Belief in gods (rambling comments)
I was reading Chapter Six of your book. Some of your arguments are a bit weak. Jesus contradicting the old testament or even himself doesn't matter so much because of metaphor and the idea of shaking up old institutions. Nick Cave says a lot of interesting stuff about the intention behind the words of Jesus. Jesus railed against the order of the day and he gave a new commandment to overrule the ten commandments (love one another as i have loved you). And his story was told by four authors. The necessity of four versions of Jesus' tale, and people who want to go by both the old and new testaments, are obviously both questionable.
However I did find the stuff about Henotheism interesting. Christianity is always described as monotheistic when it is demonstrably not. I've never heard that before.
But I do have an answer for the paradox of the trinity: Optimus Prime (from the original version of The Transformers; pop fiction is becoming as convoluted as any religious text).
The original Optimus Prime transforms into a cab over semi truck. The truck's cab transforms into the robot mode of Prime himself, with vast strength and armed with a laser rifle. Contained within his chest is the mystic talisman known as the Autobot Matrix of Leadership (or Creation Matrix), carried by all Autobot leaders and passed down through the ages. The truck's trailer disconnects and transforms into the Combat Deck, a mobile battle-station/command headquarters with an "Auto-Launcher" robot armed with assorted artillery and beam weapons. It can also serve as a radio antenna for battlefield communications between the Autobots. The Combat Deck can launch Prime's third component, Roller, a mobile scout buggy that can easily slip behind enemy lines. Optimus' senses are tied into Roller's, and can perceive what Roller does. Injury to one component is felt by each of the others, and while Prime could survive the destruction of either, despite the slight degree of autonomy they possess, the Combat Deck and Roller would not be able to survive without him.
Rather than wading into what you've written or the bible, it seems more pointed to question the larger issue. What is the sense of needing a book to survive? It seems odd. I don't have anywhere on my naked body to carry a bible and even wearing clothes it's a little awkward to carry a bible. I guess a pocket bible might provide a bit of protection from a stray bullet if I wore it in a pocket over my breast, but I don't wear clothes with breast pockets often. I'm also rarely around gunfire.
It also seems better to question the people making claims than the claims themselves. I suppose on a grand scale it's hard to see where people are coming from. In your personal life, in direct contact, how seriously would you take a family member or friend's sudden proclamation that a god exists?
All these ideas come from somewhere. At this point in history they seem to be hereditary. Only desire can be talked about in regards to things like gods. Not faith, nor belief. Belief is based on knowledge. You can't fake it or feel it. Without experience of gods, only feelings can be the basis for a claimed belief in gods. Faith is a euphemistic term for traditional religious people and belief is a euphemism for all spiritual people. You can't believe something you don't know.
But I guess if you were to take that on board you wouldn't be able to play with your "I believe..." toy.
Having said all of that (...!), I have a comment about Chapter 13 and the brief mention of Baal and Moloch. You do say that the things said regarding Baal and Moloch are alleged but I think it's more than that. If I remember the things I've read correctly over the years, Baal was an agricultural god of one of the peoples conquered by the ancient israelites. As the israelites conquered new peoples, they demonized whatever gods the people already worhipped, literally. This is why there are so many names for the devil. Beelzebub means something like Baal of the Flies; the israelites turned Baal from an omen of good harvest to a symbol of pestilence.
Cheer
p.s. the Superman Trilemma was cute. I love The Chronicles of Narnia but reading CS Lewis extolling the Jesus Trilemma makes me wince.
p.p.s. almost forgot. Regarding your refuting of Pascal's Wager you say as your third point:
Third, the assumption of the wager is that the cost of being a Christian is zero. This is not so. The “free gift” of salvation, as some call it, isn’t free. Atheists, deists and other freethinkers save 10% of their income and don’t have to spend time in church.
This is a bit troubling. I would put this point first and rephrase it much more strongly.
The price of being a Christian is to live your entire life with a degree of unnecessary repression, fear, etc.
If the Christian is wrong, then they've wasted their only chance at living a happy free life. Hardly nothing to worry about.
