Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
Do you believe in a God
This discussion has been closed.
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Comments
Vodalus, sorry man, but you are no better than the Jahova's Witnesses that knock on my door.
"Whoever controls the media controls the mind..-'Jim Morrison"
"When decorum is repression, the only dignity free men have is to speak out." ~Abbie Hoffman
Nobody has ever seen any of the hundreds of gods currently being worshipped around the world today.
Actually there are reports of people seeing their gods or things in relation to their gods even today. As the old saying goes though - seeing isn't believing. We go by word of mouth and by experience. Both of those things, though, need to be reviewed but are still present to this day. I'm sure that there are plenty of people today who would claim that they've had empirical evidence that a god, angel, demon, or simply other life form little known exists in this world. Christians, or at least myself, state that those life forms are the above. As I've already said, some people's testimony is good enough for me - other's testimony is not. I don't believe everything I hear or see or feel. In fact I question the Bible when I read it since I know the English version is not completely perfect.
Although no-one has ever seen a god, I have a warm feeling in my tummy that leads me to conclude that one exists
I can't say I've felt the warm feeling yet.
I've had another Christian say something to this effect to me as well, but I'm still waiting for it. I've got a question though. Has the theory of evolution been proven by more than one source (or any source) - I mean, cells forming from chemical compounds which act as biological components?
Again, you fail to argue against the points I made
And you fail to reply to the post I made. I stated: Does it make sense to say that these ghost, angel, and demon sitings and miracles and prophecies and beliefs in divine beings are all linked and could possibly have originated from one God and his continued existence? Is that a reasonably sound theory? I mean, as reasonable as the Big Bang or Evolution Theory, etc. of which we've formulated and so many people rely upon?
oh and wtf is up with christians thinking that animals dont have souls... wtf humans are a type of animal
Yes, humans are a type of creature. And I don't know where Christians would get the idea that animals don't have souls. However, God focuses mainly on humans because it was mainly humans that sinned and their souls' continued existence then entered into question.
If you were born alone in this world and lived with no human interaction would you believe in (a) God?
Hellen Keller thought there was someone like that before she was educated enough to effectively communicate.
I was tempted to create a new account called "The Real God" and post "WTF do you mean DO I EXIST??"
Lol. I was thinking about someone doing that, but I wouldn't do it myself just out of respect. It would have been amusing to me though.
He then most likely decided to convince people this man was true, considering people were superstitious at that time.. That is the origin of "Jesus Christ"
That's one theory.
there is no real reason, but MY reason is to have fun and enjoy it, or else.. whats actually the point of living?
I think I've already stated that, from my perspective, God has given everyone free will to decide the own point of their lives and the meaning of their existence. Sometimes he uses others and gives them a meaning for their life.
the chance of there being a god is as infinitessimally remote as there being invisible hoovers in my yard, purple pumpkins on Jupiter
I'd say that was false unless there was a wide-spread belief in purple pumpkins thousands of years ago and still is today with historical backing and claims of visions, miracles, etc. Also, unless it's been proven that a number of chemical compounds necessary for life to exist can slowly form by natural trial and error, then there's still the case of who or what made or caused the life on this planet to exist or the life on any other planet for that matter.
Yes, I do believe in God. And everything does happen for a reason.
I think a good illustration of that is the movie "Signs". It's a great movie. Or rather "Signs" is a good illustration of what really happens in life sometimes.
Excuse me Christian Archaelogists WERE in fact falsifying information they found in order to perserve their religion.
Quite possibly some have, but it is unlikely that everything that is an archaeological breakthrough for a certain frame of beliefs has been falsified.
Evolution is a fact (yes, it's called "evolution theory", and it's a tested and proven theory
If you mean adaptation, I believe in that, of course. I'm just not sure about biological life forming without intervention from other life.
Can god create a rock that's so heavy he can't lift it?
