Ark of the Covenant

Why?Why would the fact that there are lots of tales imply that they are true?Does that mean that the Norse tales of the Race of Asgard must be true?How about the Greek or Roman Mythology?The number of tales tells us nothing except that there are many tales.While there might well be some physical thing like the Ark, there is absolutely no indication that it is anything more than another box.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

Not really.The Bible is a historic document in the sense that it gives us a glimpse into the mythos of a people. As such it is a history of how they viewed themselves and others at given moments in history.But so far it has been shown to be a very unreliable history when compared to reality.The Creation never happened as described.The Flood never happened as described.The Exodus never happened as described.The Conquest of Canaan never happened as described.The Tower of Babel never happened as described.The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah never happened as described.There is no indications so far that there was ever a Kingdom of Israel or Judah as described in the Bible.So far there is little indication that there was a King David, or Solomon. Probably about the same likelihood as the Arthurian Legends.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

No problem. Just pointing out that when you said "The bible is a historical document that's proven itself reliable for its historical value." you were just making stuff up.There appears to be no more reason to believe that the Ark of the Covenant is real or exists in Ethiopia than so many other "historical" things mentioned in the Bible.Something may very well be hidden away in Ethiopia, but until iit is opened up to scientific examination it is just another myth.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

Well we have a vague description of what it looked like and the materials used. Any wooden components could be tested by a variety of methods, radio-carbon dating, possible ring dating, species of wood, whether it was worked by hand, remaining tool marks. The metal parts could also be examined to find exact components, the make up of alloys used, presence of trace minerals, workmanship, correlations with other works from the same period.If, as they claim, they also have document of provenance, those too could be examined.There is a wealth of information that could be gathered as to the possible origin of the object during the right period, but whether it is the original Ark of the Covenant or a copy might be beyond absolute verification. Not really. The fact of their belief says nothing about either the value or reality of what they have, only that THEY believe it is of value.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

Yes you have yet you also exclude any challenge to that unsupported assertion. If you are not going to support such a sweeping assertion or allow challenges to it, why introduce it?

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

The emphasis is on as described.I think a good example is listening to Americans talk about "The War of 1812". Sure there was fighting between the British and Americans that is the basis for our view and traditions of the War of 1812, but for the rest of the World, the 1812 Overture refers to a far different set and series of events.The Kingdoms of Israel and Judah as described in the Bible are much like the American view of the War of 1812, far larger and more important than the reality.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

Exactly. For most of the world, the War of 1812 is about the Napoleonic Conflicts and the American War of 1812 is but a minor incident.The existence of Judah and Israel as "Kingdoms" was important to the folk of Judah and Israel, and so they wrote about those events.The Bible though is a compilation of both traditions, with no clear delineation of either the POV of the authors or the source of the traditions. Those are things we must try to resolve through examining the different tales by looking at style, content, actual physical evidence and other peoples traditions.I do not doubt the possible existence of the Ark of the Covenant. However I strongly suspect that the stories of it as well as its history have been greatly exaggerated.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

Okay, I am clueless why you might think that but if it makes you feel good, fine. They may of may not actually have something. They believe it of value. Beyond that I don't see how anything can be said, certainly not What I mean to say is, something of great value is there. Well, an actual clue what it looked like might help. We have only the vaguest of descriptions of what the sucker looked like. here is one rendition and here is another and yet another can be seen on this page.Honestly, we have no idea of what the sucker looked like.The point is that regardless, there is NO way to prove the existence of "The Ark of the Covenant" and in particularly, no way to prove any supernatural aspects.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

Their belief? A Paycheck? people devote their whole lives to nonsense all the time. Look at Jonestown or Heavens Gate. I'm sorry but that is simply bullshit.If you think that what you quoted is an accurate description then thank GOD you are not working in a job where descriptions are important and may I never get you as a juror in a trial.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

Ron made the mistake of just using 200 ASA Polaroid film instead of the Angelic 666 ASA film.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

Of course, but would it look exactly like the original?What did the original cherubim look like? What were their expressions? How many feathers on the wings? Did the Cherubim face parallel to the rails or face perpendicular to the rails? What is the ratio of height of cherubim to that of the ark itself? Were the cherubim wings raised or lowered or level?There simply are NO details in Exodus? That lack of detail makes the claim that the details are there bullshit. Of course I don't. And neither does anyone else. I don't need to know about its accuracy, I can say that it is not complete. Too many details are missing for anyone to say what the original looked like.The description in Exodus is simply the very most generic factors. It gives lengths and widths. It says NOTHING about the details. For example are the rings for the rails plain, engraved, incised? If engraved or incised what is the pattern?

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion