rrobs
Well-Known Member
I wasn't thinking of them particularly. I was thinking more about non-believers.Don't know how many young earth creationist are on the forum. But guess its directed at them
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I wasn't thinking of them particularly. I was thinking more about non-believers.Don't know how many young earth creationist are on the forum. But guess its directed at them
While true they didn't have atom smashers and telescopes, they did have eyes. With those eyes they observed nature and came up with a model that fit their observations. I suppose they could have come up with some other model, but it would never have been like our modern day model.We find the methods of the authors of Genesis quaint because they just made everything up without any research.
No. More like I'm not going very far at all in denying human ability to get past their own egos.And you are going a long long way to deny your gods teaching abilities
I'm talking about truth that is in accordance with reality. Facts have a way of changing, so I'm not talking about facts. Reality, and therefore truth, does not change.
OK, you can't (more like won't) accept my definition, which is not actually "my" definition. If you don't like that definition, complain to Webster. In any case, care to elaborate on the "real" meaning of omnipotence?
The word "omnipotent" in Revelation 19:6 is the Greek work "pantokrator" and it means almighty. Of the ten times it is used, this is the only time they translated it as "omnipotent."
On the other hand, I've not told the whole story here. God in fact will get His was in the end. He will recreate this heaven and earth, and the equity and justice we all so desperately want will absolutely come to pass. But, as I said, to get there, God must work with people, which is obviously a serious impediment. Many times God had to try something different when His first attempt at something failed. Hardly seems to fit any notion of omnipotence to me.
Once the devil killed Jesus the whole plan was irrevocably set in place. In that sense God did will what He wants, but He can not simply wave a magic wand and make it right again. That is the proper context to consider when reading Revelation 19:6. It is talking about a whole different loaf of bread than the one we have now.
But why would non believers want it to conform to modern science, we don't believe it is true at all and that it is written by humans which didn't knew better.I wasn't thinking of them particularly. I was thinking more about non-believers.
No. More like I'm not going very far at all in denying human ability to get past their own egos.
God is not limiting you. You are limiting Him.
You are missing my point here. I'm probably not being clear, so it's on me.That was basically just a restatement of your OP. I understand you acknowledge the Genesis account of things is not accurate.
My question was, given that you acknowledge that, what convinces you that another aspect of the same story, the notion of two original humans who "screwed up" and that we need Jesus to come fix, is accurate? Your evidence must not be Genesis, since you admit that's not accurate. So what is it?
Well, many non-believers dismiss the scriptures based on their view that Genesis does not agree with their modern god of science. I was just trying to say that God had no intention of going into minute detail on the nature of our world. It's not necessary that we know about the expanding universe to bring about our redemption. I'm sure He knows way, way (inflatable more) more about it than even our modern science knows, so it's pretty sad to see so many base their future on science instead of the scriptures. That's why I pray for them.But why would non believers want it to conform to modern science, we don't believe it is true at all and that it is written by humans which didn't knew better.
(Might have misunderstood you)
The creation story of Genesis is often used as "proof" that the Bible is false. Of course it is true that the universe is constructed in a way that is not even close to what is said in Genesis. But is it reasonable to think that God should have told the people about atoms, leptons, quarks, space-time continuum, conservation of energy, etc.? Personally, I think it highly unreasonable to think that way.
Since God could not really explain the truth of cosmology, and since it didn't matter one whit anyway, He just wisely let them believe what they believed concerning the structure of the universe. It was a moot point.
To those who insist that Genesis must conform to our modern science, I would issue a challenge to come up with the curriculum that would have "enlightened" the ancient Near East on how the world came to be and the structure of the universe.
Don't blame God, Israelite Holy men wrote and rewrote the Old Testament books. They wrote in "preacher speak", as if God were speaking. It was for public consumption by the child like mind of Bronze age sheep herders in the wake of the devastating loss of Jerusalem and a second enslavement of the Jewish people in Babylon.
Hmmm....then I guess there's no reason you can't know everything concerning 41st century science. After all, you have no such limits. It couldn't possibly be you that is incapable of knowing such knowledge. Your ignorance of things you can't possibly know must be God's fault.Gobbledygook. Ego has nothing to do with the statement, if god is so great then why was he incapable of teaching QM? That is your gods limitation, not mine
I kinda thought you felt that way.Nothing in that books speaks to me here in the 21st century.
You seem to understand those ideas? Why couldn't any human being? If this god were real and dictated scripture, the account might be condensed, but it shouldn't have any wrong ideas. I'm personally not interested in legend or myth.
