Non Christian Sources of Jesus Christ
 
The Death of Jesus
⁴⁴ It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, ⁴⁵ for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. ⁴⁶ Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”^[a] When he had said this, he breathed his last.

(Luke 23:44-46)

Thallus. 

In the Book, by  Norman L. Geisler in his Baker Encyclopedia
of Christian Apologetics, on page. 382, it reads,

 Thallus wrote about A.D. 52. None of his works are extant, though a few fragmented citations are preserved by other writers. One such writer is Julius Africanus in about 221, who quotes thallus in a discussion of the darkness which followed the crucifixion of Christ:
On the whole world their pressed a most fearful darkness; and the rocks were rent by an earthquake, and many places in Judea and other districts were thrown down. This darkness Thallus, in the third book of hid History calls, as appears to me without reason, an eclipse of the sun. [ Extant Writings , 18 in the Ante-Nicene Fathers. 

Africanus identifies the darkness which Thallus explained as a solar eclipse with the darkness at the crucifixion described in Luke.23:44-45

Where Does Science point to Atheism or Theism?

Two types of causes exist in our universe, 1. intelligent causes and 2. unintelligent / or natural  causes. Atheism vs Theism some think that these two faiths are a matter over evidence; but it's not. The debate is  over philosophy for we all have and believe in different philosophical thought/views.


One Philosophy that makes men of science deny a creator is materialism.

Materialism  defined as:

1.The position that nothing exists except matter — things that can be measured or known through the senses. Materialists deny the existence of spirit, and they look for physical explanations for all phenomena.


   Many atheists, however, view science through the lens of materialism—a philosophy that assumes purely material causes for the origin of life. “We have a prior commitment . . . to materialism,” wrote evolutionist Richard C. Lewontin. “That materialism is absolute, for we cannot allow a Divine Foot in the door.” Hence, materialists embrace the only alternative they have—evolution.   November, Awake, 2011 p. 7

Yet if this is the scientists' only alternative then how do they know if its really true? IF they full out the other cause that is an intelligent causes over a natrual casuse then they have no real way of knowing how the universe came to be.

Which Approach Is More Reasonable?


NO HUMAN witnessed the beginning of life on earth. Nor has anyone seen one kind of life evolve into another kind—a reptile into a mammal, for example. Therefore, we must rely on the available evidence to draw conclusions about the origin of life. And we need to let the evidence speak for itself rather than force it to say what we want it to say.

In a book published by Jehovah's Witnesses "Creation"
 it mentions Richard Lewontin in Scientific American, under the heading  “Adaptation,” by Richard Lewontin, September 1978, p. 213.

 Evolutionist Richard Lewontin admitted that organisms “appear to have been carefully and artfully designed,” so that some scientists viewed them as “the chief evidence of a Supreme Designer.”

Richard Dawkins  admits that 

Biology is the study of complicated things that have the appearance of having been designed with a purpose. -Richard Dawkins, (The Selfish Gene.)

     
So why do these two gentlemen believe that everything came from nothing and that all this something has the appearance of being designed?
In a nutshell it would be the philosophy of materialism!


Isaac Asimov tells us that the '' universe can be explained by evidence obtained from the universe alone. . . no supernatural agency need be called upon. " - Isaac Asimov's Book of Science and Nature Quotations (New York: Weidefeld & Nicolson, 1988), p. xvi.

Carl Sagan I feel has a pretty smooth way of defining what the philosophy of materialism is: He asserted at the beginning of His television series, Cosmos on  PBS, " The Cosmos is all that is or ever was or ever will be." In other words no God.

Philosophy defined as:

1.The study of the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality, and existence, especially when considered as an academic discipline.

• a particular system of philosophical thought.
• the study of the theoretical basis of a particular branch of knowledge or experience.

  "the philosophy of science"

Evolutionist, Atheist,  all together rule out intelligent causes before they come to any conclusion, when it comes to the cause of the universe or life, because of their prior commitment to materialism. Would it be wise to use a metal detector in search for a plastic bottle? That's what happens when one carries a preconception that distorts our view/attitude toward science or scripture.

Richard Dawkins acknowledged his philosophical bias in an e-mail to DR. Phillip Johnson, author of Darwin on Trial, Dawkins Wrote, " [My] philosophical commitment to materialism and reductionism is true, but I would prefer to characterize it as a philosophical commitment to a real explanations opposed to complete lack of explanation, which is what you espouse." Stealing From God, Frank Turek,

“The belief that life on earth arose spontaneously from non-living matter, is simply a matter of faith in strict reductionism and is based entirely on ideology.” Hubert P. Yockey, 1992. Information Theory and Molecular Biology,  p. 284.

"Every time I write a paper on the origins of life I swear I will never write another one, because there is too much speculation running after too few facts, though I must confess that in spite of this, the subject is so fascinating that I never seem to stick to my resolve."-Life Itself, p. 153, Francis Crick,

"Everything about evolution before the bacteria-like life forms is sheer conjecture." The Plausibility of Life by Marc W. Kirschner and John C. Gerhart,

Despite Richard Dawkins saying this he remains an atheist, as said earlier, it's not a debate over evidence its a debate over different philosophical thought. Science says nothing, scientist do. Yet they rule out an intelligent cause before they make a conclusion.

Which Lens will you wear?



Many evolutionist, atheist, materialist  view/approach science through the lens of materialism—a philosophy that assumes purely material causes for the origin of life.

-Materialism, refers to the theory that physical matter is the only or fundamental reality, that everything in the universe, including all life, came into existence without any supernatural intervention in the process.-

 Hence, materialists embrace the only alternative they have—evolution.

Religious people too may have preconceptions that distort their attitude toward science.  Some creationists cling to the erroneous notion that God formed the world in 6 literal days a few thousand years ago. Having made that prior commitment, they try to force the evidence to fit their extremely literal interpretation of the Bible.


                                            
                                                REVIEW
                         Science points to Theism or Atheism?

1. Their are only 2 types of causes 1. intelligent causes and 2. unintelligent causes or natural causes .

2. Atheism & Theism is not a debate over evidence; it's a debate over philosophy.

3. The average scientist believes that the philosophy of materialism is true however this rules out one cause and gives the man only one out of the two causes of our universe. This philosophy that is materialism restricts it limits the scientist.  Would a judge have already came to a conclusion before a hearing? Is that responsible of the Judge?

We  are all susceptible to have a lens that distorts how we interpret the evidence.

4.Science says nothing, scientist/people do!

5. Many evolutionist,approach  science through the lens of materialism—a philosophy that assumes purely material causes for the origin of life. Irresponsible just like the judge mentioned earlier.


Where Does Science point to Atheism or Theism?
Well it goes to what you force it to. We should be open and let it speak for itself. Would you like to begin now?

What makes more sense that everything came from nothing or that everything came from something.

 All living things came from nothing or that all living things came from something. 
Life only comes from life.