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[Antidote]

Why is Christianity more likely to be true than any other religion? Assuming you're Christian, not for emotional reasons, but because you believe it is true. ..

CONSIDER: every devout Muslim has the same reasons for being a Muslim that you have for being a Christian. And yet you do not find their reasons compelling. The Koran repeatedly declares that it is the perfect word of the creator of the universe. Muslims believe this as fully as you believe the Bible's account of itself. There is a vast literature describing the life of Muhammad that, from the point of view of Islam, proves that he was the most recent Prophet of God. Muhammad also assured his followers that Jesus was not divine (Koran 5:71-75; 19:30-38) and that anyone who believes otherwise will spend eternity in hell. Muslims are certain that Muhammad's opinion on this subject, as on all others, is infallible.

Why don't you lose any sleep over whether to convert to Islam? Can you prove that Allah is not the one, true God? Can you prove that the archangel Gabriel did not visit Muhammad in his cave? Of course not. But you need not prove any of these things to reject the beliefs of Muslims as absurd. The burden is upon them to prove that their beliefs about God and Muhammad are valid. They have not done this. They cannot do this. Muslims are simply not making claims about reality that can be corroborated. This is perfectly apparent to anyone who has not anesthetized himself with the dogma of Islam.

The truth is, you know exactly what it is like to be an atheist with respect to the beliefs of Muslims. Isn't it obvious that Muslims are fooling themselves? Isn't it obvious that anyone who thinks that the Koran is the perfect word of the creator of the universe has not read the book critically? Isn't it obvious that the doctrine of Islam represents a near-perfect barrier to honest inquiry? Yes, these things are obvious. Understand that the way you view Islam is precisely the way devout Muslims view Christianity. And it is the way I view all religions...

[jimwalton]

What matters is what accords most completely with reality. It's the way we determine all truth. What is consistent with the way things are; what provides the best explanation; what represents most accurately what I see around me; what is the best explanation of my experiences. That's how we determine truth. Religion is determined the same way.

I'm a Christian because I find the arguments and evidences for convincing. I'm a Christian because I find that Christianity is the best explanation for life as I see it. I am a Christian because Christianity squares with the way the world is and the way people are. It tells an honest and accurate story of humanity and life. Christianity makes sense with what I see of conscience, morality, beauty, and purpose. As far as other religions, I don't find the worldviews of Hinduism, Islam, or Buddhism either consistent, true to life, or fundamentally true. So I follow the evidence where it leads and I have settled quite contentedly in Christianity. Thanks for asking. And obviously I'm willing to discuss it more.

[Antidote]

Is there good reason to assume, that if you were born in Saudi Arabia, that you'd think very similarly about Islam? As we know, that similar testifications of meaning and congruence are made by muslims?

The next question becomes, Is the sense of meaning and congruence, experienced by religious people of every religion- indicative of the truth of a religion?

[jimwalton]

> Is there good reason to assume, that if you were born in Saudi Arabia, that you'd think very similarly about Islam?

Yes, of course, but this is not how we discern truth. We discern truth by examination, challenge, weighing evidences, and inferring the most reasonable conclusion. The perspective of our upbringing is not the standard of determination. Many Americans, raised as Christians, become Hindu or Muslim. Many Muslims are turning to Christ. How we were raised is not how we decide truth.

> Is the sense of meaning and congruence, experienced by religious people of every religion- indicative of the truth of a religion?

What's indicative of truth is correspondence to reality as supported by as much evidence and as reliable evidence as we can muster.

[Lucky]

74% of people are the exact same religion as their parents. Geography is still the number one indicator of which god has the most compelling argument.

http://www.pewforum.org/2016/10/26/links-between-childhood-religious-upbringing-and-current-religious-identity/

[jimwalton]

That's undoubtedly so, but that's not how we determine likelihood of truth. We discern truth by examination, challenge, weighing evidences, and inferring the most reasonable conclusion. The perspective of our upbringing is not the standard of determination. While it's unarguable that children generally conform to the training of their upbringing, that doesn't speak to the question of why Christianity, in my opinion, is more likely to be true than other faiths.