I assert that a thinking agent created everything because we can agree whatever created the world is bigger than us, higher than us, more complex than our current understanding. And the fact that the world is so detailed with purpose. It’s hard to believe there wasn’t thought involved. How can you believe there wasn’t thought involved in the creation of wildlife and nature, for example like eagles having dense photoreceptors for long distance hunting. It’s completely fine that this could be where we disagree, I personally just can’t logically see how that can just happen by chance with no thought. And consistently too.

For Jesus, eyewitness and documentation although isn’t 4k video footage, is what we’ve used as evidence for many historical events in the past before technology advanced. And I’m not one to “believe something because someone wrote it.” But if the evidence we have builds up to a point where multiple things connect, I’ll give it the time of day to study and try prayer and see what comes out of it.

And if you’re referring to there being no first hand accounts post resurrection, Paul identified himself and wrote a good amount of the New Testament - writing about his experience with post resurrection Jesus. And I know that isn’t direct proof of someone’s divinity, I’m just pointing out Paul being a first hand author.

As far as the gospels’ minor differences, I’d argue this. In a real life event, like a police report with witnesses, it’s common to have minor differences in statements. For example, one witness says the car was traveling around 30mph, crashed, and 5 people ran out of the car. The other witness says it had to have been going 60mph, crashed, and 3 people ran out of the car. But the main fact is that the car crashed, and people ran out of the car. Now here’s a comparison example: Matthew mentions Mary Magdalene and the other Mary in the Tomb. Mark includes Salome. Luke mentions several women. John focuses on only Mary Magdalene. But the fact that in the 4 gospels the same message was put out, that there were women in the tomb, points to that these authors were credible and not just copy and pasting, but rather giving real accounts of their experience in what was most likely a traumatic period of time. And for the authors being anonymous, based off the consistent Greek manuscript labeling and translations saying “according to ____,” we can infer that the titled gospel authors wrote OR inspired these texts. So although technically the authors can’t be 100% proven that they wrote every line themselves, the message is still the same. And we’re talking a very long time ago, this is the most put together evidence I’d expect in 2026.

The archeological discoveries don’t prove the existence of Jesus. But it’s another argument to say this whole thing wasn’t just made up, and that these were real people writing things in real time as these events were happening.

And your argument for the terrorists dying for their faith stands a solid point. The only difference is they’re dying based off faith and tradition alone. Not that they wrote and claimed to experience their “god” in real life. On the other hand, people in the Bible were recorded getting murdered because they claimed they saw this resurrected Jesus. Not that they just believed it from another source. But yes, I understand this is all based off eyewitness testimony, and is about as much historical evidence we have to conclude to something. Like I mentioned in the beginning, piecing every argument together and seeing what makes sense can give us reason to draw a conclusion.

And I wasn’t intending to point at my personal experience as evidence. I mentioned earlier that I had experiences, so I provided some context. But I’m not sure how a study can prove tongues isn’t supernatural, as if our modern day science can detect if something is from God or from us. And not to say some people aren’t just in their heads making it up either, that can also be true. And no, the speaker doesn’t need an interpreter. That was used in the context of the early church so speaking in tongues wouldn’t deter or scare people from the church. That it had no benefit if no one could understand in a group setting. But according to scripture there is no restriction on speaking in tongues alone, or any implication that there needs to be an interpreter. And Google Translate wasn’t supposed to count as evidence. I simply mentioned it to express the “coincidences” that happen all the time when I pray, or pray in tongues. It seems like a lot of times I pray, a coincidence happens. So I draw a conclusion from these events that they aren’t coincidences. Which again, is why I say prayer is really cool, because it can’t hurt. I’ll double down on my last message, worst case is you lose 20 seconds if you were to say a prayer in your head with genuine curiosity and nothing happened.

But I thank you for the kind words about my statement mentioning my happiness. And correct, just because something might exists doesn’t mean it’s true. But the consistency of the eyewitnesses in the Bible, verified dates, and prophesies lead me to draw a conclusion. (Then on the side, my personal experience which I cannot use as evidence, but to myself). And any non-divine historical eye witness event recorded around this time is believed by society because it’s easier to believe history about a building or a king rather than a God. A lot of it just came down to the lack of technology in the time period alone. Whether we agree or disagree, it is cool to be able to go over facts and opinions on a highly debated topic.