You: Unfortunately, I don't believe that there can be any authorities on this subject. What could the qualifications for such an authority be?

No amount of learning or social status will put a person in a position where everything they say must be taken as a fact regardless of how outrageous it may be. No amount of good works can stop someone from being deluded. I cannot think of anyone, real of imagined, who could change my philosophical position by saying to me that they had been personally touched by the hand of God.

Aaron: I find your lack of faith in family and friends sad, but there is nothing I can do about it. As you will not allow the testimony of others to sway you, can I persuade you to accept God into your heart and feel the love of the Holy Spirit for yourself?

You: I'm afraid not. How can I "accept into my heart" anything which I do not believe is true. That is the worst kind of intellectual fraud that I can imagine.