Questions About God?

[XxTheBlackDeathxX]

I Am A Athiest. I Don't Belive In God, But I Am Curious About Some Of His "Teachings".

First Question: Is It A Sin To Kill Animals And Bugs?
One Of God's Ten Commandments States "You Shall Not Kill" If God "Created" Animals And Bugs, Such As Spiders, Ant, CoachRoaches, Cows, Pigs, Chickens Ect. And We Kill SomeThing God "Created" Them Is That A Sin? Why Would We Kill Something God "Created". He Has A Puropes For "Creating" Animals And Bugs. Again, The Bible States "You Shall Not Kill". I'm Pretty Sure That Means Animals And Bugs As Well, It Doesnt Say " You Shall Not Kill Human Beings" Or "You Shall Not Kill, But Animals And Bugs Are OK" It Spacificly States "YOU SHALL NOT KILL". So Is It A Sin?



Second Question: Where In The Bible Does It Say Anything About Dinosaurs? If God "Created Everything" In A Couple Of Day Where Do The Dinosaurs Fall Into This? How Come Fossil Are Million Of Years Old Before Man Have Ever Roamed The Earth?

[Requin]

The dinosaurs thing is what throws me to the non religious side...
Because, you would of thought that when these people were writing down all of this stuff, God might of grabbed one of their arms and forced them to write something about the dinosaurs who lived a few thousand years ago.

So from this we can deduce that dinosaurs were discovered in the 1950's. :)

[Curthose93]

1)No. Killing animals and bugs is considered perfectly fine by the bible. There are Christians in PETA I'll bet, but they didn't find inspiration in the bible.

2)The bible says nothing of dinosaurs because they couldn't dig that deep back then.

[Truth]

Is It A Sin To Kill Animals And Bugs?: No, because they provide us food to live, obviously. Going around killing animals for no reason, i think is wrong for religious and moral reasons.

And the bible says nothing about dinosaurs, because how long is one day to god? How do you know that they werent created and then wiped out?~ One day for god could be 10 billion years of our 'calendar'. Think outside tha' box, nubs. >:l

[XxTheBlackDeathxX]

Is It A Sin To Kill Animals And Bugs?: No, because they provide us food to live


There Is Veggies And Fruits, Don't You That When GOd "Created Adam And Eve" If He Wanted Us To eat Meat, He Would Had Made Some Fried Chcken Or Something?

[Perseus]

Actually, vegetables are technically alive, so digging them up out of the ground and harvesting is killing them.

Like the other dude said, God's days could be longer than ours. The Universe is 13.7 billions years old or so, so any length of time could a day for God.

[Raynes]

I wonder why they choose to use the word "Day" if it wasn't an actual "Day". I don't like the fact that Christians meld the Bible to suit their needs and openly accept it as a book of riddles that everyone should spend their life trying to decode and live by. One of the many reasons I left Christianity behind in the dust.

[nick]

Very few Christians take the old testament as being a factual account, and certainly not Genesis

[theOperaGhost]

I wonder why they choose to use the word "Day" if it wasn't an actual "Day". I don't like the fact that Christians meld the Bible to suit their needs and openly accept it as a book of riddles that everyone should spend their life trying to decode and live by. One of the many reasons I left Christianity behind in the dust.

Time is relative...that is all I have to say to that.

Also, do you realize that history is melded by humans to fit what is thought to be acceptable. History text books are the worst. Most leave out important details or add information that is quite possibly not true. History is history....the documents were recorded by humans and how they interpreted things. Does this make everything you read in a history book a fact? Yes and no. It is fact to the person writing it from their point of view, but it might be completely fictitious to another person recording something.

[BuryYourFlame]

1) No, imo, it is not a sin to kill bugs etc. for the reason that God also said "28 God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground." This means that although it is not a sin to kill them, we do have a responsibility to look after them appropriately.

2) Genisis was first actually intended as a poem, it is not meant to be literal. There is a high chance that God's days are not the same amount of time as we call a day. Also, the Hebrew translation of the word, isn't that well translated, the proper translation of the word means 'amount of time' or something like that, not specifically a day.

[dyslexiaa]

(I'm probably a little off-topic, but it fits the topic)

Who says God is the Christian representation of God?

Neither of your questions are actually about God, but about the Bible. The Bible was written by dudes, not God. I find it funny when athiests come rolling through here with arguments against the Bible but not theism itself.

As others have said, only the fundies take the Bible literally, so shelling the Bible like most people consider it a historical text really isn't a good argument against Christianity anyways. Genesis is a story written two-thousand years ago by people who had no idea what the universe was like.

