What a great discussion. Jacob, I’m pleased to see that there are people out there who feel that their faith does not require justification through evidence. It is, after all, a belief in things not seen.

I see many Christians caught up in trying to convince others of a factual basis for what they believe when we have only our own interpretation of those records, however comprehensive they may seem if you already believe them to be historically accurate. I don’t discount that the events may have occurred as they are recounted in the gospels, and I see valid points in both the realist and non-realist position, but it seems to me a waste of energy trying to defend a position of hope with emperical data. Is that not counter-intuitive? I have my own reasons for believing, and they are real enough for me.