If you look at the Trinity concept, then yes. Christ was God in the flesh by the Biblical account. Do you think Christ (God) could have lifted a 4-ton boulder with physical might? You're thinking in terms of our physical life and our human personage. Though I believe we are created in the image of God, there are still some things we can not yet accomplish. The Trinity concept is hard to understand as well, but with a little bit of education and thought I've come to some rough conclusions. One theory, thanks to a friend of mine, is that Water can be found as ice, steam, or simply liquid and yet at the same time it is effectively water - H2O. There is also the family theory. A man and woman get together to have intercourse. I've heard that (and I don't completely believe it) a man and woman are genetically combined somewhat when this happens and the baby too is combined with the woman in the womb, yet the three are genetically one. You can also clearly see that the woman and the baby are one but also two separate beings at the same time. God is hard to understand, but I think with enough time we may come to understand him (at least in part).
No one knows what happens after we die
Short answer: I believe our bodies sit in a grave and rot for the remainder of our time on this world and then comes the resurrection, but then again resurrection is fantasy or should I say it's Science Fiction? Ever watched Stargate SG-1?
Totally! The bible forgot to mention dinosaurs and tons of other historical events.
Hm. I'm not completely sure about this. I've had some different translations that word "Leviathon" as something different each time. I'm going to try to get a book on Hebrew and read up on it. I've already studied it in part and have been able to pronounce some words (whether or not I know what they mean).
Firemagic, did you change your avatar's signature?
Yes he did and I personally thank him for it.
When I asked him how fossils ended up underground, he said with a straight face "God put them there to test our faith".
I've also encountered someone who thought that there were 4 million people in the world. Though I wouldn't know the number myself except by word of mouth - I've heard it is around 6 billion. Just because one person is ignorant and defensive of a belief system doesn't mean that the belief system is wrong. I'm not saying that is your argument either. I'm just stating this.
Leviticus 21:11 "And lo, there were dinosaurs and stuff."
Um. No?
Good joke though. See my above comment and help me out here. I've heard Leviathon also translated as crocodile or some sort of thing too, but I'm not sure.
He takes care of not only more than 500 million prayers at earth.. but maybe billions and billions of other creatures on other planets that might be more intelligent than us.
How does a King manage his kingdom? He has plenty of messengers. If I were a king and I said that I had built my kingdom with my own two hands, would that mean that I had really done it or simply managed it well enough with the help of others? I'm not sure whether God could manage it himself. Perhaps he can. The Kingdom of God is composed of Christians who, their bodies are seen as the Temple of the Holy Spirit, they themselves are seen as the members of the Kingdom. I once had a friend tell me that she stopped believing just like in her childhood she stopped believing in a santa that could magically go to every house in one night and deliver presents. While I replied to her, I was magically in my own house 60 miles away from hers and yet speaking to her. Technology is an amazing thing.
And according to the bible, it's a sin to make love to your own relatives. Then... how did we originate.
I think that it was only a sin after the Flood or sometime around that period, because of genetic defects, etc. Genetic defects can be amplified through the offspring of two family members who are closely related in genetics. I don't pretend to understand genetics, but I do think there is a reason for every one of God's commands. Those who mate with close family members will have offspring that are likely going to be insane or have some genetic defect such as being born mentally retarded, etc.
Realists are the people that can FACE reality.
Your reality is in error, if the above is your supporting argument.
actually Behemoth is assumed to tbe a Hippopotamus and Leviathan is thought to be a whale.
Behemoth and Leviathon are thought to be a number of things. They are also thought to be dinosaurs. I won't be able to formulate my own opinion until I research them and look them up in the original texts and historical context for myself.
Wow...so you believe that humans and dinos existed together...despite scientific evidence to the contrary??
I think I've seen and heard of human footprints being found inside dinosaur's as well. Of course this is shaky evidence, but I'd think that not all scientific evidence rules against it. There are also some scientists who are completely wrong in the field of archaeology. I think I once heard of an archaeological find that turned out to be the head of a barby doll or some such thing.
In fact, the NLT version just leaves the term behemoth out and substiutes the word hippo
It is already known that English versions of scripture are found in error. I don't fully trust them, but I don't let my faith fall to pieces because of translation errors either.
Definition of Behemoth ; any animal or thing that is huge or very powerful.
The definition of a behemoth for modern english was possibly formulated somewhat from the Bible (or at least from scripture). That's just a guess though.