[XxTheBlackDeathxX]

Ok I Got Another Question

Christianity Says That God Created EveryThing, But Who Created God?

Also Where Did Noah Get The Polar Bears, Penguins, etc From? Also, When The Animals Left The Ark, what would they have eaten? There Would Have Been No Plants After The Ground Had Been Submerged For Nearly A Year. What Would The Carnivores Have Eaten? What Ever Pray They Would Have Eaten Would Have Gone Extinct.

[Narwhale343]

About your first question. No what they meant by thou shalt not kill. They meant don't kill anything with a soul I.E. Humans. Doing that would be morally wrong. Most sins go against morals. Back then it was okay to kill animals.

The dinosaurs aren't mentioned because God didn't write it himself. Others did

[XxTheBlackDeathxX]

About your first question. No what they meant by thou shalt not kill. They meant don't kill anything with a soul I.E. Humans. Doing that would be morally wrong. Most sins go against morals. Back then it was okay to kill animals.

The dinosaurs aren't mentioned because God didn't write it himself. Others did

And Animal's Dont Have A Soul?

And The Dino Thing....Exactly Someone Could Of Just Made Up Stuff.....

[Curthose93]

If "day" actually means "indefinite period of time", then 7 days equals... what? 7 Eternities? Why couldn't they have just defined "period of time"?

[Clawhammer]

Remember that the Bible was translated from a different language. It means "Thou shalt not murder."

God has always been here. He always was, and is. This is hard to comprehend.

[XxTheBlackDeathxX]

Exactly, Kill Cows Isnt Murder? Murder = Sins

[rivermaya]

1. Thou shall not kill only refers to other humans

2. The new teaching is that Genesis was just symbolic.

[XxTheBlackDeathxX]

1. Thou shall not kill only refers to other humans

Do You Have Proof That This Is True? Why Doesnt The Bible Say " You Shall Not Kill Humans"?

[Curthose93]

2. The new teaching is that Genesis was just symbolic.


As symbolic as everything else in the bible...

[dyslexiaa]

Christianity Says That God Created EveryThing, But Who Created God?

Some people argue that the universe is eternal and in the same token, God could/would be eternal.

[Perseus]

Well, to your first question about who made God, I have a question for you. How did Big Band happen? I know the current theory for how it happened for I am a nerd when it comes to astronomy, but its the same question as who made God. No one knows who or what made God, but no one exactly knows how the Big Band happened. And I think I just contradicted myslef as usual...

[Sage]

Well, to your first question about who made God, I have a question for you. How did Big Band happen? I know the current theory for how it happened for I am a nerd when it comes to astronomy, but its the same question as who made God. No one knows who or what made God, but no one exactly knows how the Big Band happened. And I think I just contradicted myslef as usual...

It's simpler to assume the universe is eternal, because we can see the universe, as opposed to God being eternal, because we cannot see God.

[Perseus]

But Tim, we do not exactly how it was made just like people don't know how God was made.
Its the same exact question. Just one you cnam ake an answer up for and the other one you just dont know.

[Sage]

But Tim, we do not exactly how it was made just like people don't know how God was made.
Its the same exact question. Just one you cnam ake an answer up for and the other one you just dont know.

Many people claim God to be the 'alpha and omega', claiming He requires no maker. The origin of the universe is something we can scientifically research. You can't find God through science, however.

[Perseus]

I know that you can't find God through science.
But what Im saying is there is no maker of the universe(except for God(sorry if that makes you mad Tim)) technically and there is no maker of God.

[YourFriend]

Huh, well I for myself believe in God but I don't believe he cr8ed Earth or universe or man and those stuff.

I also don't care if I break any of his commands, I am not letting some imaganary "lord" get in the way of my life. And he'l never get me to stop masturbating.

If he really appears and ses that he is good and he created us then I'l believe in him more, maybe even stop cursing often.:)

[theOperaGhost]

LoL.

Please don't make posts like this. They provide nothing to the debate and are just spam.

[XxTheBlackDeathxX]

Hey, I Heard When You Have Sex, It's A Sin To Enjoy It, Your Just There To Bring Life To Earth. It's Also A Sin To Masturbate (I Heard) Because Your Wasting The Fluid That Make Life.


I Also Think, That God, If There Is One, It's A Female, Because Females Are The Only One That Bring Other Humans To This Earth.

[Curthose93]

1) It's not a big deal or anything, but can you stop capitalizing the first letter of every word? I don't know why, but it gives me a headache trying to read your posts like that.

2) What's so bad about masturbation? It's not like men have a finite supply of semen.

