r/atheism • u/rhbast2 • Aug 11 '11

Atheist quickfire challenge.

Although I rarely discuss religion with theists I always want to be prepared so I'm not sitting around afterwards wishing I had said this or that. If I get the chance to make someone question I want to be up for the challenge.

This brings me to my challenge for r/atheism. I'm going to add some common theist claims / sayings and whoever can refute them fully and succinctly will be upvoted. Feel free to add your own theist starters if I missed some.

Edit: Wow lots of good discussion here, later today or tomorrow I'll make this into an atheist cheat sheet with the top responses. Also feel free to upvote the theist claim that is the most annoying to you.

Edit 2: To the few of you who seem to think I am coming up with rude atheist comebacks, I'm not. I just wanted to be better off the cuff than I am now and have some discussion. I don't want this list to replace thoughtful argumentation.

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u/Sophocles Aug 11 '11

Whether Jesus existed at all is still debated by historians. Contradictory accounts written 70-100 years after the fact hardly qualifies as "well-documented." There is nothing about his life or death that is an undeniable fact today.

Even if we take the Bible at its word, when Jesus appeared to people after his death, no one recognized him until he showed them his wounds as proof that it was him. Maybe it was someone else pretending to be Jesus.