Truth vs Belief, in matters of "God".

 [note. I will eventually re-work this to be a general statement about 
truth vs belief. Also note: words in CAPS are capped for emphasis. I will change those so small-caps in italics later]
Jeff Kircher Taking these one at a time:

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re :

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1. ", you have a very authoritative way"

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Well-earned confidence

is certainly nothing to be ashamed of.

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2. "reciting your supposed facts."

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Feel free to fact check all of it.

Unlike the (usually anonymous) writers and editors of Hebrew and Christian texts, ...
I wouldn’t want anyone to take my fallible human say-so about anything I say.

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Lucky for you, I included the source data and links for much of it.
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3. Especially by citing supposed experts.
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So ... If someone on your side of an issue cites a respected academic source, that’s just “an expert” and we should all give that some weight.

BUT if someone on the other side of an issue cites many leading scholars (including well-respected Christians) … those are just “supposed experts” and no one should give it any weight.

That’s called “special pleading” in defense of “confirmation bias”, in order to validate a premise built on circular reasoning.

At least try to remember that the actual (not “supposed”) leading experts I cited … were cited in response to a Christian saying atheists need to do their homework.

Well, I did. And I proved it. In fact, this has only scratched the surface of all that I’ve researched.

But now we’re being told the only facts and academic sources FOR the facts we should consider ...are ones that endorse your bias.

Why am I not surprised?
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4. “So your experts have pored over evidence and invented a new interpretation. Good for them.”
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The whole point is:

it’s your cult (as part of ages old cult-continuum) that has invented new interpretations.
Actual scholars (in an ongoing process)(with an absolute minimum of opposed personal bias. in fact, many actually favored your bias) ... have factually, logically shown what the real history is; - with a relatively small margin for error, on a LOT of the big issues.
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5.
“Good for you. It allows you to make declarations with great self-confidence”
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Earned confidence
... really is great.

I highly recommend it.
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6.
“and pride”
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…. really is a nice counterpoint and benefit
… arising from the HUMILITY it takes …
to let actual facts and logic
take me where the evidence leads;

-rather than skewing those with religious bias (the most extreme form of bias known to humans).
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7. “that your knowledge is so profound as to know what took place thousands of years ago,”
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Not me.
And not you.
Just the people whose CAREER it is to learn everything (available) to know (within their fields), and to reason on those facts, and to submit all of their discoveries and assessments to critical peer review.

Can the leaders AND the consensus be wrong sometimes? Yep. It’s not an exact science, and there’s a limit to available source materials to work from.
But if they’re getting anything WRONG that MATTERS, that just proves that there wasn’t a “GOD” involved to make sure the source materials painted “the truth”.

If there is a “GOD” who CARES what conclusions we draw,
THEN … that would be his fault; not the experts faults, nor anyone else’s.

In either case,
I didn’t get anything wrong “ because of pride”.

I would be getting things wrong  … because of the HUMILITY it takes to defer the people most educated about the materials.

  I have no reason to think so many leading minds in those fields are part of some global conspiracy to generate a mountain of false facts. Meanwhile, ... There is ZERO debate among scholars, about a long list of FACTS that show various biblical characters and stories to be myths. They all agree, for example, that the Jesus character (in the stories) was WRONG to identify Moses as a writer for any of the Hebrew biblical texts. They all know Moses is a mythical figure, and didn't actually write any of it. There are plenty of other issues that get debated. However, ... In literally every single historical issue that gets debated among scholars ... not even ONCE is a literal "miracle" the most likely explanation of available facts. -not even when it comes to the allegedly "empty tomb".
  Meanwhile, I have a well-earned confidence in my own ability to follow along with their reasoning processes … and determine for myself when their logic holds (or when it doesn’t).

You’re the one letting religious pride determine your biases.

I'm always open to whatever evidence shows.

If someone ever objectively proves “The God of Abraham” (any approximated version of him), I’d just go “oh neat. I mean, it’s a shame the universe is governed by such an extreme clinical narcissist and psychopath. But hey, at least now we know.”.

And then I’d switch to trying to stay off his radar, while trying to  brainwash myself into being a shitty enough human being that I can learn to like the idea, so that I could eventually kiss his ass; with the rest of you impressively selfish suck-ups.
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8.
“to such an extent is to refute widely held beliefs.”
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Argumentum ad populum?

In any event, yours are actually NOT “widely held beliefs”.

Yours are “widely used words”.

Just as “no two people have ever read the same book”,...

No two people have ever mentioned the same “God”.

Even if there is ONE actual “GOD” up there somewhere, it’s not identical … and it’s not “the same” entity you’re relating to.

You’re relating to an internally generated mental hologram, which is composed of various concepts you’ve been exposed to, from fallible humans making guesses about ~The Great Mystery~.

If you want to call the mystery “God”, then go for it. But don’t make the mistake of assuming that what “God” means to you … is what “God” is to anyone else; because it’s not.

The details and nuance which define that character and give it “life” within the mind … is unique to each perceiver. And it’s unlikely that anyone just happened to get any part of it factually correct.

This is what Carl Jung was trying to get religious people to understand.
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9.
“Must feel good for you.”
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Education is my drug of choice. 
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10. “However your experts were seeking to discount something”

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You can’t objectively, logically validate that bias.
You’re just “bearing false witness” against your fellow man.

11. “and so they interpreted their obscure evidence to fit the outcome they had in mind before they started. Bttttthhhh.”
---- Dude. Did you just blow raspberries at me, like a bratty kid in a schoolyard?
Also: Really? Even Bruce Metzger?

Why would a leading scholar who identifies as a Christian …  or others who identify as religious Jews … admit their texts are mostly rooted in myth?

Why would so many others who WERE believers,  lose their faith by accident (Sometimes gradually. Sometimes rather suddenly) , as a result of all the knowledge they gained during their formal education?

The facts don’t lead where you were tricked into thinking they lead.
The facts don’t lead where your biases seek to be fed.

Some believers are able to KEEP believing, after making some “tweaks”, because they just can’t emotionally let go of some parts.
Some are more honest with themselves than that.
Many will just simply never deeply look into it, so they’ll keep letting others sculpt “reality” for them.
Emotional reasons vary. Mental aptitudes vary. Results vary.

Everyone is on an unique journey.

I don’t presume to know what’s “best” for any individual; - except where a person's beliefs put non-consenting humans at great risk of serious consequence.

And yet, because I don’t believe in “free will”, I tend to cut people a LOT of slack for different perceptions of reality.
Even if I believed in free will, I’d still be fairly generous about that.   

But your assumptions about all critics … are uninformed and unfair.

https://www.facebook.com/BishopRobertBarron/posts/379007296916920?comment_id=379714786846171&notif_id=1628962554293772&notif_t=feedback_reaction_generic&ref=notif