Well, considering there is a 64 million year gap in the fossil record when there are neither dinosaur nor human fossils, I'd say that pretty much sums up your ridiculous assertion that man and dinos lived together.
If you're talking about carbon dating, then that method has been proven I believe to be in error past a certain point.
If nothing cannot cause something and nothing cannot cause itself, then that proves against the existence of god as he cannot cause himself to come into existence.
Yeah. As I've already stated, you have to belief in a self-sustaining multiverse or you have to believe in God (currently, that is).
You are the person claiming that something nobody has ever seen exists.
You mean something that you haven't seen, I haven't seen, and most people haven't seen. There are still those who claim to see such things though. Even in the Old Testament, God did not show himself to people much in the world, but rather his power.
The "behemoths" mentioned in the bible are elephants (it even states in the translation), not dinosaurs.
In what translation? In one old translation it also stated that Moses had horns. I think I've already mentioned the Lesbian Bible translation too. See how people can corrupt the belief in God and scripture so easily? A thousand years from now if we're all still around, people will be pointing to the Lesbian Bible as further "proof" that scripture is inaccurate and flawed and that Christianity is a fairytale.
And its also proven that humans originate from monkeys/gorillas.
Actually, I've heard that there are some flaws in that analysis.
There are millions of species of animals in this world, but yet, somehow, Noah managed to fit 2 of every kind in his little wooden boat.
Little? I think it was two of every animal or some such thing. Just from watching commercials I've heard that ants can survive under water for quite a long time. Not to mention many things could have gone deep underground beforehand and as nature usually sees such changes in the environment more readily than Man, it is likely that things sought refuge beforehand as well.
Something can not have been there FOREVER.
Can something exist forever?
The universe was created by something, somewhere, somehow by something greater that we do not know of.
By something greater that we do not know of. You are right.
and admit to everyone you simply WANT to believe these things
I know I want to believe in a loving God. I don't want to believe in Hell though, but I do.
How do you know those footnotes weren't inspired by god? How do you know the bible is?
I personally don't know whether scripture is inspired by events managed by God or not. Scripture is a historical account as well as a personal account of ordinary and extraordinary events that support the belief in God and creation.
They would all require proof before they were to be taken seriously
The claim that a 12 year-old can momentarily survive the aftermath of a plunge from an airplane to the ground is an extraordinary claim as well, but I have seen for my own eyes the video and that is almost as good as any proof that we have in our current age even though videos and information can be easily altered. It was on Real TV - don't know if that holds any merit, but I've also heard extraordinary claims that are also believable.
It was written by common folk like you and me.
Look through the book of Proverbs and tell me that it has no credibility. I think I know what you mean, but you are generalizing and simplifying just as (I think) Methane did with the rocks combining, etc. If you're trying to prove a point simplifying is sometimes necessary but there is also oversimplification and it does prove nothing. You are right that ordinary people wrote the scriptures, but it is then logical to assume that the old prophecies of the last days of the moon turning to blood and such is simply stating that within the science of their time, the moon seemed to turn to blood but was simply turning red from an eclipse or other natural causes. The fact that the scriptures were written by fallible man yet possibly inspired by perfect God actually supports this belief system and does little to disprove it.
I think David_Wolfpa was joking guys
Which also proves that atheists will believe any extraordinary claim - such that the Bible is so blatantly misguided as to claim that animals built boats. Atheists are people just like Christians, Buddhists, Hindus, Satanic worshippers, Wiccans, etc. They are fallible, of course.
no god no miracles no face in the sky no shit no nothing
Actually, life itself, by the scriptural account of creation would be the biggest miracle yet. And you are oversimplifying which is something I hope not to do in this debate. Ok. Anyway, I apologize for any errors in my post. I'm sure you'll let me know if there is anything wrong with it.
"Put your foot where your mouth is." - Wisdom from my grandfather
"Paper or plastic? ... because I'm afraid I'll have to suffocate you unless you put this bag on your head..." - Ethnitrek
AC1: Wierding from Harvestgain
Where in the bible does it state that incest is ok?
