Eyewitness vs hearsay testimony

[Waiting4evidence]

Here is an example of eyewitness testimony:

"I, John Costanza, born on June 19th 1980, and currently residing at 256 e 34th st #42. New York NY 10010, do hereby swear that today (June 17th 2012) at approximately 1:51pm, I personally saw my my girlfriend Jenny Levine eat a red apple. Signed John Costanza".


Here is an example of hearsay testimony:

"Hello, my name is #&&*&FG@. I was cleaning my attic the other day and found an old document from the 1950s. It was written in german. I am not fluent in German but I did the best I could of translating it before throwing it in the trash. As I recall, I think the text said "Jenny ate a red apple". I don't think that this german text was written by the person who actually saw Jenny eat the apple. I think it was a copy of some earlier document, which in turn was the copy of an earlier document, which was an account of a story that somebody told somebody at some point in the distant past. In short, you don't know who I am, I don't know who the person who wrote the german text was, and he didn't know who the person that wrote the earlier text was, and he didn't know the person who told him the story was, but I'm pretty sure at some point centuries ago somebody might have seen Jenny eat an apple. I wrote it down, so you must believe it's true. Again, my name is jgrhjoefwfe".

Question for debate:
Are the Gospels eyewitness or hearsay testimony?

[alive]

Here is an example of eyewitness testimony:

"I, John Costanza, born on June 19th 1980, and currently residing at 256 e 34th st #42. New York NY 10010, do hereby swear that today (June 17th 2012) at approximately 1:51pm, I personally saw my my girlfriend Jenny Levine eat a red apple. Signed John Costanza".


Here is an example of hearsay testimony:

"Hello, my name is #&&*&FG@. I was cleaning my attic the other day and found an old document from the 1950s. It was written in german. I am not fluent in German but I did the best I could of translating it before throwing it in the trash. As I recall, I think the text said "Jenny ate a red apple". I don't think that this german text was written by the person who actually saw Jenny eat the apple. I think it was a copy of some earlier document, which in turn was the copy of an earlier document, which was an account of a story that somebody told somebody at some point in the distant past. In short, you don't know who I am, I don't know who the person who wrote the german text was, and he didn't know who the person that wrote the earlier text was, and he didn't know the person who told him the story was, but I'm pretty sure at some point centuries ago somebody might have seen Jenny eat an apple. I wrote it down, so you must believe it's true. Again, my name is jgrhjoefwfe".

Question for debate:
Are the Gospels eyewitness or hearsay testimony?

We can never realy know... So it is Hearsay in my eyes...

[Flail]

Here is an example of eyewitness testimony:

"I, John Costanza, born on June 19th 1980, and currently residing at 256 e 34th st #42. New York NY 10010, do hereby swear that today (June 17th 2012) at approximately 1:51pm, I personally saw my my girlfriend Jenny Levine eat a red apple. Signed John Costanza".


Here is an example of hearsay testimony:

"Hello, my name is #&&*&FG@. I was cleaning my attic the other day and found an old document from the 1950s. It was written in german. I am not fluent in German but I did the best I could of translating it before throwing it in the trash. As I recall, I think the text said "Jenny ate a red apple". I don't think that this german text was written by the person who actually saw Jenny eat the apple. I think it was a copy of some earlier document, which in turn was the copy of an earlier document, which was an account of a story that somebody told somebody at some point in the distant past. In short, you don't know who I am, I don't know who the person who wrote the german text was, and he didn't know who the person that wrote the earlier text was, and he didn't know the person who told him the story was, but I'm pretty sure at some point centuries ago somebody might have seen Jenny eat an apple. I wrote it down, so you must believe it's true. Again, my name is jgrhjoefwfe".

Question for debate:
Are the Gospels eyewitness or hearsay testimony?

There is a little more to hearsay testimony than what you state, but suffice it to say that everything we have from Jesus is hearsay. The big problem with the Bible is not that it is mostly hearsay, but that even the authors who report the hearsay are anonymous and do not explain how they came to their narratives. How can we judge the authenticity or accuracy of any writing when it is anonymous and ancient and purports to relate supernatural incidents without verification?

[Waiting4evidence]

Here is an example of eyewitness testimony:

"I, John Costanza, born on June 19th 1980, and currently residing at 256 e 34th st #42. New York NY 10010, do hereby swear that today (June 17th 2012) at approximately 1:51pm, I personally saw my my girlfriend Jenny Levine eat a red apple. Signed John Costanza".


Here is an example of hearsay testimony:

"Hello, my name is #&&*&FG@. I was cleaning my attic the other day and found an old document from the 1950s. It was written in german. I am not fluent in German but I did the best I could of translating it before throwing it in the trash. As I recall, I think the text said "Jenny ate a red apple". I don't think that this german text was written by the person who actually saw Jenny eat the apple. I think it was a copy of some earlier document, which in turn was the copy of an earlier document, which was an account of a story that somebody told somebody at some point in the distant past. In short, you don't know who I am, I don't know who the person who wrote the german text was, and he didn't know who the person that wrote the earlier text was, and he didn't know the person who told him the story was, but I'm pretty sure at some point centuries ago somebody might have seen Jenny eat an apple. I wrote it down, so you must believe it's true. Again, my name is jgrhjoefwfe".

Question for debate:
Are the Gospels eyewitness or hearsay testimony?

