tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10199920.post3828794533557161086..comments2023-10-20T05:48:35.458-04:00Comments on THE ATHEIST JEW: If The New Testament Is Literal, How Do Christians Spin The Following?Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10199920.post-86573846544062639052007-10-26T01:18:00.000-04:002007-10-26T01:18:00.000-04:00BEAJ you've touched upon my personal christian whi...BEAJ you've touched upon my personal christian whipping boy and my favorite part of the good book. I hammer the bible beaters on this one (Mat 6 5-6) every chance I get.Joehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14955078574626461009noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10199920.post-79322776236776722082007-10-21T12:51:00.000-04:002007-10-21T12:51:00.000-04:00Orde:I can't say I've listened to the audios. I di...<B>Orde:</B><BR/><BR/>I can't say I've listened to the audios. I did however follow the link at the bottom of your comment and a few links from there.<BR/><BR/>You are by your own admission a literalist and so Genesis has, according to you, to be interpreted literally ("words mean what words mean"). But literal Genesis is in complete contradiction with all empirical evidence science has unearthed. A good part of that body of evidence is summed up quite nicely by Wiens (and of course many, many others). Other scientific paradigms, notably cosmology on the origin, evolution and age of the Universe and Solar System are in complete agreement with geological dating methods. It's hard to argue with a theory that predicts elemental abundances in the Universe with such precision, then claim Genesis must still somehow be relevant.<BR/><BR/>Many biblical literalists go much further in their attempt at trying to refute what simply stares them in the face: the <A HREF="http://developing-your-web-presence.blogspot.com/search?q=dinosaurs+roswell" REL="nofollow">Dinosaurs in the Garden of Eden croc</A>. This is were things really start getting disingenuous.<BR/><BR/>Instances were the Church has tried to suppress empirical evidence during the process of scientific discovery have been rather abundant in the past few hundred years. Galileo and heliocentrism is perhaps the best known example but not the only one by a long shot.<BR/><BR/>I submit it to you that for <I>anyone</I> who has a decent scientific understanding or education, Biblical literalism is simply not an option.<BR/><BR/>Rejecting literal Genesis as nothing but an obsolete fable does not mean believing there is proof of God's non-existence. Personally I'm agnostic on the question of God's existence because it's not a question that can be conclusively answered through empiricism or rationalism.Gerthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07752117708821629614noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10199920.post-55965753553444415422007-10-20T12:19:00.000-04:002007-10-20T12:19:00.000-04:00Though there is a range in the hermeneutical spect...Though there is a range in the hermeneutical spectrum from the wildly allegorical/metaphysical to the woodenly literal, there are 2 main interpretation approaches, the more allegorical (reformed/covenant theology, Catholicism, etc) and the literal ("literal, grammatical-historical" method), of which I'm the latter, so to hear from our own lips instead of just imagining how and why we take things certain ways, here are actual sermons on the topics mentioned in this post, how my then-pastor "spun" them:<BR/>1. Sermon <A HREF="http://lakesidechapel.com/audio/index.php?book=Genesis" REL="nofollow">1601</A> intro to Genesis 1, gets into taking the creation account literally.<BR/>2. Sermon <A HREF="http://lakesidechapel.com/audio/index.php?book=Matthew" REL="nofollow">4135</A>, on Mt 6:5-6 and location of prayer, <BR/>3. For the women keeping quiet, I Cor 14:34-35 issue, the Corinthians sermons still haven't been transferred from tape/CD to computer, but he's covers same topic (even mentions the Cor passage) in 4-sermon "Women in Worship" series for listen <A HREF="http://lakesidechapel.com/audio/index.php?book=Women+In+Worship" REL="nofollow">here</A><BR/><BR/>And very brief web page explanation of the "literal" system of interpretation <A HREF="http://www.gotquestions.org/Biblical-exegesis.html" REL="nofollow">here</A>Ordehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03710970513424387777noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10199920.post-81671618339804516342007-10-20T04:56:00.000-04:002007-10-20T04:56:00.000-04:00"God just couldn't make it easy for everyone to un..."God just couldn't make it easy for everyone to understand him, could he?" Good point.<BR/>There are thousands of things that even the non-literalists take literaly. That one must pray, do good works, have faith, forgive ... Other things, however, somehow people know better than God what he really meant but lacked the linguistic skills to say unequivocally. These they call allegories. Instead of saying these things are right and those things are not, people say these things are right and those things are also right otherwise they wouldn't have been written in the Bible. Which reminds me of this dialog from Alice in the Wonderland:<BR/>... said the Cat: "we're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad."<BR/>"How do you know I'm mad?" said Alice.<BR/>"You must be," said the Cat, "or you wouldn't have come here."<BR/>Same logic.Turtle Dove Machinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16229419515446093771noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10199920.post-78952400313101878052007-10-19T14:45:00.000-04:002007-10-19T14:45:00.000-04:00Orde, you don't need my permission, but you have i...Orde, you don't need my permission, but you have it anyway.Baconeaterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11134934827966299989noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10199920.post-12332935543938793722007-10-19T14:30:00.000-04:002007-10-19T14:30:00.000-04:00gert,I've got my spiritual armor on. But it's Bea...gert,<BR/>I've got my spiritual armor on. But it's Beaj's blog, and I'm thinking maybe his practicing Jewish readers might get pissed with a link to a Christian sermon (even though the pastor is also a Jew), though really I don't know, so I better get his permission first.Ordehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03710970513424387777noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10199920.post-40506682538627308372007-10-19T13:16:00.000-04:002007-10-19T13:16:00.000-04:00Orde:I'd love to see that.Expect serious counter-f...<B>Orde:</B><BR/><BR/>I'd love to see that.<BR/><BR/>Expect serious counter-fire though...Gerthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07752117708821629614noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10199920.post-67689074966280800072007-10-19T11:31:00.000-04:002007-10-19T11:31:00.000-04:00Can I put a link to an actual sermon how it is pre...Can I put a link to an actual sermon how it is preached in a Bible-believing Church?Ordehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03710970513424387777noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10199920.post-32821657989559146312007-10-19T11:16:00.000-04:002007-10-19T11:16:00.000-04:00BEAJ:For your "lurkers": here's an excellent artic...<B>BEAJ:</B><BR/><BR/>For your "lurkers": here's an excellent article about <A HREF="http://developing-your-web-presence.blogspot.com/2007/10/age-of-earth-christian-perspective.html" REL="nofollow">the age of the Earth, from a Christian perspective</A>.<BR/><BR/>Also good for any laymen or science buffs that are a bit rusty on radiometric dating (<I>not a new form of speed dating...</I>)Gerthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07752117708821629614noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10199920.post-24824854930524740982007-10-19T01:35:00.000-04:002007-10-19T01:35:00.000-04:00The Bible as "the literal word of God". Dear me, P...The Bible as "the literal word of God". Dear me, Pat Condell would have something juicy to say about that.<BR/>I think that anyone who has actually read the Bible and believes it is the literal word of God has either become insane from too much Bible study or was insane in the first place.Lexcenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17856993035719777231noreply@blogger.com