[XxTheBlackDeathxX]

1) It's not a big deal or anything, but can you stop capitalizing the first letter of every word? I don't know why, but it gives me a headache trying to read your posts like that.

sorry force of habit :blue:

i dont know what so bad about it my cousin Told Me that. and he is very religious

[Truth]

Ok I Got Another Question

Christianity Says That God Created EveryThing, But Who Created God?

Also Where Did Noah Get The Polar Bears, Penguins, etc From? Also, When The Animals Left The Ark, what would they have eaten? There Would Have Been No Plants After The Ground Had Been Submerged For Nearly A Year. What Would The Carnivores Have Eaten? What Ever Pray They Would Have Eaten Would Have Gone Extinct. God was there always. Thats why people call god Omnipotent. And what if the garden of eden had a cold part for the animals, eh? And obviously, they ate the grass, leaves, other animals just like they do now. And how do you know that all plants and grass was uprooted? You dont.

Many people claim God to be the 'alpha and omega', claiming He requires no maker. The origin of the universe is something we can scientifically research. You can't find God through science, however. How can science find out how the universe was made. Haha, we'll most likely destroy ourselves before we can find out that.

Do You Have Proof That This Is True? Why Doesnt The Bible Say " You Shall Not Kill Humans"? God gave us animals to survive. Read the whole bible if you really want.

Hey, I Heard When You Have Sex, It's A Sin To Enjoy It, Your Just There To Bring Life To Earth. It's Also A Sin To Masturbate (I Heard) Because Your Wasting The Fluid That Make Life.


I Also Think, That God, If There Is One, It's A Female, Because Females Are The Only One That Bring Other Humans To This Earth. Sex is life. God save us life meaning he gave us sex. Lusting, is a sin, not sex nor masturbation. God gave us these things, to survive and stay healthy. And who knows? God is referred to as a male because we just do nowadays.. God does not need a gender, we were made in his image, so who knows? Heres a site reffering to sexual things and god : http://www.sexinchrist.com/ I myself just refer to god as him, his, or he because it's a habit.

[Perseus]

Actually Mr. Truth, in Europe in some disclosed place(not really, I just wanted to say that :P), scientists are trying to re-create the big bang and see if dark matter actually exists and something else I forgot, but thats another topic for another time.

[Truth]

Actually Mr. Truth, in Europe in some disclosed place(not really, I just wanted to say that :P), scientists are trying to re-create the big bang and see if dark matter actually exists and something else I forgot, but thats another topic for another time. I knew that, it's obvious it will fail, and they will not beable to create a universe, they might beable to create matter, but not a universe. Let alone hundreds of universe's from one try. That's what i meant. :P Which means the big bang shall always be a theory.

[XxTheBlackDeathxX]

And what if the garden of eden had a cold part for the animals, eh? And obviously, they ate the grass, leaves, other animals just like they do now. And how do you know that all plants and grass was uprooted? You dont..

Dude....Your Just Make Up Random Stuff...

I Found This On WikiAnswers

Noah and his family were in the ark for 370 days (by my calculations). Below is a breakdown, which might also help answer your question if you were only wanting to know how long the earth was covered with water.
My answer was based on adding these numbers together:

40 --the number of days it rained (Gen 7:17)

110 --the number of days "the waters prevailed on the earth" (Gen 7:24)

73 -the number days the waters "decreased" ( Gen 8:4,5)

40 --assuming "end of forty days" followed the previous 73 days (Gen 8:6)

7 --days waiting for the dove to return

7--days waiting for the second time he sent out the dove

7 --days waiting till he sent out the third dove

29 --days needed to finish out "601 year, 1st month, 1st day" (Gen 8:13)

57 --days needed to finish out "2nd month, 27th day, the earth was dried"

____

370 Days

Then God told them to leave the ark (Gen 8:15,16)


Answer
Long enough to kill every species and subspecies of animal on earth. It was also long enough to wipe out almost every species of plants, including trees.


If This Is True What Would Have The Meaters Have Eaten? Eachother! Including Noah! What Did Noah Eat? Also, What About The Plant Eater? Plants Grow On Ark's All Of A Sudden? Don't Plants Sun And Oxogen To Surive Anyways?

[Curthose93]

I find it funny that anyone would attempt to use logic to explain a biblical story.

[Sage]

God was there always. Thats why people call god Omnipotent. And what if the garden of eden had a cold part for the animals, eh? And obviously, they ate the grass, leaves, other animals just like they do now. And how do you know that all plants and grass was uprooted? You dont.

It doesn't specify anywhere in the Bible how many various biomes and ecosystems the Garden of Eden could or could not encompass. You're just making things up to justify your beliefs. Excuses, if you will.