There is a little more to hearsay testimony than what you state, but suffice it to say that everything we have from Jesus is hearsay. The big problem with the Bible is not that it is mostly hearsay, but that even the authors who report the hearsay are anonymous and do not explain how they came to their narratives. How can we judge the authenticity or accuracy of any writing when it is anonymous and ancient and purports to relate supernatural incidents without verification?

That's right. we don't even know who the person providing the hearsay is!

Anonymous hearsay about anonymous hearsay about anonymous hearsay.

About absurd fairy tales that you wouldn't believe if told from an eyewitness.

[Flail]

Here is an example of eyewitness testimony:

"I, John Costanza, born on June 19th 1980, and currently residing at 256 e 34th st #42. New York NY 10010, do hereby swear that today (June 17th 2012) at approximately 1:51pm, I personally saw my my girlfriend Jenny Levine eat a red apple. Signed John Costanza".


Here is an example of hearsay testimony:

"Hello, my name is #&&*&FG@. I was cleaning my attic the other day and found an old document from the 1950s. It was written in german. I am not fluent in German but I did the best I could of translating it before throwing it in the trash. As I recall, I think the text said "Jenny ate a red apple". I don't think that this german text was written by the person who actually saw Jenny eat the apple. I think it was a copy of some earlier document, which in turn was the copy of an earlier document, which was an account of a story that somebody told somebody at some point in the distant past. In short, you don't know who I am, I don't know who the person who wrote the german text was, and he didn't know who the person that wrote the earlier text was, and he didn't know the person who told him the story was, but I'm pretty sure at some point centuries ago somebody might have seen Jenny eat an apple. I wrote it down, so you must believe it's true. Again, my name is jgrhjoefwfe".

Question for debate:
Are the Gospels eyewitness or hearsay testimony?

There is a little more to hearsay testimony than what you state, but suffice it to say that everything we have from Jesus is hearsay. The big problem with the Bible is not that it is mostly hearsay, but that even the authors who report the hearsay are anonymous and do not explain how they came to their narratives. How can we judge the authenticity or accuracy of any writing when it is anonymous and ancient and purports to relate supernatural incidents without verification?

That's right. we don't even know who the person providing the hearsay is!

Anonymous hearsay about anonymous hearsay about anonymous hearsay.

About absurd fairy tales that you wouldn't believe if told from an eyewitness.

Which of course is why Christianity is about dogma and indoctrination rather than evidence or logic. One is told what to believe and ridiculed for thinking, questioning or daring to go beyond verse based scripturalism. Christianity is beyond credulity and is abjectly superstitious. If Christians could just get over who Jesus supposedly was and get into what he taught, the world would be a far better place. As it is, be careful, some Christian may be judging you.

[Waiting4evidence]

Here is an example of eyewitness testimony:

"I, John Costanza, born on June 19th 1980, and currently residing at 256 e 34th st #42. New York NY 10010, do hereby swear that today (June 17th 2012) at approximately 1:51pm, I personally saw my my girlfriend Jenny Levine eat a red apple. Signed John Costanza".


Here is an example of hearsay testimony:

"Hello, my name is #&&*&FG@. I was cleaning my attic the other day and found an old document from the 1950s. It was written in german. I am not fluent in German but I did the best I could of translating it before throwing it in the trash. As I recall, I think the text said "Jenny ate a red apple". I don't think that this german text was written by the person who actually saw Jenny eat the apple. I think it was a copy of some earlier document, which in turn was the copy of an earlier document, which was an account of a story that somebody told somebody at some point in the distant past. In short, you don't know who I am, I don't know who the person who wrote the german text was, and he didn't know who the person that wrote the earlier text was, and he didn't know the person who told him the story was, but I'm pretty sure at some point centuries ago somebody might have seen Jenny eat an apple. I wrote it down, so you must believe it's true. Again, my name is jgrhjoefwfe".

Question for debate:
Are the Gospels eyewitness or hearsay testimony?

There is a little more to hearsay testimony than what you state, but suffice it to say that everything we have from Jesus is hearsay. The big problem with the Bible is not that it is mostly hearsay, but that even the authors who report the hearsay are anonymous and do not explain how they came to their narratives. How can we judge the authenticity or accuracy of any writing when it is anonymous and ancient and purports to relate supernatural incidents without verification?

That's right. we don't even know who the person providing the hearsay is!

Anonymous hearsay about anonymous hearsay about anonymous hearsay.

About absurd fairy tales that you wouldn't believe if told from an eyewitness.

Which of course is why Christianity is about dogma and indoctrination rather than evidence or logic. One is told what to believe and ridiculed for thinking, questioning or daring to go beyond verse based scripturalism. Christianity is beyond credulity and is abjectly superstitious. If Christians could just get over who Jesus supposedly was and get into what he taught, the world would be a far better place. As it is, be careful, some Christian may be judging you.

Hey, we agree on almost everything, but I have to say that I'm not particularly impressed by Jesus's teachings, even when stripped of all the dogmatic BS.

I think Jesus gave a LOT of really bad advice, a lot of meaningless/irrelevant/mediocre/unimportant advice, and whatever good advice he gave is not anything that Socrates, Plato, Buddha, Lao-Tzu and many many many others hadn't already figured out centuries earlier.

If everybody in America followed Jesus's teachings, the world economy would collapse in about a month.

I think the best thing to do with Jesus's teachings is to read them, ponder how dumb some of them are, how mediocre others are, and how somewhat ok others are, shrug, and move on to the reading of more enlightened literature.