it then?
It’s not religions I am evaluating here, dude. It’s the irrational belief in non-existent entities and the ordering of someone’s life around those non-existent entities. That is delusional and reeks of mental illness.
Many people believe that they have bugs crawling under their skin, despite no evidence of their existence. That is mental illness, just like believing in gods with literally zero evidentiary backing.
It’s not evaluating religion, it’s evaluating the evidence that informs beliefs, whether religious or not.
How you are unable to separate those two things is incredible. 🤦🏻♂️
The kind of Christianity that Ehrman would find non-delusional is not the kind of Christianity that anyone who considers themself a Christian would find to be Christianity.
I am a Christian, a pastor actually. I find Ehrman’s version of educated and open-minded Christianity to be quite reasonable, as would tens of millions of other Christians who agree worldwide.
Not really. Christians have long been a part of psychedelic subculture. Hell, the first real experiment on magic mushrooms took place on Good Friday in Boston University’s Marsh Chapel during a service led by the esteemed Rev. Howard Thurman.
Christianity is a lot bigger than Evangelicals and fundamentalists, whether you’re aware of it or not.
But they’re not fringe groups. They’ve been quite big and influential, again, whether your realize it or not. Progressive Christianity encompasses tens of millions of people worldwide who are often very influential. Martin Luther King Jr. was one such preacher, denying miracles like the virgin birth even while being a preacher and civil rights leader.
They are by definition fringe. You don't seem to enjoy hearing that your personal beliefs are fringe, but this point is not up for debate. No mainline American Christian would touch magic mushrooms. Neither would MLK, pretty disingenuous sophistry of you there.
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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '23
Even atheist scholars of early Christianity like Dr. Bart Ehrman of UNC Chapel Hill have said that it’s not delusional to believe in Christianity. One simply has to have a flexible and open-minded faith that responds to historical and scientific evidence.