How can science find out how the universe was made. Haha, we'll most likely destroy ourselves before we can find out that.

Research is being done. You could just as easily go back a few hundred years and ask 'How can science find out how volcanos erupt'? It's this sort of scientific pessimism that only pushes developments back.

God gave us animals to survive. Read the whole bible if you really want.

How do mosquitos help us survive? What about bats? And cockroaches?

God is referred to as a male because we just do nowadays.. God does not need a gender, we were made in his image, so who knows?

God created man (male) in the image of God. This is Adam. He formed woman (female) from Adam's rib. This is Eve. It's most certain that the God of the bible is Male. Sorry chico.

[Perseus]

I knew that, it's obvious it will fail, and they will not beable to create a universe, they might beable to create matter, but not a universe. Let alone hundreds of universe's from one try. That's what i meant. :P Which means the big bang shall always be a theory.

Ugh..., what you said was a serious facepalm.. I highly doubt they will fail in attempting to see if the Big Bang actually occured. They are not trying to make mulitiple universes, but they are acting to see if parellel universes could possibly exst. Now, Im going to stop before I hijack this thread.

Now, you dont know whether or not God created te egg like thing that exploded and inflated all over the universe to help expand faster than the speed of light.

[Sage]

Now, you dont know whether or not God created te egg like thing that exploded and inflated all over the universe to help expand faster than the speed of light.

Which is why it is far safer to assume that God plays no part in it, as it adds nothing to the theory.

[XxTheBlackDeathxX]

Exactly! Also Im Getting Tired Of People Giving Credit To God For Everything, All These Pro Athletes Saying " I Cound't Have Don't Without God", Humans Make Miracles, Human Had To Work To Were They Are Now, If God Exsited Why Didn't He Make Us In A Already Mordern World?

[ShatteredGlass]

1. God made man to rule over everything here on earth, thou shalt kill is only referring to humans, because man is the ruler, the creation, created in God's image, and in Leveticus it says If a man kills a animal he shall pay restituion but if a man kills a man then he shall be put to death (thats from the old testament, we can just repent now) Which shows that animals are not meant to be equal with man thus, from the above informantion, that commandment does not apply to animals.

2. Well think about, when you read the bible it does not list every single animal that God created, so why does it seem so odd that they do not list the dinosaurs? I wasnt living back then I dont know.

However, since time is an illusion that in this life we are trapped in but God is not bound by it, could "the next day" have been 10,000 or 1,000,000,000 years? What are years in eternity? It says God is present in the past, present and future, so "the next day" could have easily been a million years later...You know. So yeah.

[BuryYourFlame]

Exactly! Also Im Getting Tired Of People Giving Credit To God For Everything, All These Pro Athletes Saying " I Cound't Have Don't Without God",

If you have a problem with their religion, dont support/listen to them, simple as that.

Humans Make Miracles, Human Had To Work To Were They Are Now, If God Exsited Why Didn't He Make Us In A Already Mordern World?

Humans make miracles....right...you ever heard of a human who put spit and mud on a blind guys eyes, and he could see again?

By the sounds of this, you are assuming that modern = good. This is not always the case, sure, SOME things have gotten better over the years, but certainly people have become even more greedy and lustful, if this is what modern means, then surely you cannot call it good. Also...God created us in PARADISE, we are the ones who stuffed it up. There was no need for modernisation. But what about all the vaccines? they weren't needed, there was no sickess. The same goes for every other 'good' thing that has come from the advancement of technology.

[INFERNO]

I Am A Athiest. I Don't Belive In God, But I Am Curious About Some Of His "Teachings".

First Question: Is It A Sin To Kill Animals And Bugs?
One Of God's Ten Commandments States "You Shall Not Kill" If God "Created" Animals And Bugs, Such As Spiders, Ant, CoachRoaches, Cows, Pigs, Chickens Ect. And We Kill SomeThing God "Created" Them Is That A Sin? Why Would We Kill Something God "Created". He Has A Puropes For "Creating" Animals And Bugs. Again, The Bible States "You Shall Not Kill". I'm Pretty Sure That Means Animals And Bugs As Well, It Doesnt Say " You Shall Not Kill Human Beings" Or "You Shall Not Kill, But Animals And Bugs Are OK" It Spacificly States "YOU SHALL NOT KILL". So Is It A Sin?

You have to consider the approximate time it was written. At that time, which is somewhat seen today, non-human animals are treated as objects or simply for their food. Considering that, it wasn't intended to include non-human animals. Animals are not considered equal, therefore, they don't get the same treatment.



