Do you believe in the reality of truth, goodness, freedom, justice, beauty and love? They are invisible but infinitely more valuable and significant than anything we can see, hear, taste, smell and touch? If you disagree you are undoubtedly a materialist with a superficial view of life which is necessarily absurd, valueless, purposeless and meaningless.
The “scandal of particularity” is based on an impossible demand. Why not always and everywhere? For the simple reason that one person can have more impact on humanity than a constant succession of inspired men and women - as we can see from the history of Christianity. Jesus is the only person who has given a practical solution to the Problem of Evil without jeopardising our power to choose what to believe and how to live. He was born in the Middle East, the cradle of civilization and the birthplace of monotheism at a time of intellectual and religious ferment when the Roman Empire facilitated communications throughout the known world. The rapid expansion and subsequent success of the apostolic Church are sufficient evidence that the time and place were not fortuitous.
The truth of Christ’s teaching shines by its own light. Every person of good will needs no further evidence than His message of love, demonstrated by the way He lived and died, exposing the injustice and hypocrisy of those who claim to be holy and God-fearing.
God knows that mankind will always reject His Son because in this world evil is more powerful than love. There is no defence against those who use the bullet and the bomb to satisfy their lust for power and wealth except force and retaliation which merely perpetuate conflict and bloodshed. The only way to attain peace and harmony is through forgiveness and reconciliation. These are the most important issues to look at when trying to understand the nature of God or the veracity of the sources. “By their fruits you shall know them…”
And what would that accomplish? Atheists would claim, “See, your God isn’t real! You claim he is invisible, actually became man, etc etc” The nonhuman DNA and the face in the sky wouldn’t serve as proof. Not only would it give a false idea of who God is and how God works in the world, but it would probably just be used as evidence for extraterrestrial life, or something along those lines.
I’m skeptical (pun intended). I mean, you’d think they could at least not devote entire books (e.g The God Delusion) to tearing down straw men if they were truly open minded.
I don’t think it’s more one way or the other. Some atheists are open minded and some are closed minded. Same goes for religious people. It all depends on the person.
