Believing

Perfect.

 

No offense, FJ, but to many people that is how it should me.

I did not "forget" anything. I didn't mention the OT, I only stated that some were more time.

As to the rest, you are merely applying a different criteria to one concept over another. God is something that hasn't been established with any sort of measurability. As such, you can apply whatever limits you want God to be bound by. Because the universe is something we live in and are a part arguing that it is infinite is a far more difficult concept to wrap the mind around.

It should also be noted that I make no exception for Islam, Judaism or Christianity. Hinduism and Buddhism are not monotheistic religions and they don't believe (I'm a bit sketchy on Hinduism) in the concept of Heaven. To me, all of these religions are bound under the same skepticism.

I would also point out, ADO, that you dodged the question of how people so ignorant to the world in every single avenue, aside from farming to a degree, could be so accurate when it comes to how the universe was created?

Were people handed the correct religion some 2000 years ago and nothing could be improved upon? Hell, we can't go three months without improving upon computer speed. How is it that religion was so written down so "perfectly?"

 

The way it was explained to me by our (Catholic) priest is that you are allowed one meal and two snacks. But, he explained, that doesn't mean you go to an all you can eat buffet and stuff your face Fat-Boys-in-Krush-Groove style.

In terms of "does being a Christian make you conservative or liberal?", I don't know. The US Catholic Bishops are opposed to the death penalty. They are also against the strict anti-immigration measures, looking at immigration as a humanitarian issue. (the poor and needy, etc.). This would fly in the face of many Christian "conservatives". Of course, they're also anti-abortion and believe homosexuality is wrong.

Here's my 2 cents on Scientology: Have you ever heard of a Scientology-sponsored mission to a third world country to help the poor and needy and those less fortunate? That's a serious question. I know I haven't. If not, why not? Why aren't they recruiting new members among the poor?

 

Here's an answer you won't like...
IF there is a God, and IF he spoke to the men who wrote the Bible, THEN isn't is possible he inspired them to do it correctly, and has overseen that it maintained its integrity through the years?
I know you can disagree with that, but is it anymore implausible than the first two? Or that Jesus rose from the dead?
If you want to believe none of it, that's fine, but I don't think you can point at the Bible being accurate for 2,000 years as the least likely of those assertions.

 

Based on the fact (yes it is a fact) that the Bible is inaccurate at points and inconsistent in others, many would argue that it is fallable and therefore must not come from the god described as infallable.

An interesting comment a friend of mine had made:
Sure, the Bible has inspired a great many individuals. But so to have the works of Shakespeare. So, why is it that God would be a worse writer than one of his creations?

It is debatable that missionaries to poor areas are helping or hindering the progress of the poor in those countries.

It is also possible that Scientology doesn't require new recruits. Not all religions look to propagate political policy throughout the world in order to gain influence.

 

Give me a specific example of where the Bible is inaccurate. People say this all the time, but I have yet to hear someone actually point out any of these inaccuracies.

 

Dinosaurs.

 

See, hear is where we get into interpretation rather than inaccuracy.

Some will say the Bible says the earth was created in six days. That's six times 24 hours.

Others says it's not meant literally, that "days" mean something entirely different to the Creator, etc.

 

How can a book of parable and poetry be "accurate" or "inaccurate?"

What about the First Council of Nicaea in 325 CE? In which it was decided what to include and what to leave out? The Apocrypha; The Gnostic Gospels; the Gospel of Judas? There isn't a verse in the Bible that hasn't been tampered with by the hand of man. Inspired intervention? Editing? Or simple politicking and ward-heeling?

As to how a Bible might or might not be inaccurate, if the Fifth Commandment (or 6th, depending on your affiliation) is "Thou Shalt Not Commit Murder," why does it appear in the King James Bible - by a factor of magnitude the most popular Western translation - as "Thou Shalt Not Kill?"

 

Because you asked...
Bible Contradictions


I will also point out what jgmacg posted.

 

To be honest, I worry very little about "how" it all started, if it was God or the Big Bang or any other number of possibilities. All I know is that I'm here now. That's where my focus tends to go to, is on what I can do here and now to make my corner of the world as good as it can be.

I know, I've ducked the original question. In the grand scheme of things, though, I don't find the "How did it start?" question all that important. I don't spend a lot of time thinking about it. The how is much less important than the why, as in "Why did it start?" or, more specifically, "Why am I here?"

 

Does the Bible specifically say there were no dinosaurs? I mean, it seems you're putting a lot of pressure on one book to list everything in the history of the planet.