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Author | Topic: Did the sky really go dark as biblical inerrantists insist? | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
nator Member (Idle past 2200 days) Posts: 12961 From: Ann Arbor Joined: |
The following is a passage from the gospel of Luke:
23:44 And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. 23:45 And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst. If this is to be taken at face value as a real event, then why do we not see any accounts by any other civilization of this happening? Many other cultures around the world had very advanced astronomy at the time. The Chinese, Mayans, and Arabs, for example. Of course the Romans, who were the occupying government in the Bible story and who kept prodigious and meticulous records of everything, have no record at all of such a remarkable and dramatic astronomical event. If this really happened, why is there absolutely no mention of it by any other nation in the world, especially those who had skilled astronomers? Biblical accuracy?
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nator Member (Idle past 2200 days) Posts: 12961 From: Ann Arbor Joined: |
quote: For the sake of argument, I am allowing that the sun, indeed, did darken over the entire earth, by whatever means you wish to claim. If it did, though, why wasn't such an unusual, singular event recorded by any other civilization on Earth? Also, why wasn't this astounding phenomena recorded in the other Gospels, either? Edited by schrafinator, : No reason given.
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nator Member (Idle past 2200 days) Posts: 12961 From: Ann Arbor Joined: |
quote: I am happy with that interpretation, but it does add to what is stated in the Bible.
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nator Member (Idle past 2200 days) Posts: 12961 From: Ann Arbor Joined: |
quote: Er, you do know that whomever wrote "Matthew, Mark, and Luke" di so at various times many decades after the event in question, and none of them were likely to have been eye-witnesses. In addition, all had a vested interest in telling the same sory, being proponents of the same sect and all. What histoians look for is multiple independent sources to help establish the liklihood of an event. And if it was such an important "sign" that the first three gospels mention it, why is it absent from John? Clearly, the other three gospels mention it as though it was a meaningful, unusual, supernatural event that was caused by the death of Jesus, not some clouds or smoke that just happened to be concurrent with his death. And doesn't it seem strange to you, that the occupying Romans, with all of their meticulous record keeping, would utterly fail to notice such an unusual event?
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nator Member (Idle past 2200 days) Posts: 12961 From: Ann Arbor Joined: |
quote: The thing is, earthquakes are quite isolated events, but the darkening of the sun would be noticeable by entire continents. And this particular one happened in the populated middle of the Roman Empire. There's no record of that eathquake, even though the Romans were meticulous record-keepers.
quote: It doesn't get dark when clouds come over the sun. It gets overcast. I mean, Christ had just died. There were earthquakes! The temple curtain ripped! And then...it became cloudy... Just doesn't sound like it fits, does it?
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nator Member (Idle past 2200 days) Posts: 12961 From: Ann Arbor Joined: |
quote: No, not at all. They crucified people every day.
quote: Yes, they could. But again, does "getting overcast" fit in with the other events of an earthquake and the temple curtain getting torn? Are they of the same scale and magnitude? Remember, there there were also supposed to be a bunch of people rising from the dead and walking around and talking to people. I think, when one looks at the other fantastic events that were supposed to have happened, the writers meant something more remarkable that "it became overcast".
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nator Member (Idle past 2200 days) Posts: 12961 From: Ann Arbor Joined: |
Look, you can massage your interpretation all you want.
If you want to interpret "darkness over all the land" as "a low pressure front moved in", be my guest. If you want to imagine that the Romans felt shame for crucifying Jesus, even though there's no indication in the bible that they did (or independent sources that Jesus even existed) then go for it. But then you have no basis for saying the Bible is an accurate account of anything that happened. We can add imagined motives or discount certain events all we want throughout the entire text; if we can do that here, why not everywhere else? I'd love to hear your explanation of why all the resurrected dead people roaming the streets were not remarked upon by the Romans, though.
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nator Member (Idle past 2200 days) Posts: 12961 From: Ann Arbor Joined: |
Look, you can massage your interpretation all you want. quote: No, it really isn't. All you've provided is apologetics. We can add imagined motives or discount certain events all we want throughout the entire text of the Bible; if we can do that here, why not everywhere else?
quote: Um, Israel was part of the Roman Empire at the time. That's why the Romans were there. All of Jesus' miracles, if he did them, happened in the Roman Empire, and Romans were in charge of the government. Pontious Pilate isn't a very Hebrew-sounding name, is it?
quote: Matthew 27:52-53 Edited by nator, : No reason given.
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nator Member (Idle past 2200 days) Posts: 12961 From: Ann Arbor Joined: |
quote: See, this stuff that you wrote above is you massaging the text to mean whatever you need it to mean to counter any argument. Coulda, mighta...you are rendering the plain text of the Bible as more and more meaningless with your heavy interpretation.
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