Right at the very start.
According to the bible, Adam mated with Eve. The only two people on planet Earth, right?
They "begat" two sons, Cain and Able.
Then, in Genesis 4:17: "Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch and he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch".
Since the only people on the planet were Adam and Eve and their sons Cain and Abel..... Cain must have married and had sex with his Mom, Eve.
Ewwww.....
God used a rib from Adam to create Eve. She was created to be a companion and wife, not as a sister or daughter.
Adam had 'many sons and daughters' in life. There's no mention of a time line between when Cain left for Nod and when he 'knew his wife'. Granted, mostly likely a sister.
I know there are areas, like Deuteronomy and Leviticus, of the bible that state that incest is a sin.
Ico
Oh, cruel fate, to be thusly boned. Ask not for whom the bone bones. It bones for thee.
To who ever that said it...
Love is not an emotion. It is not a mood.
Love is independant of Emotion and Independent of Mood. Emotion is a mental state of mind. But I sure you guys realize that love doesn't care if you are angry, happy, sad, blue, down. Love just is...
But you can't prove that it exists.....
here is the exact definition:
love Audio pronunciation of "love" ( P ) Pronunciation Key (lv)
n.
1. A deep, tender, ineffable feeling of affection and solicitude toward a person, such as that arising from kinship, recognition of attractive qualities, or a sense of underlying oneness.
2. A feeling of intense desire and attraction toward a person with whom one is disposed to make a pair; the emotion of sex and romance.
3.
1. Sexual passion.
2. Sexual intercourse.
3. A love affair.
4. An intense emotional attachment, as for a pet or treasured object.
5. A person who is the object of deep or intense affection or attraction; beloved. Often used as a term of endearment.
6. An expression of one's affection: Send him my love.
7.
1. A strong predilection or enthusiasm: a love of language.
2. The object of such an enthusiasm: The outdoors is her greatest love.
8. Love Mythology. Eros or Cupid.
9. often Love Christianity. Charity.
It is closely related to Emotion but it isn't. so how do you prove something so abstract exists.
Here's a quickie idea... If you believe in Love then you are having the same faith that Christians have in God. Because he himself said it. 1st John 4:7-8 - Beloved let us love one-another, for love is of god And anyone that loveth is born of God. He that loveth not, knoweth not God for God is Love. Beloveth Let us love one-another.
Thanks to who ever brought up love
What's your Wu Name?
Donovan --> Wu Name = Violent Knight
Methane47 --> Wu Name = Thunderous Leader
"Some people call me the walking plank, 'cuz any where you go... Death is right behind you.."
<i>ME<i>
Just to whoever brought up the whole story about how some farmer thousands of years ago decided to write a large story about himself being god and stuff like that? That could be totally true, If it wasn't for we know for fact that Moses and such existed, and that egypt held hebrews for slaves....there are records besides the bible. We also know Jesus existed, there are many records of that. The history and what happened in the bible "story" are pretty accurate according to other histories. The only things up for debate are if you believe they are gods or not, or if the miracles they performed are "real" or not.
I dont know about love, but with MRI scans it can actually be proven if people are IN love or not. A recent study showed that certain areas of the brain have more activity when people are in love than when they are not. These areas in the brain were the same in all test subjects.
Cant give you a link about this, but I saw a documentary about it recently.
-Argwaan
Question everything
If it wasn't for we know for fact that Moses and such existed, and that egypt held hebrews for slaves....there are records besides the bible.
Actually there are people who doubt the existence of Moses. I think someone in this thread said it best in saying that nothing in this existence is certain.
"Put your foot where your mouth is." - Wisdom from my grandfather
"Paper or plastic? ... because I'm afraid I'll have to suffocate you unless you put this bag on your head..." - Ethnitrek
AC1: Wierding from Harvestgain
Well of course there are. But yeah, I'm not actually so sure if there is anything that goes all the way back to moses.
I dont know about love, but with MRI scans it can actually be proven if people are IN love or not. A recent study showed that certain areas of the brain have more activity when people are in love than when they are not. These areas in the brain were the same in all test subjects.
