Hello Ronald, thanks for taking the time to respond.
You said:
"How do we figure out what stories are true and what stories are not true?
It has to do with making an analogy with stories that we can believe happened, and an analogy with stories that we believe did not happen. And use the thousands, hundreds of thousands and millions of stories that humans have created, both true and not true."
That's one approach, certainly.
But it's not the only approach we can use to ascertain truth.
You said:
"Do we think the stories of the moon landings are true?
Do we think the stories of Star Trek are true?
Why do we think the moon landings and coming back to the Earth actually happened? Because Neil Armstrong was a great pilot of jets, Buzz Aldrin had a PhD from MIT in orbital mechanics. The Scientists and Engineers knew how to build rocket ships.
Why might we think that the stories of Star Trek are not true? Aside from the timeline problems. Because the stories don't contain knowledge on how to make Warp Drive Star Ships, Photon Torpedoes, Transporters. In order for us to think the stories of Star Trek are true, we would have to be able to build a Warp Drive Star Ship and fly to Vulcan and look and see if there is anybody there that looks like Spock. Then we might think that Star Trek is true."
Fair enough, so far.
Yet this approach has a critical flaw: it uses limited personal experience as the judge of everything.
Imagine a tribal civilization deep in the jungle that has never encountered modern civilization. A Cesna lands nearby for repairs, then takes off again. One person from the tribe sees this and runs back to tell everyone.
Should they just that messenger by the fact that they have no comparable technology? They can't go back to the same spot in the river to verify it, because the plane is gone.
This approach to finding truth would lead them to judge the truthful messenger as a liar.
We need ways of judging the truth even when it is novel truth.
You said:
"It is all about knowledge vs story claims. In order for someone to turn a 3 day old stinky body to new again, that being would have to know a lot about the human body, about blood, skin, bones, eye balls, liver, heart, etc.. Did Jesus tell us anything about the human body? Anything about first aid that we humans can use? Anything about CPR? Anything that would start Science to research into starting Medical Science so humans can build hospitals, medical research facilities and ways to prevent diseases naturally?"
It does, in fact.
The Old Testament Law is incredibly innovative in terms of disease control, infection, quarantine, hand washing, and disposing of human waste in a way that won't infect people.
The Bible contains several diets that are remarkably healthy and innovative. The kosher diet in the Law is far more healthy than the modern American diet. The Daniel Fast likewise is quiet powerful at losing weight and building a nutritional diet around non-processed foods.
Jesus also dispelled much mysticism surrounding food. He taught clearly that what you eat doesn't make you spiritually unclean, but that it is processed by the body expelled.
These are just off the top of my head, but the book None of These Diseases goes into much greater depth at how innovative and ground-breaking the Bible is for human health.
You said:
"All Jesus of Christianity gives us is Story Magic. Jesus of Christianity is a Supernatural Superhero. Jesus of Christianity is not a Nature's God."
On the contrary, my friend.
Did you know the Bible is the only ancient creation story that gets the order of creation right?
First come the cosmos -- the "heavens." Genesis 1:1.
Next, the earth, existing as a barren rocky world, devoid of life. (Genesis 1:2). Before life appears, the earth has cooled and is able to contain liquid water on its surface (Genesis 1:2).
Light is able to break through the clouds and atmosphere, bringing heat to the surface (Genesis 1:3)
The atmosphere clears, with liquid water on the surface and water vapor in the air (Genesis 1:6).
Dry land is ready for life, the waters are ready for life (Genesis 1:9).
Plant life begins to grow (Genesis 1:11).
Sea creatures emerge, then birds (Genesis 1:20).
Land mammals next (Genesis 1:24).
Humans last of all (Genesis 1:26).
Of course, there are myriad interpretations of Genesis -- some with an old earth, some a young earth, and everything in between.
Yet the simple order of events on the page lines up perfectly with what we find when we study our planet's history.
Likewise, the Bible correctly anticipates the Big Bang -- one moment when everything began to exist, from which all the universe descends.
The Bible indeed depicts Nature's God, my friend.
You said:
"Did Jesus tell us about Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Geology, Geography, etc.. If Jesus was a God, Jesus should have been able to fill entire books on economics, much more than Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations, 1776. Instead of just telling people to give to the poor. If Jesus cared about humans, Jesus would have talked about how to build more wealth with good economic practices to build businesses and on how to make things."
Jesus had 3-4 years to complete His work. He stayed on task, talking about what was relevant to completing the mission.
Yet Jesus talked far more about money than just giving to the poor!
Entire books have indeed been written on the economic principles Jesus lays out.
The OT Law again lays out solid principles for establishing businesses and creating wealth.
You said:
"Then lets understand Thomas Jefferson and his phrase in the Declaration of Independence of the United States, "Laws of Nature and of Nature's God." Thomas Jefferson did not think that Christianity is true. Jefferson knew that the stories of Christianity only gets to a human created story God, stories created by humans. Jesus is a Supernatural Superhero, who only knows Story Magic. Jefferson thought that a Nature's God would have knowledge of Nature. That is what the Philosophers of the Age of Enlightenment gave us, is to not believe in Supernatural Superhero Story Magic, but to build on knowledge of Nature and Reason. A phrase used to describe the Age of Enlightenment was 'Dare to Know.'
Jefferson wasn't a Christian. He missed much of what the Bible teaches.
You said:
"It is the Age of Enlightenment Philosophies that gave us the advances of Nature, like electricity, electronics and machine created power, medical care and medical hospitals. Not the Story Magic thinking from the ancient world."
Not quite, my friend.
Read The Book That Made Your World. You'll find that most of the underpinning beliefs of Western civilization -- including those that led to the age of enlightment -- come from the Bible.
The Bible encourages us to explore nature and figure it out.
The Bible commands us to love our neighbors and care for them. It's the reason so many hospitals were started by the church. Why do you think so many have "Saint" in the name?
The Bible encourages us to seek out truth -- establishing that absolute truth does exist, and that we can search it out.
The Bible teaches innovations about human health, economics, the structure of society, and science that were lightyears ahead of every other ancient civilization.
