How many Christian parents would point out to their children that the story of Jesus in the Gospels is clearly a "cut and paste" job; a bringing together of ideas and scenarios found in earlier myths and legends.

Well, since that's not true, I didn't say it. The whole "Christianity is just paganism warmed over" thing is vastly overstated. For instance: Jesus is Not a Mithras Redux.

But, But, But! the vast majority of Christians - and virtually every Christian child - do believe every word of the Gospels.

On what do you base this claim? And please do not say "everybody knows it." That's no justification for saying anything. Also please realize that fundy evangelicals are not "the vast majority of Christans".

I was brought up very differently from Joe Offer and from what I suspect was Mousethief's upbringing but even I was not taught to believe every word of the Bible as it has come down to us.

In point of fact I was brought up in an entirely secular family, and am an adult convert to Christianity.

I believe scientists will find the answers to everything within the next hundred years!

Your faith is touching.

No room for uncertainty. No let out clauses. Absolute obedience. Remember how cross He can get.

But I don't have any gods before him. I don't know how you're going from "have no other gods before me" to the line I just quoted. It's certainly not an inference I can see any justification for.

The point is that not one single religious "truth" is actually a truth at all unless you apply that very special definition of truth recognised only by believers.

You keep saying this. I keep saying you're wrong. Can we agree to disagree and drop it?

Only in passing on religious "knowledge," it seems, do we exempt the teacher from the need to be truthful.

I am being truthful to the best of my ability (which is pretty able). Your continuing claims that I am not are becoming grating. Can you please accept that we disagree on this and stop hammering on it? It doesn't advance the discussion, and could rather easily be perceived as bullying.

They don't get the airtime this end that they do your end.

My end? I don't watch TV. We don't have cable and we don't have an aerial and we don't have rabbit-ears reception in this valley. I have never watched so-called Christian TV. Again you make outrageous assumptions about me. I was referring to the evangelicals that turn up in the secular news.

Best avoid attacks, I reckon.

What an excellent idea. Why don't you?

High-mindedness, it seems to me, comes with that particular kind of religious conviction that says that my faith and only my faith is the one true path.

Physician, heal thyself.

We only "believe" what we do not, or cannot, "know". Once something has been scientifically proved (proved, mind you, not theorised), it can no longer be the object of faith,or belief.

That's one way of using the word "belief". It also means "something you think is true" which includes those things you think you "know". Can you define what it means to know something? A definition that can withstand scrutiny?

As has been mentioned, science doesn't "prove". Science demonstrates to a high level of probability, within the current conceptual framework. But science "proved" that F=ma, and we now know it doesn't. And so on. Most scientists have cut way back on the proof/certainty rhetoric.

There is no 100% in science as you have pointed out.

Zackly.