Second Question: Where In The Bible Does It Say Anything About Dinosaurs? If God "Created Everything" In A Couple Of Day Where Do The Dinosaurs Fall Into This? How Come Fossil Are Million Of Years Old Before Man Have Ever Roamed The Earth?

It does in an extremely ambiguous way. Some parts mention and describe very vaguely some big beast. The descriptions can apply to so many animals, thus it is very ambiguous. It could be interpreted as dinosaurs, however, what was meant by their descriptions is still up in the air. But, I do not think there are any passages specifically mentioning dinosaurs. As for why not, well, perhaps they never found evidence or they didn't really care about the evidence. I wasn't back there, I have no idea.

Humans Make Miracles

Unfortunately, that goes against what a miracle is: something we don't understand how/why it occurs and generally produces something good. We cannot produce something to give a specific result yet have absolutely no clue, not even a guess as to why/how it works. Certain medications we don't always know how they work in detail, however, we do have various ideas then research them to figure it out.

[ShatteredGlass]

If you have a problem with their religion, dont support/listen to them, simple as that.



Humans make miracles....right...you ever heard of a human who put spit and mud on a blind guys eyes, and he could see again?

By the sounds of this, you are assuming that modern = good. This is not always the case, sure, SOME things have gotten better over the years, but certainly people have become even more greedy and lustful, if this is what modern means, then surely you cannot call it good. Also...God created us in PARADISE, we are the ones who stuffed it up. There was no need for modernisation. But what about all the vaccines? they weren't needed, there was no sickess. The same goes for every other 'good' thing that has come from the advancement of technology.

I agree, humans did not perform miracles, GOD did but he did so through them, and you're right, modern doesnt equal good.

[Curthose93]

humans did not perform miracles, GOD did but he did so through them.

Oh, really? Do you have any evidence to support that extraordinary claim?

[BuryYourFlame]

Matthew 4:23-24: 23Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. 24News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed, and he healed them.

Matthew 8:1-3: 1When he came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. 2A man with leprosy[a] came and knelt before him and said, "Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean."
3Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!" Immediately he was cured[b] of his leprosy.

[a] - The Greek word was used for various diseases affecting the skin—not necessarily leprosy.

[b] - Greek made clean

Mark 2:10-12: 10But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins . . . ." He said to the paralytic, 11"I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home." 12He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, "We have never seen anything like this!"

Mark 4:39: 39He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Quiet! Be still!" Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

http://beunmuted.com/2009/03/26/testimony-of-a-modern-day-miracle/

there, a lot of evidence. i would be happy to give more :)

[Sage]

Matthew 4:23-24: 23Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. 24News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed, and he healed them.

Matthew 8:1-3: 1When he came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. 2A man with leprosy[a] came and knelt before him and said, "Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean."
3Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!" Immediately he was cured[b] of his leprosy.

[a] - The Greek word was used for various diseases affecting the skin—not necessarily leprosy.

[b] - Greek made clean

Mark 2:10-12: 10But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins . . . ." He said to the paralytic, 11"I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home." 12He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, "We have never seen anything like this!"

Mark 4:39: 39He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Quiet! Be still!" Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

http://beunmuted.com/2009/03/26/testimony-of-a-modern-day-miracle/

there, a lot of evidence. i would be happy to give more :)

Scripture and testimony is not evidence, sorry.

[BuryYourFlame]

how is it not evidence? there are so many books, sites etc. showing historical evidence that the Bible is reliable.

just one: http://www.appiusforum.com/bible.html

[Sage]

Scripture is not evidence because the Bible cannot prove itself true. That's circular reasoning buddy. Testimony does not count because it is all here-say and in many cases it is much more reasonable that the person was simply hallucinating.

Also, in the case of miracles, simply because no rational explanation can be found does not make it rational to apply a supernatural cause to it. There are some things in this world we simply do not know or understand yet. I find religion arrogant in that it can never say "I don't know," it must always give an answer to things it is not qualified to answer.

I know not about you, but "God did it." is not a good enough answer for me.

[Truth]

I find it funny that anyone would attempt to use logic to explain a biblical story. I know. It's kinda funny, but people that won't accept anything other then what they believe to be real, are too boring to argue with. It's not like they know any more then i do, but they say im wrong. How they prove me 'wrong' with their opinions, i'll never know.

Ugh..., what you said was a serious facepalm.. I highly doubt they will fail in attempting to see if the Big Bang actually occured. They are not trying to make mulitiple universes, but they are acting to see if parellel universes could possibly exst. Now, Im going to stop before I hijack this thread.