Cant give you a link about this, but I saw a documentary about it recently.
-Argwaan
Question everything
actually this is true, also a similar study showed that Bhuddist were happier and in a greater state of peace, than people of other religous faiths. This is determind by chemicals released by the brain controling emotions like happines and love.
This place is full of tree-huggers and tofu fartn' faeries...
Not going to say either way if I believe or not, because then people will argue against me just for the sake of arguing with someone who believes differently than you.
Just a few neutral picks:
Love is an emotion... it's been documented as various changes in chemical composure in the brain, just like all emotions. Get off your philosophical horse. Doesn't mean there isn't a God, just means that your idea is flawed.
To the argument used COUNTLESS times that state the typically analytical atheists to view their beliefs inwardly and to calculate themselves the chances of a Big Bang actually occuring: Yes, the chances are staggering. But then again, how old is the Universe? How long did time exist before the universe did? If you go to a casino with enough money, no matter the odds, you're still going to win at least once.
"God didn't ask my permission to be born, and now he is threatening me to follow Him or go to hell?" (Paraphrase). To make this argument valid, you would have to exist before you were born, for "permission" is only something an existential being can possess or give. Even if He could ask you your permission, how would you answer? You wouldn't exist. God could show himself every hour on the hour to threaten us personally if He truly is so omnipotent, and make us all worship Him. But he doesn't; he allows us to do this--he allows us to question his existence. He even allows us to take His gift He gave us and use it against Him. If that isn't lineancy, I don't know what is.
For all of you philosophers out there, I'll leave you with this; what if we are God?
_____________________________________
"Io rido, e rider mio non passa dentro;
Io ardo, e l'arsion mia non par di fore."
-Machiavelli
Either way, we are probably going to beat Murt's CD&A thread if this rambling goes on.
"Whoever controls the media controls the mind..-'Jim Morrison"
"When decorum is repression, the only dignity free men have is to speak out." ~Abbie Hoffman
Why do Aetheists hate the idea of a God so much...
When they put so much or more faith in any theory that will contridict the existance of a god.
Why dont aetheists ever question their own theories...
Humans evolved from Monkey/Ape by Darwin... Where is the missing link?
The reason why scientists say this is because there are so many similarities between humans and monkeys.
But if you get down to the nitty gritty. Human DNA is on Average only 5% (yes 5/100) different from that of a Domestic Dog. If Fact Humans share about 90% of their DNA with All Mammals. link
Ofcourse because God Made all creatures out of the same things.
-Just my opinion-
But then I ask you if Humans truly did evolve from Monkeys and Apes.. Why is it that Humans evolved? Monkeys and Apes are still around... and They also lived around the same area in africa where monkeys lived, and still live. Why are there no other sentient species of Life? Why is it that Humans ONLY evolved into Humans in Africa? and Nowhere else on the planet? Even when Monkeys and Apes could be found almost everywhere? Natural selection you will tell me? So why is it that monkeys chose to evolve in to a weaker Species? A species that needs to wear clothes to protect his/herself when just before then they had a nice coat of Fur?
Off of Evolution. Big Bang theory states at most 20 billion years ago an object smaller than an atom, but very hot, Exploded, and in a trillionth-trillionth of a second expanded a trillion-trillion times (I just was reading over the Big Bang theory) and then scattered all over space. Strangely enough In the late eighties A cosmologist found out that there are Clusters of Galaxies clumped together, Called SuperClusters, containing thousands of thousands of galaxies, and spanning 100 billion light years. Using red-shifting, it was found that these stars move at about 2000 kilometers per second. So if you do your math... It would take atleast 60 billion light years to form that supercluster. atleast triple the maximum time alotted for the Big Bang theory. But this didn't even account for the complexities of the Universe. just telling how long it would take Just for that supercluster to form.
ummmm yeah sorry....I work at a Science Library..
But for all you Aetheists who love a good Scientific explanation here's one...
Stephen Hawking observed, "Any physical theory is always provisional, in the sense that it is only a hypothesis: you can never prove it. No matter how many times the results of experiments agree with some theory, you can never be sure that the next time the results will not contradict the theory." (A Brief History of Time, Updated and Expanded Tenth Anniversary Edition, page 10).