Imagine the power of a scripture saying that If thou groweth a particular fungus and collect its discharges, they can be used to correct infections, which are caused by tiny beings too small for you to see, but capable of causing death." The obvious reason why no such insight are recorded in scripture is simply that the authors had no knowledge of them, meaning that the authors were human, not divine. A god would do better. Why try to convince people of your divinity with parlor tricks when you can show superhuman knowledge of things like antibiotics?
"Lo and behold! The universe came into being one moment and began expandething for eighteen thousand thousand thousand years, extremely rapidly for a season, yeah verily eventually formething clusters of stars, including one containing the sun and earth formething when the universe was more than half it's present age," etc..
It would be easier for a god than it was for me, but not for ancients that didn't know where the rain came from. The would be expected to write mythology, like every other pre-modern culture.
Then why read such a book if you don't have a child-like bronze age mind? Nothing in that books speaks to me here in the 21st century.
The problem with the Bible is that some if it is true. Superstitious men writing about ancient events handed down via oral tradition through fragmented cultures, disrupted by endless wars and influenced by multiple evolved religions.
Suppose there really were two incarnate celestial beings from another world who arrived on a confused and disrupted evolutionary world 30,000+ years ago?
I would say that beings of relative divinity were involved leading to much speculation and conjecture by superstitious humans.Agree, but I'd word it differently. I'd say that the problem is that it's not all true. Remember, the Bible is only interesting if its the unadulterated word of a superhuman intelligence. Otherwise, it's just more literature.
As soon as there is any evidence of a human contribution, and with no way to tell if any of it is from a god let alone which parts if it is only partially true, the book loses its authority. I don't really care what people think I should believe or do. I decide that myself, but would defer to a divinity.
But if some or all of the book is of human origin, and there is no way to tell if any of it much less which parts are accurate, then none of it is reliable.
Again, if you're going to introduce naturalistic explanations for the existence of scripture, then the scripture loses significance. If it's not of divine origin, it might as well be The Illiad. I'm not basing my life on that, either.
Do you think the creation story would have been worse or less effective if things had be created in the correct order? and if not, then why do you think it weren't written that way?Well, many non-believers dismiss the scriptures based on their view that Genesis does not agree with their modern god of science. I was just trying to say that God had no intention of going into minute detail on the nature of our world. It's not necessary that we know about the expanding universe to bring about our redemption. I'm sure He knows way, way (inflatable more) more about it than even our modern science knows, so it's pretty sad to see so many base their future on science instead of the scriptures. That's why I pray for them.
Hmmm....then I guess there's no reason you can't know everything concerning 41st century science. After all, you have no such limits. It couldn't possibly be you that is incapable of knowing such knowledge. Your ignorance of things you can't possibly know must be God's fault.
Do you know differential calculus? Assuming not (most don't), is that God's "fault?"
Genesis was perfectly accurate to the people to whom it was actually given.
God says that the reason this earth is not an ideal place, is because of Adam and Eve's disobedience.
They did not take care of the perfect creation God gave them. It became imperfect by their thinking they could God. That's the sum essence of what Genesis says.
To what would you attribute the evil we see happening on a daily basis all over the world?
Unlike the average Sumerian, I was able to attend Georgia Tech. But then if it weren't for the "ignorant" ancient Middle Easterner coming up with, oh, say something like metalurgy, then poor 'ol GA Tech would never have seen the results of an atom smashing and then I'd still think like the old way.You seem to understand those ideas? Why couldn't any human being?
A god would do better? That's a huge assumption. Not much different that believing God created Adam and Eve.Imagine the power of a scripture saying that If thou groweth a particular fungus and collect its discharges, they can be used to correct infections, which are caused by tiny beings too small for you to see, but capable of causing death." The obvious reason why no such insight are recorded in scripture is simply that the authors had no knowledge of them, meaning that the authors were human, not divine. A god would do better.
Well I could use any number of ancient texts, secular or religious, to point out your arrogance in describing some of the most successful societies of all time as having a child like bronze age mind, but I won't....ooops....I guess I kinda did... No offense intended, but really think about it. You'd probably take it back. You seem like a decent sort to me.Then why read such a book if you don't have a child-like bronze age mind? Nothing in that books speaks to me here in the 21st century.
You seem to understand what I'm saying.I'm genuinely not clear what you mean by this. I thought we just agreed that Genesis is not at all accurate in its description of the creation of the world. So by "accurate to the people to whom it was actually given," do you mean the people who wrote Genesis thought it was an accurate description? If that's what you mean, sure, but that is almost a truism; of course they thought what they were writing was true, or they would've written something else. The question is whether what they wrote was actually accurate, not merely whether they thought it was. And what I thought we had already agreed was that Genesis was not actually accurate, regardless what the authors may have thought at the time. Which leads to my question: if other parts of the story aren't actually accurate, what convinces you that the Adam and Eve part is?