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[Siquo]

Actually, plenty of Christians take the Bible as factually unerring word of God.

Actually, most don't take it literally (assuming that is what you meant by factually unerring. If you meant "factually unerring but open for interpretation and not to be taken literally", the following point is moot and can be ignored).

The catholic church invented and has always supported the Big Bang theory, for instance, not the protestant 6000 year-old-earth theory, and catholics are still the largest group of christians in the world.

[ECrownofFire]

And I third CoF and Squio. "Disproving" religion is just as baseless as "proving" it.

This depends, of course, on the exact claims being made, but in cases where there is no evidence, there is no need to disprove regardless.

If there's no evidence, then there's nothing to use to disprove it.

[G-Flex]

The catholic church invented and has always supported the Big Bang theory

The Catholic Church did not "invent the Big Bang theory". If you think they did, I'm not sure you know what that theory actually entails aside from the basic "there was nothing then stuff came into being" aspect of it. It's a modern scientific theory. The Church didn't invent it.

But yes, I see your point; most Christians aren't die-hard literalists. However, what they do take literally and what they take metaphorically seems like an awfully arbitrarily chosen distinction sometimes.

[Leafsnail]

If there's no evidence, then there's nothing to use to disprove it.

in cases where there is no evidence, there is no need to disprove regardless.

I'd have to agree.  There's an infinite number of random completely untestable things which have no evidence for or against them.  There's no need to disprove them all.

[Melagius]

I believe because I feel the presence of God like I feel gravity and the air flowing through my lungs. It's just a force of nature for me.

[G-Flex]

I believe because I feel the presence of God like I feel gravity and the air flowing through my lungs. It's just a force of nature for me.

To be fair, individual human experience doesn't count for much. You are convinced you feel God, and there are a multitude of other people who are equally convinced that they feel completely different things. Obviously, subjective feelings aren't a good indicator.

[ECrownofFire]

I believe because I feel the presence of God like I feel gravity and the air flowing through my lungs. It's just a force of nature for me.

To be fair, individual human experience doesn't count for much. You are convinced you feel God, and there are a multitude of other people who are equally convinced that they feel completely different things. Obviously, subjective feelings aren't a good indicator.

Well then, obviously we have to go find some objective feelings somewhere!

[Africa]

I can't move past this "Catholic Church invented the Big Bang theory." Care to elaborate on that bit of insanity?

[Bohandas]

I like this version of the Christian gospels.

[Shambling Zombie]

God totally invented the Big Bang Theory. That's how Pope Awesome III knew about it.

[Phmcw]

The catholic church invented and has always supported the Big Bang theory

The Catholic Church did not "invent the Big Bang theory". If you think they did, I'm not sure you know what that theory actually entails aside from the basic "there was nothing then stuff came into being" aspect of it. It's a modern scientific theory. The Church didn't invent it.

But yes, I see your point; most Christians aren't die-hard literalists. However, what they do take literally and what they take metaphorically seems like an awfully arbitrarily chosen distinction sometimes.

It's a chanoine who invented it, that's what he meant.

[Siquo]

It's a chanoine who invented it, that's what he meant.

Indeed, and the Catholic church embraced the idea before the scientific community did, because the Big Bang is a lot more congruous with scripture than the "eternal universe", which was the scientific fashion at the time.

However, what they do take literally and what they take metaphorically seems like an awfully arbitrarily chosen distinction sometimes.

Yes, that's the beauty of it. By being able to pick and choose, you can go along with the times. Rigid structures, such as Scientific theories, always crumble. Which is a good thing, because it makes place for new ones, which makes Science as a whole very much not-Rigid, but for Religions it's usually a good idea to have both consistency (as in: won't dissolve, stay around, something stable), and to be able to change according to the times. Which is what re-interpretation of old texts does: The Text itself is consistent and will stay, but the changing interpretations is what makes it flexible and able to stay relevant.

[G-Flex]

I would view that in a more positive light if that's what they actually knew they were doing. Most religious Christians I talk to seem to think that their interpretation is the only correct one, forever and ever.

[ECrownofFire]

I would view that in a more positive light if that's what they actually knew they were doing. Most religious Christians I talk to seem to think that their interpretation is the only correct one, forever and ever.

This is really due more to the way that religion is "taught" and how it's viewed. How many people are you going to run into that actually admit that their religion has a possibility of being wrong?

[Bohandas]

Actually, plenty of Christians take the Bible as factually unerring word of God.

Actually, most don't take it literally (assuming that is what you meant by factually unerring. If you meant "factually unerring but open for interpretation and not to be taken literally", the following point is moot and can be ignored).

The catholic church invented and has always supported the Big Bang theory, for instance, not the protestant 6000 year-old-earth theory, and catholics are still the largest group of christians in the world.

It's a chanoine who invented it, that's what he meant.

Indeed, and the Catholic church embraced the idea before the scientific community did, because the Big Bang is a lot more congruous with scripture than the "eternal universe", which was the scientific fashion at the time.

In addition to their support of the big bang theory; the Catholic Church also used to, up until the early 1980's, have a position called the Promoter of the Faith (or, informally, "The Devil's Advocate") which would investigate reports of miracles associated with potential saints to make sure that the reports weren't coming from people who were obviously insane or being paid off, and verify that reported miraculous occurences could not easily happen by coincidence.