Now, you dont know whether or not God created te egg like thing that exploded and inflated all over the universe to help expand faster than the speed of light. Foo', when did i say that god couldn't have caused the big bang? As explained in science, god plays no part, which is why i think it's wrong. God could've done it if he wanted, but it doesnt say this in the bible, so i dont believe in it as much. And how does creating a little bit of matter prove anything? All it does is say that we can create matter, nothing else.

=P arguing about god is useless, when it's with atheists. they actually think science, or logic could be used to explain something omnipotent that we don't know whether or not he's real even. I'm not posting back, because this thread is pretty useless in my opinion.

[MisterAndrews]

=P arguing about god is useless, when it's with atheists. they actually think science, or logic could be used to explain something omnipotent that we don't know whether or not he's real even. I'm not posting back, because this thread is pretty useless in my opinion.

Agreed. I'm learning quite quickly that posting about God just doesn't work over the internet.

And I know this is slightly old, but it does tie in the the original arguement about genesis. Dinosaurs were not mentioned because the account was written by humans, and we had not yet discovered them. It uses days because it is the only way to simply describe how God would have created the earth using a time frame we can understand. It is called 'Old Earth Creationalism' and is the religious counter theory to 'new earth creationalism', which states that the world was LITERALLY created in 7 days.

Before the arguments start back, i'm sure they could have chosen the time scale 'months' or 'years', but the fact is they didn't.... no point in arguing that. And as mentioned, time is relative. If there is a world with another intelligent life force out there, they might have something similar to a day, but it will be a different amount of time.

Again, I know that was last week, but i wanted to clear that up :)

[Whisper]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v516/Iluminati/3185_182572445509_875395509_6582195.jpg

I know i'm gonna get yelled at for that, but seriously....LAWL





I think that in times of need such as fear, pain or anguish allot of people need something to comfort them
Adults like children have monsters they're afraid of
You might not be scared of whats under the bed or in the closet anymore
but that doesn't mean your immune to other kinds
"For as I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I shall fear no evil for thou art with me, your rod and staff they comfort me......"

Or when you lose someone you love more than life itself, someone you'd gladly trade places with if only you could, your overwhelmed with a profound sense of helplessness and fear of the void. In order to deal you create the heaven complex and being human everything has a balance; hell.
Lucifer, the most graceful and powerful angel of all who refused to bow to man and as such was cast out of heaven, left to rot in hell ruler of the damned.
http://gargles.net/wp-content/uploads/2006/06/lucifer-statue-madrid.jpg




I think religion in the right context can help us overcome great challenges and horror
But if misguided, or taken to literally
It can be very dangerous indeed

http://moonbeammcqueen.files.wordpress.com/2008/01/westboro55.jpg
http://www.faithfreedom.org/Articles/sina/suicide_bomber.jpg


In short I think people need to smarten the fuck up
accept reality and understand that that dosn't change the strength it helps you tap into
that you shouldn't feel ashamed for believing in something but you should aslo not let it rule over you
not let it cause undo pain to others
because I don't believe thats what it was intended for

You can draw strength from faith and still learn through science

[Curthose93]

I wish I had the address of the people in the third picture.... and a club spiked with rusty nails...... y'know, so I could beat them.

EDIT: Wait a second, the b**** in the background looks like my half-sister!

ALso, I have a question: why do people take some parts of the bible literally(the part about Jesus being the son of god, for instance) but others figuratively(like the flood, genesis, etc)? Where is the reasoning behind that?

[Sage]

I wish I had the address of the people in the third picture.... and a club spiked with rusty nails...... y'know, so I could beat them.

EDIT: Wait a second, the b**** in the background looks like my half-sister!

ALso, I have a question: why do people take some parts of the bible literally(the part about Jesus being the son of god, for instance) but others figuratively(like the flood, genesis, etc)? Where is the reasoning behind that?

Disguising delusions as rational possibilities to avoid total ridicule.

[dyslexiaa]

ALso, I have a question: why do people take some parts of the bible literally(the part about Jesus being the son of god, for instance) but others figuratively(like the flood, genesis, etc)? Where is the reasoning behind that?

I'm Christian and I take it all figuratively. I'll admit, a lot of people pick and choose what to take literally to cover their own ass with the flaws in the Bible. People are scared of the thought of an impersonal God or a God that's actually a nice dude who doesn't damn everybody.

With stuff like the divinity of Jesus, I've had struggles determining whether he's God, a divine being, or just a normal dude teaching about (generally) good stuff. If I had to pick my standing as of now, I'm in the middle. I'm thinking about getting a copy of the Jefferson Bible just to see how the story's arranged and if the philosophy is something that I can agree with more.

