REB, the whole story you told about your wife's grandmother visiting you and doing little pranks around the house is a compelling one but how did you make the transition from there might be a spirit that lingers after we die to giving credibility to the whole Jesus thing?

I'm real glad your experiences with the supernatural give you a sense of eternal life and the peace that brings, but how do you just assume, because you believe that eternal life exists, that it somehow proves the Biblical account?

What was specific about your experience that turned you to Jesus as opposed to Zeus, Mohammed, or Buddha?

What it sounds like to me is that you turned to what was familiar. Had you grown up in the Mideast it would've been Mohammed. In the Orient you may have been more inclined to turn to Buddha.

Have you read Biblical history (and I don't mean using the Bible as a historical reference)? I'm talking about the evolution of Christianity and the study of how events depicted within the Bible actually relate to true documented historical eras. Many that really dive into that history are a bit shaken in their understanding of the supposed man known as Jesus.

Evidence can be found that possibly points to a man descended from the House of David (a true heir to being King of the Jews) who used his political influence to get noticed during those times. There's strong evidence that person may have married and had offspring but was certainly a mortal. Other evidence (or lack thereof) points to there never having been an actual human but that he was only a collection of snippets of Pagan myth that was pieced together to be a figurehead for an emerging religion.

Early tales of Egyptian and Pagan gods had stories of virgin births in a stable, crucifixions, ressurections, and many other tales attributed to the Bible. The actual writing of the major books of the Bible detailing Jesus' life wasn't done until over 100 years after his supposed death. The stories themselves have huge contradictions in them and there were manuscripts that were purposely not used that shed doubt on many of the accounts.

The whole thing simply smells of malarky if you remove from the picture wishful thinking and the realization that you have a whole lot of past relatives that have fallen for the scam. Then add in that whole extortion thing with Heaven and Hell and it simply sounds too good or manipulative to be true.

Wow, what a powerful myth that can convince a seemingly intelligent being that they are born on a par with a piece of s**t and must be redeemed by some enraged/sympathetic God/kid/spirit creature.

Art