Quote:
Quote by: Isherwood  My point was that I disagree all atheists accept that Jesus never existed. A lack of belief in Jesus does not an atheist make. Conversely, an atheist could allow that Jesus might have existed as a human without it causing them to confess a faith in gods. Whether he existed or not as a human being has nothing to do with atheism. It only affects belief in the Christian god. |
The base of atheist beliefs is found in naturalism, from which it spans. Thus, all that was, is, and will be real, for the atheist, is matter. There are two other branches of worldviews, namely Transcendentalism and Theism, but in this mini debate, the only one that needs explaining is naturalism, which, by definition, is not contradicted by Jesus's existence as a person.
The three branches can be differentiated in what they think ultimate reality is. Here is the most basic classification I have seen:
Naturalism: The world as we see it, Matter.
Transcendentalism: The world as we want it, Spiritual mental psychic powers.
Theism: The world as (the Bible, quran, other monotheistic books) describes it. A personal God.
I don't know if this helps, but here it is.
En el amor interminable de Cristo,
William R Sculley