[Curthose93]

I'm Christian and I take it all figuratively. I'll admit, a lot of people pick and choose what to take literally to cover their own ass with the flaws in the Bible. People are scared of the thought of an impersonal God or a God that's actually a nice dude who doesn't damn everybody.

With stuff like the divinity of Jesus, I've had struggles determining whether he's God, a divine being, or just a normal dude teaching about (generally) good stuff. If I had to pick my standing as of now, I'm in the middle. I'm thinking about getting a copy of the Jefferson Bible just to see how the story's arranged and if the philosophy is something that I can agree with more.

So, you don't take it all figuratively. If you did, you would think of Jesus as a symbol, not a real person, and wouldn't care about whether or not a fictional character is 'divine' or 'just a normal dude'. You do pick and choose to justify your beliefs

[Stark]

That dinosaur thing is a good point.

[dyslexiaa]

So, you don't take it all figuratively. If you did, you would think of Jesus as a symbol, not a real person, and wouldn't care about whether or not a fictional character is 'divine' or 'just a normal dude'. You do pick and choose to justify your beliefs

Should I take every book figuratively? Maybe Genghis Khan was a symbol. I don't see how a person existing according to a historical document and evidence through his historical community is way out of the question. I'm leaning toward a more Deist belief system, to be all the way honest with you, but the belief of someone existing isn't too ridiculous. Divine or not, early Christians went through a lot of shit for a lie if they made up Jesus as some 'pyramid-scheme' type thing.

With that in mind, I dug something up. It's not meant to prove he's divine:

Former “hatchet man” of the Nixon administration, Chuck Colson, implicated in the Watergate scandal, pointed out the difficulty of several people maintaining a lie for an extended period of time.

"I know the resurrection is a fact, and Watergate proved it to me. How? Because 12 men testified they had seen Jesus raised from the dead, and then they proclaimed that truth for 40 years, never once denying it. Every one was beaten, tortured, stoned and put in prison. They would not have endured that if it weren’t true. Watergate embroiled 12 of the most powerful men in the world—and they couldn’t keep a lie for three weeks. You’re telling me 12 apostles could keep a lie for 40 years? Absolutely impossible."26

Something happened that changed everything for these men and women. Morison acknowledged, “Whoever comes to this problem has sooner or later to confront a fact that cannot be explained away. … This fact is that … a profound conviction came to the little group of people—a change that attests to the fact that Jesus had risen from the grave.

Source: http://y-jesus.com/body_count8.php

[Curthose93]

Should I take every book figuratively? Maybe Genghis Khan was a symbol. I don't see how a person existing according to a historical document and evidence through his historical community is way out of the question. I'm leaning toward a more Deist belief system, to be all the way honest with you, but the belief of someone existing isn't too ridiculous. Divine or not, early Christians went through a lot of shit for a lie if they made up Jesus as some 'pyramid-scheme' type thing.

That's a pointless little quip. I suggested no such thing. Of course, if a book provides proof it is fact, not figure. If it is designed as fiction, it should be read as such and simply enjoyed, unless it provides symbols to consider for real life. The Bible, however, is not fact and it was not designed as fiction. It was written from a certain cultural viewpoint,not by scholars, but by people with either a bias or an agenda(part by devout Jews in ancient, intolerant communities, and part by followers of Jesus over centuries, all across the Middle East.) This leaves room for it to be lies or simply ignorant drivel. You should take it neither as fact, because it is not such, nor figuratively, because it was written by narrow-minded ancients.

Just find a contemporaneous historical document that mentions any 'Joshua the Anointed' being crucified by Pontius Pilate and I won't argue with it. However, since no such document exists(the bible is not a historical document, and Christianity isn't a "historical community") no one has any reason to think that he exists(but obviously plenty of reason to 'believe').

Genghis Khan, however, is well known to have existed based on actual historical evidence(records kept by communities all across Asia and Europe). And people are trying to use Genghis Khan to their own end's. He was real. He's dead. People have moved on.

Most early Christians weren't liars, they were lied to, by the psychopaths who told them about the so-called "Messiah", in order to create a "pyramid-scheme type thing". You have to remember that plenty of real people in history claimed to be the messiah, always in times of great crisis, so that they could take advantage of the masses. I remember that one or more of the wanna-be messiahs actually became the King of Judea through his little pyramid-scheme.

To believe in Jesus' existence(never mind his divinity) without actual evidence is ridiculous. That's why people ridicule it.

[lesher]

Word from bible always makes contradiction if discussed, because people can see understand bible moral messages in different POV. Some think that "A" it is a sin, and some other think that "A" is not a sin.

[A.J.]

I'm personally sick of the dinosaur thing. The reason it's not in the bible because dinosaurs WEREN'T DISCOVERED YET!

