Debunking Christianity: “The Human Faces of God” by Thom Stark, Should be Required Reading in Every Evangelical Seminary, Bar None

John Loftus posted a review of Thom Stark's book: The Human Faces of God. According to the review, I disagree with much in the book, but that wouldn't stop me from reading it. Loftus and Stark actually agree on a lot of things and disagree on a lot of things. One point Loftus and Stark wrote about came to my attention in a big way:

Stark claims he is a Christian because he was born into that faith by Christian parents. And although he knows his parent’s flaws he is still their son and embraces them. “I am a Christian,” he writes, “because I chose to be a Christian. I am a Christian because I am a white male living in the West…Because I am a Christian, this book we call the ‘Holy Bible’ is uniquely my own. Whether I want it or not, I am stuck with it. Even if I were never to pick it up again, I could never put it down. It has shaped me in irrevocable ways.” (p. 242).

I really don't think Starks think that the only people can be Christian are white men who live in the west. That would be silly. How every I think it's a pretty bad reason to be Christian just because your parents raised you that way and you live in a nominal Christian culture. That's not a good enough reason to be a committed Christian. What struck me is how different Stark's definition of a Christian is verses what the Biblical description of a Christian.The Bible clearly describes what a Christian believes. Here is an example:

¹ Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. ² This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, ³ but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.
⁴ You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. ⁵ They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. ⁶ We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit^a]" of truth and the spirit of falsehood.

Does anyone see Christianity defined by race, culture, or geography? Nope.

Given that Stark denies the infallibility of the Bible - it's veracity and consistency - and the essential doctrines that characterizes who God is and what He has done, I don't know how Stark can consider himself a Christian.

Debunking Christianity: “The Human Faces of God” by Thom Stark, Should be Required Reading in Every Evangelical Seminary, Bar None