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One can reasonably accept it for what it is, though not what Believers claim it to be, with the reservations that the NT, at least, was not written contemporaneously and the whole thing has been collated edited and translated to the point where it represents the interests and prejudices of its editors and translators as much as its original authors.My favorite example is where the Hebrew version of Genesis states that all animals were created with a soul ("nefesh") but most Latin and English versions do not, in order to justify blood sports. Frankly, if you doubt the authenticity of Chapter One, it's not a good idea to base serious life choices on the rest of the book. So use the Talmud (because the scrolls are copied, not edited or translated) for guidance, and take the rest with a pinch of salt.
Quote from: duffyd on 02/04/2020 18:47:03That is what is so cool about GOD. He can be known!Wrong!An angel fell from heaven with a broken wing. A couple of lads found him and took him to their local vet who fixed the wing and fed him on ambrosia for a few weeks, then called the lads back to say goodbye. The angel said "You've all been very kind. What can I do to repay you?" "Just tell us what God is like""Well, she's black....."
That is what is so cool about GOD. He can be known!
It's a ramshackle collection of historical fact swimming in myth and magic, with a few good ideas for survival in a desert (Leviticus) and an urban society (Mark). A sound basis for workers' rights ("six days shalt thou labor…" "the laborer is worthy of his hire....") and some general commandments that underpin most criminal and civil law. But it doesn't provide any excuse for tithes, pogroms, crusades, inquisitions, self-flagellation, paedophilia, shunning, pilgrimage...… or any evidence for the supernatural or an afterlife, and the reification of the adjectives "good" and "evil" is an insult to the human intellect.
The Bible, as generally on sale in the UK, contains a whole raft of begats and begots,
A fundamentalist rabbi crucified for annoying the Romans and the established clergy? Quite likely (we are an argumentative tribe). Virgin birth? It's not unique to the Judaeo-Christian mythology - indeed there have been 14 crucified saviour-gods born of virgins around the world - but it isn't believable either.
"eyewitness" accounts by people who weren't alive at the time.
Quote from: alancalverd on 03/04/2020 09:35:36Quote from: duffyd on 03/04/2020 06:54:22I'd be playing the piano in a whore house in The Big Easy, drinking port and stumbling to the john. It's what I do for relaxation, but your god seems to have closed the whorehouses with COVID. Pity - they never had this much trouble with syphilis or any of His other creations. But you see I care about people, He doesn't.You care about Him?
Quote from: duffyd on 03/04/2020 06:54:22I'd be playing the piano in a whore house in The Big Easy, drinking port and stumbling to the john. It's what I do for relaxation, but your god seems to have closed the whorehouses with COVID. Pity - they never had this much trouble with syphilis or any of His other creations. But you see I care about people, He doesn't.
I'd be playing the piano in a whore house in The Big Easy, drinking port and stumbling to the john.
Even though you refused to address my question, I will tell you that it didn't take 200 years for the N.T. to be written after His death. Way, way off.
You don't know what he preached. How can you call Him a fundamentalist rabbi? How can you put any label on Him? You know practically nothing about the guy.
Quote from: duffyd on 15/04/2020 08:51:45You don't know what he preached. How can you call Him a fundamentalist rabbi? How can you put any label on Him? You know practically nothing about the guy. Wow a classic case of projection. Just couldn't let this one pass. Or do you have a time machine?Let me rephrase that for you so you sound rational. "I don't know what he preached. How can I call Him a fundamentalist rabbi? How can I put any label on Him? I know practically nothing about the guy."
If I got something wrong, by all means, prove it.
Piece by piece, step by step, precept upon precept, we will take apart the conclusions you reached.
im by no means a scientist or even highly educated. but the last 20 odd years (since the internet) it always seems to be my hobby to learn about all things science. if i could have my life over i would have studied hard and tried to become some kind of braniac.so in all my reading about all kinds of subjects there is always the same common underlying theme that is there if you decide to see it. that the religions of the world are just wrong.there is so much scientific and mathematical evidence against the bible that it is just staggering that any educated (scientific) person accepts it. for a laymen i get it. the whole 'feel good' or 'someone watching down upon us' is a very sobering thought. and if you dont know any better than why not believe it. (that used to be me) but anyone that bothers to invest the time to learn about the world around us and learns a bit from each field of science(and maths) can easily see that the bible just simply does not correspond with what we observe in the world. (this is inherently different to the concept of a creator though)so, given all the knowledge that man has now, why do people still consider the bible as 'more' than a story book
Quote from: jfoldbar on 01/04/2020 08:45:34im by no means a scientist or even highly educated. but the last 20 odd years (since the internet) it always seems to be my hobby to learn about all things science. if i could have my life over i would have studied hard and tried to become some kind of braniac.so in all my reading about all kinds of subjects there is always the same common underlying theme that is there if you decide to see it. that the religions of the world are just wrong.there is so much scientific and mathematical evidence against the bible that it is just staggering that any educated (scientific) person accepts it. for a laymen i get it. the whole 'feel good' or 'someone watching down upon us' is a very sobering thought. and if you dont know any better than why not believe it. (that used to be me) but anyone that bothers to invest the time to learn about the world around us and learns a bit from each field of science(and maths) can easily see that the bible just simply does not correspond with what we observe in the world. (this is inherently different to the concept of a creator though)so, given all the knowledge that man has now, why do people still consider the bible as 'more' than a story bookDr. Collins answers your question, as I said. Did you get a chance to read his book? I guess not. I guess you don't want the answer because by any measure he's a scientist and he believes the bible.