So even though you think that you are battling the idea of Religion... You yourself are very deeply inbedded in Religion.. .You too are dependant upon a set of beliefs that Cannot be proven.
And before you reply saying that my post is insane... Please include a reason and proof of such.
What's your Wu Name?
Donovan --> Wu Name = Violent Knight
Methane47 --> Wu Name = Thunderous Leader
"Some people call me the walking plank, 'cuz any where you go... Death is right behind you.."
<i>ME<i>
No totatly different.. Because You can feel Love and Hate at the same time. Love is not something that is Inside one human... Love is something you feel TOWards something else.
You cannot test for Love.. Because you can love and be Angry, Love and be depressed, Love and be dismayed.
If those test subjects took that MRI feeling happy, then those Same test subjects went into the MRI feeling Sad or angry.. I can safely say that results would be different... Humans are social beings... Love is not a singularity held or hoarded or given away by one person.. Love is shared.
If you are alone in the world... Do you feel love? Only if you love God
What's your Wu Name?
Donovan --> Wu Name = Violent Knight
Methane47 --> Wu Name = Thunderous Leader
"Some people call me the walking plank, 'cuz any where you go... Death is right behind you.."
<i>ME<i>
I agree with you. Although I personaly find evolution much more convincing than adam and eve, I do put the same amount of faith in it as the oposite does in their beliefs. But on your question of evolution monkies and apes are devided into a large number of sub races, (smiliar to humans). So the theory of evolution is that one, or a very small fraction of the greater species needed to evolve to survive. What this reason is, no one knows, its a chunk of time that has yet to be descovered.
This place is full of tree-huggers and tofu fartn' faeries...
Where in the bible does it state that incest is ok?
Right at the very start.
According to the bible, Adam mated with Eve. The only two people on planet Earth, right?
They "begat" two sons, Cain and Able.
Then, in Genesis 4:17: "Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch and he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch".
Since the only people on the planet were Adam and Eve and their sons Cain and Abel..... Cain must have married and had sex with his Mom, Eve.
Ewwww.....
wheredoes it say that Adam and Eve (whose name was actually Chavah) were the only two people?
Linux is free.....if your time costs nothing.
Nostrodamus' predictions are extremely vague, and are usually interpreted after the fact.
The Bible's predictions are specific and able to be interpreted before the fact.
The Bible made and continues to make predictions well over 50 years into the future.
Linux is free.....if your time costs nothing.
It is not a screw tactic, what vested interest do I have in you believing in God and His Son Jesus as Messiah?
No, I am referring to the man commonly called Jesus (His name was Y'shua), the Son of God and Savior of all mankind.
Linux is free.....if your time costs nothing.
This is a nonsensical question. God is able to do anything that is logically possible, one of God's characteristics is that He is a logical being.
Is God able to create a rock He cannot lift is akin to asking if He could create a square circle or a mrried bachelor.
A rock is a finite object, by definition. God, by definition is an infinite being.
You are in effect asking if He could create an infinite finite object, or an object more infinite than He. Pure illogic.
Linux is free.....if your time costs nothing.
but he's NOT straying from what's said in the bible, because he said that it doesn't say that adam and eve were the only people. It's more likely to assume than there WERE other people, because most likely cain didn't have sex with his mom.
Some questions:
If God did not create the universe why are all the planets different, were they not all formed from the same ball of stuff? Should they ot therefore be made of similar stuff?
Can you name one clear prediciton of macroevolution that has proved true?
Can you tell me when and how life learned to reproduce itself?
How and why did man evolve emotion?
Are you familiar with thre fact that the Hubble space telescope has found evidence of a young universe?
1. According to scientists calculations, if the universe is billions of years old, we should see around 7,000 supernovae remnants, Hubble has observed ~200, a number which suggests an age of ~7,000 years
2. The big bang theory predicts only proto-galaxies at the edges of the universe, and that there should be far less at the edges, Hubble has proven both to be false.
3. Scientists expected to see many Red Dwarfs, which are faint old stars, again proven wrong, only a handful of these exist.
