Mark_vdH

That was his point. All three stories can't be literally true at the same time, hence the Bible can't be completely literally true.

Groucho

That was the original point...that the Bible isn't 100% accurate.

maxfisher

I should've put a disclaimer on my post. I wasn't trying to disprove Christianity, and was just speaking to the subgroup of Christians who insist every single word of the Bible is 100% factually correct. I was raised in a church that taught that the Bible was written by God and was completely devoid of human error on any level. Their refusal to admit ANY level of human influence on the Bible was the main thing that drove me away from that particular church.

And to answer your courtroom question: if each of the 3 witnesses reported the cars being different colors, yes, I'd say one or more of them was false. They might be correct in stating who was at fault, but there would obviously be some human error involved in their testimonies, which was the only point I was going for in my previous post.

das Monkey

Typical Exchange:

Religious Nut: You're going to Hell if you don't believe in God.
Average Atheist: Huh? OK, well that's your opinion. I think we have to agree to disagree.
Religious Nut: No, it's fact. You're immoral and shouldn't breed, and I'm writing my Congressman to make it law.

Typical Exchange:

Obnoxious Atheist: *Achoo*
Average Believer: God bless you.
Obnoxious Atheist: I'm too smart to believe in God, you idiot. Do you believe in flying elephants too? What if I told you the world was created by a giant unicorn? Would you worship it too? Dumbass.
Average Believer: Um ... OK.

I haven't decided which I find more annoying, moral superiority from the religious nuts or intellectual superiority from the obnoxious Atheists (both minorities in the overall groups). I wish they'd all just shut their pieholes and realize that you can be a moral person without a religious foundation, and you can be an intelligent person and still believe that a higher power was involved in our existence. Although, I have to admit there's great humor watching a moral hypocrite preach his faith to a dumbass Atheist clinging to the hope that his non-belief in God makes him smart.

*ducks*

das

The characters in this post are purely fictional. Any resemblance to characters from this thread is coincidence ... and unfortunate.

Rockmjd23

Well, if that's a common occurance there, I feel your pain, because I would be sick of fundamentalists as much as any atheist is. Luckily, we don't have many fundamentalists around here.

Anubis2005X

I believe that the Bible is generally true. Word for word accurate and all of it literal? Absolutely not! The reason? People talk about the Bible all the time. But which one are they talking about? There are hundreds of different versions! So I think the general message has importance, but word for word accuracy? Nuh-uh....

mrpayroll

I know it's hard not to judge Christianity by the actions of it's so-called believers, but you need to judge Christianity by Jesus Christ himself.

He calls all Christians to be 'servants' to others, he famously said "He who is without sin cast the first stone", and he also said "How can you judge others who have a speck in their eyes, when you have a log in yours?".

So yes, all of those things that you have mentioned have been done in the name of Christianity, but they were/are all wrong and Jesus Christ himself would have spoke out against them.

Chris

DodgingCars

mrpayroll

Chris

das Monkey

You must be new here. Welcome to DVD Talk.

Come on. Any time someone mentions God or The Bible around here, a bunch of Atheists, flock to the thread to make snide belittling remarks about unicorns or hobbits or fairy tales and what not without any provocation. The reverse, of course, is also true, but I don't think you need convincing of that. Certainly, one is more frequent than the other, simply based on raw demographics, but there are plenty of evangelical Atheists around here just waiting to pounce. (I must admit, though, I don't see it that much in the real world. It's more of a forum thing. In my circle, people tend to keep their religion or non-religion to themselves on both sides.)

It's like Republicans and Democrats. "No, no, no. <i>They're</i> the ones who are being obnoxious and destroying the country. <i>We're</i> the nice guys."

das

Groucho

Just like everytime somebody praises Hitler, there's always a parade of thread-crappers who have to dwell on the negative.

Rockmjd23

That's how I've always been taught. Having read the "New American Bible" aka the Catholic bible, the overview states that the 'historical' texts of Old Testament consists mostly of parables and allegory. The other books prophesy the coming of Jesus, and the New Testament is pretty literal, except for Revelation.

Pointyskull

This thread =

Gil Jawetz

OH...





MY...

shoppingbear

Generally my experience too... especially here.

You BRAT! You're just cranky because I mocked WSU... that wasn't a religion thing, that was a "which university is BETTER" thing!

Cusm

This type of action started me re-evaluating my beleifs in highschool. I saw (and still see) christians claiming to be christians, yet following nothing I ever read in the bible. I still say that I act more christian than most christians I know. I have no problem with people beleiving, just keep it away from me and my own. There are poeple trying to get ID into the school system here (thanks to retards in Kansas) and this is when I have a problem with christians. or when they are damning someone (like homosexuals) that the bible might say something against, but it's wording is no stronger than many other things, many of which we would never agree with today.

BDB

"I hear the jury is still out on Science" - Gob

MJKTool

On the 7th day God created the Island. The Island became full of assholes, and thus like in Noah's day God was saddened. So God proceeded to expose the Island for the evil that it is, and he proceeded to strike a blow against it and the fucks that lived in it!

I seeee you, you motherfuckers!

shoppingbear

OK, Das is my new hero. Das, you put it very well, and I agree completely.

Of course, that's JUST MY OPINION... you're all welcome to disagree... Not trying to change anyone's mind...

kvrdave

I guess I still don't see it. They don't disagree with each other. They can all be perfectly accurate in what they describe, but what you are talking about is what they don't describe. If one person says that "2+2=4 and 5+5=10" and the next person says that "2+2=4" are either of those not 100% accurate?

And, I would guess that most people that believe in a literal Bible believe that it is correct in its original writing. That isn't english, and original copies aren't available. I have no problem reconciling that there may be small errors in copying that has been handed down, but given what scholarship has shown with the Dead Sea Scrolls, etc. I also don't believe those small things change anything in the Bible.

I also think people try to place "inerrancy" and "100% accurate" to a Western Culture level rather than the level of those writing it. People get hung up on lineages that aren't perfect, etc. without taking into account the culture of what was customary at the time. It seems silly to look at a very old culture and a very different culture and expect that they would behave the same way we would expect. It would be no different that people 2,000 years from now looking at us and saying, "That's what they call accurate?" It is a different measuring stick.

adamblast

Someone's padding, Lord...

Rockmjd23

That's a good summary of why Pat Robertson and others like him are a joke to me.
Matthew 6:1-6
"(But) take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them; otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father.
When you give alms, do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets to win the praise of others. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward.
But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right is doing, so that your almsgiving may be secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.
"When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners so that others may see them. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.

kvrdave

Well, it obviously wasn't a "which university is BETTER at football" thing.

shoppingbear

AHA! THAT must be it, you guys were PRAYING more!

Bandoman

You are acting just as juvenile here as you did there.