All Dawkins has said is that there is no supernatural origin for life. He's given an example of aliens being those that seeded the planet as a way to say it could be something that could exist in the natural realm. They could have and would have to have evolved as well. He's never said for certain "Its aliens!" Which is the silliness that Stein is trying to say in his "want to capitalize on the fact that there is no right-wing Micheal Moore" movie. ID is laughable.

And with a little research by you on the internet you can find out all the contradictions in the bible and possibly learn even more about the bible's origins and why it would be "politically" that certain doctrines were adopted or not. For where would Christianity be if Constantine hadn't adopted it for political purposes and spread it throughout the Roman empire? I'll tell you where...right along side the rest of the early religions that Christianity adopted so many of its beliefs from.

So you are saying nothing is constant or knowable? And yet I bet you flip a switch to turn on a light and get in your car to work?

Somehow christians like yourself are happy to use science if it helps promote or "prove" your belief system but not if it calls it into question.

But to answer your question. Yes, dating mechanisms are observable and testable.

You rely on those systems that scientific method have provided in all walks of your life. That is...unless you are typing on a wifi laptop from a cave.

2+2=4 isn't always 4. Two halves plus two halves equal 2, heh.

So when you try to fit a belief in a supernatural unprovable realm as the same as scientific truth you have to use scientific rules. Your notion of god as "truth" is unprovable...and if you could, what would be the value of your faith?

Finally, how do you know that God would be able to understand about "constancy" and for that matter how do you know anything God knows or doesnt?

I'm certain those miracles in biblical writings are as real as Jesus was born from a virgin yet has biblical genealogy through his father's line. No sperm from Joseph yet traced back to Abraham so as to connect Jesus to biblical prophesy of the old testament.

http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/contra/jesus_dad.html

In other words, I have no belief in miracles, in the same way that I have no belief in a god. The tales of them are from a culture that relied upon word of mouth. And had no concept of written truth. Meaning they could alter the actual facts of a story they were telling in order to promote whatever they were interested in at the time.

That is a great recipe for turning water into wine.

Why would God need a Jesus to speak with people at all?

Couldn't it have spoken directly or was it not all powerful?

You say God chose to give us free will. Did it love its creation...

no don't answer that, the old testament gives the answer.

Cybrweez

- so you'd follow and find uneducated/unable to write/read leaders worth following/believing? I'm betting you'd vote for an alcoholic born again leader too(aka GWB). "Watch out the moon is going dark! A disk is sliding over it! Must be god turning out the lights!"

- the old contradictions line is old because people have seen it for a long time = well trod and worthy. Number of denoms show how ridiculous it is to point to Christianity as worth believing in. "We have so many ways to believe in the same god, and each of these ways are the one way to get to heaven, to follow correctly." or "I'm right, you're wrong in the way you believe" "no I'm right, no I'm right" echoes the crowd 38000 times who all say they believe in the same god.

What kind of inept god begins/creates a religion in its VAST universe in the uneducated section of a desert region of a tiny planet at a time where its "word" or "desires" must be passed from word of mouth and can be misinterpreted enough that 38000 denoms happen. Why not speak plainly to all throughout time? There are how many times where god is supposed to have spoken directly to people in the bible? Must be capable of it...must be a childish god who likes to jerk its creation around.

I have thought about the free will statement. It makes perfect sense. If a god can create any universe it wants, it could create one where misery and "evil" don't exist and still give its creation an understanding of free will. It could create anything, any way of thinking.

Authors worth reading on this matter: Sam Harris/Richard Dawkins/Christopher Hitchens/Bart Ehrman
A few items that have helped me form my opinion that God is unknowable if it exists at all:
- The Christian god - initially formed in a time where most people were illiterate and believed that the earth was flat. (Both Jesus and Mohammad were illiterate, if they existed)
- The stories of Jesus/Gospels were passed by word of mouth for first 35-40 years before written by Mark(some gospels up to 65 years after Jesus death) 35-65 years of whisper-down-the-lane can make "He Raised up our spirits and gave us reason to have hope in the Jewish god" become "He Rose from the dead"
- Bible pointed to as reference for "what God wants/is/was" and so full of holes and contradictions its no wonder there are approximately 38000 denominations or different ways to worship the same god.
- if there is a personal god, and it spoke to so many people as is written about in the Bible, why not directly continue to speak to All? A personal god that would allow injustices as those found happening around the world to dying children could only be a devil.
- If you are all powerful (and a loving god) why not create a universe where there is free will but no suffering. Why would a god need to set up tests for its creations to show their love for it?

- In answer to most of the Apologetics I've heard I often want to respond as Joseph Campbell did: "What's the value of faith if god is provable?"
-The old testament is filled with evils incurred upon believers/women/children. It doesn't shine a loving light on what the Christian god is capable of, and certainly isn't a god worthy of worship. The new testament is supposed to be a great way to warm up the old testament, yet Jesus says loads o things like 'leaving your family and follow' me that again...make me question what people really know and are believing in when they say they believe in the Christian god.
I forget which book its from but all Christians are atheists. They just believe in one less god than I do.
And last...although this was a quickie list...take a listen to Julia Sweeney's "letting go of God" so funny and revealing.