Linux is free.....if your time costs nothing.
This place is full of tree-huggers and tofu fartn' faeries...
Although I personaly find evolution much more convincing than adam and eve
Now what I'm about to state is my own opinion and take on the creation account. My version of the Bible states that the author of Genesis was Moses around 1420-1220 B.C. I don't know whether or not to believe this, but if Moses is the author, then he certainly had to get his source for the Creation Theory from someone or something other than himself or else he simply made it up. At any rate, since Moses was purportedly close to God, it was likely that God could have explained it to him. If this is the case, then God could have explained it to him in a straight-forward fashion or in a figurative fashion that would teach a lesson.
Look at Satan being portrayed as a snake. Christ was also portrayed as a snake later on. I think the main relation here is to hint that both were brought from a higher existence to this earth and were humbled. Satan was humbled because of what he did. Christ was humbled to save and heal - the bronze snake healing people who looked to it. They were humbled in that they were made like snakes - to crawl low to the earth. Also look at the word, "Adam" in Hebrew (I think it's hebrew) means "Man." So this passage: So the Lord God formed from the soil every kind of animal and bird. He brought them to Adam to see what he would call them, and Adam chose a name for each one. could be read as: So the Lord God formed from the soil every kind of animal and bird. He brought them to Man to see what he would call them, and Man chose a name for each one.
To me it just seems that the Creation Account could have been metaphorical. There is also a saying that says, "A mighty fortress is our God." But God is not a fortress made of stone or wood or iron or bronze. He is not some fortification. It takes logic to see the meaning of riddles. I don't know whether I'm right or wrong, but that is just my belief so far.
"Put your foot where your mouth is." - Wisdom from my grandfather
"Paper or plastic? ... because I'm afraid I'll have to suffocate you unless you put this bag on your head..." - Ethnitrek
AC1: Wierding from Harvestgain
Nostrodamus' predictions are extremely vague, and are usually interpreted after the fact.
The Bible's predictions are specific and able to be interpreted before the fact.
The Bible made and continues to make predictions well over 50 years into the future.
A few of his fulfilled prophecies are listed below. And what you stated makes no sense at all. Any prediction is not fulfilled/interpreted before the event transpires, the bible is not an exception. Look at Revelation, it is a primary example.
The young lion will overcome the older one,
On the field of combat in a single battle;
He will pierce his eyes through a golden cage,
Two wounds made one, then he dies a cruel death.
(Century 1, Quatrain 35)
This quatrain foretelling the death of King Henry II of France in a jousting accident is one of the most famous, predocumented, and successfully fulfilled prophecies in history.
In June 1559, Henry II ignored all warnings that Nostradamus gave him and participated in a jousting tournament against the Comte de Montgomery. Both men used shields embossed with lions. Montgomery was six years younger than Henry. A tournament is a field of ritual single combat. During the final bout, Montgomery failed to lower his lance in time. It shattered, sending a large splinter through the king's gilded visor (golden cage). Along with minor punctures in the face and throat, there were two mortal wounds. One splinter destroyed the king's eye; the other impaled his temple just behind the eye. Both penetrated his brain. Henry lingered for ten agonizing days before dying a cruel death.
The blood of the just will be demanded of London,
Burnt by the fire in the year 66
The Great fire destroyed London in 1666.
From the enslaved people, songs, chants and demands,
The princes and lords are held captive in prisons:
In the future by such headless idiots
These will be taken as divine utterances.
(Century 1, Quatrain 14)
Before the war comes,
the great wall will fall,
The King will be executed, his death coming too soon will be lamented.
(The guards) will swim in blood,
Near the River Seine the soil will be bloodied.
(Century 2, Quatrain 57)
On July 14th, 1789 the walls of the Bastille, the prison which stood as a symbol to the detested monarchy, were stormed. This was a precursor to the revolution that shook France, and to the rise, and fall, of the guillotine, that stood on the banks of the River Seine.
PAU, NAY, LORON will be more of fire than of the blood,
To swim in praise,
the great one to flee to the confluence.
