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A Response to Academic Atheism

You totally misunderstood my position. When I stated that "The difference between a theist and an atheist is the degree to which God has revealed himself to them,” I was not referring to biblical revelation—I was referring to “personal” revelation. Knowledge of God doesn’t come from a philosophical inquiry or from reading the Bible, but from a deep existential experience (in the Heideggerian sense) where a “personal revelation” takes place! Perhaps you’re not familiar with my work. I’m convinced that the Bible is a collection of mythic prophecies, not a record of historical events. For example, I totally agree with you that the story of Noah is a myth. Even the story of Jesus is a myth in a certain sense. Jesus never existed—he is not an established figure in history, and the gospels simply borrow material from the Old Testament to prove that he is the messianic fulfillment of the Jews! So the gospels are mythical: theological. I’ll grant you that. However, the rest of the New Testament gives us a very different account of Jesus, one that is not historical but rather prophetic and apocalyptic:

“For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy” (Revelation 19:10), NOT history!

“God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these LAST DAYS has spoken to us in His Son” (Hebrews 1:1-2, emphasis added).

“Once IN THE END OF THE WORLD hath he [Jesus] appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice [death] of himself” (Hebrews 9:26, emphasis added).

Conclusion: the Bible is a collection of “theologies” or mythic prophecies that point to the messianic age when Jesus Christ will appear once and for all “at the consummation of the ages” (Hebrews 9:26, New American Standard). And this truth is not known by reading the Bible but through a “personal” revelation. Hence I believe!