[INFERNO]

I know. It's kinda funny, but people that won't accept anything other then what they believe to be real, are too boring to argue with. It's not like they know any more then i do, but they say im wrong. How they prove me 'wrong' with their opinions, i'll never know.

The world is filled with morons. When it comes to debating god's existence, technically, there is never a true "winner". It stimulates intellectual debates which are great for the mind, however, for someone to say you're wrong, they must provide reasoning as to why. If they don't, then they are disregarded and labeled as ignorant and/or arrogant.


=P arguing about god is useless, when it's with atheists. they actually think science, or logic could be used to explain something omnipotent that we don't know whether or not he's real even. I'm not posting back, because this thread is pretty useless in my opinion.

Nice generality you made. Unfortunately, as an atheist, and as university science student, anyone who debates religion using science or debates science using religion is bound to fail and probably need a lesson in the philosophical underpinnings of both. You debate religion with religion and science with science. When you begin trying to use one to debate the other, usually it ends up in a chaotic mess because you distort one or both of them, and from that point onwards, the debate is pointless.

This thread can hopefully generate intellectual debates, I say hopefully for a rather good reason.

Word from bible always makes contradiction if discussed, because people can see understand bible moral messages in different POV. Some think that "A" it is a sin, and some other think that "A" is not a sin.

No, that is not a contradiction, that is different interpretations. A contradiction would be when part A says something is a sin then elsewhere, part B says it's not a sin.

[lesher]

Hmm, in that case, I've really found a contradiction in bible (sorry for my misunderstanding before >_<)

In Genesis : God ordered us to have children and fill this earth...
In New Testament (I forgot, but it really written down. I know it because I'm a serious Christian begore) : Paul says that we shouldn't get married.

So...? What should we really do?

[Archos]

Well, I think people should just not argue and believe in what they want. I'm Athiest but i'm not going to be like "Hi, I'm an athiest, i don't believe in god because blahblahblah and blahblahblah couldn't have happened which means your religion is wrong".

[INFERNO]

Hmm, in that case, I've really found a contradiction in bible (sorry for my misunderstanding before >_<)

In Genesis : God ordered us to have children and fill this earth...
In New Testament (I forgot, but it really written down. I know it because I'm a serious Christian begore) : Paul says that we shouldn't get married.

So...? What should we really do?

Having children is not a contradiction to getting married. Those are two separate acts, that although they may occur together quite often, banning one does not contradict the other. You can have plenty of kids yet not get married, that's not a contradiction.

To give an example, this is one that's been beaten to death but it's very simple, easy to understand and occurs throughout the bible. The 6th Commandment in the New Testament is thou shall not kill/murder (some versions state kill, some state murder). In Levictus, Exodus, I think Genesis, etc...., God either kills a bunch of people or he orders them to be killed. So, god says don't kill, but then he himself kills people (hypocritical on his part) and then orders others to kill (contradicts his own statement).

I realize the murder contradiction is one that's used so often, however, there are other contradictions, one of my favourite being God accepting the existence of other gods, yet his believers and other parts of the bible claim he's the only "true" god.

[lesher]

Oh boy, quite a philosopher you are :) I like about your knowledge of things

[INFERNO]

Oh boy, quite a philosopher you are :) I like about your knowledge of things

Thank you for the compliments, however, I haven't taken a single philosophy course in high school nor in university. I just read up, talk with friends in philosophy and view everything (or most things) objectively.

[lesher]

Wow, what grade are you? Or... Are you an university student?

You talk things like this with your friends? I envy you :)
Whenever I want to talk/discuss something (religion, science, technology and those heavy knowledge stuff, you know :P) with my friends, they always get bored and hardly keep up with me. Which left me with no one to discuss about those things.

All they care is their lessons (well, my school demand a very high score to pass the class) and things about love, relationship, games, etc...

[INFERNO]

Wow, what grade are you? Or... Are you an university student?

You talk things like this with your friends? I envy you :)
Whenever I want to talk/discuss something (religion, science, technology and those heavy knowledge stuff, you know :P) with my friends, they always get bored and hardly keep up with me. Which left me with no one to discuss about those things.

All they care is their lessons (well, my school demand a very high score to pass the class) and things about love, relationship, games, etc...

I'm 19 years old, soon to be in 3rd year university for double major biology and psychology. Most of my friends are also in science, so talking to them about science (i.e. microbiology, physiology, etc...) is rather common.

A few friends are more to the arts and philosophy side, so I talk with them for more philosophy and religion-related topics.

Well, if you wish, you can start a debate about whatever or something science-related, and myself and others will hop in the debate.