He will refuse entry to the Piuses,
The depraved ones and the Durance will keep them imprisoned.
(Century 8, Quatrain 1)
This quotation is vintage Nostradamus. He is employing one of his favourite devices: the anagram. "PAU, NAY, LORON" when rearranged becomes NAPAULON ROY, or Napoleon the king, given the Corsican spelling of his name, Napauleone. The text also describes him as a man of 'fire', or of war, rather 'than of the blood', or of royal lineage. The 'Piuses' of the third line are the Popes Pius VI and Pius VII, who were both imprisoned by Napoleon as the fourth line suggests.
From the deepest part of Western Europe
A young child will be born to poor people
Who will by his speech seduce a great multitude,
His reputation will increase in the Kingdom of the East"
(Century 3, Quatrain 35)
Beasts ferocious with hunger will cross the rivers,
The greater part of the battlefield will be against Hister.
Into a cage of iron will the great one be drawn,
When the child of Germany observes nothing.
(Century 2, Quatrain 24)
In the year very not far from Venus,
The two greatest ones of Asia and of Africa:
They are said to have come from the Rhine and from
Hister Cries, tears at Malta and the Ligurian sea-coast.
(Century 4, Quatrain 68)
Liberty will not be regained,
It will be occupied by a black, proud, villainous and unjust man:
When the matter of the Pontiff is opened,
The republic of Venice will be vexed by Hister.
(Century 5, Quatrain 29)
The shocking and infamous armed one will fear the great furnace,
First the chosen one, the captives not returning
The world's lowest crime, the Angry Female Irale - Israel - not at ease,
Barb, Hister, Malta, and the Empty One does not return.
Hitler is referred to as Hister - not only be name but by birthplace. Hister is the Latin for the river Danube on whose shores Hitler was born. The first quatrain provide general background - his parents were poor - his power as an orator needs no description here - and of course Hitler had a catastrophic influence over Japan, the Kingdom of the East.
The ancient work will be accomplished,
And from the roof evil ruin will fall on the great man:
They will accuse an innocent, being dead, of the deed:
The guilty one is hidden in the misty copse.
(Century 6, Quatrain 37)
The great man will be struck down in the day by a thunderbolt,
The evil deed predicted by the bearer of a petition:
According to the prediction another falls at night,
Conflict in Reims, London, and pestilence in Tuscany.
(Century 1, Quatrain 27)
As per his prediction - JFK was shot in the day, at 12 noon, and his brother Robert Kennedy was shot at night, at 1 am. The last line dates the assassinations. For there were student riots in London and Paris in 1968, and in 1966 a flood hit Florence that prompted fears of pestilence. JFK was shot in 1963 and his brother in 1968. The alleged conspiracy that surrounded the assassination was the subject of another of Nostradamus' quatrains.
Lee Harvey Oswald was reputed to have shot Kennedy from the sixth floor of the Book Depository, is this 'the roof' that is mentioned in second line? Or is 'the roof' a metaphor for the conspiracy performed by the CIA, previously Kennedy's protection, his 'roof'. The third line suggests that Lee Harvey Oswald was in fact innocent, and 'the misty wood' of the fourth line may describe either the trees around the grassy knowle, or the misty woods of the secret service.
True atheists--not rebel teenagers who want to piss off their parents--have a lack of belief, not a denial of belief.
Think of it this way... If I pulled some random thing out of my head and told you it exists (this has been done so many times in these discussions)... Let's say purple chinless frogmen that speak Norwegian and live in my backyard, but hide every time you look for them. You'd first say I was full of it. I'd tell you that they really exist. You'd tell me you wanted proof. I'd tell you I can't prove it and you just need to believe me. You tell me that I am crazy and you go on your merry way...
That's lack of belief.
Evolution is a fact--we watch it happen. The claim that humans evolved from lower animals is the theory. Besides, no one is saying we evolved from modern-day apes. They say we share a common ancestor with modern-day apes and other primates.
That's because much of our genetic material goes into how the processes of life on Earth works, not how we appear physically.
If you'd replaced all those instances of "religion" with "faith", I'd tend to agree with you. But religion is something not everyone submits to.