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Author
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Topic: Genesis: is it to be taken literally?
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jar
Member (Idle past 413 days) Posts: 34026 From: Texas!! Joined: 04-20-2004
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Re: Why it cannot be taken literally.
Well, we have a pretty good knowledge of how a solar system would come about and there are even some that we can observe in various states of development. There are also the rules that seem to govern everything we can see in the universe. And all of that evidence, evidence not written by men, shows that the account in Genesis is simply wrong. For the earth to exist, the sun must have been there first. Light arrived at the earth 8 minutes or so after the Sun began.
You are assuming that the Creator cannot create light independently of the sources of light with which we are familiar. The Bible is clear. He created light and then the sun and stars. The Bible is clearly wrong. It simply does not correspond to the record GOD left us. I gotta belief GOD before I believe what men wrote.
And we are part of the creation with very limited knowledge not only of ourselves but also of everything around us. But we also have thousand of years worth of gained knowledge compared to the Bronze age folk that were telling the Genesis creation myth around their campfires. Even then, they had many different stories. Genesis itself contains two completely different and mutually exclusive tales. The story that GOD actually left us, the Universe we live in, is remarkably consistent.
Aslan is not a Tame Lion
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jar
Member (Idle past 413 days) Posts: 34026 From: Texas!! Joined: 04-20-2004
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Re: Why it cannot be taken literally.
Well, let me give this a try but within the limits of the thread.
To me, so far, the stories of solar system development seem quite ridiculous (I'll probably get more reading assignments from this assertion I don't know where you got that idea. Folk here would NEVER bury you with outside reading acounts, would they?  There sure is a bunch of information available though. Let me try to stay in the lines mostly. If we look out into space, would you agree that we are looking back in time?
Aslan is not a Tame Lion
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jar
Member (Idle past 413 days) Posts: 34026 From: Texas!! Joined: 04-20-2004
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Re: Why it cannot be taken literally.
It is chapters 1 and 2, right? Why exactly do you think these are two different accounts? OOOPPS! Reading assignment. Check out Message 1 and Message 1 to start with. One other reading assignment, if you choose to accept it, is to go to the Post of the Month forum. Start at the first month which I think was about a year ago, and read through the offerings. They will help bring you up to date with some of the best stuff that has been posted here.
Aslan is not a Tame Lion
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jar
Member (Idle past 413 days) Posts: 34026 From: Texas!! Joined: 04-20-2004
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Re: Why it cannot be taken literally.
Well, I'm sorry. If that is your position then there is no point of continuing the discussion. You are proposing a universe totally arbitrary, one where some cosmic joker would falsify the account just to fool a minor species only lately come on the scene. Sorry, I just can't see any possiblity of ever reaching any understanding.
Aslan is not a Tame Lion
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jar
Member (Idle past 413 days) Posts: 34026 From: Texas!! Joined: 04-20-2004
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Re: Reply to Proboscis
Speaking as a Christian, I would like to ask you a couple questions. Do you agree that GOD made man before he made trees? Do you agree that GOD made man before any animals? Do you agree that GOD's first plan was for sheep to be Adam's companion and not women?
Aslan is not a Tame Lion
| This message is a reply to: | | | Message 223 by Terry48420, posted 01-28-2005 4:34 PM | | Terry48420 has not replied |
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jar
Member (Idle past 413 days) Posts: 34026 From: Texas!! Joined: 04-20-2004
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Re: Reply to Brian
Actually, Jesus taught using parables. Is there any indication that Jesus thought the Flood anymore real than he thought the tale of the two houses or the good servant real?
Aslan is not a Tame Lion
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jar
Member (Idle past 413 days) Posts: 34026 From: Texas!! Joined: 04-20-2004
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Re: Reply to jar
How can you say that when there are so many conflicting accounts in the flood stories? What makes you think Jesus took them as more than parables? How are the conflicting flood tales different than the two mutually exclusive creation tales in Genesis?
Aslan is not a Tame Lion
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jar
Member (Idle past 413 days) Posts: 34026 From: Texas!! Joined: 04-20-2004
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Re: Reply to jar
Sure. There are differing accounts of what was taken on board, two differing accounts of what was done towards the end of the voyage and what critters were sent out. It's pretty obvious that at least two different traditions and myths were combined into one anthology.
Aslan is not a Tame Lion
| This message is a reply to: | | | Message 264 by Terry48420, posted 01-31-2005 7:33 PM | | Terry48420 has not replied |
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jar
Member (Idle past 413 days) Posts: 34026 From: Texas!! Joined: 04-20-2004
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Re: Reply to jar
Terry, let me ask you a question. Since we are both Christians and speaking from a basis of long term Christian educations, what do you consider more reliable, records directly from GOD or those written by man?
Aslan is not a Tame Lion
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jar
Member (Idle past 413 days) Posts: 34026 From: Texas!! Joined: 04-20-2004
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Re: Reply to jar
Did GOD create the world and universe around us?
Aslan is not a Tame Lion
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jar
Member (Idle past 413 days) Posts: 34026 From: Texas!! Joined: 04-20-2004
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Re: Reply to jar
Did man build any of the universe?
Aslan is not a Tame Lion
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jar
Member (Idle past 413 days) Posts: 34026 From: Texas!! Joined: 04-20-2004
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Re: Reply to jar
Man builds things all the time, but uses existing things. He can not create things. Good, so you agree that man did not create the universe.
Does your question have a point that is on topic? Absolutely and we'll get to that. Trust me but I'm very old and slow and my teeth are gone and I gotta take little bites and my memory is terrible so I can only handle small thoughts and I'm not very bright so I have to shine bright lights on anything to see it. Work with me. So far I think we agree that man did not create the Universe, that the Universe then provides a record that was not written by man. So far are we together?
Aslan is not a Tame Lion
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jar
Member (Idle past 413 days) Posts: 34026 From: Texas!! Joined: 04-20-2004
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Re: Reply to jar
Are there any original copies of ANY of the documents included in the Canon available?
Aslan is not a Tame Lion
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jar
Member (Idle past 413 days) Posts: 34026 From: Texas!! Joined: 04-20-2004
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Re: Reply to jar
But there are differences in content between some of the old surviving copies, aren't there?
Aslan is not a Tame Lion
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jar
Member (Idle past 413 days) Posts: 34026 From: Texas!! Joined: 04-20-2004
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Re: Reply to jar
Okay. So we have two records, one the Universe was not created by man, the other the Bible was very definitely created by man. The record from the Universe tells us one story, the Bible another. The Bible may well be inspired, but it certainly is not accurate. Why should I, as a Christian, believe either of the creation myths in Genesis when they so clearly do not correspond to the record GOD left us?
Aslan is not a Tame Lion
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